I’m going to post another article tomorrow listing the players I thought stood out the most, based on the NFL Network and YouTube footage I’ve been able to study. Here are my thoughts on the game itself. Note that several players sat out or played minimal snaps this year.
— The opening drive for the American team ended in a Spencer Rattler touchdown. Rattler looked sharper than the other quarterbacks this week with his decision making and subtle movements in the pocket to adjust and release. Here he ID’d an opportunity on the outside, threw a nice pass to the left corner of the end zone and found his target. It was a good example of being able to manipulate the defense on a long drive (it had been all runs and screens before this play) then delivering the kill shot. That’s what he can do.
— The National team’s first play was a flea flicker to Bo Nix, who used it to show off his arm strength by launching the ball from his own 15-yard line to the opponents’ 25-yard line. Tez Walker, who had a disappointing week, couldn’t catch the ball. That’s a 60-yard throw by Nix. Impressive. The drive ended with a high, inaccurate pass by the Oregon quarterback to the talented tight end Theo Johnson. He somehow caught it but the terrible pass left his body exposed and he was lit-up by a safety.
— On his second drive, Nix scored a red zone touchdown. His initial read wasn’t there on a naked bootleg. He came off it and threw across his body to an open Brevyn Spann-Ford. Nix did well to throw it low into an area away from a lurking defender and Spann-Ford adjusted brilliantly to make a difficult catch for the score.
— It’s hard to watch Joe Milton. Physically he has everything. He’s just not very good. His processing, decision making and internal clock are off. He’s not a constantly accurate passer. In the second quarter he threw a nice layered pass with great touch for a completion but a few plays later, he threw awfully across his body for a terrible interception. He had a second interception in the final two minutes basically throwing it to the other team. I’m surprised people have him down as anything more than a late-round throwaway pick.
— Running back Emani Bailey was the MVP in the game for me and showed well as a runner and receiver. He’s diminutive, powerful and quick. He kept making the first man miss, finished runs, had good acceleration and he looks dynamic. His route running as a receiver was very impressive. When Milton threw his late pick, Bailey chased down the DB from way back to make a TD-saving tackle. That’s the kind of effort that sticks in the mind of teams. Based on what he showed today, I’d want him on my roster.
— Sam Hartman missed a major opportunity to throw to a wide open Theo Johnson but under-threw an easy, short-range throw. He also threw an interception right before half-time and in the fourth quarter he was too late throwing downfield to Walker, missing an opportunity for a big play. He just doesn’t have the physical tools to work in most systems or the accuracy to make up for it. Bloody great hair though. I would walk the world to have hair like that.
— Luke McCafrrey made an outstanding one-handed catch in the third quarter on a wayward slant thrown by Hartman. It was a stunning grab. McCaffrey is legit and will carve out a role in the NFL. At times he reminds me of Tyler Lockett.
— Braden Fiske, who had an excellent week, capped it off by walking Beaux Limmer into the backfield for a late sack. He has very short arms and that’s an issue but he’s been incredibly disruptive in Mobile, just as he was consistently throughout the season. Illinois’ Keith Randolph also had a good week and he ended the game by hammering Michael Pratt for a big QB-hit, forcing an incompletion.
— Cedric Gray made some nice plays in the game, hustling to the ball and breaking up a nice pass late on. He’s a good, solid linebacker who does everything at a decent level.
— Overall the game was fairly lowkey and I don’t think anything spectacular happened — which we have seen in previous years. The number of players sitting out was a tad disappointing and of the ‘big three’ quarterbacks we didn’t get much of a look at Rattler and Nix before they called it a day. Michael Penix Jr didn’t participate.
I literally LOL’d man. Good stuff.
But does the carpet match the drapes?
https://x.com/adamschefter/status/1753916527206703322?s=46&t=jJY5PzfRfqxlTnRLJklz5g
Argh! Weaver took the Miami DC job! I was told that he wouldn’t be interested in leaving Baltimore. 😜
Hoping we can land someone of equal potential.
I don’t think any hot shot DC would want to come here to Seattle. At least that’s my opinion. MacDonald is going to want to mold the defense in its early years. You would figure a DC would want more control over calling plays.
I think the best move might be to roll with Karl Scott as DC or hire someone smart but super green. You already have Frazier with experience and as the grizzly vet. MacDonald is probably looking for his Padawan.
In fairness, I suggested he wouldn’t be interested in leaving Baltimore to come to Seattle. I listened to an interview with him a fortnight ago discussing how big the decision was to go from Houston back to Baltimore, where he used to play. Miami is quite an attractive place to live so I’m guessing that swayed him. Seattle is the other end of the continent. Plus in Miami he’ll run the entire D — he won’t do that in Seattle
Fair enough. Just having a touch of fun. 👍🏽
Joe Milton is not a throwaway pick. Get real
What is he then?
Are you seriously suggesting he’s worth more?
Because if so, I disagree strongly, sir
I don’t see how he’s different than Holton Ahlers in the late pick range.
Ahlers is a big strong kid. Good not great stats. Good runner.
I’ve never really considered Milton. Just looked up his production and thought a 6 yr player would have done more. I hear how he looks but he’s not really a dual threat.
Am I missing something?
He has a great bullet pass. Sometimes he can even get it into a tight window.
I love your stuff!!
Sometimes he can even get it into a tight window…..
He did it ONCE in the game.
I remember after the Seahawks signed Ahlers I said that he was only a Camp Arm and had no NFL future. I also may have joked that he may be able to get a few dollars per completion in the XFL. That really pissed off someone on this board.
There is always going to be an irrational fan of each college QB especially if the played on your favorite team. I am a little worried that a lot of Seahawks fans are going view Penix as a much better prospect than he is. I fear this could be worse then last year not realizing that Jalen Carter wasn’t suitable for the Seahawks
Fear not. Let it wash over you like the sea.
It’s going to happen.
When hawk voices say Geno is great and we shouldn’t move on from him. But penix is geno and we should draft him. You know the purple kool-aid is flowing and it’s time to get a boil notice on the puget sound water supply.
I’m pretty sure Milton could outrun Ahlers.
Jokes aside.
Nfl draft buzz and a few other sites don’t project him to be that fast.
Luckily, we have that information at our fingertips.
He ran 17.33 mph at practice.
https://connect.zebra.com/SrbowlInsights
Faster than Nix, right?
Will Rattler be there at 16?
I’ve liked Rattler more than most but not sure why this is the reaction today — he barely played in the Senior Bowl game and had a decent week, nothing more
Because a lot of us are fairly down on this class. And are worried (?) That someone else will strike to get him.
Williams
Daniels
And then ???
Maye doesn’t seem to get any run though I’m sure he’s third. After that it feels like it can go a lot of ways from what was considered around December a really good class. Nix, Penix, mccarthy. Pick your poison. I’m not sure any of those three will be doing much in the league.
If rattler wasn’t rattler and the same player was named Payton wilson ( a strong football name btw) feels like he’d get more run.
Hartman and Pratt feel like either long term backups or coaches. Travis a long term Tyrod taylor type.
I spent some time watching Maye today and I’ve got some concerns. I watched vs Virginia and vs Clemson and he had some truly bad misses along with some really bad mechanics/footwork.
Maybe they were two of his worse games, but he was missing guys by yards, not feet on a lot of passes.
Maye hasn’t been properly analysed by the media — he just became an assumed great player and nobody digs into the reality. There’ll be mixed thoughts on him in draft rooms
I overheard someone say that Penix didn’t have bad footwork so much as he had no footwork.
Man it’s interesting hearing it from guys who have jobs that depend on getting scouting and drafting right. Guys that can actually study these guys
How much is he under center?
Do you go with the history of draft picks as of late for Seattle or would you defer to more of a “player profile / measurables / mentality” the Ravens used for draft picks within that last few season???
The 2024 draft is going to more unpredictable for Seahawks fans than anytime in the last 10 years. Should be a fun ride….. and draft Luke McCaffrey 😀
Is he good in coverage as an off ball LB? Tackle to guard convert?
I kid
Rob,
He’s not a Senior Bowl player, but i’m curious on your thoughts of Jordan Travis. I was watching some Florida State OL tape and he kind of surprised me and really reminded me of Dak Prescott at Mississippi state. I didn’t love Dak coming out but he had some decent tools and he’s turned into a solid player. Travis seems like that type.
Decent player — round three pre-injury, round four now. Injury was very serious. Has the tools to work into a starting role but not someone you feel you can say ‘he will make it’
I mentioned at work earlier that I felt he isn’t good enough to not be thinking of replacing him after a few years. Just not at THAT level.
So he’s Ryan Tannehill.
Watching the Senior Bowl practices Darius Robinson jumps off the screen.
Normally I would say he scream Ravens DL wonder if that means now he screams Seahawk as well?
If the Hawks don’t go QB early and pick at 16 hope they focus on the trenches with either
Darius Robinson
Taliese Fuaga
Jerzhan Newton
Troy Fautanu
Robinson stands out for sure. When you give a smooth footer like Guyton trouble then you know you are indeed trouble yourself.
Fuaga is a top 15 to top 12 lock. It’s pretty hard to imagine him getting past the Jets. If it’s an interior pick then I think Jackson Powers Johnson really solidified himself as a first round talent. I personally would consider him here. Just finally take care of the center position.
The one player I’m talking myself into is Quinyon Mitchell. MacDonold’s scheme is really a 3 cover defense or zone-based defense. People were impressed with him in man coverage this past week but zone is where he truly shines. The ball finds this young man.
Even though Woolen is really talented, there are questions whether zone is a fit or him.
Robinson does stand out, but his Zebra metrics say he is very slow. The combine will be big for him.
Really a pretty lackluster game. Understandable I guess with so many players opting out, having to move a D lineman over to the other team at the last minute, and all that.
Wish we could’ve seen more of Rattler and an awful lot less of Sam Hartman – he was terrible. But he’s got that hair to fall back on, so he’ll be fine.
Luke McCaffery looks a lot like his dad on the field. I agree he’ll be a legit receiver in the NFL.
I thought Jarvis Brownlee Jr and Marcus Harris looked good.
Brownlee looked good for sure — someone I intend to watch more of tomorrow
You know, a good comparison for Joe Milton might be in baseball. Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson had undeniably live arms. The Zebra metrics don’t lie about Joe Milton, but I’ll bet he would hit a lot of batters. He’s not John Elway, who was a pitcher at Stanford, as well.
It would be fun to see him hit Jamal Adams in the face, but the football would probably get stuck in it.
Interception!
It took many years for Ryan and Johnson to perfect their craft, but as Jery Glanville once said, “NFL stands for Not For Long.”
It’s funny you brought them both up, since Ryan is who Randy talked to that got him over his control issues.
And Milton vs. Jamal: The man who can’t catch vs. the man who can’t hit a barn! How long would it take for a pass to be completed? Same Bat time, same Bat channel!
Well if he was aiming for the receiver, not long.
76.4 mph was #1 in initial airspeed. His highest spin rate was #1 by a wide margin at 734.5 rpm. His highest average spin rate was #1 by a clear margin at 514.7, but…
He was throwing nice tight perfect rockets that were completely off target.
They were like SCUD missiles.
Then you take him and design an offense for him. Feature 5 receivers running the same route so one of them has a chance to catch the ball wherever it goes .