Senior Bowl 2018, Day 1 Recap: North Team's defensive linemen impress early

While Wisconsin is getting dumped on with snow, I, committed to slaving away to provide y’all with important draft content, have made the sacrifice to get sunburned and sweat in 75 degree weather to make that happen. How nice of me!

While much of the pomp and circumstance in Mobile for the Senior Bowl is surrounding quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen, a lot of the action, in particular in the afternoon session, came from the fat kids (the positions I watch during practice).

South Practice

• The Houston Texans are running the South practice, and did a much better job than the Browns did last year of keeping the practice flowing and keeping it punctual.
• The QBs, who I didn’t spend much if any time watching, were definitely lacking the star power that the North team possesses, but positive returns came back for Troy’s Brandon Silvers, Richmond’s Kyle Lauletta and Western Kentucky’s Mike White.
• LSU’s D.J. Chark and Kansas State’s Byron Pringle both stood out, per people I trust and talked to down here, in the first practice. Chark, who played with sub-par at best quarterback play in college will greatly benefit once he’s in the NFL. Pringle displayed some very smooth route running. Pringle is one of 7 eligible 4th year juniors here for the event.
• UMass tight end Adam Brenneman and South Dakota State’s Dallas Goedert both went down with hamstring injuries today. The extent of these injuries are unknown, but it will bear watching to see if they return to practice this week.
• The big boys were what I was focused on, and a few of them impressed me. On the offensive side, Alabama’s Bradley Bozeman is the best lineman on the South roster, and it’s pretty obvious. Aside from him, Nevada’s Austin Corbett, Appalachian State’s Colby Gossett and D2 Humboldt State’s Alex Cappa were impressive. Defensively, Virginia’s Andrew Brown played well, along with Alabama’s Da’Shawn Hand and Texas’ Poona Ford.
• Marcus Davenport was the hyped up player coming into this week’s performance, and while he did play well, I’m not sure he was quite dominant enough to warrant the Top 10-15 hype he’s been getting lately.

North Practice

• The quarterbacks are the story if you’re not like me and following around the best looking and best athletes on the team (the offensive line, for those ignorant to the truth). Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen either performed well or poorly, depending on what narrative you’re trying to steer. Mile High Sports’ Ben Albright said that he believed that Nebraska’s Tanner Lee was the most impressive of the North quarterbacks. (If you like Josh Allen, you’ll like Tanner Lee.)
• The wide receiver group performed well, with high spots from Penn State’s DaeSean Hamilton, Colorado State’s Michael Gallup, New Mexico State’s Jaleel Scott and Boise State’s Cedrick Wilson. Iowa State’s Allan Lazard struggled a bit on the first day.
• The offensive line group for this team has one of the toughest tasks of the week, stopping this group of defensive linemen and pass rushers. In my opinion, the North team is the more talented of the two, and that’s shown especially in the trenches. UTEP’s Will Hernandez had a nice day, and his hype will likely continue. Think Mike Iupati when you hear about Hernandez.
• The defensive line was very impressive. Division II Nathan Shepherd from Fort Hays State probably had the best day of all of them. He’s 6’4” and 310 pounds, and showed some quick and violent hands. He was unblockable today.
• Ohio State’s two ends, Tyquan Lewis and Jaylyn Holmes, Wisconsin’s Garret Dooley and the North Carolina State due of Justin Jones and B.J. Hill were a problem for the North offensive linemen all practice, and should continue to give them issues throughout the week.
• Per people I trust, South Carolina’s JaMarcus King was especially impressive among the defensive backs. The plus sized corner will look to capitalize on this momentum heading into the first fully padded practice tomorrow.

I’m sure I missed things, but this is most of the buzz that I was around/heard. It’s only the first day, but some players really began to raise their stock today if they can continue their performances from Tuesday’s practices. Make sure to stay tuned for more Senior Bowl coverage coming soon.