2017 Senior Bowl Practice: OL Forrest Lamp and EDGE Duwuane Smoot impress on Tuesday

Well, in less than spectacular fashion our thirteen-time world champion Green Bay Packers joined the other 29 teams in the NFL in #DraftSZN.

Now we’re at the Senior Bowl! Today marks the first day of actual things happening, with yesterday being almost entirely prospects meeting with teams.

Here are a couple of players reported to have met with the Packers on Monday:

• Josh Reynolds, WR, Texas A&M
• Daeshon Hall, EDGE, Texas A&M
• Duke Riley, ILB, LSU

With weigh-ins this morning, essentially a glorified meat market, there will be more discussion of prospects. Something to ponder while looking at numbers: every team has their “type” at a position. The Bengals don’t like defensive ends shorter than 6’5”. The Packers don’t take cornerbacks shorter than 5’ 10 3/8”. While it may seem trivial, it can help identify players that teams will target.

Recaps

South Practice: The South team, coached by the Cleveland Browns went first on Tuesday. For the most part I watched the offensive and defensive lines in this practice, more so the former than the latter. Here were some of my observations:

• Forrest Lamp of Western Kentucky is the best put together player at the position on the South. He’s a bit compact, but well-built and stout. In 1 on 1s he played tackle and guard, with his best rep at guard against Alabama’s Dalvin Tomlinson. He started at left tackle on the team’s first unit, however.
• Isaac Asiata may be worth watching. He’s easily the thickest dude on the South’s offensive line, and moves fairly well. I haven’t seen much tape on Asiata, so I’m curious to watch him more.
• Jessamen Dunker of Tennessee State was impressive as well. He’s a bit less bulky than most of the interior guys, but he performed well in 1 on 1s. He’s another guy worth a deeper look.
• Tanzel Smart of Tulane was pretty impressive on multiple occasions. Yet again, an example of a guy I need to look at more thoroughly.
• Daeshon Hall of Texas A&M was the most impressive performer in the drill. He toasted Lamp on the first rep, beat Troy’s Antonio Garcia, and easily dispatched of Mississippi State’s Justin Senior, who struggled mightily in the drill. Hall met with the Packers on Monday, and the Packers could need EDGE help in a few months. Just gonna leave it at that.
• All of the quarterbacks are bad, but in particular D2 Tiffin’s Antonio Pipkin looked especially out of place. He lacked velocity on his throws, and was hesitant to throw the ball on the run. Hopefully he performs better on Wednesday.
• Donnell Pumphrey is SMALL. He weighed in at 169 pounds, and looks the part.
• LSU’s Duke Riley and Florida’s Alex Anzalone looked good as inside linebackers. Riley is hyper aggressive, which helps him maximize his 6’0” 231 lb. physique.

North Practice:

The North team practice, ran by the Chicago Bears’ coaching staff, was a lot more smoothly ran and efficient, seemingly, than the Browns’ staff earlier in the day. The North roster had its share of talent on display as well. I watched a lot of running back and linebacker individual drills, and 1 on 1s. Here were some observations:

• Wisconsin’s Corey Clement looks very rocked up here in Mobile. He weighed in at 221 pounds, and there isn’t much fat to trim off of the New Jersey native. He took 1st team reps at running back for the North, and looked pretty good throughout the day.
• Larry Ogunjobi of Charlotte looked very impressive in 1 on 1s. He needs to add some bulk, but he could be an intriguing prospects throughout the draft process.
• Illinois’ Duwuane Smoot is the best pass rusher on the North team, which includes Vince Biegel of Wisconsin, Smoot’s teammate at Illinois, Carroll Phillips, and Youngstown State’s Derek Rivers. Smoot beat Zach Banner and Julie’n Davenport.
• Michigan helmets littered the defensive side of the field in particular on Tuesday afternoon. Chris Wormley, who weighed in at 297 lbs on his 6’5” frame is a very good run stuffer, but struggled in pass rush situations. Ryan Glasgow performed better in the 1 on 1s, and Ben Gedeon looked solid at linebacker.
• Jamari Staples of Louisville caught my attention a few times. Staples came into Mobile and measured at 6’3” 190, and runs well. If he can become more consistent at the catch point he’ll be a steal.
• The North Quarterbacks struggled as well, but Sefo Liufao of Colorado probably looked the best. He has the strongest arm of the 3 passers on the North. Nate Peterman of Pitt was erratic, while Iowa’s CJ Beathard struggled to drive the ball down the field.
• Taylor Moton, Western Michigan’s mammoth offensive tackle, performed pretty well in 1 on 1s. He stoned Wisconsin’s Vince Biegel for the 2nd time in 22 days, and overall looked pretty good. He’s raw technique wise, but he might be able to stick at tackle in the NFL.