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Senior Bowl Day 3 Recap: Will Hernandez shines, James Washington still can’t be covered

The second day of practice and third day of the Senior Bowl just wrapped up. Here are the insights from today, plus my big winners from practice.

NCAA Football: Senior Bowl-North Practice Glenn Andrews-USA TODAY Sports

Day 2 of practices down here in Mobile, Alabama just wrapped up. Today saw quarterback Luke Falk continue a very quiet but solid week, and some great 1-on-1 trench drills. Let’s dive in.

North

The North team took the field first and the quarterbacks started warming up and getting extra reps under center.

  • Let’s get the quarterback grading out of the way first. I’m not going to hand out grades....but here’s some thoughts on their day.get the qu
  • Both Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield had their moments. Allen had a beautiful deep pass early on in the 1on1 drills.
  • I didn’t see as many reps from Mayfield today in the team periods. I don’t know if limiting his reps was by design, or what was going on. He looked sharp in the reps he did take in the team period. 1on1s were a mixed bag as he struggled on a few throws, but overall he is the best short/intermediate thrower here.

Allen is the exact opposite. He has a rocket arm and a beautiful deep ball. His deep out routes consistently make me go, “wow”. Then, he’s late on a bootleg throw and sails it without setting his feet. He also had an interception in team periods.

Falk on the other hand had a really impressive bootleg throw where he had to roll, stop, reset his base, and hit a crosser in stride. He was solid all day.

This feels a bit like training camp between Siemian and Lynch, grading every throw and making conclusions based on one day. I’m going to avoid doing that, and just say that I saw more of the same from both players, so if you like Allen, there are some things to make you like him more, and if you don’t there’s plenty of fodder there too. Same with Mayfield.

  • I did get a chance to catch up with Baker Mayfield after practice and wrote about that interview earlier. Be sure to check it out.
  • I got an extended look at the trenches today which was an absolute blast. Here’s what I saw:

Nathan Shepherd continued his breakout day from yesterday with some strong reps in both team drills and 1on1s. They resorted to doubling him in team drills to stop him.

Will Hernandez was the only one that could stop Shepherd, and those were some great battles to watch. Hernandez got Shepherd a few times, and vice versa. Unfortunately, Shepherd went out with a hand injury midway through practice.

Speaking of Hernandez, this guy was a monster today. He stonewalled rushers on nearly every rep, taking guys to the ground, or just holding them in place. He gave very little ground and only lost one or two reps all day. He also showed a bit of a nasty streak in team drills getting after his guy and driving him 5 yards away from the action until they finally stopped him. If Hernandez continues this route, he’ll price himself out of the early second round for Denver to grab him.

BJ Hill showed some great power and surprising quickness with a spin move for a big guy. Definitely get the buzz building for him. He had a nice day.

Ogbonnia Okorwonkwo had a breakout day today. They worked him in coverage for a little bit, and he turned and ran with a wheel route nicely in coverage. In the pass rush drills, Okoronkwo never lost a rep. He showed great burst around the edge, and good strength to counter with an inside move. He had an impressive bend around the edge to win a rep against Tyrell Crosby, and then came back the next rep to beat Crosby again with an inside counter. He definitely helped his stock today.

Okoronkwo was the only one to beat Crosby all day, however. Crosby consistently looked like the best tackle out there. He put his first rusher on the ground, and absolutely stoned a bullrush, just standing the guy up. Really impressed with what I saw from Crosby today.

Speaking of tackles, Brett Toth had an impressive day in 1on1 drills and jumped into my notes a few times. In team periods he lead a toss downfield and cleared out a path for the runner nicely.

Lastly, Harrison Phillips had himself a solid day and really took to some of Kollar’s coaching. Kollar worked with him after nearly every rep, and Phillips paid it back by destroying a guard with a bull rush, earning praise from Kollar and cheers from teamates.

South

Not as much action for the south team, but here were my takeaways:

  • James Washington continues to be one of the best players out on the field from both teams. He’s been uncoverable so far. He shows incredible burst off the line and smoothness out of his breaks. His route running is far superior to anyone else here, and his speed and hands kill DBs on deep routes. This guy should be a first round lock after this week.
  • Darin Neal and Levi Wallace remain my favorite corners and both had solid days. Neal got a little grabby at times, but he is very physical with receivers off the line.
  • Shaq Griffin shows very smooth hips, flipping them easily in coverage to mirror the quarterback in zone. He covers like a safety, and looked good in 1on1 drills.
  • Linebacker Dorian O’Daniel (a tweener at 215lbs) had a really great pass breakup in 1on1 drills.

Winners

James Washington

Will Hernandez

Ogbonnia Okoronkwo

And that’s our show! Let’s discuss in the comments!

Also, don’t forget you can catch the practices live on NFL Network, as well as the actual Senior Bowl game on Saturday, January 27 at 1:30 CT.