Senior Bowl Day 2 Recap: Who helped or hurt their stock today

Day two of the Senior Bowl is in the books. Here is quick run down of everything from my vantage point.

North Team

The North team took the field first this time, and I made it a point to get an up close look at the trench battles, since I focus on WR/DBs on the North team yesterday.

First observation is UConn’s OT, Matt Peart is huge. Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy compared him to D’Brickashaw Ferguson and thinks he can translate over to the left side at the next level.

They’ve had him working on the right side so far, as that’s what he played in college. He is still raw, and isn’t quite adept at fully utilizing his 86” wingspan. He would be a great developmental prospect, as he still needs refining from what I saw. He mistimed his punch several times, which will get him eaten alive at the next level.

The tools are all there, though, and he showed enough today to warrant the looks he’s getting, but he’ll need to be brought along slowly.

The North team is stacked with tackle talent. I think Houston’s Josh Jones is the best tackle in Mobile, and he continued to show why today.

Tight end, Adam Trautman and Josh Jones combo blocking in warmups looked smooth, and drew praise from coaches.

Jones jumped constantly into my notes for his work in pass protection in both 1-on-1s and team periods.

Jones won every one of his reps in 1-on-1 periods, often in dominant fashion. On one stunt passing drill, he threw his defender onto the ground past the pocket.

One of the great things about the Senior Bowl is it allows guys from smaller schools to show off their skills against better competition. That is exactly what Jones has done as he has looked excellent against guys like Bradlee Anae from Utah, Treveon Hill from Miami, Kenny Willekes from Michigan State.

While the defensive line talent isn’t as strong on the North team as the South, Jones is taking advantage of his opportunities to show off against D1 talent.

Staying on the offensive line, Kansas’ Hakeem Adeniji is another one from the North team that popped out to me today. While he started at left tackle for the Jayhawks, he has lined up at guard here the last two days.

He looked a little uncomfortable in the run blocking drills as he adjusted to the new position, but was really stout in pass blocking. He stood up Gallimore twice in 1-on-1 periods and generally locked guys down in the pass rush drills.

I had a chance to chat with him after practice and he said he felt a lot more comfortable out at guard today than he did yesterday. It’s been an adjustment for him since he hasn’t played guard since high school, which makes his performance today even more impressive.

He showed a strong inside hand on a pass rush rep, and good punch on another.

On the defensive line, Neville Gallimore still looks like the best defensive lineman on the North team, and had a strong showing against today, breaking through the line in the team period running game drills.

For the DB/WR drills, Michael Ojemudia is a guy Ryan Edwards turned me onto at practice today. He showed a good nose for the ball, had a nice run support rep and good coverage on comeback route, away from the play. He had a completion on him when Denzel Mims came down with an incredible catch down the sideline, but Ojemudia had great coverage.

He’s a guy to watch as a potential developmental corner.

Two of the Notre Dame DBs have really shined as well. Corner Troy Pride has been really solid for the last two days. He had probably the best rep I have seen from a corner out here. wit amazing coverage on comeback route. Working against Michael Pittman, he essentially ran the route for him and got the pass breakup.

A few plays later, Pittman got the better of him, even though Pride was in pretty good coverage.

Alohi Gilman, the Notre Dame safety unfortunately came up hurt midway through the day. Before that, he was having a great Senior Bowl. Hopefully it isn’t serious and he’s able to come back tomorrow.

On the receiver front, Denzel Mims was dominant. He had the catch of the day with a great catch downfield, and was getting open constantly. He doesn’t have break away speed, but reminds me more of an Allen Robinson type, where he gets his separation with his release and subtle movements at the top of the stem.

KJ Hill had a quieter day than yesterday, but still was consistent with chain moving catches.

Antonio Gandy-Golden had a really nice day as well with several nice routes. The one he’ll want back was a perfect release where he had a step on the defender, but dropped the would-be touchdown. Aside from that, the small school prospect has really boosted his stock down here.

South Team

For the South team trench battles, Cushenberry lost the first rep, but I’m pretty sure that was the only one I saw that he lost. The rest of the day he continued to build on his momentum from yesterday.

Cushenberry went up against Javon Kinlaw multiple times and fared very well, getting the better of the talented defender.

Speaking of, Kinlaw had a bit of a down day after his dominance yesterday. He also was limping around after 1-on-1s and through the team periods, so it was clear he was playing hurt. I am really surprised his agent or people allowed him to continue to stay on the field after he came up looking a bit hurt, but he battled through it and had a few good plays in team periods, blowing through for what would’ve been a TFL.

Overall, today wasn’t his best day, but I’m sure some of it is on account of him playing through what appeared to be an ankle or calf injury. Hopefully he comes back for a strong day tomorrow, fully healthy.

I thought Logan Stenberg had a really nice bounce back day and strung together several good pass blocking reps in 1-on-1s. He looked much more settled in and comfortable.

The super long, small school tackle, Alex Taylor has been an intriguing prospect to me. He checks in at 6’8” with 36” arms and 88” wingspan (!!). He had physical tools in spades, but still needs refinement on how to best use his length, but he’s battled well out here so far, winning several reps in pass protection.

Who really impressed me was Alabama edge guy, Terrell Lewis. He was probably the best player out on the field for both teams today. He one his pass rush reps in 1-on-1 and was disruptive in team periods, wrecking several plays. At 6’5” 258lbs, with 34” arms, he is a physical specimen. If Denver needed an edge guy, I would be all over him, but someone is going to get a great player in Lewis. He’s turned a lot of heads down here in Mobile.

While it is hard for off ball linebackers to stand out, Akeem Davis-Gaither caught my eye with some good coverage, and a tipped ball in 7-on-7s. He is a bit of a tweener at 6’1” 220lbs, but good be a good sub linebacker at the next level.

Texas receiver, Duvernay had a big catch deep and made my notes for a few of his routes. He didn’t have as big a day as yesterday, but he’s an interesting prospect.

Jennings and Van Jefferson each had nice days as well.

Conversely, the South DBs struggled a bit today from what I saw. Kyle Dugger, Dane Jackson, and Darnay Holmes all had a few nice plays, but were up and down overall.

The big winners today I would say were Terrell Lewis and Denzel Mims. Cushenberry remained where he was yesterday and carried forward the momentum, while the Kinlaw and KJ Hill trains may have lost a little steam from their blazing starts.

Due to inclement weather, the final practice tomorrow will be moved indoors on South Alabama’s campus, so we’ll see how the views are there. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch just as much action to be able to bring you updates tomorrow as well.