The Senior Bowl to us is the true “Kickoff to Draft Season”. We can’t remember when, but it was decided by the NFLPA to scrap the Collegiate Bowl and Partner with the Senior Bowl, which we have mixed feelings about, but that’s not what this article is about. The positive of this decision is that underclassmen are now allowed to be invited to Mobile. 

This move shows the true importance of the Senior Bowl in comparison to the other prospect games. From interviews to practice to the game itself, everything is an evaluation for this hand selected group of prospects to compete one final time as “college” players. 

Below we highlight the Senior Bowl prospects we believe are either trending up or down based on their game performance or choice to opt out. 

Winners

Spencer Rattler, South Carolina

Rattler did not play a ton, but his one deep ball touchdown stood out in a slow offensive game as a whole. Rattler has been in the public eye for some time. He has gone through a ton of scrutiny and seems to be coming out of the other side. While we do not have a high grade on him, he definitely helped his stock.

Emani Bailey, TCU

No running back looked great, but Emani Bailey looked decent. He started off really strong in the first series, but did not totally build upon this. Regardless, he looked the best of all the backs that were collectively unimpressive.

James Williams, Miami

In our opinion, James Williams was one of the biggest winners of the Senior Bowl. Williams was one we really wanted to see play since he was listed as a LB, and he surely didn’t disappoint. Williams made a lot of big plays with his only notable falter being the facemask call. For someone who transitioned to LB for a week, Williams shined… Now imagine if an NFL LBs coach gets their hands on him full time. Williams could be a problem. 

Cedric Gray, UNC

Cedric Gray didn’t do anything super standout, but he made a few nice stops. People will probably say Gray upped his draft stock, but to us he balled like we thought he would. We are higher on Gray than most, and so far he’s validating our film study. 

Tykee Smith, Georgia

Just like during his time at Georgia, Tykee Smith is kind of the forgotten man again. Smith is being overshadowed by fellow Georgia DBs Kamari Lassiter and Javon Bullard again. However, if you didn’t know who Tykee was before Saturday you probably know who he is now. Similar to Gray, Smith didn’t do any super standout, but he made a few nice plays, showed his ability to play as a true deep safety(which you don’t see much of on film), and showed relentless effort. 

Evan Williams, Oregon

Evan Williams is yet another prospect we are higher on than most. Our big weakness for Williams is his tackling inconsistencies, but his tackling looked on the higher end in the Senior Bowl. Not to mention, Williams also showed great vision and closing speed on his INT of Joe Milton. 

Cole Bishop, Utah

Similar to Williams, one of Bishop’s weaknesses to us is his tackling inconsistency. Although throughout the game it was definitely on the higher end of the spectrum for him. It’s also interesting to note that the team Bishop was elected to play with 2 LBs and 3 Safeties rather than 3 LBs and 2 Safeties. Bishop played in the box most of the day, which is where we see him fitting in at the next level. 

Losers

Joe Milton, Tennessee

Truth be told, none of the QBs besides Rattler (one of our winners) and Nix (who really did not play a ton) looked all that good. But, Milton had a chance to show what separates him from most in his class and he did not really do that. He did truck a defender, but he also passed up 10 yards on the ground to take a shot that resulted in a pick. Milton is a day 3 pick at best who is already on the older side and needs a lot of development, and his Senior Bowl performance did not help this.

Sam Hartman, Notre Dame

Due to Penix sitting out and Bo Nix only getting 2 series, we saw a ton of Sam Hartman. And what we saw was not great. He repeatedly missed throws and had multiple turnovers. We like Hartman and see him as a Day 2 guy potentially, but the Senior Bowl did not help his case.

Tez Walker, UNC

Walker dropped multiple passes after struggling all week with drops. He tried to one hand a beautiful flea flicker pass from Bo Nix and continued his struggle with Hartman. What makes it worse is that he was peppered with targets and did nothing. We are not nearly as high on Walker as most, as we view him far more developmental than many think, and this was why.

Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo

When we watched Quinyon Mitchell’s film we really did not like him, and gave him our worst grade of the draft season to date. If you watch the way he plays off and tries to jump throws, you’d think he’s a ball hawk, but really doesn’t have the production to call himself that. We also thought that he provided nothing in run support.

Look we’ll admit, Mitchell proved something to us in practice this week. He proved that one-on-one he can play with many receivers, and we believe that if he switched his style of play to trying to be a lock down rather than a ball hawk his film might look better. This was a major reason, mixed with wanting to see him in run support, why we wanted to see him play in the game. However, he opted out. He thought his one-on-one tape was enough to support his case as a prospect and we aren’t on that ship. We wanted to see him prove a lot in this game and he proved nothing. Big missed opportunity in our eyes.