MORSE: Senior Bowl Preview and Mark's Morsels

It’s Senior Bowl week, the most important week for college seniors trying to make a name for themselves. Most players are already ranked by the NFL teams. However, a good or bad week at the Senior Bowl practices and Interviews can make or break some of these players. Monday will be the weigh-ins and measurements. We find a few players lighter and heavier, and not as tall as the college PR department said they were.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the practices and I will have reports on Wednesday and Friday with a pre-game report as well. Alabama QB Mac Jones was a late add to the American Roster, coached by the Carolina coaching staff. The National team is coached by the Dolphins staff. Two Alabama stars WR DeVonta Smith and OC Landon Dickerson will attend but not play while rehabbing injuries. Smith dislocated his finger in the National Championship game.

Senior Bowl will be broadcast by NFL Network at 1:30 on Saturday January 30^th.

Some other quick Morsels:

– This is an important week for North Dakota St OT Dillon Raduntz. He was the 1^st player invited to play in the game. Radunz is the 6’ 6” 300 lb LT that kept QB Trey Lance clean. ND St is a FCS school and they play at a lower level of competition. Lets see how he looks in practice against top flight college talent. With a good week he could move up the draft boards.

– Every team will be represented at the practices and interviews. Some of these are on-field discussions that Bill Belichick has with the players and he has been known to give a little coaching too. The teams usually bring a crew of coaches to observe and conduct interviews. The league will allow in person interviews at the All Star games.

– Matt Patricia will be re-joining the Patriots in an unspecified advisory capacity.

– Looks like Josh McDaniels isn’t going anywhere. Philadelphia hired Nich Siiranni as their head coach. He was the former Indianapolis Offensive coordinator. Reports that McDaniels leaving Indianapolis high and dry after accepting their Head Coach position has come back to haunt him. I was surprised he would even be considered, never mind being one of the top candidates.

– Missed the Lions picking Dan Campbell as Head Coach. He comes from New Orleans and is a no nonsense kind of guy. He briefly coached Miami as an Interim coach. He joked at his press conference that he hurried up and signed his contract before the Lions realized they hired the wrong Campbell. Iowa States Matt Campbell has been highly successful and a hot coaching name for a bigger program.

– SF will receive a third draft pick compensation for the loss of Martin Mayhew as Washington GM. This means they will have compensatory 3^rd round picks in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

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About Mark Morse

Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.

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