MORSE: 2024 Senior Bowl Wrap Up

The following players have either left the Senior Bowl or have opted out of the game.

Rasheen Ali, RB, Marshall (injury)

Beau Brade, S, Maryland

Brennan Jackson, EDGE, Washington St.

Malik Mustapha, S, Wake Forest

Ricky Pearsall, WR, Florida

Jackson Powers-Johnson, C, Oregon

Roman Wilson, WR, Michigan (Injury)

Xavier Legette, WR South Carolina (ankles)

Laitu Latu, Edge, UCLA

Michael Penix, QB, Washington

Taliese Fuaga, T, Oregon State

Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo

Malachi Curley, WR, Western Kentucky

Brandon Dorlus, DL, Oregon

Khyree Jackson, CB, Oregon

These opt outs caused a real imbalance on the rosters as it necessitated a trade between the two teams before kickoff. Braden Fiske went from the American Roster to the National Roster. The coaches from the American team weren’t too happy because Fiske was the DL Practice Player of the Week and one of their better players.

The American Team was down to three wide receivers for the game. That meant Devontez Walker from North Carolina played the whole game. A great opportunity for him which he failed miserably. He had an awful game with at least three drops, and he couldn’t fight through tight coverage. He had no receptions in the game.

Practice Players of the Week

The Practice Players of the week are selected by their peers that they played opposite of during the week. I think that puts more credence on the award when it come from a player that you just kicked his butt in practice.

American National

Spencer Rattler	South Carolina	QB	Michael Penix	Washington
Christian Haynes	Connecticut	OL	Taliese Fuaga	Oregon State
Michael Wiley	Arizona	RB	Marshawn Lloyd	USC
Ladd McConkey	Georgia	WR	Malachi Corley	W. Kentucky
Jarett Wiley	TCU	TE	Theo Johnson	Penn State
Braden Fiske	Florida State	DL	Michael Hall	Ohio State
Nathaniel Watson	Mississippi St	LB	JD Bertrand	Notre Dame
Javon Bullard	Georgia	S	Evan Williams	Oregon
Jarvis Brownlee	Louisville	CB	Quinyon Mitchell	Toledo
Will Reichard (K)	Alabama	Spec	Tory Taylor (P)	Iowa

The Final score was National 16 and the American Team 7. QB Spencer Rattler was named the Most Outstanding Player of the game.

With so many players opting out of the game itself it meant this wasn’t as good a game as it could have been. The defenses dominated the game especially the linebackers. Cedric Gray (North Carolina) had two pass breakups, JD Bertrand (Notte Dame) was all over the place making plays, as was Nathaniel Watson (Mississippi State). Trevin Wallace (Kentucky) was another Linebacker that impressed. His speed was clocked at 19.42 miles per hour during the week. He is one of the few Juniors to compete in the Senior Bowl. This was the 1^st year that the Senior Bowl allowed Juniors to participate.

The star in the secondary was CB Chau Smith-Wade (Washington State). He had two interceptions, one of them was a spectacular diving catch. He hesitated a bit but realized that he wasn’t down under NFL rules and got up and returned the ball to the one-yard line after an 86-yard return. The second was on a desperate Hail Mary heave as the game ended. I have to add this before the hype of Smith-Wade gets too out of hand. Dylan Laube, the UNH RB I had listed in my first Mock Draft was allowed to run pass receiving routes as a slot receiver. Laube toasted Smith-Wade in press man coverage in a televised rep this week in practice.

Evan Williams (Oregon) had a nice interception off Sam Hartman as he ranged over to the middle of the field to make the pick and prevent a TD. The receiver RB Cody Schrader (Missouri) was wide open on the play and Hartman didn’t see him until late. Schrader had a good game receiving and running.

Spencer Rattler QB (South Carolina) had a good week of practice (he was named as the American Team QB Practice Player of the week). He followed that up going 4 for 4 and nice TD on a dime to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (Georgia) on a perfectly executed 29-yard back shoulder pass in the end zone. Rattler’s performance this week, outplaying both Michael Penix (Washington) and Bo Nix (Oregon) has put him high on my list of QBs for the Patriots.

Nix and Penix actually hurt themselves in the eyes of the scouts this week. This was an even playing field where all the players were top talents and the QBs were not familiar with any of them. Rattler had severe offensive line problems this year at South Carolina. They had 12 Olineman miss time, including several for the season and that was just through October. This was the reason they didn’t have a good season. However, Rattler willed them to a 5-7 record, barely missing the post-season bowl game. He had 3,186 yards passing and a 16 – 8 TD to INT ratio.

Emani Bailey (TCU), a diminutive back (5’7” 207 lbs) nearly stole the show with some very good runs and catches. He had the 1^st 5 touches of the game. To me his highlight was the hustle he showed on the 84-yard INT return by Evan Williams. It was an All-Star game, and he could have let Williams score. No not Bailey, he hustled his behind off and caught Williams from behind as he was trying to cut back across the field to score. Bailey flashed out of nowhere to take him down short of the goal line. The National Team did not score and were held to a 3-point score.

Luke McCaffrey (Rice) had a nice one-handed catch and looked very good all week. He is the younger brother of Christian McCaffrey and son of former NFL Receiver Ed McCaffrey.

On the O-line, the remaining players had their moments. Christian Haynes played mostly Right Guard, but they did let him play Center and on his 1^st snap, the QB fumbled. I don’t know whose fault this was but these QBs are not used to taking snaps under center. Haynes was one of the Practice Players of the Week. Kingsley Suamataia had a rough day at both Right and Left Tackle positions. Tackle Travis Glover (Georgia State) was a late addition to the Senior Bowl roster, missing half the week. He had trouble keeping up with the speed of the edge players. Delmar Glaze (Maryland) was making a name for himself this week in the practices, and he was ok in the games itself. He played Left Tackle and Left Guard. A late round player moving up the draft board is Right Tackle Javon Foster (Missouri). He has the ability to play Left Tackle too, but they did not play him there.

Several of the TEs impressed including AJ Barner (Michigan), Brevyn Spann-Ford (Minnesota)and Ben Sinnott (Kansas State). Barmer was seen all over the field. His hustle was noticeable. Spann-Ford had the nice adjustment in the end zone for the Nix TD pass. He is unmistakable because of his size. He is amongst the best in college for blocking. Sinnott is a catching machine and would make a good possession receiver for the Patriots. He is more of an H-back. I don’t know how that fits into the scheme that Alex Van Pelt will be running.

Dylan Laube (UNH) carried the ball quite a few times but didn’t show much. They used him as a decoy in the passing game and didn’t throw him the ball. They even put him as a slot receiver but didn’t look his way.

Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman got considerable playing time and was unimpressive. He also called his own number too many times running with the ball. Joe Milton was just plain old horrible. The worst throw he made (and there were several to choose from) was a checkdown to a runningback that was no more than 10 yards away. He underthrew the ball by three yards.

DT Braeden Fiske (Florida State) was a force all day and ended up with 4 tackles, a half sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Up next will be the Draft Combine on February 27th. The player measurements, medical evaluations and team interviews start on the 27th. The following is the television times and positions that will be shown on NFL Network:

Thursday, February 29th, 3pm ET: Defensive Linemen and Linebackers.
Friday, March 1st, 3pm ET: Defensive Backs and Tight Ends.
Saturday, March 2nd, 1pm ET: Quarterbacks, Wide Receivers, and Running Backs.
Sunday, March 3rd, 1pm ET: Offensive Linemen

Look for my post All-Star game Mock Draft update later this week. I will have quite a few changes based upon the player movement up and down the draft board after the All-Star games.

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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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