MOBILE, Ala. - Another beautiful day in Mobile at the Senior practice. Once again, a pair of practices to review and highlight the good, bad, and ugly. Speaking of ugly, I used no sunscreen yesterday and burned about 70% of my face. Despite the acquisition of some on Wednesday, it was scorched once again. The good news is the 25-degree weather will shock it right out of my system upon a return to New England...
1. Let's start with quarterbacks again today. The best one wasn't any that's on your radar. It was South Alabama's Carter Bradley, who is, in some part, here as a favor to the program, which hosts the Senior Bowl in Mobile. He's 6'3" and 218 pounds with long arms and sound mechanics. He has a very smooth delivery, threw a tight spiral, and had excellent ball placement on day two; he was cooking from the start, hitting Tulane's Jha'quan Jackson (more on him in a bit) on a 9 route, where the receiver didn't break stride. Later, in 7-on-7, he delivered my favorite throw of the day, drilling Ainias Smith of Texas A&M on a skinny post. It was a tight fit. Over the linebacker, ahead of the corner, and in front of a driving safety. Chef's kiss. In the same drill, Bradley came back to Smith on a slant, and the ball left a smoke trail but was put in the right spot. Finally, in 11-on-11, the signal caller faced edge pressure off of play action but threw a corner route to a spot long before Jackson had made his break. Jackson had to lay out, but there was a lot to like about Bradley's feel and anticipation.
As for the star of yesterday's practice, Michael Penix of Washington was…fine, which was a lot better than Bo Nix, who was mostly not fine. Nix had an ugly four-play stretch in team, dropping a shotgun snap, missing tight end AJ Barner on a skinny post (the throw was well behind him, giving Barner no chance), then short arming Malachi Corley on a short throw between the hashes. A would-be sack finished off the set, and I didn't like Nix's failure to feel the edge pressure. There was talk that a big week could propel Nix into the top 10. I would appreciate a word with those folks. In the offense's defense in the opening practice, the line got chewed up, which hurried some of the processing you'd like to see.
I continue to like how South Carolina's Spencer Rattler drives the ball, especially on throws to the boundary. There is no question about his arm strength, but he is small, and I'm generally a heightest at the position. He's also not thick.
2. As for the wideouts, it felt like yesterday's stars - Roman Wilson and Ladd McConkey - did enough and were almost given more secondary roles. That allowed several pass catchers to rebound from less-than-desirable days or pop after quiet first-day performances. Xavier Legette recovered from a slow start in one-on-ones to show the physicality that had people comparing him to AJ Brown (I don't like the comp but just saying). He worked the sidelines well on a couple of deep outs/comebacks, then used his thick frame (6'1", 223) to shield a defender on a curl route. Legette wastes steps in his route running, which will need to be cleaned up, but his abilities come through.
I left Jackson (see above) off my list yesterday, but in retrospect, as I combed over my notes last night, I should have incorporated him into the story. Today, he left no doubt. He's a smooth route runner, seems to have a good feel for spacing, and - aside from dropping a crosser (he was displeased) - looks very natural catching the ball. He's 5'9", 190, and definitely projects in the slot. He's thicker than Pop Douglas. That should serve him well at the next level.
Johnny Wilson of Florida State is a giant. 6'6" with a catch radius that would eat up the space between the Lighthouse at Gillette and Providence. He's a complex projection, but he jumped out a couple times today, one for an option route within 10-12 yards of the line of the scrimmage in which Wilson easily separated from a much smaller corner. On the other, it was a go route. It took Wilson a little longer to get up to full speed, but when he got even with the DB, he was leaving, creating several yards of space about 20 yards down the field. The throw sucked (I didn't write down who it was), but it was a "Wow" moment.
I'll give you one more - Ricky Pearsall of Florida. He fell down more times than Marcus Smart on a basketball court yesterday, but I'm guessing he changed his cleats because he had no such issues this morning. He made a pretty catch in one-on-ones, plucking the ball off the corner's back on a go route. It looked effortless. Pearsall also had a couple catches in the team period, working underneath and to the sidelines. His college tape is impressive. I like him.
3. I was excited about the tight ends on Tuesday. I am not nearly as excited about that group on Wednesday. Kansas State's Ben Sinnott and TCU's Jared Wiley showed up in 11-on-11s, but there were some drops - AJ Barner had two, and Theo Johnson had one. Generally, the TEs weren't open or targeted when they were. I did want to note the effort of Minnesota's Brevyn Spann-Ford on a reverse, where he got out in front of the play and paved a nice path for Corley.
4. Because of some "Check down Charlie" passing periods (we really had to throw check downs for 15 minutes, coaches? Do that on your own time), I got to watch some of the big boys. From the defensive line standpoint, Missouri's Darius Robinson is a flippin' stud. He's got Go Go Gadget arms, is built like a supersized power forward - think Horace Grant - and has some serious explosion for a man that size. In a match-up of potential first-rounders, he tossed aside Oklahoma's Tyler Guyton, which is not easy to do (and Guyton has been good here by all accounts and from what else I saw of him). Robinson did it with cool efficiency. Not a lot of wasted movements despite being 6'5". He's 286 pounds, so I don't know if he makes sense for the Pats, considering how they're built, but he's a baller.
Penn State edge rusher Adisa Isaac was a handful in 11-on-11. He would have had a sack of Penix, had a couple of other pressures, and he's damn bendy for a 250-pounder. If Josh Uche is not retained, and with Matthew Judon's contract likely being an issue again this offseason/summer, I could see Isaac getting some attention in New England, or at least deserving of some. He had an inconsistent collegiate career, but there's plenty of ability there. Western Michigan's Marshawn Kneeland and Jaylen Harrell of Michigan also contributed to the Penix/Nix/Sam Hartman struggles in the National practice.
5. Once again, it's hard for me to fully ascertain what's happening at running back, but I will single out UNH's Dylan Laube again. He was clocked as one of the fastest players by GPS yesterday, and today, showed admirable patience and shiftiness on a delayed draw, then lined up at wide receiver in one-on-ones and cooked Chau Smith-Wade, a cornerback out of Washington State. The Wildcat deserved his invite and is making a case that he should be drafted and could immediately compete as a third-down back, assuming (a big assumption) that he can handle the blitz. We don't have evidence of that at a higher level, but he's 210 pounds and, by all accounts, tough as hell. Guess who needs a third-down back?
It's also hard to watch Marshawn Lloyd out of USC and not see someone who can immediately contribute at the position. He was the best player on the Trojans offense this side of Caleb Williams, and you can see it in his movements and how easily he makes defenders miss in space. With Rhamondre Stevenson entering the final year of his deal and Ezekiel Elliott a free agent, I think the Pats have to be in the running back market, and if this kid interviews well, could certainly help.
