Senior Bowl: American Team Practice Day 3 Notes

The American Team took to the University of South Alabama’s indoor training facility this afternoon for Senior Bowl practice due to the threat of inclement weather. That meant that us media folks had to watch the action on ESPNU just like everyone else, as there wasn’t room for us and the actual important people under the roof. Good timing on our part – we made it down to Mobile just in time to not be allowed into practice. Anyway, here are my thoughts on today’s American Team practice from this afternoon.

AMERICAN TEAM PRACTICE DAY 3 NOTES

• The pace of the American Team’s practice was much different than the National Team’s practice before it. It was much slower, and seemed a lot more heavy on the “let’s see how these guys handle and process information” side of things. They started the practice by essentially doing walkthroughs of plays, lining up with no helmets, not actually throwing the ball. Quite literally, they were just going through the motions. It was an interesting drill designed to measure how guys are at lining up where they’re supposed to, processing what’s in front of them, how prepared they are, etc.
• I told my partner down here with me, Steven McCash, that someone is going to fall in love with Malik Willis and his physical traits and go all in to get him. By the time the dust settles, he very well could be the best quarterback prospect to come out of this draft class. We got the full Willis experience in this one – a couple of times where we’re holding our breath and watching him narrowly miss his target, and other times when we’re aghast at how well he read the defense and threw an absolute rocket. We got a good glimpse at the danger he poses as a runner when everything was covered up down field and he ran in a touchdown. One area of criticism I’d have with Willis today is his ability to get the offense in a rhythm. For example, there was one play on which everything developed about as perfectly as it could have out to his left, but when the throw needed to be there, it was just a little late. Nonetheless, he certainly looks the part as the most dynamic quarterback prospect in this class.
• To me, the big winner of this practice was quarterback Bailey Zappe. It feels like Zappe is easily getting lost in the shuffle in this class, but he is accurate and can throw into tight windows. In a class that has no flawless prospect, Zappe deserves a little more love. He threw a hell of a deep ball to Danny Gray that was right on the money, showing that he is capable of hitting guys accurately deep, one of the biggest knocks on Zappe. He showed solid patience on a touchdown throw to Isaiah Likely, and looked good during the red zone portion of the practice as well. He could stand to speed up his internal clock a bit – he would’ve been sacked on a play for being a little too patient.I wrote the other day that Zappe could be a riser this spring, and I stand by that.
• I just can’t sort out my feelings on Sam Howell. There’s something about his body language today that just didn’t do it for me. He didn’t exactly exude command and confidence. There was a time when Willis, Zappe, and he were talking to Mark Brunell and Zappe and Willis both looked engaged while Howell was sort of staring off into space. In the red zone drills, he was staring down receivers and didn’t appear to remotely go through any sort of progressions. Now, maybe that’s a testament to his pre-snap diagnosis…maybe he saw a match-up he knew he’d be able to exploit and didn’t even bother with the rest. I don’t know. You see the arm talent with the guy – he throws with tremendous touch, and he is dangerous when he can move around in the pocket. But, I didn’t feel like he really won any reps on his own.
• Kingsley Enagbare continues to put good work out there – he is fierce and strong as a pass rusher, but his quickness in a phone booth is uncanny.
• I really like Roger McCreary as a trustworthy battle-tested cornerback going against all that SEC talent all these years. While Calvin Austin III has been breaking ankles all week long, McCreary got the better of him on a tremendous rep in the red zone.
• They did Yusuf Corker dirty, y’all. This man is a downhill aggressive thumper at the safety position, and they had him out there running 1:1 reps against Austin III. What is wrong with y’all?
• This IOL class is insane – Luke Fortner played well at center, getting the better of Phidarian Mathis on at least one drill. They continue to move Darian Kinnard around and get him reps at multiple positions. He’s a guy I like for the Titans because of his ability to play right guard and right tackle. Ed Ingram had a hell of rep of his own against Mathis at center before moving over to left guard. Dylan Parham looked like a rock at center. This is a good year to be looking for some youth to develop into starts along the interior of the offensive line.
• I was intrigued by Daniel Bellinger earlier in the week, so I paid a little more attention to him today, and you see a bit of a mixed bag. He can be a solid route runner with sure hands and a capable blocker. He can also drop balls and whiff in pass protection (to be fair, I think all the tight ends whiffed in pass pro today). A project, but I think his ceiling is higher than he’s currently being given credit for.
• Brian Robinson Jr. is such a good pound for pound running back. I don’t know that he’s elite in any one thing, but reliable and steady in just about everything. If he IS elite in any one category, it is pass protection.
• Tight end Greg Dulcich has weapon potential – dude is so slick in space and savvy as a route runner, but MAN does he need work in pass protection.
• DeAngelo Malone had a great day – he is speedy and initiates the pass rush with violence. My man BLEW UP Dulcich in pass pro on one rep.
• I like Jalen Tolbert and Velus Jones Jr. quite a bit, but we didn’t see a whole lot of them today. That could just be a byproduct of the television broadcast and not necessarily indicative of performance. Tolbert had a nice high-point touchdown grab during the red zone drills. Jones was targeted on a beautiful Howell throw that was tipped and fell incomplete.
• I love Isaiah Likely as the pure play-making tight end, but he had a really odd rep against Leon O’Neal Jr. on which he took a step backwards before trying to juke O’Neal out of position and taking the route inside. He did not win it, and I would’ve liked to have seen a little more physicality on his part in creating separation.
• I’m going to dive into a more thorough study of this quarterback class in the future. But for the time being, heading into the game Saturday, here’s the order I would rank them in: Malik Willis, Kenny Pickett, Carson Strong, Bailey Zappe, Sam Howell, Desmond Ridder.

MORE SENIOR BOWL 2022 CONTENT

• Players Of Local Interest In The Senior Bowl
• A Round 1 Quarterback Selection Isn’t Out Of The Question For The Titans
• Sam Howell, Malik Willis, And Bailey Zappe To Play For Lions Squad In The Senior Bowl
• Senior Bowl: National Team Practice Day 3 Notes
• Titans Fans Should Be Paying Attention To The Senior Bowl

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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

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