How Technique Factors Into Senior Bowl Week Practice

Stoney Keeley offers up a couple of examples of how technique shows up when evaluating players down here at the Senior Bowl.

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The coaching aspect of the Reese’s Senior Bowl is probably the hardest thing to evaluate as a writer down here in Mobile this week. I mean, it ain’t like they’re tellin’ us media people exactly what the intent of each drill is and what it’s trying to measure. They’re not sprinting to the sideline to tell us what they just communicated to a player who may need to be coached up. But, we know from testimony and seeing something on the field that it’s one of the biggest benefits for these dudes this week – getting real life NFL coaching from NFL coaches in real time.

One of the main beneficiaries of the NFL coaching seems, at least on the surface from what I could see, to be Maryland OT Jaelyn Duncan. Duncan came to Mobile as one of this draft’s top offensive tackle prospects. He was touted as a physically-gifted athletic freak – the type of tackle that had all the traits in the world. The questions surrounding his draft stock have been about his – you guessed it – technique. So, I kept an eye on who the offensive line coach was spending time with, and Duncan was a guy that got a lot of 1:1 time after his reps.

One interesting thing I observed from Day 1 to Day 3 was where Duncan was lining up. On the first day of practice, Duncan was getting reps on both sides of the line. By Day 3, he was exclusively playing left tackle. When it was time to run 11-on-11s, he was the “starter.” Now, again…remember what I said to start this article…the coaches aren’t clearly communicating this to us, but I always did well in the deductive reasoning exercises in college, so I’m going to go out on a limb and say Duncan has earned a little clout at left tackle with the Senior Bowl coaches. What else could I possibly have to base this evaluation on? Oh, I don’t know – how about the fact that his technique has just plain gotten better in a matter of two days?!?! On that first day, we saw a few plays that Duncan gave up as a result of a lapse in technique. Yesterday, he had a solid day in the teams drills. He was working on his footwork to start the day, and the man already looks like he’s getting a lot better. I can’t wait to watch him in the game on Saturday – if he continues to get better, and show that he’s hyper-receptive to coaching, there’s no doubt Duncan is going to cement himself as a first rounder.

Technique plays into the Senior Bowl in another way, too. People can shit on the individual drills all they want, but seeing the guys go through the reps one at a time gives you the opportunity to really hone in on how a guy moves. From there, as an evaluator, you can take note of how those particular skills translate into meaningful game action.

That’s how I noticed the potential of EDGE Nick Hampton as a fluid mover. Zigzagging between the tackling dummies, I noticed how smoothly the Appalachian State product was able to sink his hips and change directions. He ran the drill as seamlessly as any of the other edge rushers did. While his straight line power shows on the game tape that I’ve watched, his bend is something that I questioned coming into the week. But, he’s taken that ability and put it on display in practice – I made note of a particular rep during which he sinks his hips to get around the right tackle, Blake Freeland, and put himself in a position to get the sack (if it were actual game action and not a practice drill).

Then you notice guys learning the importance of technique and when to apply it properly. Northwestern defensive lineman Adetomiwa Adebawore has been tearing guys up all week long. He is a disruptor that has a hell of a burst, and he hit a move on Cody Mauch that put him in the spin cycle yesterday.

Here’s #Northwestern DL Adetomiwa Adebawore putting Cody Mauch in the spin cycle. #SeniorBowl

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— Stoney Keeley (@StoneyKeeley) February 2, 2023

But, it was a move he put on Jarrett Patterson later in the practice that really had me impressed. Patterson is a good lateral mover in his own right, so Patterson deployed a more leverage-based technique on him to try and drive him back. He got his hands on Patterson, extended his arms, sank down, and just kept those feet churning to completely move Patterson back. After doing it on back-to-back reps, Patterson was visibly and audibly frustrated. I don’t know if there was a little extra extra going on there or what, but I was impressed by Adebawore’s ability to win in the trenches through different techniques.

All three of these guys have improved their draft stock this week by demonstrating a proper understanding of technique, being responsive to coaching on technique, and developing a savvy sense of when to deploy it and who to deploy it against. On a very basic level, it shows that these players are willing to do the work to refine their game for the next level.

All Senior Bowl content is sponsored by Lyons Ford. They’re not your typical dealership! They will always give you every discount you qualify for, and give you you the most bang for your buck for your trade-in vehicle. You won’t regret doing business with them. Reach out to Zach on Twitter if you’re looking at getting a new or used vehicle.

Yesterday, Zach and I teamed up to tackle Day 2 of the Senior Bowl and what we had seen from the National Team practice on Day for A Football Show on 440 Sports. Coming to you LIVE from the parking lot at Hancock Whitney Stadium in between practices, watch as we dodge cars to break down all of this week’s action.