With the college football playoff in full swing, we can start to begin looking towards the post season NFL draft circuit. One of the big events every year is the Senior Bowl, held in Mobile, Alabama.
This bowl game takes some of the top prospects as well as talent evaluators and NFL decision makers and brings them into one city for an entire week so that the prospects can showcase their stuff to NFL teams. In today’s article, the analyst will cover three prospects that you should be watching during the week of the senior bowl (January 27th thru February 1st):
1 – The Quarterback Class
Listen, I know it’s cheating to lump all of one position group into one, but so far in the NFL draft class this year, no one has stood out to take the mantle of QB3. Currently on my big board as of 12-21, Jalen Milroe (Alabama) has that distinction, but there is a chance he could return to school for another season.
Dillion Gabriel (Oregon), Tyler Shough (Louisville), Will Howard (Ohio State) and Riley Leonard (Notre Dame) will have a major chance to raise their draft stock down in Mobile. An excellent week in Mobile can do wonders for your draft stock, just ask two of last year’s participants: Bo Nix (selected 12th by Denver) and Michael Penix Jr (selected 8th overall by Atlanta) who parlayed their success in mobile to high draft selections.
2 – Cam Skattebo, RB, Arizona State
Cam Skattebo, a hard nosed runner from Arizona State University has taken the draft community by storm this year. For this analyst, he’s raised his grade from a UDFA grade to a 4th round selection with his stellar play this season.
However, NFL decisionmakers down in Mobile Alabama are going to want to see more from the former Sun Devil. Some of his biggest question marks are relating to his ball security and his overall long speed, both of which will need to be a focus for him during senior bowl week.
Cam is an angry, violent hard nosed running back who breaks tackles consistently. This analyst has a comparison of Rex Burkhead, the former Bengals/patriots/Texans running back and I for one am excited to see cam in one on one drills versus this linebacker group down in Mobile.
3 – Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota and Wyatt Milum, OT, West Virginia
I know, I said I was gonna keep it at three prospects, but I’ve already broken that rule with number one, so I’m gonna continue the trend here. I’ve made no secret about how I feel about this offensive tackle class over on my social medias (you can find me on “X” @sparkscouting), and how I don’t think there’s an offensive tackle prospect worthy of a top 15 selection.
In fact, my current top two offensive lineman on my big board are:
- One who will likely play guard at the next level due to length concerns and an inability to handle speed to power (Will Campbell, LSU)
- One who this analyst believes can play right tackle based on his size and athletic profile, however, some draft pendants think he’s also better suited for a slide inside to guard (Jonah Savaiinaea, Arizona, who you can also read about in an article I wrote on him in the fall here)
With major question marks surrounding this offensive line class, Aireontae Ersery and Wyatt Milum could really leapfrog the field with an excellent week in mobile. Aireontae currently sits as my OL5 on my big board, and I’d like to see him improve on his overall quickness profile, as well as reduce his pad level on a consistent basis, as he often plays too high with a pad level, giving up unnecessary leverage.
Wyatt is currently right behind him as my OL6, and I’d love to see Wyatt add some functional play strength during his time in Mobile. In addition, the leverage concerns I have with Aireontae also show up on Wyatt’s tape as well, so dialing in his technique and mechanics while in mobile is important.
With an offensive tackle class that has more questions than answers, both of these two gentlemen can raise their stock significantly and potentially work their way into round one in the NFL draft with a good week in mobile at the senior bowl. Considering the amount of top-tier defensive line prospects that will also be at the senior bowl, a good showing by both of these gentlemen will go a long way.
If you wanna learn more about the senior bowl, you can check out their website here! In addition, you can also check out my podcast that I’ll be doing in a couple of weeks, where we take a deep dive into some senior bowl prospects as well with the draftprofessor on YouTube here!
As always, feel free to follow me on social media and let’s discuss some draft discourse over on “X” @sparkscouting !
