If you like rain and seeing QBs throw a wet football, well then, this day of the 2022 Senior Bowl practice was for you. I was actually surprised they held the practice outdoors today, to be honest. There was a steady rain all day for both practices. So, for that reason, my notebook is kind of light today.
NATIONAL TEAM PRACTICE
Christian Watson (WR/North Dakota State) continued his hot start to the week with another good day of practice. The Bison speedster sustained his route running prowess and was catching the ball well in the rain.
Michigan guard Andrew Steuber was poor in every rep I saw him take today. Logan Hall (DL/Houston) bull rushed straight through him in one rep. Logan Hall had a nice exchange with Chattanooga guard (center at the time) Cole Strange. They ended up doing the best 2-of-3. Hall got him on the first and third. Strange won the second. Cole Strange is very strong once he gets his feet set.
Speaking of poor reps, none may have been worse than this one by Washington State OT Abraham Lucas. This shouldn’t happen when you outweigh the player in front of you by 100 pounds.
Low man wins. Kyron Johnson runs over the OT pic.twitter.com/jlpqlKPUY3
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) February 2, 2022
One of the best things I have seen over the last two days was after practice. Boston College guard Zion Johnson has shown a level of dedication that will endear him to every scout and coach in attendance. Because of the lack of centers, Johnson has been repping at center. He has stayed after practice both days and snapped the ball. Today, during the hardest rain of the day, there was Zion Johnson snapping the ball after practice. You truly love to see it.
Colorado State tight end Trey McBride made a nice contested catch over Jalen Pitre (S/Baylor) on a pass from Kenny Pickett (QB/Pittsburgh).
With the loss of Central Michigan’s Luke Goedeke to a hamstring injury, the Senior Bowl is bringing in LSU guard Chasen Hines on Thursday.
AMERICAN TEAM PRACTICE
Malik Willis (QB/Liberty) continued to show off his tremendous arm strength today in the rainy conditions. By all accounts, Willis was the best QB on the American roster today.
I think the stock on Isaiah Likely (TE/Coastal Carolina) is going to continue to rise. He ran some good routes and caught the ball extremely well considering the conditions.
I mention on the Draft Countdown podcast last night that I question UTSA CB Tariq Woolen’s long speed. Apparently, I based that off of one bad rep. He had the fastest GPS recorded time yesterday at 22.45 mph. Whoops!
The biggest eye-opener on the American team for me today was Missouri State DL, Eric Johnson. Johnson was a late callup from the NFLPA Bowl. He walked back Tennessee OL Cade Mays with one arm and then later beat Kentucky OT Darrian Kinnard (who was playing guard) with an inside spin move. Kinnard had a couple of other rough reps as well.
TOMORROW
I hope to be able to cover practice tomorrow. However, we were informed that with the expected inclement weather (much worse than today) that both practices will be held at the South Alabama covered facility. Due to limited space inside of there, we may get shut out. If that is the case, I will have a film review of the practice up either late Thursday or early Friday.