With the game in the books, plenty of practice tape reviewed and a full week to recap, here are the big winners, unheralded stars, updated rankings and prospects who left us with more questions than answers from a great 2020 Senior Bowl week.
With exclusive footage and some bonus awards, here’s all you need to know about the top seniors and what it means for the upcoming NFL Draft.
Winners
Javon Kinlaw, IDL, South Carolina
In an All-Star game setting, Kinlaw stood out before even stepping on the field, as he’s just built differently. It showed in one-on-one drills as he was bullying the guards on the South roster, quite literally looking like a man among boys.
What puts his week over the top is his first-step quickness at that size, as he regularly blew-by would-be blockers with his rare explosiveness.
What’s more intriguing is how raw Kinlaw is, with plenty of pass-rushing moves to add to his arsenal and a frame that could fit a multitude of positions and fronts.
Much like on his college tape, he didn’t always dominate the competition but his talent will lead a team to gamble on him very high.
Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon
Herbert didn’t answer all questions, especially those regarding his ability to play at a high level when going off his secondary reads, but his week was truly impressive.
He was polished, adjusting fairly seamlessly to playing under center and showed nice accuracy, a strong arm, tight-end like frame and mobility. Improvements in his play under pressure were nice to see and it spoke volumes that he was clearly a notch above the rest of the field in Mobile. His week was somewhat reminiscent of Baker Mayfield’s showing in 2018.
It’s hard to imagine Herbert dropping out of the top six picks at this point. His talent is just too rare at the position despite the questions about his up-and-down play at Oregon.
Josh Jones, OT, Houston
By the end of the week, Jones was the only tackle that truly belonged, showing constant improvement throughout the process.
Jones’ movement skills in pass protection stood out from the get but he was also impressive in the run game, showing strong hands and feet that were in sync with his upper body. Everything he did was smooth, without overreaching or getting out of position, playing on both the right and left side seamlessly.
Just watch him here against Bradlee Anae, who gave everyone else fits the entire week.
Jones looked like a ready-made starter at a premium position, making himself considerable amounts of money by elevating his stock.
His only concern is that his length isn’t elite but with his high-end movement skills he proved he could overcome his size. Keep him in mind in early round two or as a trade-up target at the end of round one.
Lloyd Cushenberry III, OC, LSU
Cushenberry was tested as much as anyone with LSU’s brutal schedule but he still showed up in Mobile and made a big impression.
His long arms and movement skills at center are pretty special, even more so when combined with his balance and strong anchor, giving him all the makings of a top-50 pick who’ll get paid handsomely for many years.
Teammate Damien Lewis improved throughout the week and capped things off with some powerful movement skills while run blocking in the game.
His power and balance stood out as he separated himself among the interior offensive lineman fighting for Day Three picks.
Bradlee Anae & Josh Uche, OLB, Michigan
These two edge rushers had fantastic 2019 seasons but needed to prove the production wasn’t a fluke and did just that.
Uche was explosive, showing his bend and slipperiness to rush the passer but also a relentlessness in pursuit combined with good movement skills dropping in coverage or moving sideline-to-sideline.
Anae was a pest, playing with his hair on fire. His hand usage, first-step quickness and closing ability make him a threat to make game-changing plays rushing the passer on just about every snap. Despite a lack of even average length, he showed how he can wreck backfields against high-level competition.
Uche is reminiscent of former Alabama first-rounder Rashaan Evans, raising his stock as much as anyone on the week. Anae will have to show good bend and quickness off the snap at the Combine but could threaten to go in the top-50 as well.
Denzel Mims, WR, Baylor
Mims has the size, track speed and yet, all he wanted to talk about how was his blocking ability. His route running might still need to be refined and he’ll need to pack on a few pounds to really push his weight around in contested ball situations but the package of raw skills Mims offers are as intriguing as any receiver in this loaded 2020 class.
What really puts Mims over the top is his rare ability to make acrobatic catches that few others could even dream of hauling in.
He’ll be a name to keep an eye on as his rise should continue if his track background shows at the Combine.
Troy Pride Jr., CB, Notre Dame
Pride Jr. showed himself to be the stickiest cornerback in Mobile with physicality and speed fitting the profile of a pure man corner. His work in press coverage and quickness to shadow even the best athletes in Mobile give him all the requisite talents to start early in the NFL.
Weather mirroring speedsters like Quartney Davis (see above) or locking down big targets like Michael Pittman, Pride was up to the task showing supreme confidence in the process.
His ability to track the ball and make plays on the football will need to improve but his skill-set is that of an NFL starter. Don’t be surprised to see Pride Jr. get mocked at the end of round one sooner rather than later, as he was far more impressive than 34th overall pick Rock Ya-Sin was a year ago.
Jason Strowbridge, DL, North Carolina
Strowbridge is a really interesting case study. His tape wasn’t overwhelming at UNC and his showing in the actual Senior Bowl was fairly pedestrian but his week of practice was otherworldly.
Between his heavy hands, lightning quickness, deceptive bend, and some real power, Strowbridge dominated one-on-ones proving that there wasn’t a guard in Mobile who could handle him.
He won’t be a top-50 pick but creative teams will look at the Tarheel as a versatile sub-package rusher who could be reliable against the run out on the edge.
In a similar vein, Auburn’s star edge rusher Marlon Davidson came in at 297 pounds, said he’d play anywhere and popped on day one showing an intriguing skill set as a rusher who can be moved all over the defensive front.
Davidson was limited by injury after the opening practice but showed enough to receive plenty of first-round buzz before the week was even over.
Antonio Gandy-Golden, WR, Liberty
The small-school product was impressive for his frame and strong hands, though he did have a couple of avoidable drops. More eye-opening was Gandy-Golden’s quickness and change of direction for a 220-pound receiver.
The sky is the limit for the fun-loving kid who’s just scratching the surface of his infinite talent. He might be overlooked in this year’s outstanding receiver class but could end up being one of the best of the group.
Upon further review
There’s a lot going on at practice in a jam-packed week at the Senior Bowl, which is why it’s always nice to go back and review the tape. While we might not have talked much about these prospects before now, here are three players who really stood out when re-watching practice and the game.
Matt Hennessy, OC, Temple
Temple’s center came in with some fanfare and while he didn’t stand out live, he was really impressive when reviewing the tape.
Steady in all areas, Hennessey showed some awesome movement skills in pass protection—as shown above with his rep against edge rusher Alton Robinson—handling the ball cleanly, with phenomenal balance and strong hands as a run blocker. He doesn’t have Cushenberry’s length or power but he’s a rock and was truly impressive in pass protection drills. In an outstanding center class with tons of starter-level talent, he’ll be fighting to be one of the top-five prospects taken at his position.
Ben Bartch, OT, St. John’s
The Division III product wasn’t your typical small-school Senior Bowl invitee, as he doesn’t possess otherworldly size—though he’s more than suited to stick at tackle—looking just like a guy.
Upon further review, his week was outstanding, showing special athleticism in pass protection at left tackle and one of the fastest kick slides in the class. He was supremely smooth and didn’t look out of place at all during the week, regularly making SEC and Power Five prospects look silly.
His hands and feet really stand out as he could be a great developmental pick in the later rounds who could pay off in a big way with some more seasoning.
Joshua Kelley, RB, UCLA
Running back can always be the hardest position to evaluate during practice but Kelley came on, showing great feet, vision, balance, and burst, all traits that came together in a great showing in the game as well.
Kelley was the main reason UCLA started to show signs of life in the second half of the season and could be a nice pickup to stick in a platoon at the NFL level, with some untapped potential as a receiver as well.
Plays of the Week
Offense
K.J. Hill’s one-handed grab
Hill might not do anything at an elite level for NFL standards but he does everything well and unleashed this gem on the final day of practice.
K.J. Hill, ladies and gentlemen pic.twitter.com/5Z6Ch1M584
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) January 23, 2020
Defense
Uche and Anae combine for the sack
This combined sack by Uche and Anae was emblematic of the week, with Strowbridge showing discipline and following the back as a cherry on top.
More questions than answers
Jordan Love, QB, Utah State
At the end of the day, Love might’ve even raised his stock and is still very much in the first-round mix simply because of his rare tools at quarterback but he did leave us with more questions than answers.
In 11-on-11 settings, like in the final practice, Love was able to improvise a bit more, throwing on the run or even carrying the ball on RPO type plays, shows intriguing playmaking skills but his inaccuracies, decision making and lack of polish all are concerning.
He’s a buyer beware prospect who teams will have to sell themselves on based on his 2018 tape. After watching both he and Herbert, the Duck is clearly the safer prospect.
High-upside OTs
With tons of upside and size at offensive tackle, Matt Peart, Prince Tega Wanogho, and Alex Taylor had big opportunities entering the week but didn’t quite capitalize.
Peart had his moments, with plenty of size and power that flashed as a run blocker. He seemed like more of a right tackle than a blind-side protector and got his hands inside too often, struggling in the game.
Taylor possesses a rare combination of size and athleticism but is still far too raw. Yes, he proved he belongs but also that he’ll take quite a bit of coaching before he can be trusted to protect a franchise QB.
Meanwhile, Auburn’s talented tackle couldn’t practice and measured with less than ideal length. In a strong tackle class, all three lost some ground to the competition.
Guard class
It’s not a great guard class with most of the top prospects being college tackles who will be converted inside, much like Kansas standout Hakeem Adeniji who had a nice week, but otherwise, most of the top guards underwhelmed.
Oregon’s Calvin Throckmorton was someone I had high hopes for, but he’ll have to kick in at guard, as his abilities at tackle were severely exposed in an embarrassing showing during the game.
Devin Duvernay, WR, Texas
Not all the wide receivers were going to shine but Duvernay came in with decently high expectations and rare speed only to disappear. He didn’t have a single memorable moment during the week and looked very raw as a route runner.
His skills would fit nicely in Denver, though it’s clear he’ll need quite a bit of coaching to be serviceable.
Shea Patterson, QB, Michigan
Most years there’s one quarterback that looks out of place in Mobile and this year it was Patterson, who frankly was only there because of the flashes he’d shown early in his college career at Ole Miss.
Patterson looked like more of a gimmicky-running quarterback than someone with the arm talent to merit consideration as even a backup at the next level.
Top-10 Senior Bowl Prospects
Lots has changed from a week ago when we unveiled our top-10 on our Senior Bowl preview, here’s how our rankings changed.
1. Javon Kinlaw, IDL, South Carolina
2. Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon
3. Josh Uche, OLB, Michigan
4. Josh Jones, OT, Houston
5. Bradlee Anae, DE, Utah
6. Jordan Love, QB, Utah State
7. Lloyd Cushenberry III, OC, LSU
8. Terrell Lewis, OLB, Alabama
9. Denzel Mims, WR, Baylor
10. Michael Pittman Jr, WR, USC
