Senior Bowl Risers and Fallers

For dynasty owners, preparation for the new season officially begins every year with the Senior Bowl. Excitement is high as a collection of some of the best seniors and fourth-year juniors that college football has to offer make their way to Mobile, Alabama.

For the players, the Senior Bowl represents a last chance to showcase their talents in a game environment. For fantasy owners, the game provides one last chance to look at players in pads, as well as the opportunity to reveal a few diamonds in the rough for your upcoming rookie drafts.

This year’s game left a bit to be desired, as neither team seemed too eager to open up the playbook or stretch the field much at all.

For much of the game, the South’s offensive unit was completely overwhelmed in the trenches, providing little opportunity for its passing game to operate. On the flip side, Matt Patricia seemed more than happy to grind out the clock with run-after-run in a 34-17 win for the North. The North’s three quarterbacks only attempted 28 collective passes – that’s the fewest since 2017 when Nathan Peterman and CJ Beathard combined for only 25 pass attempts. It was a disappointing result after hearing all week how impressive the wide receiver group was during practices, but I digress.

THE RISERS

Joshua Kelley, RB UCLA

Kelley benefited greatly from Patricia’s decision to establish the running game.

A two-star recruit that began his college career at UC Davis, he transferred to UCLA after his sophomore season. After sitting out a year due to transfer rules, he put together two 1,000-yard seasons for the Bruins. At 5’10” and 214 pounds, he was actually one of the biggest backs in an underwhelming crop of running backs this year in Mobile.

After gaining praise for his performance in practices this week, Kelley turned 15 carries into 105 yards. He showed some nice burst and often was able to navigate his way through congested running lanes, seemingly always netting a positive gain. I would have liked to see him get involved in the passing game – he had only 11 receptions this year at UCLA – but that’s hard to do when the coaches limit the pass. His performance earned him some money, but he likely will project as a part of a committee at the next level.

Joshua Kelley with a great run to start his day! #SeniorBowl pic.twitter.com/E0u1ZiUbRf

— Jake Schyvinck (@JakeNFLDraft) January 25, 2020

Darius Anderson, RB TCU

Antonio Gibson, RB Memphis

Lamical Perine, RB Florida

For the sake of your time, I’m going to lump these three running backs together. While all three project as committee backs, in my opinion, they each showed traits that signal they could make an NFL roster. All three showed decent contact balance and good decision making with their cuts, never forcing something that wasn’t there.

Anderson had the biggest play of the entire Senior Bowl when he scored a 75-yard touchdown in the second quarter on a pass from Shea Patterson. On the play, Anderson ran a wheel route out of the backfield that ended up wide open with room to run thanks to busted coverage. Truth be told, he stepped out at the 2-yard line, but the Senior Bowl doesn’t do replay review so the score stood. He finished the day with 2 receptions for 87 yards as well as 43 yards on the ground on 7 attempts.

https://twitter.com/RecruitAlytics1/status/1221213061262069765

For the South, Perine and Gibson each had respectable days.

Perine had 7 rushes for 42 yards and scored a receiving touchdown where he had to fight through contact and extend to reach the goal line.

Gibson toted the ball 11 times for 68 yards and looked respectable running the ball for a man without a true position in college. In two seasons at Memphis, Gibson had only 77 touches (33 of them rushes), but scored 14 touchdowns. He’ll likely need to do more during the combine and interview stages, but he had the NFL Network booth raving during the game.

perfect first drive from the south team. lamical perine finishes it off with a TD. damien lewis is a stud. pic.twitter.com/0kIKfSyMzR

— josh houtz (@houtz) January 25, 2020

Justin Herbert, QB Oregon

For Herbert, the goal at the Senior Bowl was simple: prove to coaches he could be a vocal leader during practices and then play a clean game with no mistakes. He largely achieved that, though he wasn’t asked to go outside of his comfort zone much during the game.

He played the entire first quarter, squeezing in three series. He completed his first 7 passes, finishing 9-for-12 for 83 yards and a touchdown. I would have liked to see him throw it down the field more, as he was mostly limited to screens or quick timing routes that never extended past the sticks, but seeings as how poorly the South’s line blocked the rest of the game, that may have been by design.

Herbert also showed off his mobility, rushing for 22 yards on three carries. He was decisive in his reads and was easily the quarterback that looked most pro-ready on a day full of spotty QB play.

Anthony Gordon, QB Washington State

Another Mike Leach disciple, Gordon came into the week without much expectations. He put up prolific numbers this season for the Cougars, but Leach’s quarterbacks always do. While you can still question his ability to throw outside the numbers following his Senior Bowl performance, you do have to give him credit for playing to his strengths, with only Herbert playing better on the day.

Gordon is most comfortable throwing to the middle of the field on quick timing routes, and he did so with great success Saturday. He finished 8-for-12 for 69 yards and two touchdowns. While I don’t expect him to be much more than a backup at the next level, none of us thought Gardner Minshew would be a thing either, did we?

Harrison Bryant, TE Florida Atlantic

If you’re looking at the box score, you might question this selection, but I like what I saw out of him. While he didn’t register a catch — I’m not even certain that he was targeted — I won’t hold that against him.

The South’s offense was a mess whenever it tried to pass the ball, mostly because the offensive line was unable to keep pressure off the quarterbacks. Where Bryant was able to shine was run blocking. He more than held his own creating space for Perine and Gibson.

For tight ends, one way to ensure you see plenty of playing time early in your career is by being a competent blocker, and Bryant had the broadcast booth comparing him to George Kittle. That may be overdoing it, but it’s the kind of praise that should make fantasy owners take another look. This year Bryant had over 1,000 yards receiving for the Owls and he will get a chance to show off his hands and route-running ability at the combine and his school’s Pro Day.

Pass Rushers for Team North

For you IDP owners out there, I also want to highlight a few defensive performances.

Part of why this game felt so one-sided was the sheer amount of pressure the North was able to put on the South’s quarterbacks.

Utah’s Bradlee Anae finished the day with 3 sacks, including a sequence where he had two in a row. On the first play, he rushed outside and blew past his man beating him with a speed rush. Then, as if he heard all of the armchair scouts calling that a flukey play, he followed it up the very next play with an impressive swim move to the inside where he chopped away his would-be blockers arms and then dipped into the backfield for another sack. On another pressure, Anae hit Jalen Hurts as he threw, leading to a jump-ball interception from Ohio State linebacker Malik Harrison.

Syracuse’s Alton Robinson and Michigan State’s Kenny Willekes each added 2 sacks.

Michigan edge Josh Uche was also in the backfield all day. He didn’t register a sack, but one of his pressures led to an interception.

It was a rough day for the South’s quarterbacks.

Bradlee Anae cross-chop, club and swim move to the inside against Oregon tackle Calvin Throckmorton, pressure causes an interception. pic.twitter.com/Js3TfnzK5O

— Brad Kelly (@CoachBKelly) January 25, 2020

THE INCOMPLETES

Jordan Love, QB Utah State

Perhaps he should feel lucky he didn’t have the day Hurts did, but Love certainly wasn’t done any favors by Matt Patricia or Saturday’s game flow.

Starting for the North, Love’s first drive saw a missed defensive holding call lead to an incompletion on a deep throw to Liberty’s Antonio Gandy-Golden.

Then, after Kelley rushed for a first down, Patricia called three straight runs that gave the North 4th-and-1 near midfield. Rather than go for it, Patricia decided scouts deserved to get a look at his punter.

The next time Love got the ball, two offensive line penalties pinned the North against their own goal line. After completing a screen pass to his running back to gain some breathing room, Love took a shot downfield under pressure on second down. The ball looked like a good pass, but Baylor’s Denzel Mims must have lost it in the sun, because it landed right next to him without an attempt to catch it from the receiver. On third-and-long, Love dumped off a last-minute pass to his running back instead of running it himself and was once again forced to punt. We didn’t see Love again until the 4th quarter.

On his first drive back in the game, Baylor’s JaMycal Hasty lost a fumble on the second play of the drive.

Love’s next drive was the final one of the game, and Patricia elected to run eight times before having his QB kneel twice so they could kick a field goal. Love finished 4-of-6 passing for 26 yards, and simply was not given an opportunity to compete. I’m putting that on Patricia and his staff.

The Pass Catchers

Much was made this week about how impressive this group of receivers was during practices, and even the tight end group got some love from draft Twitter.

USC’s Michael Pittman gained a lot of praise, but he was unable to play Saturday after suffering a foot injury. Florida’s Van Jefferson, Texas’ Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay, Baylor’s Denzel Mims, Ohio State’s KJ Hill, Liberty’s Antonio Gandy-Golden, Tennessee’s Jauan Jennings, and Tex A&M’s Quartney Davis all received high praise for their practice performances, but hardly any got to showcase it Saturday. Davis had the most catches and yards (4-53) for receivers. Gandy-Golden (1-5-1) and Jennings (3-22-1) each had a score. Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool – who might be transitioned to tight end at the next level – also had a score on 2 catches for 6 yards.

That doesn’t even include the tight ends, who were mostly quiet on the day.

THE FALLERS

Jalen Hurts, QB Oklahoma

Hurts is no stranger to adversity. He lost his starting job at Alabama in the middle of the National Championship game and stayed another year, a decision not many would make but one that did help the Tide return to the National Championship game. This week he was faced with the decision of skipping his grandfather’s funeral on Wednesday to remain at Senior Bowl practices or to remove himself from the game. He chose to stick it out in Mobile, and you wish his teammates had rewarded him better than this.

Under constant, immediate pressure, Hurts went 6-for-13 for 58 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He certainly has some question marks to his game – scouts worry about his ball placement and he tends to wait to see someone open rather than anticipating the throw – but it would have been hard for anyone to have looked good under the circumstances. He’ll need a stellar Pro Day and Combine to wipe some of the memories of this game and his performance against LSU out of scout’s minds.

Shea Patterson, QB Michigan

Steven Montez, QB Colorado

These two didn’t have high stock coming into the week and did little to improve it.

Patterson did open the game with the 75-yard touchdown pass to Anderson, but he faced little pressure and Anderson was wide open in busted coverage with daylight to run. He also badly missed on a pass that was picked off, and nearly threw another one on a throw where he faded off of his back foot. He showed off his plus mobility, but it often worked against him as he would spin away from one defender only to work his way deeper into the backfield.

As for Montez, he finished the day 3-for-8 for 22 yards and a pick. He looked like he didn’t belong out there.

Eno Benjamin, RB Arizona State

It was a rough week for Benjamin’s stock. First, he weighed in at 195 pounds, a full 15 pounds below his listed weight at Arizona State and not ideal for a player hoping to prove he could be a bell-cow back.

He showed flashes of his elusiveness, making one defender miss with a nifty spin move. Far too often, though, he was swallowed up at the line of scrimmage and rag-dolled by defensive linemen. He finished the day with 7 rushes for 20 yards. He did manage 19 yards on three receptions, suggesting he could carve out a receiving back role (think James White), but that still has to be a disappointing day for a guy wanting to prove he can play all three downs.

JaMycal Hasty, RB Baylor

Similar to Benjamin, Hasty measured in a bit undersized, standing 5’8″ and weighing in at 203 pounds. He actually showed potential as a change of pace back with a 3-25-1 line on the ground and adding 2 receptions for 15 yards. But Hasty also fumbled late in the game. That reflects poorly for a player with just five touches in the game.