The 2023/24 NFL season has come to a close, but we immediately transition into draft season, as all 32 teams have their eyes set on which young talent they want to bring in as their quest to Super Bowl 59 starts.

Some key events of the calendar have already taken place, when many of the top prospects tried to impress scouts and decision-makers across the league across multiple college all-star events. I did watch the Hula and Tropical Bowl games, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll be focusing on the Shrine and Senior Bowl. For the participants there, I already had done some background work and could contextualize what I saw across three days of practice plus the actual games.

I’ll discuss the ten players on offense and defense each, who impressed me the most and should be moving up draft boards thanks to their performances – I actually ended up going with ten each for both events. At the end, I listed several other players who helped themselves during the early stages of the process.

 

Running back – Deshaun Fenwick, Oregon State

Every year there seems to be a running back or two who was/were underutilized throughout their career(s) and then get(s) to show out at one of these college all-star events. Fenwick came to South Carolina in 2018 as a guy just outside the top-500 national recruits and across a combined 15 games in three years there, only totaled slightly over 600 yards and two touchdowns, before transferring to Oregon State in 2021. Yet, while he expected to take over the featured role following one year behind an established B.J. Baylor, Damien Martinez burst onto the scene, who’s averaged 6.1 yards per carry in each of his first two seasons as one of the top backs in next year’s draft most likely. Fenwick was still very product with somewhat limited opportunities, turning 305 touches into more than 1600 yards and 18 TDs. Still, it was very important for the redshirt senior RB to showcase what he brings to the table on a neutral stage with the Shrine Bowl. I thought he already helped himself by just showing up at six-foot flat and 225 pounds, before we even saw how he moved out there on the field.

On Fenwick’s very first competitive rep in practice, he beat a super-talented Florida State linebacker in Kalen DeLoach during one-on-ones on a beautifully run deep corner route, altering tempo effectively, but unfortunately dropped the ball – that would be it in terms of bad moments though. You saw him blow by guys on straight streak routes, hit them with almost like a rocker-step to freeze and break away on out routes, creating plenty of separation. I also thought Fenwick held his own during pass-pros vs. the linebackers the next day, taking the fight to them and meeting them early with hands ready to shoot, rather than sitting back and getting run over – even if that aggressiveness allowed the defenders to slide off his block ultimately a couple of times. When it came to full-team plays, his explosion through the hole popped on a couple of big runs on day one, but what really impressed me was his ability to navigate through condensed space and maximize blocks. At one point on a duo run, he did a great of stressing the outside shoulder of his guard before slicing the other way and getting up to the safety. On day two, it looked like he bottled up pretty well on a counter play, as the defense was attacking a couple of pulling linemen, but the back found a way to slip through a tight crease in the middle before hitting a spin move getting through there as he was contacted.

Unfortunately, Fenwick was knocked out for the rest of the week towards the end of his second practice with an undisclosed leg(?) injury it appears, but I thought he had done enough for the NFL to at least consider him a quality third-down player in the league for a while. In particular, when you watch running backs win a lot on those one-on-one routes against backers, it’s based on all these fancy double- and at times even triple-moves, but this guy was efficient with the way he got to his spots and caught everything after one initial drop. I think somebody’s taking a flyer on this guy at some point on day three.

 

 

 

Wide receiver – Roman Wilson, Michigan

Similarly to what I just mentioned about running backs who never received lead duties during their college career, these settings are also great for receivers who were underutilized as part of run-heavy offenses and maybe didn’t get to attack all areas of the field as a route-runner. Roman Wilson used his two days down in Mobile for the Senior Bowl to make evaluators go back to the tape and contextualize what they see with the knowledge that this guy can put DBs in hell when allowed to go one-on-one. A four-star recruit in 2020, Wilson only touched the ball ten times as a true freshman, before combining for basically 900 yards and nine touchdowns across 55 touches the next two years. This past season, he put up career-highs across the board in receptions (48), yards (789) and touchdowns (12), which earned him second-team All-Big Ten accolades. Measuring in at 5’10”, 186 pounds with only 72-inch arms certainly didn’t “win” his weigh-ins, but we already knew there were some size limitations, yet that never looked to be an issue with defenders struggling to get a hand on him.

Day one, what really stood out to me was Wilson’s ability to not lose speed on post routes and bending stuff across the field. On his first two reps during one-on-ones, he effortlessly broke away from his man on in-breaking routes, before beating Rutgers CB Max Melton for a touchdown, where he showed off nuance in his approach down the field, slightly widening the stem and leaning outside before creating about five yards of separation as he bent it back to the post. He also totally blew by Penn State’s Kalen King on a skinny post for a long TD during team portion. Wilson continued to stress defenders with his ability to gear up and down during the WR-vs-CB session. he went one-of-two so to speak against Toledo star DB Quinyon Mitchell, who was able to run with him on a stutter-fade but then got beat on a sweet curl route, where he jabbed inside, sold the fade hard and then violently snapped him off. So the defender wanted to settle the battle during call-outs to finish off practice. Wilson was able to separate on an out route, then slipped just a little bit but was able to snatch the ball with one hand at the sideline for what might’ve been the catch of the week.

Because his agent probably called and told him he had done enough to get the NFL and scouting community buzzing, Wilson sat out the third practice and actual game. However, this past week an insane story about him came out on The Ringer, about how he’d get up at 4 am and come back home at 9 pm during his high school days, since he actually had to fly back-and-forth in order attend every day for his first month there, as just a 14-year old (before he started to stay with families for stretches). So we probably shouldn’t question his commitment and we definitely shouldn’t question if he can be a productive player in a more widen-open offensive system. If he runs well in Indy, he probably goes inside the top-50.

 

 

 

Wide receiver – Malik Washington, Virginia

One of the top-1000 overall recruits in the nation back in 2019 for Northwestern, it was a long journey for Washington to reach the point he’s at today and impress scouts as the top pass-catcher of East-West Shrine week. Malik only caught 11 passes (for 76 yards and no touchdowns) through his first two years with Northwestern, before hauling in 113 receptions for 1272 yards and three TDs over the next two combined. For his final year of eligibility, he transferred to Virginia and put together a massive farewell campaign – 110 catches (led Division-1), 1426 yards and nine TDs. That made him a first-team All-ACC selection. So he came to Dallas as a known commodity in the draft community already, but after having a hefty load of targets funneled his way with designated touches as part of a bad Cavaliers offense, he really helped himself by showing he could be an effective receiver in a more traditional sense.

Washington only measured in at 5’8”, but looked solidly built at 192 pounds and what really stuck out about him on the practice field was how well he was able to start, stop and re-accelerate that weight. He showcased that explosiveness right off the bat I thought, when he slow-played the release and then bursted away from his defender on a slant his very first rep of one-on-ones. The ability to bounce laterally enough to where he avoids being impeded, yet straightening immediately and having the defender at his mercy from trail position was something we saw on display on numerous occasions, catching glance and post routes. Just watching during WR indis, he looked different than the rest of the group with how dynamic he was getting in and out of his cuts, which he combined with that ability to change up gears and make DBs anxious with slight delays and shoulder-fakes. Washington also made an awesome leaping grab on day one when a defender finally was able to stay in phase, where the quarterback just kind of laid it up for him towards the back-shoulder basically on what should’ve been a deep seven-route. And what I really liked was the way he slowed himself down in windows against zone coverage in team drills, the awareness for where the next-closest defender was, immediately wrapping up the ball and getting vertical after the catch, plus then the suddenness to make people miss with the ball in his hands.

At his height, Malik will probably be considered a “slot only”, since that’s also where he spent about 87.5% of snaps when he ran a route last season, but with his compact frame, he can be so efficient getting in and out of breaks, work the middle of the field and he put up impressive numbers last season in terms of what he did on a massive target share – a 95% catch rate and a 63.2% contested catch rate in 2023. He also consistently finished with physicality on tape and his frame looks like he’ll continue to hold up like that in the pros. It’s another very deep WR class, but he may be one of the last names off the board on day two.

 

 

 

Wide receiver – Ladd McConkey, Georgia

It’s kind of hilarious to listen to people comparing McConkey to all these white slot receivers we’ve seen have success in the NFL recently, when it’s clear that this kid has so much more juice than those guys we saw catch 100+ passes every season from Tom Brady in New England. However, in terms of route-running expertise, he did make a case for people to look at him as an instant contributor in that type of role, although he can certainly be more than “just” that I believe. After redshirted his first year (2020) in Athens as a former three-star recruit, McConkey became a productive receiver for an offense that transitioned from a heavy run approach to more of a spread-out approach, with tight-end Brock Bowers as the primary target – who will potentially be a top-ten pick in late April. Across 38 career games (taking out a couple of snaps he played before exiting, as he was trying to fight through a banged-up ankle), Ladd turned 132 touches into 1900 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Showing up an inch short of his listed six feet and his arms only measuring in at 72 and ½-inch length, didn’t help with the mantra of a small slot receiver, but he did weigh in at a solid 187 pounds and put together an absolute show on Tuesday. When he was allowed to line up inside with a three-way go, it was unfair to expect any defender to be able to guard this guy. Even when DBs were leveraged the correct way in correspondence with where McConkey’s routes were drawn up, he was able to utilize leans and shoulder-fakes to get their hips committed to him, before beating them across their face. Yet, you also saw him work on the outside, give a little stutter, sell the take-off and then create plenty of separation on a curl route. Altogether, despite slipping once, he won and ended up with the ball on all five of his routes during that one-on-one session, including a sick diving grab at one point. I wouldn’t say he was quite as dominant throughout the rest of the week, but he continued to be a tough cover with the way he’d use different pacing, pushing guys up a couple of steps before flattening the route and what I liked to see – unlike many of the receivers who would waste time at the top of the route after they won initially, he didn’t allow those guys to catch back up and potentially undercut him. On day three, he was constantly held throughout the red-zone session and even though he only caught one pass in the actual game, he was open on numerous occasions but missed by quarterbacks.

McConkey was named the American team’s Wide Receiver of the Week for his efforts and after earning the respect of his peers, will now be looking to finally shake the classification with how people have wanted to throw him in a bucket with at the combine, if he’s able to run anywhere in the low 4.4s or better. Going from what I saw in games – when he’s been healthy – where you see him improvise on a double-pass play against Florida State and dance around the entire defense in the open field for a long touchdown. He’ll likely go somewhere around Roman Wilson inside the top-50 picks.

 

 

 

Tight-end – McCallan Castles, Tennessee

While we did have Texas’ J.T. Sanders invited to Shrine Bowl week and he of course had to sit out due to still recovering from surgery, the only other names at tight-end coming into either event with some cache were Colorado State’s Dallin Holker and Kansas State’s Ben Sinnott (Senior Bowl). However, I thought the guy who had the most consistent week overall – more so than the former, who was part of the same crop of East TEs – was McCallan Castles. This guy started his career at Call all the way back in 2018. After only seeing action in four games with the Golden Bears, he moved on to UC Davis, where across 28 career games and starts, he hauled in 69 passes for 928 and nine touchdowns, making first-team All-Big Sky once and second-team twice. For his final season of eligibility, he transferred over to the SEC in order to make a name for himself, turning 22 catches into 283 yards and five TDs, as part of a Josh Heupel offense that doesn’t typically utilize the TE position too much.

What was apparent to me right away was just the speed that Castles brings to the table. How he was gliding through cuts without having to slow down at all, as he bent off dig and post routes. You saw him just run away from Kansas safety Kenny Logan on one of those what would’ve been a touchdown – although that unfortunately was a theme for the defender throughout the week. On day two, I thought he showed more detail to his routes, doing a nice job slowing down tempo momentarily before kicking into top gear and creating separation down the seams. His feel for finding the space in-between hook defenders on spot routes and sitting down on crossers was also outstanding during seven-on-sevens and full-team portion. Castles overall showed great comfort at extending for the ball away from his body and directly transitioning up the field, along with the strong hands to hold onto the ball when the throw invited the defender back into the catch point, such as when it arrived a little behind him on an out route, but he didn’t allow Alabama safety Jaylen Key swiping at the ball bother him. Along with his work as a pass-catcher, he was able to widen the edge a couple of teams on power run plays during team periods and didn’t show any hesitation crashing into bodies on kick-outs or leading up to linebackers.

I personally haven’t gotten around to extensively watching Castles, in large part because he didn’t even average two catches per game this past season, but at 6’4”, 249 yards based on official measurements, he didn’t seem to lack any physicality in the SEC and I’m currently looking to acquire some UC Davis tape, in order to see what he can do more extensively as a pass-catcher, after what he showed throughout Shrine Bowl week. I’d be surprised if he didn’t get drafted, which consensus boards might currently suggest, simply based on what he showed in Dallas.

 

 

 

Offensive tackle – Christian Jones, Texas

There are several offensive linemen – in particular tackles – with interesting backgrounds in this draft. Christian Jones is one of them. He only started playing football as a junior in high school, because he used to play soccer growing up. For a man of his dimension, that was funny to hear, but it showed up when he got onto the practice field. After arriving in Austin as one of the 1000 top recruits nationally back in 2018, not seeing any action in year one and then largely being limited to special teams the following season, he’s been a fixture in the lineup for the Longhorns. From that point on, he started all 48 games he’s been available for since being inserted in 2020, flipping between both tackle spots, primarily on the right side. This young man had prototype measurables when he arrived in Mobile – 6’5”, 318 pounds with arms just an eighth off 35 inches and 10 and ½-inch hands.

Right off the bat, the strength in the lower body of this young man was on display. On his first rep of pass-pro one-on-ones with the D-line, Jones was able to swallow the initial charge of Alabama’s near-300-pound four-/five-technique Justin Egboigbe trying to bull-rush him. He was actively looking to re-fit the hands and find anchor points to great effect, which enabled him to stay inside the frame of defenders and own each of his four reps in pass-pro, before cutting off a cross-face move and beautifully countering an inside spin to close out the day with a clean sheet. Those tight hands also showed up during run-blocking drills, where despite being taller than most guys he went up against, since he was latched to their numbers/chest plate, he was able to apply power well. Day two was clearly the worst for him, where I didn’t like what I saw when they moved him in to guard, lunging as he was trying to quick-set the guy across from him, and at one point he got bowled over by the UConn edge rusher during one-on-ones. However, he came back on Thursday and totally shut down the bull-rush by the UConn kid when he got another crack at him, while never popping off in a negative sense during team drills, consistently finding ways to stay between the ball and the defender in both facets of the game.

Jones has consistently been overshadowed as part of Texas’ offense with all the star skill-position players they’ve fielded throughout the year and even the sophomore tackle on the opposite end of the O-line in Kelvin Banks Jr. Getting his chance to shine isolated from the rest of that group with horns on their helmets, he was able to make a name for himself. Originally projected to be a fringe fourth- to fifth-rounder based on consensus boards, I have a tough time seeing this guy make it out of day two of the draft.

 

 

 

Offensive tackle – Walter Rouse, Oklahoma

Meanwhile on the Shrine Bowl side of things, there were some impressive names to take note of, such as South Dakota State’s Garret Greenfield and the big kid from Howard Anim Dankwah, who I didn’t have on my radar at all before this event, but if an O-line coach makes a case in a meeting that he can clean up some of the technical issues that he still had, based on the physical traits could be one of those names to go a lot earlier than anybody expected. Let’s go to be best performer of the event though – Walter Rouse. The former top-500 national for Stanford in 2019 immediately jumped in at left tackle and started all but three of 52 career games with the Cardinal. For his final year of eligibility, he transferred to Oklahoma, where he once again was a fixture on the blindside for all 12 contests and earned an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection. Then he measured in at 6’5”, 319 pounds when he made the short trip down to Dallas and proceeded to kick ass

Since I started with the run-blocking drills going through the practice tape, my first impression was that Rouse wasn’t a particularly powerful run-blocker – and that’s also what the film said. However, once they got to the one-on-ones in pass-pro, he became nearly impossible to beat. His ability on the first rep of one-on-one pass-pro drills to ride Colorado State’s Mo Kamara – who finished second in the nation with 71 total pressure – and not lose contact as that guy was trying away the swipe the hands was a precursor to the rest of the week. You saw a strong post-step to choke off inside moves and guide rushers way off track throughout pass-pro drills, plus he did a great job of timing up the strike with his outside hand to push guys on an arc that got them too far behind the quarterback. Along with that, from the second practice onwards, his aggressiveness and urgency out of his stance to erase space towards defenders and drive his legs through contact to create displacement was awesome to watch; He was able to take advantage of edge defenders trying to get up the field on the front-side on run calls to drive them out towards the sideline for a couple of yards and played a big part in creating some good displacement on combos, while still being able to peel off onto the scraping linebacker from the backside.

Everybody in the scouting community is very familiar with Tyler Guyton at right tackle for the Sooners, who despite not being perfect, certainly wowed with his raw physical gifts at the Senior Bowl and seems to be a lock for the first round, but Rouse looked significantly more sound technically and had the more consistent week against a collection of defensive edge defenders that would rival the talent they had in Mobile. I could see him end up rising to the status of an early day three pick rather than on the fringe of even getting drafted based on consensus boards.

 

 

 

Interior O-line – Jackson Powers-Johnson, Oregon

Moving on to the interior offensive line now, Jackson Powers-Johnson was already considered one of the top prospects at his position and a projected top-50 pick, but he might’ve cemented himself as IOL1 with his performance down in Mobile. After spending a good 100 snaps across the front as a true freshman, the former four-star recruit took over the starting gig at right guard in 2022 and when he transitioned to the center spot this past season, he rose to first-team All-American status. Before anybody even got onto the field, coming to Mobile at 6’3”, 334 pounds with arms just over 32 inches made him a winner. The fact that JPJ can carry that weight – which is about 25 pounds heavier than the average center – makes the movement skills I saw throughout his tape even more impressive.

This truly was one of the cleanest Senior Bowl weeks I’ve ever seen from an offensive line prospect, which is why it also only lasted two days, putting the money in the bank when there wasn’t really anything left that he could’ve done to help himself. The first thing that really stuck out to me – and it coincides with the weight he came in at – was Power-Johnson’s ability to anchor against powerful interior pass-rushers. Duke’s DeWayne Carter tried to throw the Oregon center by on their first rep during one-on-ones, working towards the opposite shoulder after going for power, yet instead JPJ took him and put him into the ground. He was able to sit down on a bull-rush from Clemson’s Tyler Davis by getting all cleats into the ground, when Ohio State’s Michael Hall tried to beat the outside shoulder by working the hands whilst playing at guard, he was able to guide the defender past the quarterback, and then he finished up by landing on top of Carter once more trying to win up the field. The former standout Duck continued to look dominant during one-on-ones on the second day, with the quicks to slide in front of, the anchor to stymie and the patience to mirror interior rushers with ease seemingly. At one point, Hall attacked his inside shoulder from a three-technique alignment and then spun back outside, yet Powers-Johnson never even looked stressed. Of course, his awareness for when to firm on combos, overtake first-level defenders and take appropriate angles to linebackers in the run game continued to be excellent on top of that.

At this stage of the process, you’re trying to put together the pieces and create a comprehensive draft report on players. I thought this was the best center prospect for an outside zone-based system coming into the event, he came in bigger than I expected, his ability to hold his ground against power-rushers was highly impressive and he displayed the flexibility to play all three interior spots. There’s not that much more you can ask, even if it’s generally not viewed as a highly-valued position group, and I believe JPJ has established himself as a first-round selection.

 

 

 

Interior O-line – Mason McCormick, South Dakota State

Luckily, a couple of days before Shrine Bowl kicked off, I took some time to watch the SDSU offensive line in more detail, rather than only star running back Isaiah Davis and the two Janke brothers at wide receiver. So I did some background check on Mason McCormick, who came to the Jackrabbits in 2018 and after an initial redshirt, started the final two games the following season, put together one of the more impressive resumes you’re going to find for any O-lineman. From 2020 onwards, he was a fixture in the lineup at that left guard spot, ultimately finishing with a 57-game streak as a starter, while helping SDSU win back-to-back national titles. He was a team captain for three straight years and was named first-team All-FCS in the latter two. Unfortunately, the people at Shrine don’t provide arm length or hand size measurements, but at 6’4”, 310 pounds, I would be surprised if he has arms hit 32 inches at the combine – assuming he’s invited.

That was one of my two legitimate concerns around McCormick, along with the fact interior pass-rushers in the FCS didn’t really challenge the edges of his frame with twitchiness or short-area quicks. However, that never seemed like an issue all week. This guy’s hands are like cinderblocks, stone-walling interior rushers and then attaching them to their numbers to shut those down completely. Bull-rushes did not fly against him all week. Iowa’s Logan Lee had some great moments throughout the event, but McCormick had two outstanding reps to start off one-on-ones on day two against, where he was able to quickly re-fit his hands and force the D-tackle to wider angles around him, with the strong base to not give up ground vertically. Day three he and Mississippi State’s Nathan Pickering had a cool battle, where the guard initially did an excellent job of utilizing alternate hand-usage and stabbing at the frame of the rusher trying to throw multiple moves at him. The defender was able to slide off on his second try, before, McCormick decided the best-of-three for himself by beautifully mirroring a spin move by the former Rebel. Along with that, the former Jackrabbit was regularly able to create massive horizontal displacement during inside run drills, digging his hands under the rib cage of D-tackles and taking those guys for a ride, he landed some emphatic help-hands on the backside in order to allow his teammates to execute scoop-block and his eyes were consistently up to locate second-level targets if he was asked to peel off ultimately.

With all that being said, my favorite moment of the week for McCormick may have come in the actual game, where to open the second half, big number 60 got out in front of the running back on a screen pass and took out a safety a good 20 yards downfield. I don’t exactly how the NFL sees this college “veteran” who may not impress anybody in shorts when it comes to athletic testing, but whenever he’s put on those pads, he’s been dominant throughout his days in college.

 

 

 

Interior O-line – Christian Haynes, UConn

Similarly to SDSU’s Mason McCormick, with UConn’s football team retaining Independent status, we got to see a standout guard prove himself on the practice field against a higher level of competition with what Christian Haynes showed throughout Senior Bowl week. This former zero-star recruit from back in 2018, redshirted his first year in the Huskies and was ready to make a name for himself, starting at right guard for 12 games the following season, before his ascend was delayed just a little bit when formerly the Big Sky Conference canceled its 2020 season due to COVID. Of course, he retained his job for all 37 contests the next three years combined and this past season was recognized as a third-team All-American. I’m sure Jim Nagy and company were aware of his impressive profile long before that, but for anybody unfamiliar with the name, this guy is pretty much built like Blastoise from Pokemon, at 6’2”, 318 pounds and surprisingly long arms at just an eighth short of 34 inches.

Texas A&M’s McKinnley Jackson – who put blockers on skates for a large portion of the practice sessions – went straight through his chest on a nasty bull-rush to start off the first one-on-one session of the week. However, Haynes was able to sit down and anchor against powerful D-linemen from that point onwards I thought, with tremendous flexibility in his joints and hips to drop his butt low, and he did a great of feeling guys lose their balance as they were leaning into him, ending day one with tossing Auburn’s Marcus Harris to the turf. He continued to be a wall to run against throughout the following two practices, with the strong hands to take control of interior rushers and not allow anybody to slide off on secondary rush attempts/maneuvers. That led to at one point LSU’s Jordan Jefferson getting so frustrated to have his bull-rush shut down, pulling off Haynes’ helmet – the guard stayed calm and told him to “go to church”, which made me laugh. He also did a nice job of sliding his feet and cutting off cross-face moves on a couple of occasions. And then of course, I already regarded him as one of the premier guards for an outside zone-oriented scheme, which his combination of mobility out his stance, dexterity to apply force on an angle and the strength to not have somebody crash through one shoulder, remained impressive, along with the ability to transition off the first level and locate secondary targets.

The teammates and opponents on the American’s defensive line deservedly ended up naming Haynes the team’s Offensive Lineman of the Week and it felt like he also kind of ruined the week for the LSU D-tackle, who had some success working the depth of the pocket power prior to their interaction. At the point of me writing this, Haynes is projected to go somewhere later on day two, but I’m not ruling out the second round at all, with how well he moves at that compact build while having plus arm length in relation to his height.

 

 

 

Edge defender – Xavier Thomas, Clemson

I’ve been taking notes on this former number three overall recruit since he joined a talent-rich Clemson team in 2018, who despite of how loaded their defensive line was at that point, with three first-round picks and another one in the fourth, Thomas demanded playing time and was on the field for over 300 defensive snaps as a true freshman. His production never truly reached those heights with extended opportunities, missing all but three games in 2022. Yet, across 57 career appearances, he logged 116 total tackles, 33 of those for loss, 18 sacks, seven passes batted down at the line, six fumbles forced and two recovered. While NFL evaluators may not hold him in the type of high regard they did when first coming out of high school and starting to do work on him, several teams will have seen what he did throughout Shrine Bowl week and thought to themselves that they can turn this guy into a productive NFL player.

While coming in slightly undersized for a full-time edge role at 6’1” and ½ with 244 pounds, Thomas’ explosiveness off the ball popped right off the bat, being able to stress tackles vertically and then he had the force in his hands to convert to power or push through the inside shoulder as guys set too far to the outside. While he didn’t always turn the tightest corner, Thomas frequently was able to swat down the tackle’s wrist on the outside hand and force that guy to re-fit, along with hitting an inside counter at one point, where he perfectly timed how he swiped down the inside hand of Penn State’s Caedan Wallace. Plus, he closed out practice with a would-be-sack against OU right tackle Walter Rouse – who I already declared the top performer at his position for the event – hitting him with the long-arm and directly transitioning into a rip-throw once he felt the blocker lean into him. What I loved to see and something I’ve noted on multiple occasions over the last couple of years was the X-man’s work in run defense. Whether it was slow-playing the mesh point whilst shuffling along on zone read and taking care of both options, refusing to be sealed off on the backside of zone concepts by the tight-end and flattening down the line or just the impressive speed and effort in pursuit, at one point even from the opposite side of a WR screen off a power run fake at him initially, never slowing down at all.

Lacking some size, there will be answers around Thomas’ three-down ability heading into the pros, as we saw him get off balance on a couple of occasions, because he didn’t align his base properly on basic drive-blocks with the O-line, but it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with his mentality in that regard. You combine this with his ability to fire off the ball and the flashes of landing different moves, I believe there’s still a lot to work with and I could see a team try to land him early on day three, as they want to make him a piece of the rotation pretty much right away.

 

 

 

Edge defender – Marshawn Kneeland, Western Michigan

Meanwhile, during Senior Bowl week, someone not nearly as highly regarded coming out of high school and spending his collegiate career in the MAC rather than at one of the powerhouses in the ACC, also made waves with his showcase. Being ranked outside the top-3000 national recruits back in 2019, Kneeland had a slow start to his career with the Broncos, redshirted after limited action initially and year two being shortened due to COVID. However, over the 32 combined games these last three years, he’s combined for 126 total tackles, 26 of those for loss, 10.5 sacks, three passes batted down at the line and a couple of forced fumbles. He was named first-team All-MAC in 2023 and received the invite down to Mobile, where he impressed just based on weigh-ins already, as he came in at 6’3”, 268 pounds with 34-inch arms – prototype numbers for a hand-in-the-dirt defensive end in an even front.

This guy is a great leverage rusher and you saw that would be a problem for opposing linemen from the jump, when he got into that low four-point stance and was able to explode out of it. He did already pop watching NFL Network’s coverage, but going back to the one-on-ones from practice afterwards, how often he would’ve at least made the quarterback move really stood out. So while I liked the pop in his hands initially, I thought on his first couple of tries, he struggled to really attack the edges of blockers and rush half the man during one-on-ones. With that in mind, you can’t deny the way he condenses the walls for quarterbacks though, exploding off the ball and converting to power regularly. Then if he paired that with a dip-and-rip, it was tough to take him off track. There was a rep on Tuesday where he actually stumbled just a little bit initially trying to probably arm-over Michigan guard Ladarius Henderson, but you saw the raw force and leg-drive to still take the 310-pounder back into the quarterback’s lap. On day two, he was able to drive Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton straight back into the quarterback with the bull-rush at one point during 11-on-11s and I thought what really stood out was his ability to corner his rush with power from a three-technique alignment during pass-rush drills, along with throwing in a stutter-bull at another moment.

What I liked best about Kneeland when I went back to the practice footage was that you never really saw him the arc and even once when it seemed like he was about to, he spun back against Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga to get to the QB. He finished the week by chasing down Tennessee QB Joe Milton, combining for a sack with Washington linebackers Edefuan Ulofoshio – who also had a very solid week by the week – for a big loss on the American team’s second drive. In an EDGE class, where you kind of struggle to find guys to get excited about outside of round two, this is somebody with tools you feel like you can work with, while not being reckless if you were to throw him out there early.

 

 

 

Interior D-line – Khristian Boyd, Northern Iowa

Let’s transition back to the interior and get to another name from a directional school with UNI’s Khristian Boyd. Outside the top-2000 national recruits in 2018, he redshirted his first year with the Panthers after appearing in one game. Over the next five seasons (including the spring of 2021 due to COVID), he played in a total of 48 contests, starting all 21 over the last two years. For his career, he racked up 149 total tackles, 22.5 of those for loss, 10.5 sacks, five passes batted down at the line and forced two fumbles. Just from a physical profile, this young man presents a very compact build at 6’2”, 320 pounds with girth all the way throughout his frame – and it indicates his play style, I believe.

What was already apparent before he even got the call up from the Hula – where he was able to crush the middle of the pocket on several occasions – Boyd packs a ton of force in his hands, which is how he consistently was able to rock back the shoulders-pads of interior pass-protectors on initial contact with the bull-rush. Plus, then he was able to take advantage of those guys once they got their weight too far out in front, by pulling them aside and making them dive head-first into the turf. He was able to hit some nice club-rip moves, where his dexterity to initially cross over with the opposite foot yet redirect vertically without widening his path towards the quarterback was outstanding. He also badly beat one of the Michigan guards across his face with the rip move during 11-on-11s at some point on day three. A couple of times I thought he could’ve done a better job of keeping the outside arm free in the run game, but he also realized when linemen shifted their weight too far over their toes and he could arm-over them to plant himself in the gap in that facet and when he played as a true shade, he was able to establish his space by attacking that shoulder and just not moving off the spot against down-blocks. Boyd also showed some pretty good ability to corner when slanted to the outside on an E-T for a big man and was able to bat down a ball over his head intended for an in-breaking route at some point during team portion of their final practice in full-pads.

Considering the stocky UNI D-tackle also had some nice moments on gameday, where he created penetration on a short-yardage run and forced the offense into fourth-and-short, leading to a turnover on downs ultimately, along with owning his space against double-teams and making the back redirect a couple of times, I think his name is now firmly on the radar of scouts, who will go back to the type. When I do the same, I don’t expect a lot of flash, but if he tests fairly well, this could be a useful rotational pace on the front worthy of an investment in the middle rounds.

 

 

 

Interior D-line – Braden Fiske, Florida State

Another guy I got to study more in-depth leading up to Senior Bowl week and actually started his career at Western Michigan – since we just discussed edge defender Marshawn Kneeland – is Braden Fiske. After he arrived at WMU, it took a while for him to really make a name for himself, basically as a non-factor his true freshman season, then flashing as a rotational player in year two before impressing albeit on a limited sample size during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. After racking up 101 tackles, 20 of those for loss and ten sacks, along with three passes batted down, two fumbles forced and one recovered across the following two years, he decided to prove himself against a higher level of competition in the ACC. Thanks to 43 tackles, nine TFLs and nine sacks he became a second-team all-conference selection, yet because of how much the Seminoles rotated their guys up front, it took an event like this for people to really pay attention to him individually.

Body-type wise, Fiske being 6’3”, 295 pounds with only 31-inch arms is certainly not optimal. Having a rather high center of gravity and short limbs can become a problem if you allow blockers to get their hands into your frame, but thankfully that was rarely the case with the FSU D-tackle. Fiske truly jumped off the ball and was able to stress the gap in one-on-one pass-rush situations with regularity, whilst showcasing sudden hands to win against a couple of quick sets and cornering his rushes effectively. On a couple of occasions, he did get too far up the field and athletic guards were able to use that momentum against him, but despite having a slight advantage and knowing what’s coming, interior blockers had a tough time cutting off the angle for him. Over and over again he beat guys off the ball and won the B-gap with club-swim combos, where he was able to clear the blocker’s reach and flatten his rush, almost as if he was coming off the edge. His lack of length did show up a couple of times on day three when he didn’t land that initial hand-combat and win the outside shoulder. Yet, if he was asked to play firm at the point of attack, he showed some heavy hands, was consistently able to work half the man when asked to attack the gap and displayed incredible hustle to chase after plays outside his vicinity during 11-on-11s on a couple of occasions.

Fiske’s quicks off the snap showed up on several occasions in the actual game as well, but his big play came when running through Arkansas’ Beaux Limmer and wrapping up Joe Milton for a sack at one point. Not only was he named the American team’s Defensive Lineman of the Week, but I believe with his high motor and explosive first step, he wowed scouts who were probably trying to separate that group of Seminole D-tackles, some of whom have stayed in college and transferred since. Fiske himself probably will be rising from a fridge day two/three guy to the late second-/early third-round range.

 

 

 

Linebacker – Easton Gibbs, Wyoming

It’s always tough to find linebackers who really stand out at these events, because they’re at such an inherent disadvantage, trying to cover running backs with nearly the entire field to work with, having to play defensive linemen to some degree, who they’ve never played with, etc. but I seem to find a couple of guys every year and two from Shrine Bowl week alone made a lasting impression on me – Ohio State’s Steele Chambers and Wyoming’s Easton Gibbs. The latter of those is certainly the lesser-known quantity, coming to the Cowboys as just a two-star recruit in 2019. After appearing in just one game and maintaining his redshirt, Gibbs in year two started one of six contests, yet finished third on the team with 42 tackles. Over his last three seasons, he was a fixture in the lineup for all but one of 39 games, recording 319 total stops, 20 of those for loss, seven sacks, one interception, 11 PBUs, three fumbles forced and two more recovered, taking one of those back to the house.

At six-foot flat, 231 pounds, Gibbs came in at pretty standard linebacker size nowadays. What I liked seeing from him right away were the quick feet to redirect with running backs trying to beat him across his face during one-on-ones. He had the best day one at his position in terms of coverage reps, before finally getting beat on an angle route by the Purdue back, where he fooled him with some fancy footwork and got him a little bit off balance. While he did surrender a couple of completions during the second practice, Gibbs was able to keep those RBs in front of him whilst staying in position to not be outflanked on routes breaking towards the sideline. He initially seemed to have pulled a hammy trying to bump off someone on a streak route, but he didn’t miss any time and had some more solid reps driving on backs once they committed to the break and challenging the catch-point. Gibbs was asked to move over the slot quite a bit during team drills and showed the ability to read the eyes of the quarterback as a quasi-overhang or flat defender, along with generally driving on stuff instantly as the ball was released. Yet, his play of the event came when doing so from a more traditional linebacker spot, as he undercut a backside slant route around the goal-line and would’ve probably been off to the races for a pick-six. Along with his work in the pass game, Gibbs displayed impressive lateral movement to track wide zone concepts from the backside without turning his shoulders prematurely during team drills. His ability to scrape hard over the top of blocks even when you’d think based on alignment he would be too far away from the point of attack, he was able to track down plays for minimal yardage.

Funnily enough, on gameday he got shaken out of his boots and surrendered a conversion on third-and-ten to Memphis RB Blake Watson on a little hook over the middle, but otherwise had another solid showing. However, he had already done his best over the course of three practices. Gibbs is not on the level of Wyoming linebackers we’ve recently come out like Logan Wilson or Chad Muma, but I think he guaranteed himself that he’s getting drafted.

 

 

 

Linebacker – Nathaniel Watson, Mississippi State

When it came to the Senior Bowl, there were some bright moments for multiple guys, such as Notre Dame’s J.D. Bertrand with his energy and team spirit, I already mentioned Washington’s Edefuan Ulofoshio looking good after an injury-marked college career and then Kentucky’s Trevin Wallace was the name I seriously considered outlining in more detail here. Yet, I had the most fun watching Nathaniel Watson, who also probably flashed the most to scouts in attendance. A top-1000 national recruit back in 2018, Watson had a tough time getting onto the field for the Rebels early on, with only five total tackles through his first two years. The next two seasons, he turned from part- to full-time starter, before really getting on the national radar these past two years. He was named second- and then first-team All-SEC respectively, combining for 250 tackles, 25 of those for loss, 16 sacks, two interceptions, three forced fumbles and pass break-ups each.

Even before flying around the field, Watson came in oversized at 6’3”, 244 pounds with the longest wingspan of any linebacker down in Mobile at 80-and-½ inches – even above converted safety James Williams, whose size and length make him an intriguing prospect whose considered this potential chess-piece and matchup player against tight-ends. To start off the first 11-on-11 session of the week, Watson shot his gap on the front-side and ran down a toss play for a big TFL. On several run calls, his speed downhill to create quick stops stood out. Throughout the week, his pursuit out to the sideline on perimeter-oriented plays popped on multiple occasions. He also showed easy gas sticking with the backs trying to take him vertical on a couple of one-on-ones. Although, he just couldn’t quite get a hand on a ball thrown over his head at one point, where he tried to bat it down at the highest point. Then on gameday, he set the tone by putting a massive hit on Penn State tight-end Theo Johnson catching a crosser in front of him, to stop the National team short on their initial third down of the day. Later on, he was able to elevate and get a hand on a pass intended for an in-breaking behind it, which looked like it was going to go way over his head.

So his length, explosiveness and the juice he brings to the field make him an intriguing prospect. He was named the American team’s Linebacker of the Week by the running backs and offensive linemen he went up against, and this is obviously somebody who’s been a highly productive player in the SEC already. In an LB class that lacks quality at the top and not many guys are considered legit three-day contributors in our sub-heavy NFL, to have plus size for the position with a downhill mentality against the run, but also provide plenty of range in coverage and not look overwhelmed when he has to turn and run with guys with how much match-principles for most defenses, this is somebody I could see jump some names here, who don’t offer that type of complete skill-set. I could see him sneaking into the back-end of day two.

 

 

 

Cornerback – Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo

When we talk about how many spots did a player move up on draft boards or how many will he ultimately go earlier, there are probably names that helped themselves a little more, but nobody came into either event and catapulted himself into the conversation for best at his position like what Quinyon Mitchell did thanks to his nearly flawless showing during Senior Bowl week. After playing in six games as a three-star true freshman backup, he’s started all 40 contests he’s been available over these past three seasons combined, racking up 7.5 tackles for loss total, intercepting six passes and breaking up 45(!) more over that stretch. In 2023, he was recognized as a second-team All-American, along with his second straight first-team All-MAC nomination.

At six-foot flat, 195 pounds and 31-inch arms, Mitchell basically provides prototype measurables, but he didn’t get to play a whole lot of true man-coverage throughout his time with the Rockets. Mobile was the perfect setting to showcase his ability to blanket guys one-on-one and that’s what he proceeded to do. He set the tone straight away, with a perfect rep defending a go route by Arizona’s Jacob Cowing, attaching to the hip-pocket, looking back for the ball and swiping through the receiver’s hands whilst watching the ball fall to the turf. He followed that up by making Florida’s Rickey Pearsall – who had a couple of very impressive practice days himself – run into him and fall down as he was trying to break on a corner route, maintaining outside leverage and staying even all the way through. Whether it was playing up in press and never losing phase whilst timing up perfectly how he’d rake through the catch point or showing off his fast-twitch from a pedal-and-drive when playing off to collect PBUs, this guy all over everybody it seemed like. Only Michigan WR Roman Wilson was able to get the best of him in a two-of-three, but even then he was highly impressive, staying glued to the former Wolverine on a stutter-fade, with no issue to de- and re-accelerating, then allowing some separation on a well set-up curl route, but then just the confidence at the end of practice, to call out Wilson for a deciding round, where it took a crazy one-handed grab at the sideline to earn the receiver the W, spoke loudly for him. By the way, that was after closing out the one-on-one session with a sick over-the-shoulder catch for an interception after sticking to the hip-pocket of USC’s Brenden Rice down the post.

Mitchell ended up sitting out the third day of practice and the actual game, because once again, his agent probably was on the phone with him at the same time Wilson got the advice to pack his cleats, having shown everything you could ask for until that point. That’s also why he was named the National team’s Cornerback of the Week. While his technique in press still needs some work, simply because he wasn’t asked to do it a whole lot during his time at Toledo, seeing that he’s fully capable of playing that style, combined with his ball-productive and how he dominated against a higher level of competition, it’s really just about potentially running in the 4.3s to be in the conversation for the top corner off the board come late April.

 

 

 

Cornerback – Renardo Green, Florida State

While the Seminoles didn’t feature any true stars necessarily outside of edge defender Jared Verse, there’s a reason they were a borderline top-ten scoring defense until their no-show performance against Georgia in the Orange Bowl. They had a deep collection of very good players. However, when it comes to corner position, before we got official declarations and Fentrell Cypress decided to return to FSU, Renardo Green was considered the number three prospect they were bringing to the draft (also behind primary slot defender Jarrian Jones). He has been sort of overlooked for a while. A former top-500 national recruit in 2019, it took Green a while to establish himself as a full-time starter before becoming a fixture in the lineup for all but one of 25 total over these past two seasons. Over that stretch, he totaled 96 tackles, five for loss, 18 PBUs and one pick. However, he showed up for Shrine Bowl week at 5’11” and slightly heavier than I anticipated due to his lanky frame, at 187 pounds – and he was locking people down.

Having spent 75% of his coverage snaps in press-man last season, Green was very accustomed to challenging receivers at the line and dictating terms to them, but in an all-star setting you’d think offensive guys would have the advantage, yet it just never felt that way. The former FSU corner was able to immediately establish contact and regularly cut off receivers trying to get to his edges on the release. Even when he got caught off balance at some point, he didn’t panic and ran into UAB receiver Tejhaun Palmer who got on top of him initially, recognizing the deceleration, as he was about to work to the sideline, undercutting the route and nearly coming down with a high-point interception. He did have a ticky-tack P.I. called against him, but did a great job blanketing a curl route, stopping a dime and playing through the receiver’s hands. He also closed out the day with another tremendous rep on a deep curl against Illinois’ Casey Washington on that competition rep to finish practice, staying at the back-hip, seeing the comeback happening and really attacking back down the stem, to work through the catch-point. I also thought that on day two, he was a little too grabby when he didn’t really need to be at times. Yet, you love the competitiveness to refuse giving up inside access and not allow guys to release across his face at all. He drew a couple of flags and that’s something that definitely shows up on his tape as well, but it’s not based on lacking any physical ability or really even bad technique leading up to that point at all.

I also give Green a lot of credit for participating in the actual game after having to sit the third practice and walk-through. I believe people will now go back to his tape, because the coverage numbers in 2023 were up there with some of the best in the country – 17 forced incompletions with a 25.8% forced incompletion rate (17^th-highest in the FBS), despite massive volume in isolated situations, with how much man or match he was asked to play, with two interceptions compared to just 14 first downs allowed.

 

 

 

Cornerback – Jarvis Brownlee Jr. Louisville

Now let’s get to a former Florida State CB, who actually got the call for Senior Bowl week and made even more noise than his former teammate Renardo Green. Jarvis Brownlee Jr. came in just outside the top-500 national recruits for the Seminoles in 2019. Across three years with the Seminoles, his playing time gradually increased, starting all but one of 12 contests in 2021 (78 combined tackles, three interceptions and four PBUs altogether). He decided to transfer in-conference after that and over his two years with Louisville, where across 24 games in the lineup, he racked up 96 total stops, picked off three passes and broke up another 18. Measuring in at 5’10” wasn’t great, but his 185 pounds and 31 and ½-inch arms are dead-on average for the position in NFL terms.

Kicking off Tuesday, Brownlee Jr. had a couple of tremendous reps vs. South Carolina’s Xavier Legette on straight go routes, pinning the inside arm and never losing phase, showing great long-speed to not allow that vertical detachment. Despite being the smaller end, he did not back down at all from pressing receivers at the line of scrimmage. Once again on day two, he stuck like glue to Legette on their first rep during one-on-ones and even though the catch was made, he fought through the hands to nearly knock it out. Then he had two outstanding reps anticipated and undercut in-cuts by Georgia WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and Tulane’s Jha’Quan Jackson, to where the quarterback didn’t even throw the ball on the first one and he might’ve had a pick on the second if the ball wasn’t too far out in front. Brownlee perfectly defended a couple of goal-line fades during red-zone routes on day three, playing right through the paws of the target batting the ball away and not even a five-yard out route by Jackson would be surrendered, making the receiver fight the entire way and dislodging the ball at the sideline. To cap off the week, Brownlee was able to close out into the flats as a slot defender and jumped in front of an outside hitch for an interception at the end of the first half along with adding a nice runback, making several offensive players miss, trying to dive at his legs.

The competitiveness throughout practices was off the charts, which is why his peers voted him the American team’s Cornerback of the Week. Brownlee’s change-of-direction and anticipation for routes were outstanding, after he took a few too many chances on tape I thought from the limited background work I had done on him. Now it’s up to me – and many other evaluators – to go a little further in depth to see if those moments can be referred to as “educated guesses” based on film study or just straight-up gambling at times. In terms of physical ability, it seems like this kid can thrive in a quarters and off-man-heavy system thanks to his click-and-close ability, but also get up into the grill of bigger bodies and press them.

 

 

 

Safety – Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, Texas Tech

When it comes to the safety position, largely you’ll see guys stand out in a negative sense, because they lose one-on-one to a receiver, there’s a miscommunication on the back-end as coverages are installed or whatever. If you do want to boost your draft stock, you better have some great reps against tight-ends and pick off a couple of passes during team period – which Taylor-Demerson did. Formerly a three-star running back coming to Texas Tech in 2019, the guy nicknamed “Rabbit” largely

appeared on special teams through his first two years, before breaking out in 2021, when he secured a starting spot mid-way through the year. Across those final three seasons, he combined for 208 total tackles, 8.5 for loss, two sacks, ten interceptions, 23(!) pass break-ups, two fumbles forced and three recovered. He was recognized as a second-team All-Big 12 performer last year.

Coming in at 5’10”, 189 pounds, “Rabbit” actually looked more like a cornerback initially and he got some action there on day one against the wide receivers. He was one of only two guys to not surrender a catch to Virginia’s Malik Washington during one-on-ones throughout the session, denying the inside release and forcing him to fight through the contact, which he ultimately wasn’t able to do on a slant route it appeared to be. On a rep against Pitt’s Bub Means next, Taylor-Demerson got his feet stuck and blown by, but showed the make-up speed to recover and jump through the hands of the receiver to break up the pass at the sideline. Tight-ends had a tough time separating against this guy all week long and when he was asked to match up against the wideouts during red-zone periods, the ability to pin the near-arm and gain positioning was something that continued to make him effective. Maybe more importantly, when you watched him during team periods, “Rabbit” consistently identified the biggest threat as a deep post safety during team drills and forced quarterbacks to turn down potential throws. Once the ball came out of the quarterback’s hand, the speed with which he went from the middle of the field to flying down against completions into the flats was pretty insane, plus then he did haul in an easy pick when the pass over the middle sailed a little bit. And not that this pops off the screen, but even against the run game, his angles coming down from depth and squaring up the ball-carrier after breaking through the second level was something I noticed as a positive over and over again.

That was also how he finished up the week, when on gameday he laid a massive hit on Purdue running back Tyrone Tracy, who looked like he was heading for an explosive run off-tackle, angling down and finishing with authority from his single-high alignment. So to see him be able to excel in arguably the toughest role for anybody in the secondary, along with excelling in man-coverage against different body types is a great combination, especially considering based on the limited tape I’ve watched, Taylor-Demerson has plenty of experience with split-safety structures. I think he’s gone from likely going in the latter two to the two earlier rounds on day three.

 

 

Others with good weeks:

QB Jack Plummer, Louisville

QB Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland

QB Spencer Rattler, South Carolina

RB Frank Gore Jr., Southern Miss

RB Blake Watson, Memphis

RB Marshawn Lloyd, USC

WR Anthony Gould, Oregon State

WR Tahj Washington, USC

WR Josh Cephus, UTSA

WR Ricks Pearsall, Florida

WR Luke McCaffrey, Rice

WR Jha’Quan Jackson, Tulane

TE Mason Fairchild, Kansas

TE Theo Johnson, Penn State

TE Ben Sinnott, Kansas State

OT Garret Greenfield, South Dakota State

OT Anim Dankwah, Howard

OT Javon Foster, Missouri

OT/IOL Delmar Glaze, Maryland

IOL Christian Mahogany, Boston College

IOL Dominick Puni, Kansas

IOL X’Zauvea Gadlin, Liberty

IOL C.J. Hanson, Holy Cross

EDGE Eyabi Okie-Anoma, Charlotte

EDGE Grayson & Gabriel Murphy, UCLA

EDGE Darius Robinson, Missouri

IDL Fabien Lovett, Florida State

IDL Michael Hall Jr., Ohio State

IDL McKinnley Jackson, Texas A&M

LB Kalen DeLoach, Florida State

LB Steele Chambers, Ohio State

LB J.D. Bertrand, Notre Dame

LB Trevin Wallace, Kentucky

CB Ja’Quan Sheppard, Maryland

CB Qwan’tez Stiggers, Toronto Argonauts (CFL)

CB Josh Wallace, Michigan

CB Andru Phillips, Kentucky

DB Ryan Watts, Texas

SAF Trey Taylor, Air Force

SAF Evan Williams, Oregon

SAF Javon Bullard, Georgia