Day 2 of the Senior Bowl: The Steelers should go after a rising star cornerback
Carter Bradley of South Alabama was the best quarterback of the day on Wednesday, but no one came to see him. In one-on-one and team drills, though, he was the only one who could consistently throw a good ball.
Michael Penix of Washington took a lot of one-on-ones and threw them out, but he didn’t do anything that made people “ooh and ah.” Bo Nix of Oregon had a rough day.
He threw what looked such as a bounce pass at one point and then lost the ball the next play, which was picked up by the defense.
But Sam Hartman for Notre Dame didn’t do much better than he did on Tuesday. That wasn’t a tough goal to reach. Also, he didn’t do anything interesting.
Bradley was on the American Team, and he made a lot of throws into small windows during team drills.
Sounds like crickets. On seven-on-seven, Spencer Rattler made a few shots that were fine, but nothing that got anyone up.
During team drills, Michael Pratt tried a few shots downfield but didn’t make any. Joe Milton made a lot of underthrown passes that weren’t very good.
Most of the time, a guy who is sure to be picked first in Mobile stands out. Josh Allen and Justin Herbert both did it, but none of them stand out. At least not in a good way.
Eric Edholm wrote about Mitchell within this space on Tuesday, but I am also going to say what I think about him.
Mitchell gets up early. Scouts were interested in him before the week because of his size or game film, however it’s different when they see him in person.
Mitchell uses a lot of trap coverage moves when the press is on. This is when he declares early leverage and forces the receiving player to let go outside.
From there, he has demonstrated that he has the speed or body awareness to stay with receivers and the strength to block the catch area.
In a game against Brenden Rice of USC, Mitchell started from behind and ran a post route all the way to the end zone, where he jumped and caught the pass. This year, he ought to be in the running for CB1.
Jack Powers-Johnson was the best offensive lineman. Rarely does a center get picked in the very first round, yet Powers-Johnson has done a great job of making himself a first-round favorite. So few people his size (over 330 pounds) can move like he does.
Despite that, he has only played one real season. It says a lot about the coach that he was able to get someone so inexperienced at guard to play the way he did. He is also a rare player out of college.
Powers-Johnson showed off his amazing core strength that day, and he even reset his hands times after getting hit under his pads the first time.
But he used to be a wrestler, so he knows how to use leverage to his advantage and win when the other person attacks. It’s not odd that he’s already well-known.
And the second player is Tyler Guyton from Oklahoma. I had seen just enough of himself to get a feel for him, but everyone always talked about how little tape he had and how he might have been a raw player.
In pass protection on Tuesday, Guyton, on the other hand, looked smooth and wicked. His footwork is crazy fast, and he can recover as quickly and as far as edge rushers can, even if they beat him at first.
Guyton isn’t always a good player. Guyton’s hands got wide on some of the reps he did win, which meant he could be bullrushed or required to do holding.
But his game is charged with fire, and he is very athletic. He did a great job raising his stock, and he looks like a starter.
Last but not least, Tailese Fuaga from Oregon State repeated what I had already seen on film. Fuaga is such a polished technician that he doesn’t even look fake.
And he has the right tools for every type of pass rusher he will see in the NFL. His hands are great. He saw accelerate rushers, power rushers, and every other kind on his first day in Mobile, but nothing scared him.