Senior Bowl: Winners and Losers of Day 2/3

With inclement weather taking a lengthy nap over the city of Mobile yesterday, the second round of practices were moved to the indoor facilities at South Alabama University. This meant that, due to limited parking and space inside the bubble, media was not allowed to attend while all 32 NFL clubs were only allowed two members to attend practice.

Thanks to technology, however, media members were able to re-watch practice in order to help us not skip a beat in coverage.

The second day was filled with some of the same play-makers showing out, some new faces taking a leap forward, and a number of players continuing to struggle at the all-star showcase.

As I had to head back home from Mobile this morning, I was unable to attend the third day of practice but I do not want to use that as an excuse to leave you guys without the content you deserve. Combined with some word-of-mouth from some of my very good friends who were in attendance all week, I’m here to deliver a Winners/Losers recap from the last two days.

Let’s check them out.

Winners

DT Renell Wren

Wren raised his draft stock when he came in to weigh-ins on Tuesday at 315 pounds. He has been listed at 295 which some have thought was slightly too light for someone at his position. Even at 315, Wren maintains a lean frame and hasn’t lost a bit of that explosion that earned him some publicity in 2018.

Wren getting the chance to go up against two of the best centers here, NCST’s Garrett Bradbury and A&M’s Erik McCoy, has definitely allowed evaluators the chance to see Wren at his best this week.

RB Dexter Williams

Williams has been the brightest prospect among the running backs this week and I don’t think it has been particularly close.

The former-Notre Dame back has shown excellent burst through holes while continuously attacking the line of scrimmage like his life depends on it. Every time Jon Gruden called a zone run play, Williams took full advantage.

And at 215 pounds, he’s not too shabby of a route-runner out of the backfield, making NCST’s Germaine Pratt freeze on an option route during 1-on-1 drills.

WR Terry McLaurin

McLaurin enjoyed an above-average career with the Buckeyes but was usually overshadowed by bigger names on the team like WR Parris Campbell, and RBs Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins.

All McLaurin has done this week is fly by defenders and make difficult grabs look a little bit easier than usual. Most of his reps looked similar to this:

McLaurin has shown a real knack for setting defenders up for failure, and in turn, him for success. While displaying his ability to be a deep threat, McLaurin can also shake-and-bake when he chooses to, as well. All he’s done this week is make money, and people are really starting to raise him up their respective boards.

Losers

OT Max Scharping

Scharping wasn’t a guy I expected much out of this week and I couldn’t have been more correct in my prior assertion. Scharping has yet to stand out in anyway, consistently getting pushed back and handled in 1-on-1’s where he has a horrible tendency of retreating immediately in his pass sets which puts him far behind the eight ball before anything actually happens.

His feet lumber far too much for a left tackle and he makes one wonder if a transition to guard is in his future. Either way, there’s always one or two players who don’t look like they belong at the Senior Bowl, and I think Scharping is that guy this year.

QB Trace McSorely

McSorely got one of the later invitations to the Senior Bowl, despite much of the scouting community disagreeing with his inclusion. Number 9 was a winner at Penn State but he obviously lacks the coveted height most clubs would prefer in their passer. Also doesn’t help that McSorely lacks the passing capabilities needed to make up for being as vertically challenged as he is.

It’s been a rough week for many of the quarterbacks here. McSorely, along with guys like Will Grier and Gardner Minshew, have struggled mightly. If he has had anything going for him this week, he’s still managed to show-off his athleticism as he’s made a handful of plays with his feet.

In the end, though, I’m not sure he has done much of anything to move the meter on his current draft stock.

DE Byron Cowart

Cowart was a former 5-star recruit that initially committed and played at Auburn for the first two seasons of his career. After things weren’t working out as he would have liked, he transferred to the University of Maryland where he tried to finish his collegiate career on the highest note possible.

Well, he’s here at the Senior Bowl and that’s got to stand for something right?

Eerily similar to his time at Auburn, it hasn’t looked like his time in Mobile is panning out any better. Cowart has spent most of the showcase looking confused, usually in 1-on-1s against the offensive linemen. Every time it seemed like he was content with just rushing the passer with no real strategy made, beforehand. No swim-move. No stab-and-chop. No nothing.

Maybe Cowart needs a chat with the other former 5-star, Daylon Mack, while he’s here.