Day Two from Mobile was a different animal. A chilly one, as temperatures were in the 40s and a steady north wind made it feel much colder even for northerners like myself.

Much of my day was spent examining the offensive and defensive linemen on both the North and the South. And I got some help with the South line form none other than former NFL center and current O-Line Academy director LeCharles Bentley, who graciously imparted wisdom on myself and Pete Smith for over an hour.

North

The defensive line for the North squad is probably the most talented overall unit for either team here. It showed throughout the drills, both in team period as well as OL vs. DL.

Biggest winner goes to Louisiana Tech DT Vernon Butler. He dominated the session with his cat-like quickness for a 6’3”, 325-pound interior player. For a large man he changes direction and keeps his balance easily and naturally. He’s got a spin, a rip, a swim and knows how to set them all up, too. Even better, he can do it in team drills just as well as he does individual reps.

<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Watch the over-arm swim move from Louisiana Tech DT Vernon Butler, forcing RB into waiting LB. <a href="https://t.co/tDtRtcYmm3">https://t.co/tDtRtcYmm3</a></p>&mdash; Rob Rang (@RobRang) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobRang/status/692452664202936320">January 27, 2016</a></blockquote>

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Penn State DE Carl Nassib also performed quite well. He’s got exceptional length and knows how to use it. He handily bested Western Michigan OT Willie Beavers and Kyle Murphy from Stanford. Even though Nassib is tall, he’s very adept at quickly seizing the leverage advantage. There is also quickness and purpose to all of his movements, something not every player here has.

Utah DE Jason Fanaika turned in a strong day. He’s quite muscular and a power-based pass rusher, but he flashed the inside spin a couple of times to lay waste to Beavers and Harvard’s Cole Toner.

Toner is an interesting prospect. When looking at players from smaller programs, it’s always pretty easy to tell if they feel like they belong or not. Toner, like Ali Marpet last year, carries himself with the quiet presence that says he knows he belongs. By contrast, Northern Iowa CB Deiondre Hall and Samford CB James Bradberry both clearly lack it.

And his play says he belongs too. Toner has very quick feet and some natural bend to his knees. He also doesn’t lack power in his core and shoulders, though he could add a little more. The technique needs some refinement but it’s not bad. There is a lot to work with here; look for Toner to get drafted in the 5th or 6th round and spend his rookie year on the practice squad or as an inactive, but with a potentially bright future at tackle.

Jason Spriggs was the best of the North tackles. He’s got the most functional athleticism of any tackle on either roster. Fanaika and Illinois’ Jihad Ward both got him with heavy bull rushes, however. Spriggs doesn’t anchor well and also doesn’t reset as quickly as you’d expect for a guy who moves very comfortably.

Ward was one of the stars on Tuesday, but he couldn’t sustain the momentum. That’s not to say the Illini end had a poor day, but the level of physical dominance wasn’t the same. This is a player who is fairly new to football and played DT for the woefully coached Illini last year and now is trying to learn end…and 296 pounds. In that context, I can live with his wild misses with his punch (Spriggs dodged one easily and put him on his side) and his tendency to overextend. I still consider Ward one of the big winners so far.

Beavers, Murphy and North Dakota State’s Joe Haeg all failed to impress. Beavers has the size but his hands and feet are both slow and don’t move in concert very well. He won very few reps other than down blocking in team drills. Murphy shows up as a leaner/lunger and needs to clean up some bad habits with his feet. He is the most aggressive of the tackles and that does hold value for some teams.

Haeg was one of three players who got hurt in practice:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ND State OT Joe Haeg, Rutgers WR Leonte Carroo &amp; UMass WR Tajae Sharpe all suffered injuries today and are unlikely to play in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SeniorBowl?src=hash">#SeniorBowl</a>.</p>&mdash; Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamHoge/status/692450405519794177">January 27, 2016</a></blockquote>

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Moving inside, the guards and centers are definitely better than the tackles. Iowa C Austin Blythe and Michigan State C Jack Allen both impressed, albeit in different ways.

Blythe is more of a power player, methodical with his feet but rock-solid with both his balance and core strength. He really creates movement in the run game. Allen is smaller and less powerful, but he wins with expert hand placement and an inherent scrappiness to reset and recover quickly if he starts to lose an advantage. The Spartan did not fare well at guard in team drills, so put him down as a center only, but for my money he’s the best center in this draft.

Stanford’s Josh Garnett was up and down. When guys try to move him backwards, he wins every time. When he has to move laterally and then engage, he loses. Temple’s Matt Ioannidis capitalized on this a handful of times.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Senior Bowl: Temple DT Matt Ioannidis (6-4, 303) had a strong day. Disruptive. Gets off the ball. Power at point of attack.</p>&mdash; Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBowen41/status/692140934297993217">January 27, 2016</a></blockquote>

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Utah State LB Kyler Fackrell got a couple of reps as a rush end, and just from that brief look it’s pretty clear he is not going to play that role often in the NFL. He sure looks like just an off-the-ball SAM backer with an occasional blitz mixed in, but could be pretty darn good in that role.

South

As noted above, I spent more than half of practice watching the offensive linemen with LeCharles Bentley. As such, my notes here will be pretty brief. Today was more about developing my own scouting eye and picking the brain of a truly fascinating coach. I got the golden opportunity and I seized it.

I can’t share the details, but here are some takes I had on the offensive linemen here that he either augmented or reinforced…

  • Kansas State guard Cody Whitehair is an instant NFL starter with very few flaws but probably has a lower ceiling than some of the other players here. I made an argument to keep him at tackle, but just about everyone here, including the NFL decision makers, want him at guard.
  • Baylor tackle Spencer Drango absolutely has to move to guard, and even there his poor body and lack of both instant and sustained power make him a tough sell. He’ll likely get drafted in the third or fourth round. You don’t want it to be your team pulling that trigger.
  • Texas Tech tackle LeRaven Clark looks fantastic. His body is custom built to play tackle. Alas, he doesn’t play tackle very well. There was a rep where he and Baylor freak Shawn Oakman squared off and it was akin to two super-fit boxers slapping each other with pillows. Neither has much football sense or mastery of either technique or leverage.
  • Arkansas guard Sebastian Tretola is really impressive, with a very natural low pad level for a 6’4” player. He consistently generated the most movement in the run game.
  • Arizona State guard Christian Westerman consistently displayed great technique and balance. He also has some nastiness to his game, as does Tretola. There are worse guard tandems in the NFL right now than those two playing together as rookies.
  • Georgia tackle John Theus tries hard but just doesn’t have the flexible or  body to handle better athletes

Before the linemen moved to the near end zone, I got a chance to watch the quarterbacks up close. And I’m not sure that’s a good thing for the quarterbacks.

The best of them in my eyes is (gulp) Alabama’s Jake Coker. Really. He’s the most physically gifted and has the most consistent velocity and delivery. Keep in mind most of when I watched him the last two days is with no pressure, and that context matters. Between what I’ve seen here and what I saw against Michigan State and Clemson, I confidently say his arrow is pointing up.

Dak Prescott is a tough evaluation. He made serious strides in a more conventional offense as a senior, but the ball placement and delivery remain a bit of a mystery to him. His fastball carries the most flames but also the least accuracy of any of the eight QBs here. His footwork is an inconsistent mess.

Arkansas product Brandon Allen probably has the best touch of the South QBs, and he can also spin it with some zip. However, when he does so it’s such a full-body effort that it’s impossible to see him getting that sort of space or time consistently in the NFL to make it happen. His small hands and general lack of size overall are major detractions, too.

Then there’s Jacoby Brissett from North Carolina State. I came here with a pretty firm opinion from watching him as a senior that he was in no way, shape or form an NFL-caliber talent. Nothing I’ve seen here has changed my mind. Everything he does, from moving around to delivering the ball, is cumbersome and slow. He uncorked a couple of truly wild throws today too, one of which sailed a good 10 feet behind the intended receiver, who shot a look of “what the hell was that?” as he went back into line for more reps.

Notes

Ohio State LB Josh Perry, Missouri OL Connor McGovern and Florida TE Jake McGee are out with injuries. McGee was replaced by Arkansas State TE Darion Griswold, who had a very impressive week at the Shrine Game. Griswold showed up and looked pretty good here fresh off the plane.

If you love watching the nuts and bolts of coaching, check out this video I shot of Cowboys DL coach Rod Marinelli instructing the North defensive linemen on a drill.

While I didn’t see much of him yet, lots of folks are buzzing about Eastern Kentucky DE Noah Spence. His quickness off the ball jumps off the field. In the two reps I caught today I saw an athlete without much of a football plan of attack, but it could have just been a bad minute.

Alabama RB Kenyan Drake continues to turn heads and open eyes with his sudden speed and ability to catch out of the backfield.

And I’ll conclude with this #HotTake, which comes courtesy of shamelessly eavesdropping:

Many expect the Cowboys to take a quarterback at No. 4 overall, but Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott is very much in play. Very much.