It was a wonderful week of action in Mobile for the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl. From Tuesday morning’s weigh-in to Saturday’s 34-13 victory by the North, over 100 aspiring NFL prospects did their best to impress the hundreds of NFL personnel evaluators and credentialed media.

Here’s who played their way up, down or somewhere in between during Senior Bowl week.

Thumbs Up

Beyond performances in drills and interviews, the Senior Bowl is all about players proving themselves worthy of a status. These players successfully placed themselves in a better status level or at least created enough intrigue to send scouting staffs scurrying for more.

To Ali Marpet. The offensive lineman from D-III Hobart College was a virtual unknown heading to Mobile. Even the NFL scouts who knew his game advised us they had just three or four grainy games to evaluate him. After a nondescript first day at tackle, Marpet spent the rest of the week at guard. He also spent the rest of the week dominating all comers with near-flawless technique. His hand placement, shoulder/hip coordination and explosion, and light feet were all outstanding in both drills and the game itself. Marpet has gone from a late-round curiosity to a potential 3rd-round plug-and-play left guard.

To Tyler Lockett. Kansas State’s wideout was already firmly in my top 60 prospects, but most folks tabbed him a round or two lower because he’s smallish and his small hands force him to frequently use his body to secure the catch. I’ve argued his incredible quickness and polished experience in making those types of catches trumps the concerns. A lot more people are seeing Lockett in a different light after an outstanding Senior Bowl week. Plays like this help turn the tide…

 

He ran a route so viciously on Tuesday he actually injured Kansas CB Jacorey Shepherd with his freakish agility. Factor in Lockett’s prodigious production as a return man for the Wildcats and you’ve got an ascending player who could realistically come off the board in the late second round.

To Clive Walford. In a very uninspiring tight end class, Miami-FL’s Clive Walford earned himself a lot of money with a consistently great Senior Bowl week. His athleticism showed far more than it did in the constrained Hurricanes offense. Walford proved adept at releasing down the seam and presenting himself as a big and reliable target. He also made a couple of excellent open-field blocks in team drills on Wednesday which opened some eyes about his well-rounded game. His Miami tape says nothing more than a 5th round player, but perhaps he was just misfit or misused in college. He sure looks capable of doing a lot more at the NFL level, and it’s hard to see him falling below the first few picks of the third round in a class where only Minnesota’s Maxx Williams is ahead of him at tight end.

To Carl Davis. Just as Walford significantly outplayed his collegiate tape, so did Iowa DT Carl Davis. His great week started at weigh-ins, where his outstanding length and well put together body raised some eyebrows. On the practice fields he was consistently the most disruptive interior rusher on either squad. Those of us who had watched him play largely un-inspirational football for the Hawkeyes were wondering aloud, “Where has this been?” Davis continued the strong play in the game itself, blowing up a couple of plays with his quick defeats of opposing blockers. The guy on the practice fields is a top 40 pick. The guy on tape is an 80-100 overall pick. I suspect his great week gets Davis drafted somewhere in between.

Others who earned a thumbs up include:

Central Arkansas WR Dez Lewis, long, fast and more precise with his routes than expected. Proved capable of making the ridiculously athletic catch more than once. Also stood out on special teams drills.

USC CB Josh Shaw, the best player at the Shrine Game week more than held his own on the bigger stage. Excellent press-man corner who dominated the red zone drills on the short field.

Cincinnati ILB Jeff Luc, who entered the week as maybe a 7th-round talent. He looked fantastic in weigh-ins at a rocked-up 263 and then proceeded to show great instincts and better fluidity than he had for the Bearcats. He’s still limited athletically to just a 3-4 LILB, but he can be a very good one of those in the right circumstance.

Delaware TE Nick Doyle, flashing the hands and just enough athleticism to scare defenses form an inline position. Best blocking TE in pass protect drills too.

Clemson DT Grady Jarrett, who proved his lack of size (he’s 6’ and 290) can be a weapon in its own right. Devastating arm rip move and great pad level allow him to own leverage battles, and he’s quick off the snap.

Florida C Max Garcia, showing more strength and better agility in drills than he had on tape. Handling Danny Shelton one-on-one two reps in a row was mighty impressive.

Yale RB/FB Tyler Varga, the weigh-in winner of the North scored two TDs in the actual game, proving he has vision and acceleration. His solid lead blocking will give the Canadian native a role in the NFL if he opts to shun the more prominent future awaiting him in the CFL. 

Samford safety Jaquiski Tartt, a Mobile native who did the home crowd proud by showing range and anticipation in coverage. He’s got great length at 6’1” and a chiseled 220 that some team will want to groom into an eventual starter.

Wisconsin OT Rob Havenstein, who is not the most technically adept blocker but was probably the most reliable tackle in pass protection all week. Function over form rules for the beefy Havenstein.

Utah DE Nate Orchard, the North’s defensive MVP and a guy with a polished arsenal of pass-rush moves off the edge. He wasn’t out of place working with the linebackers in coverage, either.

Thumbs Down

Just as the thumbs up crowd excelled at showcasing their skills and creating positive buzz, these players either failed to meet expectations or generate excitement about their NFL chances.

To T.J. Clemmings. Widely regarded as a top-15 lock and one of the most athletic tackles in the class, Pittsburgh’s T.J. Clemmings underwhelmed. It was easy to see he’s only played the position for two years, and it really stood out in one particular aspect: staying engaged with his blocks. As a defender, players are taught to try and break away from contact with their hands. Yet offensive linemen need to stay locked up as long as legally possible. Clemmings still approaches his blocking as if he’s trying to stay separated and to let his quick feet and raw upper-body power handle business. It worked against lesser rushers in the ACC while playing right tackle. It did not work playing against more refined, more athletically gifted rushers in Mobile. He’s still going to come of the board in the first round, but he’s more of a project than anticipated by most.

To Ty Sambrailo. Another offensive tackle who failed to live up to expectations, Colorado State’s Ty Sambrailo is in even direr straits. Most everything that is wrong with Clemmings is fixable with good coaching and more experience. That’s not true of Sambrailo. He just doesn’t have the core strength or proper technique of an NFL starter. It will take loads of retraining his muscle memory and a lot of functional weight-room work to overhaul the deficiencies he consistently showed on the practice field and in the Senior Bowl game. Notably, he doesn’t use his outside arm when a defender goes inside on him, and his foot frequency in run blocking is pedestrian. Those are tougher fixes than expected for a guy some touted as high as a top-40 pick. He might not sniff the top 100 now.

Others who didn’t capitalize on their opportunity:

The players who declined invitations without acceptable or legitimate reasons. Senior Bowl president Phil Savage had very strong words for these guys during his introductory speech at weigh-ins:

South Carolina DE Corey Crawford

Kentucky DE Bud Dupree

Florida State C Cam Erving

Florida State WR Rashad Greene

UCLA QB Brett Hundley

Wake Forest CB Kevin Johnson

UCLA LB Eric Kendricks

Florida State G Josue Matias

West Virginia WR Kevin White

The most disturbing of those is Johnson, who per multiple sources opted to decline because he wanted to gain weight. He looks pencil-thin on tape at 6’ and a listed 175 pounds, but always had the positive results to overcome the size/strength knocks. Nobody got to see that in person, however. If he doesn’t weigh at least 180 at the Combine his gamble is going to blow up in his face.

Thumbs Twiddling

To Henry Anderson. The Stanford defensive end earned serious kudos from respected evaluators on both Tuesday and Wednesday, including this nugget from ESPN’s Todd McShay:

 

Yet when I focused on him in Thursday’s North practice, he was terrible. Anderson was on the ground a lot more than he wasn’t, unable to anchor and showing zero creativity as a rusher. He didn’t win more than 10% of his drill reps that day. He also missed two tackles in the game itself, including one that allowed David Johnson from Northern Iowa to score a touchdown. The truth on Anderson lies somewhere in between, and what I’ve seen on game tape remains worthy of a second-round selection. But it’s hard to shake the vision of him being thrown around so easily, if only for half an hour of practice…

To Justin Manton. Louisiana-Monroe’s Manton served double duty for the South, performing as both the punter and kicker. He was consistent in pounding punts high into the air, notably on Tuesday’s session at Fairhope stadium across the bay from Mobile. As a punter, he was the best Senior Bowl performer since Thom Morstead and Pat McAfee in 2009. Unfortunately, the placekicking didn’t go as well. He missed a mid-range attempt in Thursday’s practice, and he doinked a 25-yarder off the goalpost in the game itself. His kickoffs weren’t consistently deep into the end zone, which could limit him to being just a punter at the next level. That detracts from the added value of versatility and could keep him from being drafted.

Others with uneven performances include:

Michigan State WR Tony Lippett, not showing enough physicality at the position and lacking top-end speed to challenge up the field. More than one evaluator wanted to see him playing cornerback instead, and that’s his brighter NFL future if he chooses to switch back to fulltime defense.

Nebraska RB Ameer Abdullah, the Senior Bowl game MVP for his impressive 73 yards rushing and 40 yards receiving. He’s definitely got open-field speed and proved he’s a natural catcher of the pigskin. However he also showed he’s not a runner who can consistently make the first guy miss, going down on first contact a little more often than any other runner in Mobile. He was also unspeakably awful in pass protection drills, and that is the difference between a starter and a role player in the NFL.

Ohio State WR Devin Smith, confirming he’s strictly a one-dimensional offensive weapon. He seems incapable of running any route shorter than 25 yards. But man he’s awesome down the field. He also earned consistent kudos for his work on special teams.

Duke WR Jamison Crowder, who muffed a punt in the game and had several unproductive returns in drills. He was definitively outshined by both Lockett and Philip Dorsett of Miami as smaller slot/speed wideouts. Still, he showed slipperiness and outrageous short-area quickness in drills and caught the ball cleanly most of the time.

Miami-OH CB Quinten Rollins, measuring smaller than expected and also rawer and slower in downfield coverage than anticipated. He thrived in jam drills and showed a real nose for the ball, but those expecting an instant starter in the NFL are going to be disappointed. Arrow still pointing way up for the former hardwood villain.

Thumb Sucking

To any team needing a quarterback. Marcus Mariota and Brett Hundley both opted not to compete in Mobile, which alone earns them a thumbs down (more so for Hundley). Yet the focus here is on the six quarterbacks who were competing.

Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson was the “winner” of all the QBs by sucking the least. I’d like to take credit for that bluntly bleak assessment, but that is a direct quote from an NFL coach I spoke with on Wednesday night. He’s the only Senior Bowl quarterback who projects as anything higher than a No. 3 on any roster in the next couple of years, and it’s a stretch to see him as a starter anywhere down the line.

Two quarterbacks in Mobile solidified themselves as completely unworthy of any draft pick. I harbored real optimism for Alabama’s Blake Sims, but he showed up out of shape and was the least accurate, most overwhelmed QB on the practice fields at Ladd-Peebles Stadium since Nate Brown (remember him?) in 2009. Sean Mannion of Oregon State was even worse; at least Sims can run with the ball and escape pressure.

It’s a bleak season to need immediate quarterback help. The top two QBs--Mariota and Jameis Winston--both have real questions about their NFL prospects. That left the door wide open for any of the Senior Bowl six to step up and prove they could fill the void. Instead, the hole only looks deeper.