January 31, 2024

Senior Bowl practice notes, Day 1

A look at some of the players the Eagles are likely paying close attention to at the Senior Bowl.

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Vasha Hunt/USA TODAY Sports

The Senior Bowl, in Mobile, Alabama.

MOBILE, ALA. — Because the Philadelphia Eagles are projected to have 8 picks in this year's draft, including two second-round picks and four fifth-round picks, this year's Senior Bowl is of particular interest. Let's get to the notes.

• Usually there are around two to four guys who participate at the Senior Bowl who get picked in the first round. This year there should be at least a half dozen, and probably more. On Tuesday, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network released his first top-50 prospect list of draft season. 14 of those guys are competing here in Mobile.

Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State
Tyler Guyton, OT, Oklahoma
Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
Laiatu Latu, ED, UCLA
Bo Nix, QB, Oregon
Jordan Morgan, OT, Arizona
Jackson Powers-Johnson, iOL, Oregon
Zach Frazier, iOL, West Virginia
Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington
Ladd McConkey, WR, Georgia
Chris Braswell, ED, Alabama
Payton Wilson, LB, North Carolina State
Marshawn Kneeland, ED, Western Michigan
Malachi Corley, WR, Western Kentucky

I was surprised that BYU OT Kingsley Suamataia didn't make Jeremiah's top 50, but he's here, too.

• My focus today was on the offensive tackles. I think it's a near lock that the Eagles will take an offensive tackle early this year, and very possibly in the first round. Why?

Lane Johnson turns 34 in May, he has had injuries, and while he was still an elite player in 2023 there was some decline, in my opinion. To be clear, by "decline," I should note that I have thought of Johnson as a top 20 type of player, league-wide, over the last half decade. He was still an All-Pro this season, and deservedly so, but I did not think he was a top 20 type of player.
The Eagles, as you should all be well aware by now, like to have succession plans in place along the offensive line early, and in some cases, extra early.
This draft is loaded with offensive tackle talent. You can conceivably get an OT at or near pick 22 that normally wouldn't still be available, or perhaps in the second round when they might not otherwise fall that far. In other words, there should value at that position relative to draft position.

Suamataia's measurements came in a little disappointing. BYU listed him at 6'6, 325. He's actually 6'4 3/8 with 34" arms. Oklahoma's Tyler Guyton, conversely, measured in at 6'7, 328, while Houston's Patrick Paul, another guy who some consider a top 50 prospect, is 6'7 with 36" arms.

Suamataia got work both at LT and RT, which is tough to do. He was up and down, and faced the best edge rushers here. Here he is against UCLA's Laiatu Latu:

Kingsley Suamataia forces Laiatu Latu around the arc for a win, but Latu evens the score with an inside move on the next rep pic.twitter.com/4Ju3MC86iB
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) January 30, 2024

And here he is against Western Michigan's Marshawn Kneeland in 11-on-11's.

Western Michigan EDGE Marshawn Kneeland 👀 #SeniorBowl pic.twitter.com/Qv0heFPD1W
— Real Friends & Football (@rff_football) January 30, 2024

(We'll have more on Kneeland momentarily.)

Suamataia otherwise locked down the other edge defenders, but I came away a little disappointed with his first day.

The offensive tackles who did not disappoint were Guyton and Oregon State's Taliese Fuaga. Here's Latu vs. Fuaga:

Taliese Fuaga vs Laiatu Latu👀

pic.twitter.com/pv6rUHrQLp
— PFF College (@PFF_College) January 30, 2024

Latu had 23.5 sacks and 5 forced fumbles the last two seasons at UCLA, and he is thought of as a very technically sound rusher, and Fuaga just dumped him.

Guyton competed hard, and played well:

.@OU_Football OT Tyler Guyton was one of the big winners today imo. Two reps where he was visibly pumped to compete (and win). His technique isn’t perfect (hand placement needs work), but he is so naturally explosive and strong pic.twitter.com/0xUJ6Mbv0p
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) January 30, 2024

That second rep was against Alabama star edge rusher Chris Braswell.

• The corners should also be of interest to the Eagles. The top rated corner in Mobile is Toledo's Quinyon Mitchell, who finished second in the nation both in 2022 and 2023 with 19 pass breakups each season. Mitchell didn't get to play against top-tier talent at Toledo, so he has something to prove here, and on Day 1 he got his hands on a lot of passes and looked like the best corner here.

Great rep by #Toledo CB Quinyon Mitchell vs. speedy Jacob Cowing.

Love his patience/balance to transition with the WR and stay in his hip pocket all the way through the finish. pic.twitter.com/oJYbjPFYuZ
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) January 30, 2024

• I also tried to pay attention to the linebackers. When I published a list of 15 defensive players I'd be watching at the Senior Bowl, a bunch of people asked why NC State's Payton Wilson wasn't on it. (Seriously... there were tweets, DMs, and even an email.)

He's a good player who racked up 138 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 3 INTs, and 6 pass breakups in 2023. There's a lot to like. However, he has a serious injury history. He has torn his right ACL twice, he dislocated both shoulders in the same game in 2021 (necessitating surgery), and he'll be 24 by the time he's drafted.

He's older than every player the Eagles drafted last year, except Sydney Brown, who is older by a month. He's two years older than Kelee Ringo and Moro Ojomo.

So he'll be a polarizing prospect. He had a good day, as he was in on a number of tackles for loss.

The linebacker who impressed me was Nathaniel Watson of Mississippi State. He had a big final season, with 137 tackles, 10 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. He showed off good speed running sideline-to-sideline. Howie Roseman mentioned during his end of season press conference that the Eagles were looking for a WILL LB who could run and hit, and that they found that in Zach Cunningham. Watson can run and hit.

I'll also note here that James Williams, who was a big, enforcer-style safety for Miami, is playing linebacker here. He measured in here at 6'4, 230.

• The Eagles need a slot receiver, and there are a lot of them here, in different flavors. There are three that I really like:

Malachi Corley, Western Michigan: Run after catch beast.
Ladd McConkey, Georgia: Ankle breaker.
Roman Wilson: Speed.

Nobody could cover McConkey on Tuesday.

Good luck guarding Ladd McConkey😮‍💨

pic.twitter.com/OuDAY7KVlq
— PFF College (@PFF_College) January 30, 2024

There were a few other slot receivers who did some nice things, but I'll get to them in another notes post soon.

• I noted that we would come back to Western Michigan's Marshawn Kneeland, who made Jeremiah's top 50 list. He is explosive:

WMU DL Marshawn Kneeland was cooking in today's practice... pic.twitter.com/8E08Sb3KZh
— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) January 30, 2024

Kneeland's production isn't super impressive (12.5 career sacks), but he has decent enough size (6'3, 268) and obvious athletic traits. I'm curious to see how he tests at the Combine. Maxx Crosby was a traits-based prospect from a smaller school who has become an elite pro.

• At running back, a guy who escaped my radar this season who had a good day was USC's Marshawn Lloyd. He had a nice day catching the football and running inside the tackles:

Marshawn Lloyd is going to be a draft steal #FightOn✌🏻 pic.twitter.com/AaVG8sCQKR
— Arrogant Nation✌🏻 (@FightOnRusty) January 31, 2024

I also liked what I saw from Kentucky's Ray Davis as a receiver. He made a really nice play on a back shoulder throw. Davis is a power runner, but he can also stay on the field on obvious passing downs because he's a competent receiver.

• We'll have more notes on Thursday morning, and maybe a list of players on Friday who stood out who we didn't already profile this season in our prospects series.

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