2021 Senior Bowl

PFF's top prospects at the 2021 Senior Bowl - link

Tuesday, 1/26 was weigh-in day for the 2021 Senior Bowl. Here are the official measurements, courtesy of Pro Football Network (link). This is a good list for future reference as you can sort by position if you want too (ie, if you know that the Vikings only tend to look at DL with a specific arm-length/wingspan, just click on that DL position to see the measurements of the Senior Bowl rosters).

It was only "measurement day" at the Senior Bowl on Tuesday, but since it's the only pre-Draft event other than individual college Pro Days, draftnik websites needed to put out some sort of article on Winner/Losers, etc. So if you're interested in finding out who "won" or "lost" on "measurement day", here is an article from TheDraftNetwork on "Who Won the Weigh-in" (link). If you don't want to click to find out, here they are (again, courtesy of TheDraftNetwork): Michigan WR Nico Collins, Boston College TE Hunter Long, Oregon St DE Hamilcar Rashed, Jr., Syracuse CB Ifeati Melifonwu, Florida St DE Janarius Robison and Houston DE Payton Turner.

Here's another article from the Steelers Depot website that lists their Weigh-in Reactions: link. Just a FYI, this is obviously a Steelers-slanted website, but they do a really great job w/ draft prospect profiles (complete w/ film) and it's one of my go-to sites during pre-draft season, especially since the Steelers tend to draft well (especially along the OL/DL).

There were some brief practices also on Tuesday afternoon after the weigh-ins and Pro Football Network offered up their "Stock Watch" recap of the brief Tuesday practice (link). Here's who they listed as "risers" after Tuesday's brief practice session:

Jamie Newman, QB, Wake Forest
Khalil Herbert, RB, Virginia Tech
Kylen Granson, TE, SMU
Daelin Hayes, DE, Notre Dame
Levi Onwuzurike, DL, Washington
Dillon Radunz, OT, North Dakota State
Hamsah Nasirildeen, S, Florida State
Richie Grant, S, UCF
Shi Smith, WR, South Carolina
Sage Surratt, WR, Wake Forest

Here are some other recaps of Tuesday's Day 1 practice session:

NFL.com (D Jeremiah) - link; lists the following as his five stars from Day 1:

Carlos Basham, DE, Wake Forest 
Levi Onwuzurike, DT, Washington
Josh Palmer, WR, Tennessee
Larry Rountree III, RB, Missouri
Shi Smith, WR, South Carolina

SteelersNow recap of Day 1 winner/losers (link):

Winners:
Creed Humphrey, IOL, Oklahoma
Dillon Radunz, OT, N Dakota St
Demetric Felton, RB, UCLA
D’Wayne Eskridge, WR, Western Michigan
Jaylon Moore, OL, Western Michigan
Patrick Jones, DE, Pittsburgh

Losers:
Alex Leatherwood, OT/IOL, Alabama
Deonte Brown, IOL, Alabama
Robert Rochell, DB, Central Arkansas
Shawn Davis, S, Florida 
Spencer Brown, OT, Northern Iowa

SteelersDepot website (which I like as mentioned earlier), recaps Day 1 practice - link. The don't list out winners/losers but they guys they like and didn't like are similar to pretty much who everyone else liked/didn't like. 

As a recap, these seem to be the consensus standouts so far after weigh-ins and brief Tuesday practice:

D’Wayne Eskridge, WR, Western Michigan (I've mentioned this guy previously and I really like him on Day 3)
Carlos Basham, DE, Wake Forest (good quickness off the edge for a guy his size, 280+)
Dillion Radunz, OT, N Dakota St (SteelersDepot website noted his play strength seemed good)
Sage Surratt, WR, Wake Forest

Here are some reports from Day 2 (Wed) at the 2021 Senior Bowl:

TheDraftNetwork: 5 WR who's stock is rising (link)

5. Nico Collins, Michigan
4. Kadarius Toney, Florida (already was a fringe Rd 1 WR anyway)
3. Tylan Wallace, Ok St.
2. Amari Rodgers, Clemson
1. D'Wayne Eskridge (I mentioned this guy a week or so ago in the "What Prospects do you want After Rd 1 thread" on the main Vikings talk forum...I thought he would fit in Rd 5, and it seems that ship has sailed...in fact, TheDraftNetwork thinks Eskridge is now a Top 50 pick)

Pro Football Network: Top Risers/Performers from Wed practice (link)

Mac Jones, QB, Alabama
Elijah Mitchell, RB, Louisiana
Tre’ McKitty, TE, Georgia
Quinn Meinerz, OG, Wisconsin-Whitewater
Adetokunbo Ogundeji, DT, Notre Dame (worth noting that they stated he took advantage of DT Levi Onwuzurike’s absence)
Jabril Cox, LB, LSU (guy I do like)
Tylan Wallace, WR, Ok St.
Tre Brown, DB, Oklahoma
Ifeatu Melifonwu, DB, Syracuse (mentioned him in "Prospects I like after Round 1" in Vikings Talk main forum)

NFL.com: Daniel Jeremiah's 5 Stars from Wed practice (link)

Creed Humphrey, C, Oklahoma
Quinn Meinerz, IOL, Wisconsin-Whitewater
Cornell Powell, WR, Clemson
Quincy Roche, DE, Miami
Amari Rodgers, WR, Clemson
Another note from Jeremiah's Wed writeup: "Oregon CB Thomas Graham Jr. has lined up against some star-quality receivers in practice for the National squad this week, including Wake Forest's Sage Surratt and Oklahoma State's Tylan Wallace. But it's a receiver who didn't play in a Power Five league -- Western Michigan's D'Wayne Eskridge -- who Graham said has been the toughest cover of all. "I don't exactly know his name, but I like the old boy from Western Michigan. He's very quick, but also strong, and he's got long leverage," Graham said."

Cover1 (Buffalo Bills-slanted pre-Draft site) Day 2 notes (link) - this one is good because it contains some film to go along w/ their notes (not all the sites have film like this). They also highlight IOL prospect Quinn Meinerz from Wisconsin Whitewater, and show film where he stiffs Pitt's DE Patrick Jones - a popular potential Day 2 DE pick, so he's definitely up for this year's small-school prospect who's holding his own vs high level competition. 

I should note this from Day 1 practice: another site I frequent during pre-Draft time is "The Great Blue North Draft Report", it's a Giants-slanted site but like the Steelers Depot site, they have solid analysis and writeups. This is what the had to say from their Day 1 Senior Bowl report about Washington DT Levi Onwuzurike (link), "I thought the most impressive player all around was DT LEVI ONWUZURIKE of Washington, who will be closely watched all week. He opted out of playing his senior season for the Huskies, and comes into Draft prep season as clearly the top senior interior d-lineman in the draft class. He shined in 1-on-1 drills. He was quick off the snap and used his hands like a karate black belt, chopping and slashing as would-be blockers quite often saw him rush pass them and head into the pocket. By my count, he clearly won at least 2 of every 3 snaps. He also was a constant visitor to the offensive backfield in 11-on-11 snaps. I know this is early, and making comparison projections might be considered sacrilegious, but I can see some AARON DONALD in LEVI’s game already. He would be my top performing prospect of the first practice."

This is the 2nd report I've seen that has Levi Onwuzurike as the top DT in this year's class - the other was Daniel Jeremiah. Let's just say that Onwuzurike should definitely be on the Viking's radar for a Top 30 virtual visit.

NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah lists his Top 10 draft "winners" from Senior Bowl practices (before game) - link:

Carlos "Boogie" Basham, DE, Wake Forest
Michael Carter, RB, North Carolina
Demetric Felton, RB/WR, UCLA
Richie Grant, S, UCF
Robert Hainsey, OL, Notre Dame
Cade Johnson, WR, South Dakota State
Mac Jones, QB, Alabama
Quinn Meinerz, IOL, Wisconsin-Whitewater
Quincy Roche, edge rusher, Miami
D'Ante Smith, OT, East Carolina

USA Today's Touchdown Wire - Who Won Practice Week? (link)

Quinn Meinerz, OL, Wisconsin-Whitewater
Mac Jones, QB, Alabama
D'Wayne Eskridge, WR, Western Michigan
Cameron Sample, DE, Tulane
Cade Johnson, WR, South Dakota State
Amari Rodgers, WR, Clemson
Trevon Grimes, WR, Florida
Michael Carter, RB, UNC
Demetric Felton, RB/WR, UCLA
Quincy Roche, EDGE, Miami

I posted a great picture of him in the "Future of Vikings" thread in the Vikings Talk forum, because of his purple helmet and long hair, he sort looked like a Viking....the question I have is I haven't seen any discussion on how well he moves...much has been written about him handing the upper-level competition in one-on-one's and team drills throughout practices, but I haven't seen much discussion on what type of blocking scheme he best fits. I'm going to assume since he did really well in one-on-one's (including pancaking Pitt's Patrick Jones II) that he's more suited for a gap/power blocking scheme and perhaps not athletic enough for outside zone. 

I actually found my Round 6 Blocking TE prospect I've been searching for: Boise St TE John Bates. If the Vikings move-on from Rudy this offseason, I think Bates is the perfect pick-up late on Day 3: many reports have him as the best blocking TE at the Senior Bowl and that's basically what we need - another Rhett Ellison / David Morgan type player that blocks real well up-front, plays ST and makes a timely catch here and there and that's exactly what Bates is. He's also a former track star so contrary to some reports, he does have some athleticism and ability to make a play if he has, too. He's the type of player that provides solid value and really rounds out the roster: late Day 3, makes the 53-man roster, contributes in all 4 seasons during his rookie contract, etc.