Your Turn: Who are you interested in at #9 Overall?
All-22uesday Stream Recap: Taking an Early Look at 9th Overall’s Options
Your Turn: Who are you interested in at #9 Overall?
Final Senior Bowl practices just wrapped up for both the National & American Team. I spent the day watching DBs and Wide Receivers, and here’s what I saw:
Did Not Practice: Florida WR Ricky Pearsall, Toledo CB Quinyon Mitchell, Michigan WR Roman Wilson
Very Good: Notre Dame CB Cam Hart, Western Kentucky WR Malachi Corley, Rutgers CB Max Melton, Oregon State SAF Kitan Oladapo, Oregon SAF Evan Williams, USC WR Brenden Rice, Ohio State Safety Josh Proctor
Redeemed Himself: Washington State CB Chau Smith-Wade
I Wanted More: WR Devontez Walker, Penn State CB Kalen King, Oregon CB Khyree Jackson, Rice WR Luke McCaffrey, UCF WR Javon Baker
Notes: This isn’t a Copy/Paste list from yesterday — on the American squad, the cream has simply risen to the top. Cam Hart had another strong day, Max Melton took advantage of the extra reps, Kitan Oladapo flashed athleticism all day, and Brenden Rice separated with his feet on a day where he needed to do exactly that.
Once again, Senior Bowl practices just wrapped up for both the National & American Team only hours ago. I spent the day watching DBs and Wide Receivers, and here’s what I saw:
Dominant: Toledo CB Quinyon Mitchell
Good: Florida WR Ricky Pearsall, North Carolina WR Devontez Walker, Michigan WR Roman Wilson, Western Kentucky WR Malachi Corley, Notre Dame CB Cam Hart, Rutgers CB Max Melton, Oregon State SAF Kitan Oladapo, Oregon SAF Evan Williams, UCF WR Javon Baker
I Wanted More: Penn State CB Kalen King, Oregon CB Khyree Jackson, Rice WR Luke McCaffrey
Notes: Quinyon continues to stand out, no two ways about it… Pearsall looks like a fun option in the 3rd or 4th round — he’s big enough to handle a jam, fast enough to separate after initial contact, and competitive at the catch point… Roman Wilson stayed fast.. Tez Walker looked much faster today than yesterday but he couldn’t seem to catch the ball. He did the hard part, but I’d love to see him finish tomorrow…
Senior Bowl practices just wrapped up for both the National & American Team only hours ago — I spent the day watching DBs and Wide Receivers, and here’s what I saw:
Bear With Me on these columns — time is short in Mobile, Alabama, so I’m stuffing as much as I can into this article. Organization will ebb and flow.
Quinyon Mitchell is a corner I haven’t personally had an easy time getting film on, but his play in Mobile stood out to the point that he was probably the best player on the field across both practices. He has beautiful, efficient footwork, physical during his route stem, and natural when tracking his man down the field. Made plays in both man and zone coverage. He’s assuredly out of the Bears’ league, but he’s fun nevertheless.
Nobody’s gotten much going against Toledo CB Quinyon Mitchell today — he’s physical, plays with clean footwork, and manages space really well.
Here’s a great rep with an early jam and late contest. Pretty work. pic.twitter.com/VpTwYhCXWS
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) January 30, 2024
Not much from me today, as I’m rushing to finish as much Senior Bowl prep as possible. More on that starting tomorrow.
But my biggest takeaway from yesterday’s games? The NFL is still a Quarterback league, and it’s becoming nearly impossible for anyone to shine brighter than the league’s best Quarterback when playing under the brightest lights.
Kudos to Purdy — I thought he played a very nice game yesterday, especially after a tough first half — but the young man has his work cut out for him in Las Vegas. Can the NFL’s modern ‘SuperTeam’ fell the game’s biggest giant? We’ll find out in two weeks.
But in watching the Chiefs, one other observation jumps out at me — the Chiefs’ Cornerbacks, namely L’Jarius Sneed, Trent McDuffie, and Jaylen Watson — have played great football over the last few weeks, providing Kansas City’s defense with a punch that many units in the NFL can’t even attempt. After all, could frustrate an offense more than what we saw in Baltimore today? Todd Monken called pass play after pass play, but Odell Beckham Jr, Rashod Bateman, and Zay Flowers couldn’t separate against Kansas City’s corners, leading to tight throws that got batted away, sacks, and turnovers.
Baltimore’s frustration felt oddly familiar to me — it looked like Detroit’s frustration in their games against the Bears. And after all, how did the Bears fluster a Lions offense that seemingly no one else in the league could stop? The answer, I think, lies in Chicago’s corners. By investing in quality pass defenders, the Bears were able to turn their opponents’ rhythm throws into middle-percentage gambles that couldn’t be counted on when marching down the field.
When combined with Eberflus’ bend-don’t-break attitude, the stout run defense of Andrew Billings, and the pass-rush presence that Montez Sweat provided, I think Chicago’s corners became a force-multiplier that hasn’t been discussed enough — Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, and Kyler Gordon all gave WRs minimal room to breathe, minimizing layups and forcing offenses to play perfectly over long drives if they wanted to score. This clearly affected a pair of playoff offenses, namely Detroit and Cleveland, and throughout the Chiefs’ big win yesterday I found myself wondering if Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles might be onto something here.
I hope they are — frankly, I hope they continue investing in DB this year with a new Safety and maybe more depth at Corner. But, for now, it’s nothing if not a different perspective on the drivers of a modern defense.
Pass rush will always be king, but as Corner turns into a land of “Haves” and “Have-Nots” it seems as if Ryan Poles has found a way to get ahead of the NFL’s curve — with another likely add coming to Chicago’s Defensive Line in the 2024 offseason, I hope his approach bears further fruit next year. Regardless of who’s playing QB, a stingy corps of DBs will go a long way towards frustrating future opponents and finding wins where others can’t.
With the NFL’s divisional round of the playoffs wrapped up, 28 out of 32 fanbases are free to pivot towards previewing the NFL Draft. And if you know anything about the Reese’s Senior Bowl… you know ‘The Draft Starts in Mobile, Alabama’.
I’m credited to cover the Reese’s Senior Bowl again this year, which means I’ll spend next week watching some of the 2024 NFL Draft Class’s best prospects as they showcase their skills in practice sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
The Senior Bowl rarely features players sure of their draft status (like last year’s Myles Murphy or this year’s Marvin Harrison Jr), but all kinds of talent will be present next week — last year we saw Darnell Wright, John Michael Schmitz, Keanu Benton, Jayden Reed, Michael Wilson, Tyrique Stevenson, JuJu Brents, and plenty of other soon-to-be high-rounders compete and win throughout the sessions, and I expect to see the same this year.
But if you read this blog consistently, you know that I couldn’t go to Mobile unprepared — I’ve been drinking down as much college film as I can stand to fit into my life over the last two weeks and, throughout this week, will do my best to get you caught up on names I’ve found to watch throughout draft season.
You probably know the big names — players like LSU WR Malik Nabers or Washington WR Rome Odunze need no introduction, but it’s players like:
That may be under your radar right now. They’re the names to know, because they could very well be targets in the key Day 2 rounds (2nd & 3rd) that fuel a draft class’s success.
I’ll be focusing on skill position players this year — practices in Mobile are split, with DBs & WRs in one endzone and OL/DL in the other, so I won’t try to be everywhere at once. As I prep for my trip, I’ll post as many draft cut-ups as I can — if draft prep is starting for me, it might as well start for you too!
Here’s to a great 2024 draft season! Now back to the film room — I’ll see you soon.
Your Turn: What position are you most looking forward to drafting after Round 1?
It’s draft season and Caleb Williams is on my mind — I’ll have a longer, more thorough breakdown out later this offseason, but today I wanted to highlight his play from within the pocket. Specifically, whenever I watch him I see the following:
Couple that with his tendency to keep his eyes downfield while scrambling, even when under duress, and you’ve got a very dangerous modern passer that looks like he’d fit right in on NFL Playoff Weekend after a bit of refinement in 2024.
Highlight reels are great, but how well does Caleb Williams play within structure?
Here's an 18-play reel that'll give you a feel for Caleb Williams within the pocket — you'll see quick throws, deep shots, progression reads, and plenty of talent. All from the big bad ND game. pic.twitter.com/PS33ThcJ0M
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) January 9, 2024
One more I just found: the QB in Wisconsin has made plays like this famous over the last few weeks. Here’s the same throw under pressure made against one of the best defenses in college football.
Gorgeous Caleb Williams play from the pocket here:
– Reads Man coverage early, finds his open man
– Sees his LT get beat like a drum
– Creates space in the pocket, fades away from the pressure
– Flicks his wrist, drops a 33-yard dime in stride, WR tacks on YAC.Arm talent >>> pic.twitter.com/YnLyW6qfYO
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) January 17, 2024
Editor’s Note: My son has been sick with stomach flu over the last few days, so I appreciate your patience within website content. It’s draft season, so I’ll see what I can whip up as I prep to head out to the Senior Bowl in a few weeks.
If the Bears’ visit to Green Bay was intended to represent a benchmark for their 2023 season’s progress, they failed their final exam quite emphatically.
Chicago’s report cards are currently under review and will be returned to our students throughout the next week. Until then, let’s review yesterday’s season finale one last time.
Nick and I recorded a podcast where we talked through the ups, the downs, the ins, and the outs of Chicago’s latest loss here:
Your Turn: How do you feel about yesterday’s game?
