The National team had its second practice of Senior Bowl week on Wednesday morning. The players wore full pads under sunny skies with consistent wind.
Oregon quarterback Bo Nix might be the first Senior Bowl prospect taken this coming April in the 2024 NFL Draft, but he had an underwhelming practice on Wednesday. Nix was exposed to taking snaps from under center, and clearly he needs a lot of practice with this fundamental. Nix was bobbling some snaps and double clutching at the ball at times. Nix also had a shotgun snap fumbled away in the team scrimmage. However, the struggles with taking snaps under center are not really Nix’s fault because he was in shotgun all the time throughout college. Pro teams don’t expect players to know something they haven’t been taught and executed in the past, but Nix will need development to work under center at the next level. The same goes for Michael Penix Jr. and the other early-round quarterbacks for the 2024 NFL Draft.
From a passing perspective, Nix had some good throws in the one-on-ones and in the team scrimmage, showing accuracy in the short to intermediate part of the field. Some of his downfield passes were underthrown or not thrown quickly enough. Washington State cornerback Chau Smith-Wade made nice play to intercept Nix on a downfield throw. Smith-Wade located the ball and undercut the receiver for the pick.
The wind conditions in Mobile provided further evidence that Nix lacks a powerful arm. His arm strength is average, so he and his pro coaching will need to compensate for that. Through two practices, Nix has not been played poorly, but he has not been dominant by any means.
The defense and the defensive backs won this practice overall. Smith-Wade had a nice session on Wednesday. He consistently stayed in the hip pocket of receivers and prevented separation. Along with his interception, Smith-Wade showed nice route recognition to go along with fluid athleticism to run with receivers. This was good day for Smith-Wade, who could be a nice second-day value pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. showed a strong arm, cutting the ball through the wind with velocity. Penix had some nice throws but then others that showed poor placement. For the pro level, Penix clearly needs development in terms of his footwork and fundamentals to make him more accurate consistently. The Senior Bowl has given proof of that. Penix looks like a second-day prospect who could start out as a backup but has the physical upside to possibly develop into a starter.
The third quarterback on the National team is former Wake Forest and Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman. Hartman struggled on Wednesday with a string of passes that had poor placement and many underthrown balls. Even on some intermediate passes, Hartman’s passes had some wobble to them and were not ending up where he intended for them to go. Hartman looks like a very late-round or undrafted free agent who is competition to be a third quarterback.
North Carolina wide receiver Tez Walker is an interesting prospect for the 2024 NFL Draft. On both Tuesday and Wednesday, Walker showed the speed to get vertical and stretch defenses over the top. Walker clocked the fastest of any player at the Senior Bowl on Tuesday, and his speed was apparent in this second National pracrice. However, Walker has had issues with catching the ball. After a drop in the one-on-ones, Walker dropped two routine completions. They were standard out routes with well-located, catchable balls from Bo Nix. Walker had those passes bounce off his hands on what are standard plays in the NFL. Walker needs to bounce back on Thursday, at the NFL Scouting Combine, and at his pro day to show Wednesday’s practice was not his norm.
Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall had his second straight good practice. He did well in the team scrimmage, getting open on out routes for a couple of completions. Pearsall got the better of Penn State cornerback Kalen King while running a corner post to get open in the one-on-ones. One of the better catches of the practice was Pearsall skying over Smith-Wade for a leaping grab. Smith-Wade did a nice job of running with Pearsall, but Pearsall was able to win the 50-50 pass. Pearsall (6-0, 193) has functional size to go along with quickness and route-running. He could end up being a steal on Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft.
USC wide receiver Brenden Rice had a quality start to the week on Tuesday, followed by a mixed outing on Wednesday. Rice did a nice job of getting open at times, but also had a dropped touchdown on a deep ball after generating some separation. Given the 2024 NFL Draft’s deep and talented receiver class, Rice (6-2, 212) needs a strong leadup to the draft in order to rise.
Assuming his medical evaluation checks out okay, UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu should be one of the earliest picked players from the 2024 Senior Bowl teams in the 2024 NFL Draft, and Latu showed why on Wednesday. Tuesday was a quality start to the week, but he was even better in the fully padded practice. Latu had some nice wins with speed rushes in the one-on-one session, but he was fantastic in the team portion, recording multiple sacks. The first one came with a speed rush around the right side to close on the quarterback quickly. On the next play, Latu roasted the guard on a stunt to the inside before collapsing the pocket in a hurry.
Latu has quality size, athleticism and quickness, but what really makes him special are his instincts, motor, and hand usagee. His performance on Wednesday gave proof of his dangerous edge-rush ability for the NFL.
Ohio State defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr. showed on Tuesday and on Wednesday that he possesses first-round talent. Hall picked up a sack in today’s team-scrimmage session with a lightning rush that he used to fire his gap and fly past the guard. Hall looks like a tailor-made three-technique with interior disruption ability. As we documented in the Hot Press previously, the team interviews will be more important than the practices for Hall, who faces major character concerns with teams.
BYU offensive tackle Kinglsey Suamataia has a good skill set with size, quickness and athleticism, but he did not always play up to his physical talent. He made some nice blocks on Wednesday, but also was beaten on some reps in the team scrimmage and in the one-on-ones. Suamataia is giving proof that the work-ethic concerns are impacting his on-field performance.
Suamataia is not having the kind of week to improve his chances of going in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. This is a loaded and deep offensive tackle class, so teams could have other intriguing options. Suamataia needs to practice better on Thursday and play well in the game on Saturday. While he is on the bubble between Days 1 and 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft, he has not helped his caused thus far this week.
