The Senior Bowl game served as a confirmation for a lot of the players who were impressive during the previous week of practice. Here is a rundown of the players who had notable performances in the game.
Auburn’s Dee Ford had a great week and continued his tremendous play in the Senior Bowl game. Ford got started by beating Ohio State’s Jack Mewhort with a speed rush for his first sack of Virginia Tech’s Logan Thomas. Shortly later, Ford burned around the edge to sack Thomas again. Ford added a pass batted when he was able to get upfield and slap a pass thrown by Miami’s Stephen Morris. Ford also drew a holding penalty from Notre Dame’s Zack Martin in the fourth quarter, but it was a questionable call. Ford’s speed rushing was superb and it earned him the game’s MVP award. All week, he used his great get-off and quickness to burn edge blockers in one-on-ones; Ford was able to transfer that to the game and illustrate his mismatch potential for the NFL.
Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald was the star of the 2014 Senior Bowl week and was named the best player at the banquet. In the game, Donald had a lot of impressive rushes, including a great bull rush to push the heavy Mississippi State guard Gabe Jackson straight into the backfield. Donald applied a lot of pressure and caused a lot of havoc at the point of attack even though he didn’t have a big game statistically.
Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr was the top signal-caller at the Senior Bowl and started the game strongly. Carr hit Colorado State tight end Crockett Gilmore on a crossing route in stride and Gilmore jetted down the sideline for a 17-yard touchdown pass. Carr also made a nice throw on a bomb to Alabama wide out Kevin Norwood, but the Crimson Tide receiver couldn’t adjust and didn’t have the burst to chase it down for a completion.
Carr came close to an interception as Nebraska Stanley Jean-Baptiste broke on a ball and couldn’t control the catch. Carr wasn’t so lucky later on, as he was picked off by Auburn’s Chris Davis. Carr threw a pass off the mark to a well-covered receiver and the ball flew into Davis’ chest. Carr finished 7-of-12 for 45 yards with a score and a pick. He did well in Mobile, but didn’t dominate enough to shoot up draft boards.
Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd had a rough Senior Bowl game and a mixed week. He had a rough opening series with his first pass batted by Arkansas’ Chris Smith. Wide receiver Jeff Janis dropped a completion, but Boyd had an ugly throw that was poorly placed with too much air underneath it on a pass downfield. LSU safety Craig Loston had enough time to get over and undercut the pass for an interception. Boyd had a nice drive in the second quarter going, but had another batted pass, this time from Tennessee’s Daniel McCullers, and that helped lead to the North team settling for a field goal to start their scoring. Boyd finished going 7-of-16 for 31 yards with eight yards rushing. He was unable to help himself at the Senior Bowl and damaged his stock with some.
The leading receiver of the Senior Bowl was Colorado State tight end Crockett Gilmore with five receptions for 61 yards. He made a nice leaping grab for a 23-yard reception. The big tight end did a nice job of getting down the seam and open in zone coverage. Gilmore is known more as a blocking tight end, but he showed some receiving ability against the North.
Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas was prone to some ugly games in college, and echoed those performances in the Senior Bowl as took five sacks. There were some impressive pass rushes, but Thomas also held onto the ball way too long. He completed only 4-of-5 passes for 18 yards. Thomas showed his big time skill set in Mobile, but he needs a lot of development at the next level.
Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland had a good week. In the second quarter of the game, he blasted Georgia Southern running back Jerick McKinnon to force a fumble. Borland is an excellent run-defender in the tackle box and led all defenders with eight tackles in the game.
Princeton defensive tackle Caraun Reid beat Baylor guard Cyril Richardson with a speed rush to the inside to get a sack of Logan Thomas. Reid beat Miami guard Brandon Linder into the backfield on the very next play to sack Thomas again. Reid had a strong week to show he can handle better competition.
San Jose State quarterback David Fales had a mixed outing. On the good side, he rolled out to find a wide open Kevin Norwood for a touchdown. On the bad side, Fales was crushed by Aaron Donald in the fourth quarter and threw a ball up for grabs downfield. Utah State cornerback Nevin Lawson came down with the ball for a pick. It was a bad throw that should have gone out of bounds. Fales completed 6-of-7 passes for 104 yards with the score and pick. He didn’t do enough to help himself at the Senior Bowl.
Michigan State safety Isaiah Lewis dropped an interception on an overthrow by Jimmy Garoppolo. The throw was similar to the one Boyd made that was picked off by Craig Loston. Garoppolo was 6-of-11 for 32 yards.
Arizona State defensive tackle Will Sutton had a rough week, but he flashed his ability to make plays in the backfield during the game. Sutton beat Michigan guard Michael Schofield to get a tackle for a loss of three yards. Sutton had four tackles and looked better in the game than he did in practice.
To finish off the North team in the fourth quarter, Utah cornerback Keith McGill intercepted Miami’s Stephen Morris as the receiver fell down on an out route. McGill had a strong week of practice to play himself into second-day consideration.
Stanford outside linebacker Trent Murphy had a nice open-field tackle on a third-and-9 to get his defense off the field and also did a nice job of dropping into pass coverage. Murphy had four tackles in the game.
Virginia offensive tackle Morgan Moses had a good week of practice and did well in the game. Moses shut down Missouri edge rusher Michael Sam to allow Fales’ touchdown pass to Norwood. Moses is a sleeper tackle in a strong class of edge blockers, and he could be a nice value pick.
Vanderbilt wide receiver Jordan Matthews (2-38) was quiet for most of the game, but late in the fourth quarter, made a nice over the shoulder reception for a 33-yard gain along the sideline. Matthews is a big, physical possession receiver whose separation skills remain the big question mark.
Lindenwood cornerback Pierre Desir wasn’t fooled by a wide receiver pass as he stayed at home on the far side of the field to cover a wide out trying to creep into the back of the end zone. Desir went up to intercept the pass from Kevin Norwood. Desir did well in his big jump of competition at the Senior Bowl.
BYU outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy had a sack in the third quarter as he beat Miami right tackle Seantrel Henderson with a speed rush to the inside. Logan Thomas held onto the ball too long, but it still was an impressive rush from Van Noy.
Florida State linebacker/safety Telvin Smith did a nice job in coverage on Wisconsin running back James White to make a tough open-field tackle and keep White from running for a first down. Smith is a linebacker/safety tweener who will have to make a decision about which position is his future and adjust his weight accordingly.
Missouri outside linebacker Michael Sam beat North Dakota State right tackle Billy Turner for a sack with a speed rush. Both Turner and Sam will need some developmental time in the NFL as Sam transitions from defensive end to outside linebacker and Turner should move inside to guard.
Northern Illinois Jimmie Ward had a quality week in pass coverage. In the game, he had a good hit on Crockett Gilmore to cause an incompletion.
