2023 Senior Bowl: Tuesday’s American Team Practice Report
By Charlie Campbell –
@draftcampbell
The American team held their first practice of the week, and it was a disappointing session. In a big blow to the Senior Bowl, the NFL pulled its team coaching staffs from the event and sent them to the East-West Shrine. The Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots coaching staffs are leading the two teams in Las Vegas. That left the Senior Bowl to turn to an assortment of young position coaches from around the league to put a coaching staff together. The lack of experience and cohesion was not as noticeable in the National team’s practice, but it definitely was glaring in the American team’s practice. The slow tempo, and lack of the majority of the time not featuring head-to-head competition, made this practice not as educational or eventful.
Another factor that hurt the quality of the American team practice was bad quarterback play. The trio of TCU’s Max Duggan, Houston’s Clayton Tune and Shepherd’s Tyson Bagent really struggled in their first session. Tune was unimpressive, and Bagent had an ugly day, missing wide open receivers and looking in over his head. The struggles of the quarterbacks made it harder to evaluate the receivers and defensive backs, but hopefully the signal-calers will be better on Wednesday and Thursday as they get more acclimated to the Senior Bowl week.
Florida guard O’Cyrus Torrence might be the only true interior lineman who ends up going in the first round this April in the 2023 NFL Draft. Torrence is a mountain of man who packs a punch in the ground game. He got his Senior Bowl off to a nice start, blocking well in the pass-rushing one-on-ones. Torrence negated a speed rush from Alabama’s Byron Young by pushing him around the pocket. Torrence then stonewalled a bull rush not giving an inch. In the ground game, he was generating movement as well. One factor that hurts Torrence though is a bad body, which leads to teams having worries about his weight, conditioning, work ethic, and longevity. It would help Torrence if he drops some weight prior to the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine and Gators pro day.
Iowa State edge rusher Will McDonald IV had an impressive opening day. He used his speed and athleticism to give tackles fits in the one-on-ones, and he had Bagent dead for a sack in the team scrimmage. McDonald is a dangerous edge rusher who needs to get stronger for defending the ground game at the next level, but teams picking late in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft that are in need of pure pass rush will have to give McDonald consideration because he is NFL-ready in terms of pressuring the quarterback. Given the passing-driven moden league, McDonald probably won’t last long if he makes it to the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Kansas State cornerback Julius Brents put together a really nice opening session. In the one-on-ones, Brents did well at running with receivers and using his length to recover. He had an impressive win over South Alabama wideout Jalen Wayne to force an incompletion with blanket coverage. Brents followed that up with an interception. The referee mistakenly threw a pass interference flag that was more of incidental contact after the receiver and Brents collided at the top of the route. After the wideout moved to the inside, Brents slid to his right to snatch the ball way. In many games, it would have gone for an interception and non-call. Team evaluators liked Brents during the 2022 season, so he is a sleeper who could be riser over the 2023 NFL Draft process.
Oklahoma running back Eric Gray had some quality runs to open the week. He broke off a big run in the nine-on-seven session, darting down the field and using a quick spin move to dodge a linebacker near the line of scrimmage before peeling off to the left side for a nice gain. Gray could be a mid-round back who ends up being a nice value pick.
Despite the quarterback struggles, Virginia wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks managed to impress with some sharp running and a burst out of his break to generate separation. He was a consistent source of chunk gains in 2021 before seeing a drop in production in 2022. If Wicks has a good week of practice at the Senior Bowl and runs well at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, he could be a real riser due to the weak receiving class of the 2023 NFL Draft.
WalterFootball.com will have more recaps from the Senior Bowl practices later in the week along with a run-down of the post-practice team interviews. Follow
@walterfootball for updates.
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2023 Senior Bowl: Thursday's American Team Practice Report
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2023 Senior Bowl Rumors: Thursday
2023 Senior Bowl: Wednesday's American Team Practice Report
2023 Senior Bowl: Wednesday's National Team Practice Report
2023 Senior Bowl Rumors: Wednesday
2023 Senior Bowl: Tuesday's American Team Practice Report
2023 Senior Bowl: Tuesday's National Team Practice Report
2023 Senior Bowl Rumors: Tuesday
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