Senior Bowl Day 3 Practice Recap, Risers & Fallers

The Reese’s Senior Bowl week continues with prospects flying around the field. As the week evolves, players’ draft stocks can soar and plummet with the drop of a hat. Let’s check in after Day 3 and see who helped themselves the most and who could have dimmed their rising star.

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Senior Bowl Day 3 Winners

Xavier Hutchinson (WR – Iowa State)

On many different fronts, Hutchinson has had an up-and-down week, but today was an absolute checkmark in the win column. Hutchinson eluded tight coverage in red zone drills for touchdowns while also flashing a solid set of mitts. He made tough contested catches at the boundary with ease. Hutchinson is someone that rewarded my faith on the final day of practice.
– Derek Brown

Xavier Hutchinson doing Hutch things pic.twitter.com/rf8PEOFxdO

— Derek Brown (@DBro_FFB) February 2, 2023

Michael Wilson (WR – Stanford)

Wilson closed the week with another stellar day. With so much of his college career muddied by injury, it was a premium showing today for Wilson. He displayed the ability to get open on short area routes and come down with difficult grabs in the red zone. With a plus combine, Wilson could be a riser all the way through this NFL Draft cycle.
– Derek Brown

Jaren Hall to Michael Wilson ? pic.twitter.com/JwLJq62D6s

— Derek Brown (@DBro_FFB) February 2, 2023

Jake Haener (QB – Fresno State)

Thursday was probably Haener’s worst day at the Senior Bowl – okay, it just categorically was. On the field during the media session after practice, he was clearly frustrated with his work on the day.

Which, fair enough. But yet again, for the third-straight day, Haener clearly out-classed the other quarterbacks in his session.

Haener’s overall accuracy wasn’t as strong as on Tuesday and Wednesday. But he had a couple of wow throws during the team session. He’s able to get mustard on window balls within 20 yards, and you’re going to trust his ability to run a system and make the correct decision every snap.

When your worst day at an all-star event is still better than other guys’ best days, you’re by definition a winner.
– Thor Nystrom

Tyjae Spears (RB – Tulane)

Flashed all week long – I think he’s the biggest winner of the event.

On Thursday, he once again set out to dispel a potential myth in his evaluation – that he couldn’t contribute on third-downs in the NFL.

Spears’ strengths, obvious as they were on film, were equally obvious in Mobile. What impressed the most, arguably, was his addressing, one-by-one, the questions in his eval.

And on Thursday, once again, he displayed receiving chops that weren’t as obvious on his film – which may have simply been a collegiate usage thing.

Not only did Spears take profits with his easy pass-catching reps, but he showed route-running chops nobody gave him credit for coming into the week, and he caught multiple balls outside his frame before seamlessly turning upfield.
– Thor Nystrom

RB Tyjae Spears faced questions about his size and 3rd-down utility coming into #SeniorBowl week

He weighed in 9 lbs heavier than expected, retained the explosion, and has surprisingly been one of week’s best receiving backs

May have improved his stock more than any player here https://t.co/Dk8K1bKt5t

— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) February 2, 2023

Michael Schmitz (C – Minnesota)

Consistently impressed.

Schmitz is just so rock-solid. The mobility is high-end, as was apparent on tape – the Gophers had great fun pulling Schmitz and asking him to pick-off second-level defenders.

Schmitz also acquitted himself very well in one-on-one drills, exercises that are heavily skewed towards the defense. On multiple occasions, stranded on an island, Schmitz utterly stymied high-end NFL defenders, eliciting whoops and hollers from his teammates.

This guy is a top-50 pick in April. The cost-certainty is just so high – he’s going to be an above-average starter, at least, in the NFL for a very long time.
– Thor Nystrom

Luke Musgrave (TE – Oregon State)

He didn’t blow me away today or any other day. But it must be said: Musgrave moves so much better than any other tight end in Mobile. Along every metric.

He’s smoother, he’s faster, his cuts are cleaner, he’s more fluid in space.

Some were hoping for Musgrave’s national coming-out party this week. We didn’t get that. But he emphatically proved his worth as an NFL prospect.
– Thor Nystrom

Keion White (EDGE – Georgia Tech)

White’s athleticism popped off the field all week. Not a surprise, since we knew the guy was a freakshow athlete.

But White impressed in drills as well. On Thursday, he was a menace in one-on-one drills. This is what we wanted to see – simply because White has less film against high-end competition than most others in attendance.

The rocked-up 6-foot-4, 267-pounder began his career as a three-star tight end at Old Dominion. A two-way starter in high school, White was eventually converted to EDGE at Old Dominion before ultimately transferring to Georgia Tech.

White is a sixth-year entrant who played only 1,291 defensive snaps of FBS football, including 666 in the P5. The best look we got at White, last season, he was stranded on a shipwreck Georgia Tech team that fired its coach mid-season.

White needed to show up in Mobile and prove that he had enough technique at his new position to at least contribute situationally right away – probably a prerequisite to be a Round 1 pick. Mission accomplished, in that regard.
– Thor Nystrom

Isaiah Foskey (EDGE – Notre Dame)

A feared Edge presence in Mobile. Foskey was shut down by Ohio State T Dawand Jones on Tuesday, but didn’t find many guys capable of slowing him down since Jones pulled out of the event on Tuesday evening.

On Thursday, once again, Foskey was a problem in both team drills and one-on-ones, with his gold helmet consistently and quickly finding its way into the backfield.
– Thor Nystrom

Darius Rush (CB – South Carolina)

Rush, who played in the shadow of ballyhooed NFL prospect CB Cam Smith, got an opportunity in Mobile to step out on his own – and he flashed.

Analytically, Rush was easily the fastest corner tracked by the Senior Bowl’s Zebra system this week.

He was also impressive in one-on-ones, including on Thursday, where he made multiple plays on the ball and ceded precious little separation.

Rush may have been in jeopardy of being viewed as someone who benefitted from his circumstance in college. This week, he made a strong argument that he would have been the CB1 for the vast majority of FBS programs.
– Thor Nystrom

SaRodorick Thompson (RB – Texas Tech)

Thompson was playing catch-up after replacing Roschon Johnson due to a hand injury. Today Thompson made his presence known in the passing game. Thompson came up with a dazzling catch in the red zone on a ball thrown behind him for a touchdown. The pass game prowess shouldn’t be a shock for a player who finished his collegiate career with 91 receptions, but it was still a notable grab and the perfect way to conclude his brief Senior Bowl practice week.
– Derek Brown

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Senior Bowl Day 3 Losers

Ronnie Bell (WR – Michigan)

Bell continued his disappointing week. Between difficulty earning separation and his suspect hands, it was a tough time for Bell. He had issues with corners haunting him all week, and batting passes away. Even in situations where you could squint and say Bell “won the route,” it was never by an overwhelming majority, and many times he concluded the rep with dropping a contested target.
– Derek Brown

Rashee Rice (WR – SMU)

With possible top-50 NFL Draft prospect status still hovering around Rice, I have to say I don’t see the hype and production the consensus promised me. Rice did come down with some solid reps in red zone drills today, but overall this was a week to forget for Rice. He never looked the part of the best wide receiver of the week. With hope and faith remaining high in the athletic wide receiver, I’ll probably remain below consensus.
– Derek Brown

Andrei Iosivas (WR – Princeton)

Iosivas had a superb first two days in Mobile. But Iosivas admitted to us himself in an interview this week that he’s raw and needs work. He’s right about that, and we got a deeper look into that on Thursday.

It was a regrettable final practice on Thursday for Iosivas – no two-ways around that. He struggled to get clean releases against press coverage. He struggled to release on intermediate routes. He dropped multiple catchable balls.

And, speaking to the week on the whole, Iosivas didn’t prove that he’s not allergic to contact or that he has dormant potential as a route-runner that’ll be immediately tapped by NFL coaching.

Iosivas was no-doubt hoping for a bonanza week in Mobile that would lead to a blow-the-roof-off-Indy showing in athletic testing at the NFL Combine. That didn’t happen.

But not getting an A+ for the week doesn’t constitute a failing grade – I’d give Iosivas a solid B or B+ for his work in Mobile. In conjunction with his forgone-conclusion superb athletic testing, he’s at least locked himself into the middle-rounds.
– Thor Nystrom

Senior Bowl Day 3: Jury Out

Tyson Bagent (QB – Shepherd)

What Bagent proved this week is that he absolutely has an NFL arm. From a talent perspective, he belonged on the field in Mobile.

But his accuracy, an inconsistent aspect of his game, was particularly wonky on Thursday. Bagent had numerous misses throughout the day, sailing several balls over his receiver’s heads.

But he also had a few dime throws toward the boundary in the red zone session, and showed oomph muscling fast balls into tight windows.

Bagent did enough this week to get drafted. That much is clear.

Unfortunately, it’s probably not happening before late-Day 3. Bagent’s accuracy would have had to significantly tick up from his film to get him into the Day 2 discussion. That was an unrealistic expectation anyway, and it didn’t happen.

Proving worthy of a draft selection was the reasonable expectation, and Bagent succeeded.
– Thor Nystrom

Tyson Bagent to Tulane RB Tyjae Spears for a big gain on final play of the session. 10 push-ups for the defense. #SeniorBowl #TheDraftStartsInMOBILE pic.twitter.com/LZeu7XbV4L

— Mike Maher (@mikeMaher) February 1, 2023

Check out all of our 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports & Prospect Profiles

Dynasty NFL NFL Draft Scouting Reports Xavier Hutchinson Michael Wilson Jake Haener Tyjae Spears Luke Musgrave Keion White Isaiah Foskey Dawand Jones Cam Smith Roschon Johnson Ronnie Bell Rashee Rice Andrei Iosivas Tyson Bagent