Senior Bowl Watch List Reactions

Oh the plight of being a college student. The list dropped while I was in class, then I was unable to access it after escaping from the chains of education. But I've emerged on the other side with a breakdown of the 2020 Senior Bowl Watch List, along with the semi-meaningful scorecard regarding what I hit and missed on. Roll it!

Names that are standard text are players that I predicted to make the watch list and did. Bolded names are players that I did not predict to make the watch list, but did. Italicized names are players that I predicted to make the watch list and did not.

Quarterbacks

Blake Barnett - South Florida

Jake Bentley - South Carolina

Kelly Bryant - Missouri

Joe Burrow - LSU

Stephen Calvert - Liberty

Case Cookus - Northern Arizona

Brady Davis - Illinois State

Mason Fine - North Texas

Tom Flacco - Towson

TJ Green - Northwestern

Justin Herbert - Oregon

Jalen Hurts - Oklahoma

D'Eriq King - Houston

Jacob Knipp - Northern Colorado

Brian Lewerke - Michigan State

Kai Locksley - UTEP

Jake Maier - UC Davis

Steven Montez - Colorado

James Morgan - Florida International Riley Neal - Vanderbilt

Shea Patterson - Michigan

Bryce Perkins - Virginia

Malcolm Perry - Navy

Nathan Rourke - Ohio

Elijah Sindelar - Purdue

Nate Stanley - Iowa

Tommy Stevens - Mississippi State

Khalil Tate - Arizona

Nick Tiano - Chattanooga

Takeaways

So this list certainly ended up bigger than my expectations. I anticipated around 20 quarterbacks rather than the 14 that I wrote down, but the real list comes in at a hard-hitting 29. Fine, King, Morgan, Rourke, and Stevens don't surprise me too much. The rest of the list includes some real shockers though. Locksley had a sub 50% completion percentage, 3 touchdowns to 9 interceptions, and was arrested on a plethora of charges this summer.

Perry threw 25 passes last year as a running quarterback in Navy's option-based attack. Green has attempted 37 career passes while sitting behind Clayton Thorson at Northwestern. Prior to the watch list dropping I didn't even know who Brady Davis was, so there's that. Time to add a new name to the radar.

Hit: 14 players

Missed: 15 players

Running Backs

Darius Anderson - TCU

LeVante Bellamy - Western Michigan

Darius Bradwell - Tulane

Gerold Bright - Utah State

Raymond Calais - Louisiana-Lafayette

Reggie Corbin - Illinois

Jordan Cronkrite - South Florida

Rico Dowdle - South Carolina

Loren Easly - North Texas

Tavien Feaster - South Carolina

Tario Fuller - Purdue

James Gilbert - Kansas State

JaMycal Hasty - Baylor

Brian Herrien - Georgia

AJ Hines - Duquesne

Joshua Kelley - UCLA

Adrian Killins Jr. - Central Florida

Benny LeMay - Charlotte

Kam Martin - Auburn

Billy McCrary - Abilene Christian

Tra Minter - South Alabama

Zack Moss - Utah

Sewo Olonilua - TCU

Lamical Perine - Florida

Scottie Phillips - Mississippi

James Robinson - Illinois State

Shane Simpson - Towson

BJ Smith - Troy

Rodney Smith - Minnesota

Patrick Taylor - Memphis

Ke'Shawn Vaughn - Vanderbilt

Jonathan Ward - Central Michigan

Juwan Washington - San Diego State

Devwah Whaley - Arkansas

Antonio Williams - North Carolina

Ty'Son Williams - BYU

Tru Wilson - Michigan

Otto Zaccardo - Syracuse

Kennedy McKoy - West Virginia

Artavis Pierce - Oregon State

Takeaways

It appears I drastically underestimated the amount of players who would be on this list, so get used to a lot of bolded names. I'm really glad to see the inclusion of Dowdle, Hasty, Whaley, and Antonio Williams. Williams actually got a 5th round summer grade from me, but I couldn't find many folks who shared my love for his tape.

The inclusion of Zaccardo (a player I have formerly never heard of) over productive Syracuse back Moe Neal is a bit of a surprise, but Zaccardo made his way on Bruce Feldman's Freaks list. He'll need a massive jump this year to get further attention. I've seen McCrary's name mentioned a few times as an FCS sleeper, but this is the first time I've had Towson's Shane Simpson on my radar. Simpson rushed for over 700 yards last year and contributed a fair amount in the passing game as well.

The biggest surprise in this group for me is the lack of West Virginia's Kennedy McKoy. I'm certainly not a McKoy fan (senior RB25 of 34), but I've seen a fair amount of love for him throughout the rest of the draft community. Score this as a win for my summer evals that he didn't make this list despite it being so comprehensive.

Hit: 19 players

Missed: 19 players + (2 players guessed wrong)

Wide Receivers

Brandon Aiyuk - Arizona State

Dee Anderson - LSU

Michael Bandy - San Diego

Elijah Bell - North Carolina A&T

John Burt - Texas

Rico Bussey Jr. - North Texas

Cedric Byrd - Hawaii

Lawrence Cager - Georgia

Marquez Callaway - Tennessee

George Campbell - West Virginia

Sal Cannella - Auburn

Chase Claypool - Notre Dame

Tyrie Cleveland - Florida

Keith Corbin - Houston

Jahvris Davenport - Maryland

Seth Dawkins - Louisville

Derrick Dillon - LSU

Devin Duvernay - Texas

Bryan Edwards - South Carolina

D'Wayne Eskridge - Western Michigan

Jequez Ezzard - Howard

Chris Finke - Notre Dame

Aaron Fuller - Washington

Antonio Gandy-Golden - Liberty

Keith Gavin - Florida State

Jonathan Giles - Texas Southern

Dahu Green - Arkansas State

Stephen Guidry - Mississippi State

Josh Hammond - Florida

Aleva Hifo - BYU

John Hightower - Boise State

K.J. Hill - Ohio State

Theo Howard - UCLA

Van Jefferson - Florida

Jauan Jennings - Tennessee

Johnathon Johnson - Missouri

Juwan Johnson - Oregon

Tyler Johnson - Minnesota

Collin Johnson - Texas

Eric Kumah - Old Dominion

Michael Lawrence - North Texas

Kalija Lipscomb - Vanderbilt

Austin Mack - Ohio State

Jalen McCleskey - Tulane

Kirk Merritt - Arkansas State

Denzel Mims - Baylor

K.J. Osborn - Miami

Dezmon Patmon - Washington State

Josh Pearson - Jacksonville State

Michael Pittman Jr. - USC

Chris Platt - Baylor

James Proche - SMU

Joe Reed - Virginia

Tyler Simmons - Georgia

Ben Skowronek - Northwestern

Malik Stanley - Louisiana Tech

Deon Stewart - Arkansas

Darrell Stewart - Michigan State

A.J. Taylor - Wisconsin

Deddrick Thomas - Mississippi State

Binjimen Victor - Ohio State

JoJo Ward - Hawaii

Scotty Washington - Wake Forest

Nick Westbrook - Indiana

Pop Williams - Memphis

Easop Winston - Washington State

Jaron Woodyard - Nebraska

Isaiah Wright - Temple

Lee Morris - Oklahoma

Maurice Ffrench - Pittsburgh

Isaiah Zuber - Mississippi State

Riley Miller - Ball State

Trevon Bradford - Oregon State

Takeaways

There's a couple of big topics I want to hit here, but I'll start with John Burt. Burt came out of the gate firing as a freshman when he put up 457 receiving yards. Since then he has 385 receiving yards, including just 9 yards in 2018. Burt is known as a great athlete, but at some point the rubber needs to meet the road if he wants to become a legitimate Senior Bowl candidate. Right now those numbers just ain't cutting it.

Speaking of guys who just aren't cutting it, George Campbell was a former top recruit, but only pulled in 13 receptions for 206 yards in a Florida State career that wrapped up this summer. Hopefully he'll find some life in West Virginia's desolate receiving corps, but he hasn't been a contributor in college.

Western Michigan's D'Wayne Eskridge has found mild success, but the team is apparently putting him at cornerback for this year. The position switch is going to be an interesting storyline to watch, and I'm sure the Senior Bowl will be looking at him in both spots if he is able to translate there effectively as a senior.

Lastly, I want to take a moment to pour one out for Oklahoma's Lee Morris and Pittsburgh's Maurice Ffrench. Ffrench is a bit of a gadget slot player who can contribute in the return game, but he may not have a true home in the pros. He's a fun college player who should test decently well though, so I'm surprised to not see him on the watch list. Morris is a former walk-on who hasn't been able to do much in the box score, but gives great effort as a blocker and brings sure hands to the table. He seemed like the type of player that the Senior Bowl would fall in love with, but that apparently isn't the case.

Hit: 34 players

Missed: 34 players + (5 players guessed wrong)

Tight Ends

Rashod Berry - Ohio State

Jacob Breeland - Oregon

Harrison Bryant - Florida Atlantic

Octavious Cooley - Mississippi

Tyler Davis - Georgia Tech

Josiah Deguara - Cincinnati

Nick Eubanks - Michigan

Erik Henneman - Lindenwood

Brycen Hopkins - Purdue

Nigel Kilby - Southern Illinois

Lucas Krull - Florida

Joey Magnifico - Memphis

Kyle Markway - South Carolina

Sean McKeon - Michigan

Briley Moore - Northern Iowa

Cheyenne O'Grady - Arkansas

Jared Pinkney - Vanderbilt

Giovanni Ricci - Western Michigan

Jared Rice - Fresno State

Stephen Sullivan - LSU

Charlie Taumoepeau - Portland State

Noah Togiai - Oregon State

Adam Trautman - Dayton

Carl Tucker - North Carolina

Nate Wieting - Iowa

Mitchell Wilcox - South Florida

Charlie Woerner - Georgia

Eli Wolf - Georgia

Dominick Wood-Anderson - Tennessee

Takeaways

Talk about a group that's full of small schoolers. We just straight into with a guy I've never heard of in Lindenwood's Erik Henneman. Kilby from SIU has garnered a bit of buzz for the past couple years, but his time to go pro is finally upon us. Adam Trautman is likely the biggest name of them all, as he figures to work his way into the top 150 discussion with a good senior season and quality showings at the Combine and Senior Bowl.

There aren't any major surprises here on guys that missed out, as I hit a perfect 13-of-13 on the guys I predicted to be on the list. One guy I nearly considered adding but passed on was Noah Togiai, who intrigued me a lot as an athlete when I saw him in 2017. A healthy version of him could mean a quick rise up draft boards.

Hits: 13 players

Missed: 16 players

Offensive Tackles

Trey Adams - Washington

Hakeem Adeniji - Kansas

Cole Chewins - Michigan State

Coy Cronk - Indiana

Drake Dorbeck - Southern Miss

Jack Driscoll - Auburn

Yasir Durant - Missouri

Scott Frantz - Kansas State

Jake Fruhmorgen - Baylor

Alex Givens - Mississippi

Charlie Heck - North Carolina

Justin Herron - Wake Forest

Colton Jackson - Arkansas

Victor Johnson - Appalachian State

Josh Jones - Houston

Matt McCann - Purdue

Colton McKivitz - West Virginia

Bryce Meeker - Iowa State

David Moorman - Wisconsin

Lucas Niang - TCU

Miles Pate - Western Kentucky

Darrin Paulo - Utah

Matthew Peart - Connecticut

Tyre Phillips - Mississippi State

Jon Runyan - Michigan

Kamaal Seymour - Rutgers

Adam Solomon - Illinois

Jared Southers - Vanderbilt

Terence Steele - Texas Tech

Alex Taylor - South Carolina State

Ray Thomas-Ishman - Massachusetts

Calvin Throckmorton - Oregon

Prince Tega Wanogho - Auburn

Mason Wolfe - Kentucky

Drew Richmond - USC

Nathan Gilliam - Wake Forest

Brady Aiello - Oregon

Tremayne Anchrum - Clemson

Marcus Norman - South Florida

Takeaways

Some of these omissions are going to make me really want to go back to the tape. I put a draftable grade on Richmond, Gilliam, and Aiello. Needless to say I'm terrified by the fact that Nagy's staff was this low on the group. Richmond is transferring into USC from Tennessee and may end up getting hidden on the depth chart, but the former star recruit has a good frame and a mean streak. Gilliam and Aiello are both guys who have been in and out of the lineup, but have plenty of mobility to work with.

Fruhmorgen from Baylor is an interesting case, as he spent most of the year serving in a rotational role rather than a starting one. The expectations are high for him as a former top 100 recruit who transferred over from Clemson, but he hasn't lived up to it yet from a prospect standpoint.

Really glad to see Ray Thomas-Ishman make it onto the watch list. The Massachusetts product has played as heavily as 375 pounds, but dropped a significant amount of weight to improve as an athlete. He'll need to continue refining his game, but the physical potential seems to be there to make an impact this year.

Hit: 19 players

Missed: 15 players + (5 players guessed wrong)

Offensive Guards

Ben Bredeson - Michigan

Austin Capps - Arkansas

Gage Cervenka - Clemson

Sean Christie - Maryland

Cody Creason - Arizona

Daishawn Dixon - San Diego State

Steven Gonzalez - Penn State

Marquell Harrell - Auburn

Tyler Higby - Michigan State

Jonah Jackson - Ohio State

Shane Lemieux - Oregon

Damien Lewis - LSU

Michael Mendez - Purdue

John Molchon - Boise State

Jake Nelson - Nevada

Michael Onwenu - Michigan

Landan Paulsen - Iowa

John Phillips - Boston College

Justin Polu - UNLV

John Simpson - Clemson

Logan Stenberg - Kentucky

Simon Stepaniak - Indiana

Jared Thomas - Northwestern

Tre'Vour Wallace-Simms - Missouri

Dallas Warmack - Oregon

Matt Womack - Alabama

Elex Woodworth - North Texas

Saige Young - Vanderbilt

Sean Pollard - Clemson

Gus Lavaka - Oregon State

Parker Braun - Texas

Tyler Mitchell - Kansas State

William Atterbury - South Florida

Takeaways

This list went pretty much according to expectation outside of a few lesser-known guys like Paulsen and Mendez sneaking in. It is worth mentioning that Braun, who was a 2018 first-team All-ACC selection, has seen his stock tank rather hard in regards to the 2020 Draft. There was some noise around him early this summer due to the accolades and transfer to Texas, but most analysts are now out on the undersized guard.

Much like Tremayne Anchrum going unmentioned in the tackles section, Clemson's Sean Pollard doesn't find a home on this watch list either. Neither of them impressed me all that much in summer studies, but the national media seems to like them as mid round candidates. The only Clemson offensive lineman who did make this list is center Gage Cervenka, who you'll see included later on. It certainly seems like Clemson has fallen short of expectations from an offensive lineman standpoint.

Hits: 14 players

Missed: 14 players + (5 players guessed wrong)

Centers

Aaron Brewer - North Texas

Nick Buchanan - Florida

Cohl Cabral - Arizona State

Jake Hanson - Oregon

Nick Harris - Washington

Mike Horton - Auburn

Jordan Johnson - Central Florida

Luke Juriga - Western Michigan

Kaleb Kim - Auburn

Hunter Littlejohn - Indiana

Frederick Mauigoa - Washington State

Ellis McKennie - Maryland

Kyle Murphy - Rhode Island

Zach Shackelford - Texas

Donell Stanley - South Carolina

Sam Tecklenburg - Baylor

Zach Venesky - Rutgers

Darryl Williams - Mississippi State

Matt Jones - Youngstown State

Adam Holtorf - Kansas State

Boss Tagaloa - UCLA

Takeaways

All the top centers appear to be on the list, so no surprises here. Hanson, Shackelford, Williams, and Harris should all be comfortably getting the eyes of scouts if they get the chance to go to Mobile.

One big unknown is Rhode Island's Kyle Murphy, who I've seen approximately 0 minutes and 0 seconds of. If you search "Kyle Murphy roster" on Google he'll be the sixth Kyle Murphy down. That's how he stacks up against the other Kyle Murphy's historically. The #GoRhody player was a first team all-conference player in 2018, as he played primarily at left tackle. If you want to punish yourself go try to find tape on him.

Hits: 9 players

Missed: 9 players + (3 players guessed wrong)

Defensive Tackle

Lee Autry - Mississippi State

Derrick Brown - Auburn

Tyler Clark - Georgia

Josiah Coatney - Mississippi

Darrion Daniels - Nebraska

Raekwon Davis - Alabama

Khalil Davis - Nebraska

Carlos Davis - Nebraska

Michael Dwumfour - Michigan

Breiden Fehoko - LSU

Leki Fotu - Utah

Neville Gallimore - Oklahoma

Emmit Gooden - Tennessee

Benito Jones - Mississippi

Carlo Kemp - Michigan

Javon Kinlaw - South Carolina

Rashard Lawrence - LSU

Ray Lima - Iowa State

Garrett Marino - UAB

Trevon McSwain - Duke

Larrell Murchison - North Carolina State

Lorenzo Neal - Purdue

Mike Panasiuk - Michigan State

Chauncey Rivers - Mississippi State

Julian Rochester - Georgia

Jason Strowbridge - North Carolina

Keir Thomas - South Carolina

McKinley Thomas - Syracuse

Raequan Williams - Michigan State

Robert Windsor - Penn State

Robert Landers - Ohio State

John Penisini - Utah

Roy Lopez - New Mexico State

LaCale London - Western Illinois

Elu Aydon - Oregon State

David Moa - Boise State

Takeaways

Well, if you don't include the six guys guessed wrong on (I thought Penisini and Landers were locks to make it), I did pretty dang good with this group. It's a surprisingly talented defensive line class for the seniors, so don't be surprised if some mid-rounders end up having to play at the Shrine Game or NFLPA Bowl. It will be tough to fit so many great guys onto the 110 man roster.

Emmit Gooden's remaining career is going to be a major question. He's out for the year with an injury, and it might not be possible for him to get healthy by the time the Senior Bowl rolls around. A medical redshirt year seems to be in the cards, but the talented former JUCO player could decide to roll the dice on heading to the league.

Hit: 20 players

Missed: 10 players + (6 players guessed wrong)

Defensive End

McTelvin Agim - Arkansas

Carter Coughlin - Minnesota

Marlon Davidson - Auburn

Matt Leo - Iowa State

LaBryan Ray - Alabama

Malcolm Roach - Texas

Austrian Robinson - Mississippi

Bryce Sterk - Montana State

Calvin Taylor - Kentucky

Jonah Williams - Weber State

Jabari Zuniga - Florida

Benning Potoa'e - Washington

Reggie Walker - Kansas State

Takeaways

To start with, the Senior Bowl roster broke defensive ends into their own separate category from linemen and edge rushers. That means we've got a few guys out here floating in the lost realm of traditional defensive end. The group is pretty much as anticipated, although the inclusion of LaBryan Ray is a bit of a surprise given his status as a junior.

One name to watch in this group is Agim, who has reportedly been testing incredibly well throughout the spring and summer. The biggest critique he has faced is being a tweener, but 22.5 career TFLs suggests he should be able to find a way to impact at the next level.

Hit: 6 players

Missed: 5 players + (2 players guessed wrong)

Edge Rusher

Bradlee Anae - Utah

Ja'Quan Bailey - Iowa State

Mekhi Brown - Tennessee State

Kendall Coleman - Syracuse

Jonathon Cooper - Ohio State

Mike Danna - Michigan

Kendall Futrell - East Carolina

Tipa Galeai - Utah State

Joe Gaziano - Northwestern

LaDarius Hamilton - North Texas

Daelin Hayes - Notre Dame

Alex Highsmith - Charlotte

Trevon Hill - Miami

Khalid Kareem - Notre Dame

Keisean Lucier-South - UCLA

Julian Okwara - Notre Dame

Nasir Player - East Tennessee State

Christian Rector - USC

Alton Robinson - Syracuse

Qaadir Sheppard - Mississippi

James Smith-Williams - North Carolina State

Darrell Taylor - Tennessee

Josh Uche - Michigan

Kenny Willekes - Michigan State

D.J. Wonnum - South Carolina

Jonathan Greenard - Florida

Greg Reaves - South Florida