Category: 2024 Senior Bowl

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: How are prospects scouted differently than 10 years ago?

How does the changing nature of the NFL in a schematic sense change how NFL teams evaluate draft prospects? Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar investigate.

The NFL is an ever-changing business, and that applies just as much (if not more) to the prospects coming into the NFL as it does to the players who are already there. Schemes and trends and concepts are so different now than they were 10 years ago, or even five years ago, and you’d better be ahead of the game on that in how you evaluate college players for your NFL team.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into the differences in evaluation for these positions:

Quarterback — There are about as many snaps with quarterbacks moving around and throwing outside the pocket as there were a decade ago, but how have things changed in how these mobile quarterbacks are evaluated? And can you even succeed in the league anymore without those movement skills?

Receiver — The massive increase in pre-snap motion over the last decade has teams thinking differently about receivers, especially smaller receivers who might not have even made an NFL team in 2014. How has this changed the receiver prototypes teams really want?

Offensive Guard — With the increase in quick game passes in the NFL, edge-rushers don’t always have time to get to the quarterback before the ball is out, which means that interior protection is more important than ever. The NFL is paying guards on an entirely different wage scale than it did a decade ago, so why are guards so much more crucial to offensive success than they used to be?

Interior Defensive Lineman — Correspondingly, the league now has a group of massive defensive tackles who can get to the quarterback in some really freaky ways for their various sizes. Where did this group of agile Godzillas come from, and how has their presence shaped what defenses do?

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

2024 NFL Draft: Utah safety Cole Bishop scouting report

Utah safety Cole Bishop is one of the most amazing athletes at his position; if he can shore up a few things, he could be a star in the NFL.

A three-star recruit out of Starr’s Mill High School in Fayetteville, Georgia, Cole Bishop got a very nice start with the Utes, amassing 54 tackles, nine tackles for loss, three sacks to go with five pass breakups as a true freshman in 2021. Bishop was named Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention in both 2021 and 2022, but 2023 was when Bishop’s coverage abilities really came around.

After allowing opponent passer ratings of 107.4 and 104.2 in his first two seasons, Bishop dropped that down to 67.8 in 2023, allowing 14 catches on 26 targets for 170 yards, 58 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and one pass breakup. He also had three sacks, 12 total pressures, 47 solo tackles, 22 stops, and nine missed tackles. Bishop was a 2023 Jim Thorpe Award Semifinalist, and participated in the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl.

PLUSES
 
— Bishop has on-field speed that stands out over and over on tape; it gives him the ability to play everywhere from blitzer to robber to post safety.
 
— Can match and carry speed receivers up the chute and to either boundary; has true sideline-to-sideline burst both as a safety and occasionally as an outside cornerback.
 
— Has a nice backpedal and turn and can play press-bail. Very versatile in coverage.
 
— Eager and aggressive (sometimes too aggressive) tackler who can level the boom when his technique is on point.
 
— Has the wherewithal to come down hard from the second and third levels to erase screens and other short passes.
 
MINUSES
 
— On-field speed can be a blessing and a curse; he’s eager to get to the receiver, but can be waylaid by backfield action and route concepts.
 
— Tackling can be an adventure. Bishop has the acceleration to get anywhere, but you don’t always know what’s going to happen from a tackling perspective when he gets there.
 
— Needs to better square up and hit the hole with authority when coming down from the box — he’s not always a disciplined landmark player. Short arms might add to this issue.
 
Bishop is one of the more fun players to watch in this draft class; you’ll want to throw on some early Metallica as a soundtrack for his play style. His NFL coaches will have to rein the more random elements of his frenetic demeanor, but over time, he could be a multi-position star in the pros.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: What does the scouting combine really mean?

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into what the scouting combine really means for NFL teams and top draft prospects.

Once the scouting combine is over every year — and this year’s version concluded last week — NFL scouts, coaches and personnel executives are left with reams of new information to deal with, and to add to their previous evaluations.

So, what does that really mean? And what can a great combine performance really do for a draft prospect? For example, Texas receiver Xavier Worthy broke the combine record with a 4.1-second 40-yard dash. If he already plays extremely fast on the field, what does that add to his evaluation? Or if a player like Washington left tackle Troy Fautanu aces all his drills and crushes it in the meeting rooms with NFL teams, how does he really come out the other side in the minds of the people who are set to select him in the 2024 NFL draft?

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into what the scouting combine really means, their individual experiences at this year’s event, and how drill work really matches up to game tape and NFL transitions for multiple top prospects.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

2024 Scouting Combine: Nine receiver prospects detail their favorite college plays

The 2024 scouting combine was the right place to ask nine receiver prospects for their favorite college plays, and what they will mean in the NFL.

INDIANAPOLIS — Unless you are somehow able to gain access to one of the rooms in which NFL teams meet with draft prospects during the week of the scouting combine, there’s no way to know what’s really discussed. One thing that is almost always happens is a tape-watching expedition in which the NFL people will have play examples dialed up that hopefully show what the prospects can do.

Here at Touchdown Wire, we do not possess the required juice to crash those rooms, but we are able to ask these prospects during their combine media sessions which plays from their college careers best typify their potential.

We’ve already done this with five quarterbacks, six tight ends and seven cornerbacks here at the combine, and now, it’s time to get into the favorite plays of nine receiver prospects of all shapes, sizes, and talents.

The full lineup:

  • Washington’s Jalen McMillan and Ja’Lynn Polk
  • Alabama’s Jermaine Burton
  • Tulane’s Jha’Quan Jackson
  • Florida State’s Johnny Wilson
  • Pitt’s Bub Means
  • Michigan’s Roman Wilson
  • South Carolina’s Xavier Legette
  • Texas’ Jordan Whittington

2024 NFL Mock Draft: Pre-combine first-round projections with scouting reports

Before the 2024 scouting combine begins, here’s one first-round mock draft that takes tape entirely into account before the rumor mill gets rolling.

The scouting combine begins in earnest early next week, and for the coaches and executives who go, it’s just as much about discussing potential trades and free agency signings over shrimp cocktails at St. Elmo’s as it is about watching the draft prospects on hand to show their talents at Lucas Oil Stadium.

For the prospects themselves, it’s all on the line. Not only in the workouts (for those who are working out), but also in the round-robin 15-minute meetings with those coaches and executives. Basically, this is where you might secure your next domain as a player.

With all that in mind, here’s one first-round projection just before the scouting combine rolls around. This is the last mock draft of the year that’s based primarily on tape, as the rumor mill starts hard and heavy once boots are on the ground in Indianapolis.

A couple notes:

— The Chicago Bears stick with Justin Fields, and start to surround him with much more credible weapons.

— The Denver Broncos trade with the New England Patriots to move up from the 12th overall pick to the third overall pick to take their next franchise quarterback, hoping that works better for them than it did for the San Francisco 49ers and Trey Lance a few years back.

— We also have thumbnail scouting reports for a lot of these prospects; that library will grow and be added to this mock over the next few days.

Now, let’s get to the pre-combine mock!

2024 NFL Mock Draft: Post-Senior Bowl projections with a MAJOR trade up top

After an eventful week at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Jarrett Bailey presents his first mock draft of the year with a MAJOR trade up top.

With the Senior Bowl in the rearview, several participants saw their draft stock rise, some of which have crept into the first round on many big boards.

With the Senior Bowl dubbed the start of the NFL Draft season, I give you my first mock draft of the year after an eventful week in Mobile.

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Secret superstars of the Senior Bowl, Day 3

An FCS running back and a PAC-12 linebacker highlight the secret superstars for Day 3 of Senior Bowl practices.

Senior Bowl practices have officially wrapped up in Mobile, and the final day of practice features multiple breakout performances from both sides of the ball. These are the secret superstars from Day 3 at the Senior Bowl.

Secret Superstars of the Senior Bowl, Day Two

Defensive studs and an under-the-radar quarterback stole the show at Wednesday practices

Wednesday practices in Mobile featured a lot of defensive talents raising their stock, as well as an under-the-radar quarterback that no one expected to have eyes on entering the week. Here are the secret superstars from Day Two at the Senior Bowl.

Day 1 Senior Bowl standouts, and their NFL potential

Ladd McConkey, Jackson Powers-Johnson, Taliese Fuaga, DeWayne Carter, Gabe Hall, and Quinyon Mitchell were Day 1 Senior Bowl standouts.

The Senior Bowl is but one step in the evaluation process that eventually takes the best available college players to the NFL, but it is an important step in that there’s several days of practices in which personnel people can see like as like beyond the game tape. In the evaluative sense, the practices are almost more important than the games themselves.

Tuesday marked the first practices for the 2024 Senior Bowl, and here are six players who stood out immediately, matched with their NCAA tape, and some thoughts on their ultimate NFL potential.