Tag: 2022 Senior Bowl

Several Sooners participating in Senior Bowl this week ahead of the 2022 NFL draft

Looking to get in front of NFL scouts and GMs, five Oklahoma Sooners are taking part in the Senior Bowl week in Mobile, AL.

The Senior Bowl is the first major step for upperclassmen to showcase themselves in front of scouts and front office members. Over the last few years, it’s become as important as the NFL draft combine for seniors who are looking to take the next step.

Players can answer a lot of questions about themselves early in the draft process. And not just on the field.  For better or worse there were questions about Baker Mayfield’s personality and whether it would be a fit for a franchise. At the Senior Bowl, Cleveland executives had those questions put to rest as they got their first chance to meet with the eventual No. 1 overall pick.

The Sooners have five players taking part in the Senior Bowl this week in Marquis Hayes, Jeremiah Hall, Isaiah Thomas, Brian Asamoah, and Perrion Winfrey. But with strong Senior Bowl showings, guys like Thomas, Hayes, and Asamoah could find themselves move into the top 100.

10 offensive line prospects for the Eagles to watch at the 2022 Senior Bowl

2022 #SeniorBowl: 10 offensive line prospects for the #Eagles to watch #TheDraftStartsInMOBILE

The 2022 NFL draft is fast approaching and with Philadelphia owning three first-round picks, Howie Roseman needing to hit on all three first-round picks, we’re getting an early start on evaluating the top prospects.

The draft actually starts in Mobile, Alabama, where the start of senior bowl practices will kick off on Tuesday, February 1.

We’re profiling the position groups for both senior bowl teams, while also breaking down several players at each group for Philadelphia to watch.

The next group to watch will be the senior bowl offensive linemen.

Father of NFL draft prospect wants the Jets to draft his son

The Jets are in need of a tight end. Could Long Island native Jeremy Ruckert be the player to fill the void? His father hopes so.

Ohio State tight end Jeremy Ruckert grew up watching the Jets as a native of Long Island. In just a few short months, there’s a chance that the tight end-needy team selects him in the 2022 NFL draft.

And his father is on board with that happening.

The Reese’s Senior Bowl Twitter account shared the list of tight ends who will be working with New York’s coaching staff as members of the National team. Ruckert was among them, which prompted a response from Ruckert’s father, Bill.

“J-E-T-S -JETS JETS JETS,” Ruckert tweeted, along with a picture that appears to be Jeremy with a Jets logo painted on his face.

Bill wasn’t done there. He found a tweet from The Athletic’s Dane Brugler stating that he liked Ruckert’s fit with the Jets. Bill responded with the same picture he posted under the Senior Bowl tweet.

Jeremy attended Lindenhurst Senior High School in Suffolk County and developed into one of the best tight ends in the nation. He decided to take his talents to Ohio State and caught 54 passes for 615 yards and 12 touchdowns in four seasons with the program.

Ruckert’s career numbers don’t jump off the page, but he didn’t get a ton of targets with Ohio State’s wide receiver room being one of the most talented and deepest in college football. Brugler’s assessment that Ruckert has a chance to be a better pro than a college player has credence, as his pass-catching ability and ball skills were on display whenever he could get a look from a Buckeyes quarterback.

The Jets desperately need to upgrade at tight end this offseason. Not having an impactful receiver at the position took a potentially valuable safety blanket away from Zach Wilson. That didn’t necessarily hinder his development, but it certainly didn’t help it, either.

Ruckert just might be the tight end the Jets are looking for. If that winds up being the case, his dad’s push to bring his son back to the Big Apple might lead to a big Ruckert family cheering section in MetLife Stadium one day.

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8 Oklahoma Sooners named to the 2022 Senior Bowl watch list

Ahead of the 2021 season, eight Oklahoma Sooners make the 2022 Senior Bowl watch list.

The Oklahoma Sooners come into 2021 with a veteran group on both sides of the football. That’s part of the reason experts are so high on the Sooners’ chances at a seventh-straight Big 12 Championship and contention for the national championship.

Many in that group of veterans will likely be off to the NFL next season, though some will be more highly sought after than others. The NFL draft process can often put more weight on younger players, often leaving seniors to scrap for their spot among a draft class elite.

Whether it’s a late breakout or competition at the top of the depth chart that prevented them from seeing the field, senior draft prospects can sometimes get dinged depending on the situation.

For those seniors, however, there’s one extra opportunity to make an impression for NFL coaches and front office personnel, and that’s at the Reese’s Mobile Senior Bowl.

At the Senior Bowl, players get put through a week of practice with NFL coaching staffs with scouts, coaches, and general managers in attendance. They go through individual and team drills in the lead-up to the Senior Bowl on the weekend. Though the Senior Bowl isn’t the only thing NFL teams take into account, it can often confirm how they feel about certain players for front offices.

It’s an opportunity for an under-the-radar player or a player with questionable technique or character to get in front of teams and allay any concerns.

In 2021, Tre Brown, Rhamondre Stevenson, Creed Humphrey, Tre Norwood, and Adrian Ealy were in attendance at the Senior Bowl. In 2020, Neville Gallimore and Jalen Hurts took part. In 2018, Baker Mayfield surprised everyone when he participated in the evaluation process.

For 2022, the Oklahoma Sooners have eight players named to the Senior Bowl’s watch list. Not every player will make the final rosters for the week in Mobile, but several will and they’ll benefit greatly from the process.

Let’s take a look at the eight players that could represent the Oklahoma Sooners at the 2022 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.

Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Hall is the top rated fullback for the 2022 Senior Bowl

Reese’s Senior Bowl views Oklahoma Sooners’ Jeremiah Hall as the top-rated fullback.

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Each year the top prospects for the NFL draft head to Mobile, Alabama. The site for the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Players such as Baker Mayfield have participated in the weeklong event to prepare for the upcoming draft process. The prospects work with NFL coaching staffs and meet with teams in hope of impressing them enough to earn a draft slot.

This past year Creed Humphrey, Adrian Ealy, Tre Brown, Tre Norwood and Rhamondre Stevenson were among the players to participate. According to executive director Jim Nagy, another Oklahoma Sooner is one of the top players to watch for the upcoming college football season, current H-back/tight end Jeremiah Hall.

Hall is among a trio of non-wide receivers who can make an impact in the passing game along with Austin Stogner and Brayden Willis. Last season he finished with 18 receptions for 218 yards and five touchdowns. Not a premier focal point of the offense but someone that must be accounted for when No. 27 is on the field. He has also been a top blocker for the Oklahoma running game.

Pro Football Focus gave Hall a pass-blocking grade of 65.4 and a run-blocking grade of 63.9. He is very steady in that regard but another season and work at the Senior Bowl could help improve that skill immensely. Jeremiah Hall is another Oklahoma Sooner to watch as the draft process moves on, but he is already on the radar for the Reese’s Senior Bowl staff.

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