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2021 Senior Bowl Practice Recap: Who Helped Their Draft Stock Rise and Who Caused Their Draft Stock To Plummet? (Eagles Needs Only)

29 January 2021 Film Review Opinion Philadelphia Eagles


The final day of practices wrapped up yesterday down at the Senior Bowl and that means most of the opportunity for prospects to prove themselves have mostly conceeded. All that’s left is the game on Saturday to show how they took to all the coaching this week. Here are the prospects that I believe have become risers, and the prospects that have plummeted their stock.

Winners:

Richie Grant- S, UCF

Richie Grant made himself some big time money this week. Grant displayed his blanketing coverage skills all 3 days at practice. In terms of highlight/big plays, I don’t believe anyone on the defensive side of the ball had a better week. He batted away multiple pass targets to the receivers and ended up with 2 INTs. For being a safety he proved to move like a corner. For example, 1 on 1 drills against Florida WR Kadarius Toney, Grant mirrored Toney as well as you can. Grant may have sky rocketed his draft stock from a mid day 3 pick to an early 2nd round pick.

Quinn Meinerz- IOL, Wisconsin Whitewater

Quinn Meinerz is probably the biggest riser of the entire Senior Bowl. Meinerz wasn’t even invited to the Senior Bowl until Landon Dickerson got injured, but he’s made the most of out it. During practice, Meinerz has displayed a strong stance and base. It has really been pancake central for Meinerz this week as he put a lot of DLinemen into the turf. What was impressed me the most about Meinerz is his hand placement and patience to react off the rushers first move. Quinn Meinerz essentially went from being a late day 3/UDFA to a potential day 2 pick.

Nico Collins- WR, Michigan

Myself and many others can probably tell you how shocked we are about how dominate Collins has been this week. I mean, Collins showed athleticism, and vertical ability that didn’t show up on tape at Michigan, which was most likely due to the play calling. This kid battled through traffic and hauled in contested 50/50 catches like clock work all week. It honestly was like watching Mike Evans or Mike Williams go up and get it. It was truly enjoyable to watch Collins run his 1 on 1 routes. I believe Nico Collins improved his stocked from a late third round selection to possibly an early-mid second round selection.

Frank Darby- WR, Arizona State

Frank Darby was the most enjoyable prospect to watch at the Senior Bowl. I mean this on and off the field. Darby was always smiling, dancing and having fun with his fellow teammates. Which is huge in the eyes of Head Coaches because that usually means you’ll be a top notch lockeroom guy. With that being said, Darby was almost unstoppable on the field. Darby should silky and smooth route running with crisp breaks. Though Darby is only 6’0, he showed to be a red zone 1 on 1 nightmare. The one thing that I took away from watching Darby all week is that I get an IT factor from watching him. He’s got that swagger and confidence along with the on field ability to match it. I saw a lot of Antonio Brown wiggle out of him this week also. Coming into this week I had Darby projected as a fifth round pick. I can now say I have him as a 3rd round grade.

Losers:

Deonte Brown- IOL, Alabama

This one came as a bit of a shock. Brown had some good moments, but he had more bad than good. Brown was overpowered and played with poor pad level more than I’d hope to see this week. Looked a tad slow in 1 on 1s against speed rushers. Though he had a rough week at practice, his tape and production at Alabama is impressive so I don’t believe this week effects his draft stock tremendously, but his draft projection in my opinion went from a 2nd rounder to a mid to late 3rd rounder.

Sage Surratt- WR, Wake Forest

Going into this week, I wasn’t too high on Sage Surratt, and after watching the practice film, he hurt his draft stock even more in my opinion. After not playing at all this season, it showed he was rusty, and wasn’t well prepared. A lot of Surratt’s 1 on 1 routes, he failed to create separation and looked extremely slow out of his breaks. Though Surratt showed some capability of coming down with contested catches, The inability to create separation at the next level will bury him in depth charts. Also didn’t help that he got injured during day two. Going into this week, I had Surratt as a late third rounder, now I have him as a 5th round projection.

Hamsah Nasirildeen- S, FSU

Nasirildeen kind of disappointed me this week. Coming into the Senior Bowl I had high hopes for Nasirildeen to show off his athleticism and and physicality as a safety, but in reality it looks like he’s a better suited for the LB position moving foward. He became victim to a ton of the American team’s highlight plays. The question moving foward is, will he be willing to move to LB? I had him as a second round pick, and now I see him more as a mid 3rd go late 4th rounder.

Chazz Surratt- LB, UNC

Putting Chazz Surratt in the losers category hurts my heart because he’s been one of my favorite prospects all year, but I can’t deny his draft stock may have taken a tumble this week. Being marked down as 6’3 230 at UNC, and showing up at the Senior Bowl at 6’1 227 changes my stance on him being a true LB. he’s built more as a safety, which makes him a tweener. With that being said he tends to play bigger than his size when it comes to filling the gaps as a run defender and as a blitzed coming off the edge. He also got hurt in the last day of practice so he couldn’t fully prove himself. I projected him as a 2nd round pick, it is still possible but I see him more as a 3rd rounder now.

For more Eagles talk, 2021 NFL Draft analysis and breakdowns follow me on Twitter @ajtorres1230.

Featured Image: Reese’s Senior Bowl Media


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