A big third quarter helped the North edge the South in the 2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl. Which prospects stood out and boosted their NFL Draft stock the most?
The Reese’s Senior Bowl put some of the best NFL Draft prospects on display with a couple of loaded rosters on both the North and South sides. Some guys struggled, while some shined. Draft stocks were sent soaring and plummeting by what took place in Mobile throughout the week.
The North team, led by Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders’ coaching staff, edged out the South team led by Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers’ coaching staff 34-24.
The South jumped out to an early lead thanks to a couple of scoring drives led by West Virginia QB Will Grier. The South team took a 12-3 lead into halftime, but the North put together a strong third quarter to flip the script.
Duke QB Daniel Jones led a pair of touchdown drives to open the quarter, capping them with a rushing touchdown of his own and then a touchdown pass to UMass WR Andy Isabealla to give the North their first lead.
Buffalo’s Tyree Jackson provided a spark in the fourth quarter for the South side, hitting a couple of big plays to West Virginia’s Gary Jennings, the second of which was for a touchdown to pull the South within two points.
Notre Dame’s Dexter Williams, with some outstanding blocking up front by Kansas State’s Dalton Risner and Boston College’s Chris Lindstrom, helped the North team put the game away with a touchdown drive.
The focus is almost exclusively on the game from a fan’s perspective, but remember that the game is nothing more than the cherry on top; the sundae is churned and put together throughout the week of practice.
There were some guys who stood out throughout the week of practice, but were mostly quiet during the game. There were others who didn’t do much during the week of practice, but they turned it on when the lights were the brightest.
We’re going to focus on a few players who did both. The guys who had strong weeks of practice while putting their talent on display during the game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
A lot of guys impressed, but here are the five that stood out the most to me and boosted their draft stock significantly: