Reese’s Senior Bowl 2019: 5 prospects who improved NFL draft stock

Despite coming from such a major program, Ohio State WR Terry McLaurin has been flying under-the-radar in regards to his NFL stock throughout the season and since the pre-draft process began.

He flashed some big-play potential with the Buckeyes as a senior, producing 701 yards on 20 yards-per-catch with 11 touchdowns, but he didn’t start getting serious draft buzz until this week in Mobile.

McLaurin was excellent throughout the week of practice, consistently terrorizing opposing defensive backs in one-on-one drills. The Ohio State product was quick out of his breaks and consistently ran excellent vertical routes, making play-after-play.

All of that translated to the game on Saturday as McLaurin caught four passes for 53 yards and added 19 yards on the ground after a nifty end-around. He dropped what should have been a touchdown from Missouri’s Drew Lock in the first quarter, but it was a low thrown ball that would have taken a great catch to work out.

He made up for it later with a terrific adjustment on a flea-flicker pass from Duke’s Daniel Jones. The ball was under-thrown, but McLaurin adjusted to it in the air and came up with a big play to help jumpstart the North’s offense in the third quarter as they reeled off 17 unanswered points to swing the game in their favor.

It wasn’t just his vertical route ability, either, as McLaurin made a couple of plays with the ball in his hands. He had the aforementioned reverse to go along with a nice catch-and-run early in the game on a ball thrown by Lock.

The buzz for the Buckeyes receiver has picked up to the point that he might be working his way into day two consideration in the draft. His teammate Parris Campbell has long been coveted by NFL scouts, but McLaurin made a name for himself at the Senior Bowl.