Day 1 of practices at the 2022 Senior Bowl, an invite-only showcase of the top upperclassman NFL draft prospects in the country, is complete, with both the National team, coached by the New York Jets, and the American team, coached by the Detroit Lions, each having a session with their groups in Mobile, Alabama. It was the first chance to see six of the 2022 class’ top seven quarterbacks compete against each other.
Which quarterbacks performed well, and which were underwhelming? Which under-the-radar prospects impressed NFL teams? And who are the prospects who need to improve the rest of the week? Here are my thoughts from Day 1, including a few quick-hit nuggets from both practices.
There are two more two-hour padded sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, with coverage at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU/ESPN App, and then 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN App. The game is slated for Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NFL Network.
Best quarterbacks of the day
Scouts Inc. ranking: 20
Pickett is known for his accuracy, precision and smarts, and he displayed each of those traits Tuesday. He routinely was the first player up in drills, setting the tone, and his accuracy shined throughout each portion of the day. Coming into the event, there was a lot of hoopla about his hand size as he opted to not have his hands measured at weigh-ins, but with a strong crosswind inside Hancock Whitney Stadium, the elements didn’t affect him.
As usual, he wore a glove on each hand, and he was the most consistent of the National team quarterbacks from start to finish. Pickett is a contender for the QB1 spot, and he did everything he needed to do to strengthen those claims Tuesday.
Scouts Inc. ranking: 21
Willis had a 2021 season filled with Jekyll and Hyde performances, but his traits will continue to intrigue. The ball jumps out of his hand with a different kind of velocity than his teammates displayed, and with the strongest arm of any QB in Mobile, he had plenty of “wow” moments throughout Day 1. Connecting on multiple deep passes during the early parts of practice, Willis displayed easy power behind his throws.
The area where he struggled was on out-breaking routes or ones moving away from him, as he sailed a couple of passes high. One was nearly intercepted by Nebraska cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. The attributes Willis displays are superior to the rest of the class, but he must continue to improve his lower half to tighten up his accuracy on patterns outside of the numbers that are moving away from him.
How the other four quarterbacks fared
Scouts Inc. ranking: 42
Steady would be the best word to describe Ridder’s first practice. Ball placement was the biggest question mark for him coming into the pre-draft process, but he layered the ball nicely on many occasions. His best toss of the day came on a 15-yard dig route over the middle to tight end Trey McBride (Colorado State) that resulted in a big gain.
Ridder’s experience with exhausting his progressions and going through multiple steps on reads showed during the 7-on-7 portion of practice. He comes from a system that prepared him for multistep reads and his polish in that area was on display.
Scouts Inc. ranking: 54
Strong had an inconsistent day. He struggled with his ball placement in multiple drills and had trouble with placing the ball in the strike zone, which resulted in receivers being forced to make difficult attempts. Strong is known for his deep ball, and he had a nicely placed deep toss down the right sideline to teammate Romeo Doubs (Nevada) during one-on-ones.
The arm strength is evident with Strong — and the ball comes out of his hand with much more velocity than his counterparts — but honing in the speed and working on his touch and precision are areas that he’ll need to show on Wednesday. Strong is a bit of a javelin thrower and the nose of the ball goes into the air, which resulted in several overthrows on his deep passes. I’m going to track his progress throughout the week to see if he improves on his flaws.
Scouts Inc. ranking: 34
Howell displayed the best deep accuracy and touch of any QB during the first day, with some beautiful deep throws that dropped right into the hands of the receivers who weren’t forced to break stride. The enigma surrounding Howell is how well he can play outside of the Tar Heels’ run-pass option, shotgun-laden offense. And from calling plays in the huddle to taking snaps under center, the first day was a challenge for him. Tracking his adjustments on the fly throughout the week will be something to monitor.
Bailey Zappe, Western Kentucky (American)
Scouts Inc. ranking: 153
Zappe attacked the short-to-intermediate areas with lots of confidence and success. His decisiveness and understanding of where to go with the football were on full display. His best throw of the day came on a deep pattern to Tennessee receiver Velus Jones Jr. along the sideline. A record-setting thrower last season, Zappe has proved he’s a quick decision-maker and clean reader of the field when given time to operate. He needs to continue to be consistent throwing to the deeper portions of the field, as he isn’t as big-armed as others competing, but his accuracy is his calling card.
Biggest standouts from Day 1
Scouts Inc. ranking: 49
Simply put, Johnson put on a show and was the best player Tuesday, regardless of team. Showing off his mobility, power and vast repertoire of moves, he frequently flashed throughout each portion of practice. A spin move on Kentucky tackle Darian Kinnard during the one-on-one part of practice was only the start of the continued success for him. His shock and shed strength at the point of attack was evident, and he routinely continued to show up in the backfield.
Practice ended with a highly competitive competition between him and Kinnard, where the two battled back and forth. Johnson won the first two reps, and Kinnard regained the lead after the last rep, which resulted in pushups for the defense. These types of things help scouts tell which players rise to the occasion and compete, and Johnson passed the test with flying colors during Day 1.
Zion Johnson, C/G, Boston College (National)
Scouts Inc. ranking: 40
Johnson was rock-solid on nearly every snap and was the most impressive prospect of the National team practice. He took reps at center and at left guard during the team portion and opened up multiple lanes on explosive runs. He had never played center before, but you couldn’t tell. Johnson’s strength was evident during the one-on-one sessions against the defensive line, and his best reps of the day came on his first two. Besides slipping and whiffing during his second set of reps in that period, he won every matchup of the day.
In a class that lacks depth along the interior offensive line, if Johnson repeats his performance from the first day, he could move into the Round 1 discussion. An extra factor that was noteworthy about Johnson is that he was the only offensive lineman from the National team to stay after practice as he continued to work on his initial steps and pass sets. Knowing that he had never snapped as a center, he worked with quarterback Malik Willis (Liberty) before the next practice session to get a little extra work in.
Boston College IOL Zion Johnson (#77) was the only National team OL to stay after practice. Knowing that he’s never played center or snapped before, he stayed out until the American team QBs came on the field in order to get extra reps.
He was the best player on the field today. pic.twitter.com/ha33jz8ty8
— Jordan Reid (@Jordan_Reid) February 1, 2022
Cole Strange, C/G, Chattanooga (National)
Scouts Inc. ranking: 100
With small-school prospects, these are the first two questions evaluators want answered: Do they look like they belong, and how do they adjust to the speed of the game? Strange wasted little time checking both of those boxes as he displayed outstanding leverage, power and lower-half balance. Playing exclusively at center, he called out protections by pointing to various linebackers while also showing that he had full autonomy of pointing his teammates into the right direction in the run game.
During the earlier portions of practice, his one-on-one battles against Perrion Winfrey (Oklahoma) were of note. Strange held his ground and stonewalled Winfrey on multiple occasions. In the past, we’ve seen small-school offensive linemen such as Quinn Meinerz and Ali Marpet rise to become Day 2 selections, and Strange made a strong case to be next.
Christian Watson, WR, North Dakota State (National)
Scouts Inc. ranking: 253
Watson caught everything thrown his way Tuesday. As he showed on tape, the 6-foot-4 receiver has a wide catch radius that spans well outside of his body frame. Even though passes were all over the place as the quarterbacks and receivers attempted to get down their timing, it didn’t matter to Watson.
A long strider with above average top-end speed, he raced past defenders on multiple occasions. Watson is a big target with strong hands, and he played fast throughout the entirety of practice, snatching every pass out of the air with confidence before displaying his catch-and-run ability.
Scouts Inc. ranking: 7
Winfrey had some hype coming into the 2021 season, but he was inconsistent. One attribute that stayed intact was his explosiveness, which he showed Tuesday. Winfrey’s up-field urgency helped him stand out, and he had multiple plays in which he had created tackle-for-loss opportunities in the backfield.
Winfrey also took on double-teams with success, and his best period came during the first portion of 11-on-11 when he split a double-team and finished with a tackle at the line of scrimmage.
Scouts Inc. ranking: 30
With a quick first step and urgency out of the starting blocks, Wyatt’s acceleration and ability to constantly be the aggressor showed up often. No. 95 in black often found himself in the other team’s backfield Tuesday. Wyatt’s ascending play continued through the first portion of practice and carried over into the team drills. A true penetrator as a 3-technique, he’s a player to watch throughout the week.
Scouts Inc. ranking: 104
We highlighted Jones as a sleeper who could help himself with a strong performance in Mobile, and the nose tackle had a solid first day. He showed plenty of juice as a pass-rusher and immovable object in the A-gaps against the run. With a few more big performances this week, he could leave town as a potential late-Day 2 draft selection. At 6-foot-4 and 328 pounds, he’s a true 0-technique who has plenty of up-the-field liveliness at the position.
Quick-hitters from Day 1
Nevada’s Romeo Doubs had a standout day. He is efficient getting in and out of his breaks, and he wastes little time with getting up the field after the catch. Doubs has easy speed and blew by defensive backs throughout the day. He caught my eye on multiple occasions.
Colorado State tight end Trey McBride caught what seemed like everything thrown in his direction. What was most impressive about him was his ability to shake off would-be tacklers and gain yards after the catch. His performance matched what was on his tape.
Arizona State running back Rachaad White was very smooth in all aspects Tuesday. He’s a decisive runner who presses the line but can also one-cut and get vertical in an instant. White also caught punts before practice.
Playing on his home turf inside of Hancock Whitney Stadium, South Alabama receiver Jalen Tolbert had multiple moments when he stood out. He had strong hands at the catch point and towered over cornerbacks to haul in contested catches.
Roger McCreary spent a lot of time at nickel during the first day of practices. He primarily played outside cornerback during his time at Auburn, but he has the versatility to cross-train at both throughout the week.
I came away impressed with UTSA cornerback Tariq Woolen. A converted receiver, he still shows raw moments with his technique, but during the one-on-one portion of practice, he battled back and forth with Tennessee receiver Velus Jones Jr. Woolen was patient, and on one rep, he was able to use his length to sit and jam Jones at the line of scrimmage. That sent the American team defensive back group into a frenzy of cheers and high-fives.
The American team — coached by the Detroit Lions — began practice with a perimeter screen drill, which forces wide receivers and defensive backs to engage and win on the perimeter. That can help Lions coach Dan Campbell and his staff determine the competitive drive of certain prospects.
Running backs Dameon Pierce (Florida) and D’Vonte Price (Florida International) both had explosive runs during the final team period of practice. Both strong runners, they burst through the first level with ease for the two best plays during that period.