Practice notes for the Senior Bowl, Day 2
MOBILE, ALA. — Because the Philadelphia Eagles are projected to have 8 picks in this year’s draft, including two second-round picks and four fifth-round picks, this year’s Senior Bowl is of particular interest. If you missed our Day 1 practice notes, check those out here.
• Kentucky RB Ray Davis had a great two days in Mobile, especially as a receiver. We mentioned his back shoulder catch in yesterday’s practice notes, and he made another nice catch in traffic on Wednesday. Davis isn’t just catching check downs or screens. He’s running routes down the field, getting open, and then finishing the play. He’s 5’8, 220, so he’s a short, squatty back who runs with power, but he was also probably the best receiving back this week. Whether or not the Eagles re-sign D’Angelo Swift they’re going to need more help at running back, and Davis makes a lot of sense as a guy who can do a lot of different things.
• Another clear area of need for the Eagles is at slot receiver, and there were no shortage of them in Mobile. We mentioned Malachi Corey (YAC beast), Roman Wilson (speed), and Ladd McConkey (slick route runner) yesterday, but I thought a Texas A&M’s Ainias Smith and Rice’s Luke McCaffrey had their moments as well.
Corley had a play in which he was lined up in the slot on the right side, and it was a running play to the left. He hustled across the field and popped Utah S Cole Bishop with an aggressive block. Love to see that.
Wilson had an outstanding one-handed catch at the end of practice with the entire team watching.
That was against likely first-round CB Quinyon Mitchell.
There’s little question that McConkey can get open, but sometimes his routes take way too long to develop, and are unrealistic at the pro level. He’s going to have to have that coached out of him to some degree. Tighten up the routes, and cut out some of the fluff that just takes extra time. But he’s going to be a good player, and he can create separation like none of the other receivers at the Senior Bowl could.
Smith was super active on Wednesday, catching balls on volume over the middle of the field.
He’s a versatile weapon who played some running back in addition to receiver at Texas A&M, and he averaged 15.0 yards per catch in 2023. Late round guy.
And finally there’s McCaffrey, who is the brother of the 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey. He’s a converted quarterback who played some running back and receiver. 71 catches for 992 yards and 13 TDs for Rice in 2023.
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