The South took down the North 16-15 in the 2017 Senior Bowl on Saturday and while the final score doesn’t mean much there were a number of seniors that definitely improved their draft stock with strong performances. There is still a long way to go before the NFL Draft but we took a look at the stars that improved their resumes the most this past weekend. Here is a look at the Senior Bowl prospects that helped their stock the most.
QB: Davis Webb, California
Webb earned Senior Bowl MVP honors after he completed 11-of-16 pass attempts for 165 yards and a touchdown in the win. Pro Football Focus ranked his performance as the best of any quarterback at the Senior Bowl. It was a strong finish to an outstanding season in which he threw for 4.295 yards and 37 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. Webb is regarded as a second to third round pick in most draft circles and it will be very interesting to see where he ends up in the 2017 NFL Draft. There are a number of teams that could be willing to reach on a quarterback in the second round and a strong Senior Bowl performance could be enough to elevate Webb’s draft stock to around that area. It’s a very weak draft class this year in terms of the quarterback position, so some teams may opt to pass on the top guys and take a flier on Webb later in the draft. That’s not a terrible strategy but Webb is definitely not ready to start right away. Teams will have to be patient with him if they decide to target him.
WR: Zay Jones, East Carolina
While Webb earned MVP honors, nobody stole the spotlight quite like Jones, who made a pair of ridiculous highlight-reel catches to capture the attention of scouts in attendance and watching at home. The speedy wide receiver from East Carolina made two outstanding plays and had NVL Network draft expert Mike Mayock calling him the MVP of the first half. Even the legendary wide receiver Jerry Rice weighed in on Twitter when he tweeted out, “Zay Jones amazing catch #seniorbowl”. After catching an NCAA-high 158 passes for 1,746 yards and eight touchdowns at East Carolina last season it’s clear that Jones’ draft stock is still rising following his memorable performance at the Senior Bowl.
RB: Kareem Hunt, Toledo Rockets
Hunt was voted the North team’s Most Outstanding Player after he ran for 118 yards on just 15 carries. Hunt’s average of 7.9 yards per carry was easily the best in the Senior Bowl as the 6’1’’, 225-pound back looked impossible to bring down at times with this strength and speed. Hunt registered 1,475 rushing yards on 5.6 yards per carry with 10 touchdowns in his senior year at Toledo and he could be climbing up draft boards following a strong performance in the Senior Bowl. Remember that up until the last couple of seasons, running backs were not viewed as the type of player that you’d draft in the first round. Hunt is the kind of guy that provide a lot of value in the second, third and fourth round – depending how he does at the combine/workouts and where he is drafted – because he has a long history of production and might be worth a flier by some of these teams in need of a running back.
S: Lorenzo Jerome, St. Francis
The star safety from St. Francis took full advantage of his opportunity on the big stage with three tackles including one for a loss, two interceptions and a forced fumble. Jerome has long been considered a ball hawk with 18 career interceptions and his skill set was on full display in the Senior Bowl. Jerome might not have received the attention that he deserves playing at a small school but this platform provided him with the opportunity to put on a show and he definitely capitalized. Most experts have Jerome going in the fourth or fifth round but he might have left a strong enough impression on scouts to be selected higher in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Click here to bet on the college football futures for the 2017 season right now. DSI has all of the latest lines, spreads and props for this week’s action!
