South Team Practice Recap

We’ve now written pretty extensively about UTSA pass rusher Marcus Davenport – he was even the subject of this week’s Cover 3.

On Tuesday, our fears of him came to reality when he struggled to hold his own in the run game. On Wednesday, more worries came to light as he struggled with pad level during the 1-on-1 portion of practice.

Perhaps Davenport is showing us he’s more of a project pass rusher than one who is worthy of a first round pick and can play right away. Right now he struggles with his leverage and struggles with getting a base to hold his ground. You need both of those things to play as a 4-3 defensive end. So far at the Senior Bowl, he’s showing he doesn’t have the tools you need to be an every-down player.

On the flip side, a smaller pass rusher, Marquis Haynes from Ole Miss, really showed some strength in pass rushing and run stopping. Now, Haynes isn’t likely going to be a player you’re going to stick out there on premeditated run downs. But, his price in the draft is fine for that.

For what he is, Haynes is showing a good deal of power and ability to win with leverage from a stand-up and four-point stance position. He’s a very interesting player if the Bucs choose to make the switch to a 3-4 base.

Another edge rusher who was showing out was Oklahoma’s Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. This 6-foot-1 243-pound stand up linebacker was all over the pocket today. He’s a pass rush specialist who makes his money with an inside speed move whether by a swim or a rip. He, like Haynes, was a pleasant pass rusher to watch today.

It seems like the better pass rush pieces at the Senior Bowl come from 3-4 DNA. Perhaps that sways the Bucs into giving it more thought to move in that direction. After all, they have to do something to get the talent to be better at collapsing the pocket than they were in 2017.

In some other quick notes, cornerbacks Duke Dawson and Siran Neal played well on Wednesday. It was Dawson’s first practice due to an illness, and he played well. We think he’s a nickel cornerback, but that’s not a knock; he plays it well. Neal, a former linebacker and safety, is trying to solidify the fact that he can play as an outside cornerback. He’s a physical, no doubt, but he’s still learning the nuances of the position on the outside.