After spending a week in Mobile, Alabama for the 2022 Senior Bowl, here are my four key takeaways from the practices.

1. Senior Bowl Quarterback Group Is ROUGH

Not going to lie, this quarterback group was tough to watch. In good conditions on Tuesday, the group struggled. So when rain and wind hit on Wednesday, everything went downhill.

Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder struggled mightily. His accuracy was a major concern, as were his dropbacks from under center. He fumbled at least one snap, as did almost every quarterback. Liberty’s Malik Willis was the worst transgressor in this regard, but he had more strong throws than Ridder. Willis and North Carolina’s Sam Howell had the best weeks of practice by my eyes, but that isn’t saying much either.

Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett met with the Bucs, who will do their due diligence on quarterbacks. Pickett was thought to be the top quarterback in the class entering Senior Bowl week. But after declining to receive a hand measurement, Pickett has been just average in the practices.

He’s more accurate than most of the other quarterbacks, but his physical tools are middling. He’s not the athlete that Willis and Howell are, and he won’t make many tough throws. It’s tough to get excited about a limited ceiling quarterback.

The more people you talk to in Mobile, the less likely it is that a difference-making quarterback emerges in this class. If the Bucs had interest in the class, I’m guessing it wanes quickly.

2. Some Hope At Defensive Tackle?

After a couple rough defensive tackle classes, 2022 has been billed as more of the same. But this week in Mobile, several defensive tackles have impressed. UConn’s Travis Jones has been the leader in the clubhouse, bullying through linemen all week. Jones is a 6-foot-4, 326-pound behemoth with a nearly 83-inch wingspan. He’s displayed the ample power in his game all week, but his movement ability for a big man is impressive, too.

Expect to see Jones considered as more of a run-stuffer than a pass rusher, but he can probably push the pocket as well. Also, I appreciated him using a few pass rush moves even though he could probably bull rush all the linemen there.

Jones stole the show, but other interior defensive linemen impressed, too. Georgia’s Devonte Wyatt had a good first day, while Oklahoma’s Perrion Winfrey was the talk of practice on day two. Wyatt has some positional versatility as an energizer bunny type of defensive lineman. After talking with him on Wednesday, he seems like a future locker room favorite. Given his explosiveness and recent development, he could be exactly what the Bucs are looking for.

Winfrey weighed in better than expected at 6-foot-3, 303 pounds. But the most eye-catching physical trait was his length – 35 1/2-inch arms with a nearly 86-inch wingspan! That is absurd. Winfrey had 11 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks last year, impressing mostly as a pass rusher for Oklahoma. His run defense needs work, but his traits and upside could get teams interested in the top 100 picks.

3. NDSU WR Watson Impresses At Senior Bowl

North Dakota State wide receiver Christian Watson looked like the best receiver in Mobile this week. He caught the ball well, used his size (6-4, 211) to attack the ball in the air and showed top end speed. As a former track athlete, Watson was used in a variety of ways at North Dakota State. You don’t see many 6-foot-4 receivers returning kicks or getting rushes, but Watson routinely did so in college.

The Tampa native rushed for 392 yards and two touchdowns on 49 career carries. In the Bison run-heavy offense, Watson didn’t get a ton of targets. But he still managed to catch 43 passes for 801 yards and seven touchdowns last year. He’s averaged over 18 yards per catch all four years of his college tenure. And in practice this week, no cornerback could stick with Watson consistently.

Given his size, speed and athleticism, I would consider Watson the most likely Senior Bowl wide receiver for the Bucs to target in the draft. The other receivers just haven’t impressed that much. Romeo Doubs is big and fast, but runs choppy routes and drops so many passes. Tennessee’s Velus Jones is very athletic and explosive, but he’ll be 25 in May and dropped more passes than Doubs. And South Alabama’s Jalen Tolbert was smaller than expected at 6-foot-1, and might not have the speed Watson does.

4. FSU OLB Johnson Should Go Prepare For The Combine

There is nothing left for Florida State edge defender Jermaine Johnson to do in Mobile. He’s been clearly the best player there and utterly dominated two practices. There have not been many clear-cut studs in this year’s Senior Bowl. Johnson has been the one player that has consistently stood out as looking special.

At 6-foot-4, 259 pounds, Johnson has a physique built in a lab. But his best trait is his physicality and effort. He plays every snap at top speed, running full tilt at quarterbacks during 11-on-11. Johnson was on the backside of a run play on Wednesday’s practice, yet still ran down the line of scrimmage and body-slammed an offensive lineman to finish the play. He is absolutely relentless on tape and on the field.

Johnson’s pass rush repertoire still needs to develop, and I have questions about his bend. But burst, speed and change-of-direction ability like his were fun to watch this week. Johnson is a redshirt senior with only one real breakout season of production after transferring from Georgia. It will be interesting to see how teams view his odd collegiate path to success.

I still have questions, but Johnson answered a lot of them this week. There’s nothing more he can prove in Mobile.