It was a busy day in the Bucs’ world with quarterback Tom Brady’s retirement. This immediately shifts the wants and needs of the organization heading into free agency and the draft as they look for his replacement. Outside of the Brady news, it was also the second day of practices at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., where a lot of big plays were made.

Here are Pewter Report’s observations from the Day 2 of the practice sessions.

Bad QB Play For Two Straight Practices

Whether the Bucs decide to draft a quarterback in this year’s class or not, it probably won’t come from a player in the Senior Bowl.  Simply put, the performances by the quarterbacks have been poor to average at best. Quarterbacks have missed a lot of throws in the one-on-one drills when receivers were able to create separation. Throws have even looked bad in warmups on throwing on air, making it more difficult to judge the wide outs.

Heisman finalist Max Duggan has made a few good throws over the middle, and Tyson Bagnet out of Shepherd has held his own against better competition. But overall with previous Senior Bowls that have seen the likes of Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert, and Kenny Pickett in recent years, the talent this week has left a lot to be desired.

Day 2 Standouts 

Running Back

Tulane’s Tyjae Spears continued to show on Wednesday a quick burst between the tackles. Every time he touched the ball, he immediately found the hole to cut through and ran up-field with no one stopping him.

It was not just his running that caught our eye. His one-on-one reps lining up against Jackson State linebacker Aubrey Miller Jr. were a testament to his strength. After being laid out by Miller in one of their first reps, he battled back against one of the more physical defenders in Mobile on the next snap.

Of all of the running backs on both sides, Spears has stood out the most. He has the vision to find the right path and make defenses pay, as seen on this run:

It also was promising to see him as a receiving threat out of the backfield.

Wide Receiver

Houston’s Tank Dell makes it on as a standout again at the Senior Bowl following another great performance. His route running is exceptional as he puts defensive backs in a blender. Though it’s difficult to do, Dell makes it look easy when he’s executing his route plan.

Ole Miss wideout Jonathan Mingo was a bit quiet on Tuesday but stepped up during Wednesday’s practice. He made some great moves against Kansas State corner Julius Brents, who has been one of the best corners this week, to beat him deep for a touchdown. Mingo also made some nice contested catches on the afternoon.

Other wideouts that made some good plays were Nebraska’s Trey Palmer, Michigan’s Ronie Bell, Michigan State’s Jayden Reed and South Alabama’s Jalen Wayne.

Offensive Line

The National Team took to the field to practice first, and Michigan offensive tackle Ryan Hayes put on a show. His highlight play was going one-on-one with the most talked about edge rusher at this event, Isaiah Foskey, and planting him to the ground. Hayes played both sides on tackle and wasn’t pushed back at all. He was solid in his pass blocking as you can  get.

No one loves a smaller school offensive lineman like the Bucs do and Cody Mauch, a guard from North Dakota State, fits the mold. They also like finding their guys at the Senior Bowl. Mauch made quick work of Army’s Andre Carter in individual drills, taking him to the floor in a dominating fashion. From both individual and team drills, Mauch has an in-your-face intensity to his game, but it doesn’t go over the line and can dissipate when the play is over. He’s been showing out with strong play early on this week.

When the American team was on the field, Florida offensive tackle Richard Gouraige really battled. It wasn’t necessarily the cleanest of outings, but what stood out for Gouraige was his ability to recover and stay with a play even if he got off of his bearings. Not every rep is going to be won cleanly, but how you recover is also important.

Getting another shoutout during this week of the Senior Bowl is Alabama offensive lineman Alex Steen. He won a majority of his matchups showing both physicality and the finesse of good technique. What really made him get on this list again was his ability to play different positions on the line and find success in each role.

Defensive Line

Keanu Benton out of Wisconsin has been one of the most impressive interior defensive linemen at the Senior Bowl. He came in looking to demonstrate he could be more than just a run stuffer. Pewter Report talked to him before practice, and he mentioned he wants to have “more moves in the chamber” and expand his “toolbox.” In this play, he showed off his swim move to get into the backfield quickly:

Benton also had a Hall of Fame spectator, as Bucs legend defensive tackle Warren Sapp was looking on as he went through drills.

Northwestern Adetomiwa Adebawore continues to the catch the eye of everyone watching the Senior Bowl practices. He’s got a lot of speed and power that was on display for Wednesday’s practice. In the individual battles against the offensive line, he won most of his matchups.

Louisville’s Yaya Diaby is showing the the ability to succeed in all areas of the game. While some players may only excel as a pass rusher or run stopper, Diaby is doing it all. On Tuesday he was more involved with stopping the run, but on Wednesday Diaby was getting after the passer and throwing linemen by the wayside.

Edge Rusher

There were two edge rushers that were flying during practice. One was Derick Hall out of Auburn, who has consistently been in the backfield attacking the quarterback with a combination of speed and solid technique on his pass rushing moves. The other was Kansas edge Lonnie Phillips Jr. He had a great jump off of the ball in his individual matchups to the point where would get by the lineman without getting a hand on him. Phillips would back that up with another strong bull rush, proving that he can be physical, too.

Linebackers

Despite his short stature as an inside linebacker (5-11, 229), Aubrey Miller Jr. continues to impress in the Senior Bowl practices. He is a guy with a lot of power and is a sure tackler. His highlight play was knocking the ball out of Georgia running back Kenny McIntosh’s hands after standing him up at the line of scrimmage:

Another small school gem was Sacramento State linebacker Marte Mapu. The athletic ability and hustle was off the charts for Mapu, he had a fantastic pass breakup when he jumped as high as he could to get his hand on the ball. Later on during a busted play where the running back broke a run all the way up the field, Mapu sprinted after him and was able to knock the ball out for a fumble while others had given up on the play.

If  Miller wasn’t the best linebacker out of both practices at the Senior Bowl it was definitely TCU’s Dee Winters. This player has speed, speed and more speed and was turning the ball over even faster than that on consecutive plays. Winter showed an ability to drop back in zone coverage, read a play and make a break on the ball when he had an interception in 7-on-7 drills. Seconds after he forced a fumble on a separate play, that was recovered by Miami cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.

Cornerbacks

After having a practice the day before where he couldn’t make the interception, most of that changed for Stanford’s Kyu Blu Kelly. He needed a little warmup first, making an incredible one-handed catch as a bystander on the sideline.

Stanford CB Kyu Blu Kelly At The Senior Bowl – Photo by: USA TODAY Sports

Not long after, Kelly was involved in a rep where he ripped the ball out from the wide receiver for an interception and took it to the house for a pick-six. A couple of plays later, he came close to yet another interception in the same drill. Kelly’s anticipation is off the charts, which is exactly what you need to be a corner at the next level.

Safeties

Florida State safety Jammie Robinson has been on Pewter Report’s players to watch list and has been solid in his Senior Bowl performances thus far. He made a really good pass breakup with tight coverage on a receiver. Robinson is tough to separate from when facing him in a matchup during these drills.