The last day of the Senior Bowl practices saw different ways in which each team went through them. That weather was around 60 degrees again, but this time there was a little bit more cloud coverage. It made for the right conditions to watch another whole day of football.

It was also a star studded event as NFL Hall of Famer and arguably the greatest wide receiver of all time, Jerry Rice, was in attendance to watch his son Brenden during the first practice. There was also another NFL Hall of Famer today as well. Terrell Owens was spotted at practice, and as it turns out, Owens is entering the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame later this week.

National Team Senior Bowl Practice

Red Zone Drills

The National team hit the ground running right away as they got into individual matchups. The fun little caveat about it this time for the quarterbacks and receivers against the defensive backs was that these took place in the red zone and at times at the goal line. A thrilling play was made during these drills from UCF wide receiver Javon Baker. With Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman throwing the ball, Baker displayed a great deal of athleticism, jumping up to catch the ball and land in bounds for the score.

Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had a frozen rope of a throw when connecting with Brenden Rice over the middle on a slant. Rice beat the defender and also had to extend his arms out to make sure to haul it in.

Goal Line 11-on-11s

The red zone play continued over into 11-on-11s down at the goal line, which again was another new aspect that hadn’t seen much in the other two Senior Bowl practices. A familiar face from yesterday, Oregon defensive tackle Brandon Dorlus shot out like a cannon and straight after Penix, forcing him to scramble and drawing a holding penalty and on Isaiah Adams, who was giving him trouble the previous day.

Michael Penix Jr. Senior Bowl – photo by: USA Today

There was more scrambling to be had, but this was a positive. With nobody open and needing to make a play before the pass rush closed in, Sam Hartman was able to escape the pressure and run into the end zone for a score without anyone nearly close to him. Hartman was probably the most steady quarterback on a daily basis out of the group.

Defensively there were plays made as well, most notably by Oregon cornerback Khyree Jackson. The Ducks corner stayed in coverage with with North Carolina wide receiver Devontez Walker on his go route to the end zone. It looked like Walker was going to have a touchdown for a moment, but not if Jackson had anything to say about it. Jackson made a diving play to ensure the ball was not complete and just showed great ball coverage ability.

The play of the day for the National team came towards the end on another pass from Penix. This time he had to roll out to his left side to extend the play just a bit. He found Rice wide receiver Luke McCaffrey, the brother of 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, for a touchdown in the back of the end zone. It was great throw from Penix and a really nice job by McCaffrey to find the right pocket in the end zone.

Trench Battles

In terms of who stood out in the trenches, let’s start out on offense. Without Jackson Powers-Johnson out there today, there was more of an opportunity for other interior offensive linemen to make their presence felt. And they did.

Both Wisconsin’s Tanor Bortolini and Florida’s Kingsley Eguakun were the two best centers for the national team. Both held their own, and Bortolini in particular hung in to compete with his matchups.

The defensive line also fared well for itself. As mentioned above, Oregon’s Brandon Dorlus forced Michael Penix Jr. to scramble outside of the pocket and did well to use his moves to get into the backfield. Baylor’s Gabe Hall showed off his grown man strength by often getting the better of the offensive lineman he went against in one-on-ones. Both look like they could be disrupters up the middle at the next level.

American Team Senior Bowl Practice 

This practice was quite the conundrum. The whole first hour consisted of stretching, walkthroughs, individual drills and lots and lots of special teams work. There was no competition between the offense and defense until much later, and even that didn’t last that long.

Defense Stars In Practice

Cal ILB Jackson Sirmon Senior Bowl – Photo by: USA Today

But when they finally did get going, there were some big moments that were had. The defense really stood out in this practice, beginning with Georgia safety Tykee Smith, who made back to back stellar plays.

On the first instance, Smith broke up a pass on the sideline as Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt was looking for Florida State tight end Jaheim Bell. Smith intercepted the ball on the very next play as Pratt’s pass went a little too high and was tipped.

Not to be outdone, California inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon may have had the best day of all. In a 7-on-7 drill, Sirmon knocked away a pass from South Alabama quarterback Carter Bradley, but that was just the beginning.

Later on in a goal line drill, Sirmon stepped in front of a pass from Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton, jumping up to take the ball away. Sirmon had a great deal of athleticism throughout the afternoon and made some big plays because of it.

Lastly along the defensive line, they battled with the offensive line hard throughout some one-on-one work. The one that stood out the most is Texas’ big defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat. Sweat stands out in any group he’s in, and he showed off great power pushing back offensive linemen and displaying a knack for being able to be a run stuffer. Oh, and he can catch passes and hit the heisman pose, too.

QB Michael Pratt Senior Bowl – Photo by: USA Today

Thrash At It Again, Pratt Up And Down

There were some offensive moments as well. Of course it came from Louisville wide receiver Jamari Thrash. Going down the right side of the end zone, Thrash had a defender on him but also had the outside leverage to the boundary. Thrash was able turn his body towards the sideline and make the catch while staying in bounds.

Georgia’s Ladd McConkey showed up on the scoreboard as well on a touchdown throw by Michael Pratt. It was an up and down day for Pratt, who had the touchdown but also threw an interception to Smith earlier.

South Carolina Spencer Rattler finished the end of practice with a touchdown to Kentucky running back Ray Davis. It was a good week for Davis, who showed of his skillset as a receiving back. That’s usually how it goes at the Senior Bowl for running backs as there’s not as much physical contact throughout it.

Houston’s Patrick Paul is a big left tackle, coming in at 6-7 and weighing 333 pounds. Paul had an impressive week overall and on one repetition he gently set down the defensive lineman he was blocking.