The team headed down to Mobile, AL for the Reese’s Senior Bowl and now we will breakdown the best of the best at each position. Coach Schepps will start it off with the WRs and those that stood out to him.
Nathaniel “Tank” Dell, WR, Houston
Outside of RB Tyjae Spears, Tank Dell was the most exciting player at the Senior Bowl. The biggest difference between Spears and Dell was that Tyjae was able to carry the ball all the way to the end zone while Tank was able to get himself WIDE open but couldn’t force the QBs to throw a good ball. Tank is twitched up, he’s explosive and at 5 ‘8”(seemed closer to 5’ 9”/5 ’10”) and 163 lbs., he looked physically capable of being an every down starter at the next level. After what I saw from Tank this past week, he has moved into my top 10 wide receivers in the 2023 NFL Draft class.
Michael Wilson, WR, Stanford
Wilson is a wide receiver I had not watched prior to the Senior Bowl but had heard a bit about on the Rookie Big Board podcast with John Laub and Matt Hicks. John and Matt had discussed that Wilson was a team captain and was on the academic honor roll 3 times while at Stanford. Alone, those 2 achievements can only take a player so far but once you add what Wilson was able to do in Mobile, I am now very intrigued. At 6’1-½” and 216 lbs, Wilson looked every bit the part of an NFL wide receiver. Wilson may have been the smoothest of all of the receivers I watched, running clean routes and regularly creating separation with ease. My favorite battle to watch while in Mobile was Michael Wilson vs. CB Riley Moss, which Wilson consistently won.
Rashee Rice, WR, SMU
I’m not one that likes to rely heavily on player comps but when I can not get one out of my brain, I tend to run with it. The player comp I am alluding to is that of Rashee Rice to Zay Jones. Jones has a bit of height on Rice being that he is 2” taller but I think Rice is a bit quicker than Zay. Where these players are alike is how consistently they get open and how much volume they demanded from the offenses they played in at the college level. Rice dominated early in Mobile and seemed to take his foot off the gas a bit as the week went on. Rashee has strong hands paired with a quick release and knack for finding openings in the opposing defense. Another area of Rice’s game I really enjoy is how he attacks the football rather than sitting in his route and waiting for it to arrive, this will result in Rice earning the trust of his future quarterback quickly.
Jayden Reed, WR, Michigan St.
Jayden Reed didn’t end up in my top 3 but will likely be in the top 3 of many analyst’s that had the opportunity to watch Reed in Mobile. Reed is explosive and showed that if given the opportunity to shine, he will.
Puka Nacua, WR, BYU
Nacua was widely considered one of the best receivers in Mobile after day 1. He created separation with ease and had no trouble transitioning from the receiver to a ball carrier after completing the catch. Nacua is a very exciting prospect and will be playing on Sundays, I just wish I got to see more of him in Mobile.
Dontayvion Wicks, WR, Virginia
Wicks was voted by his peers as the American teams wide receiver practice player of the week. What I liked from Wicks was that when facing a defensive back that wanted to play him physically, he was able to respond and match the defender’s physicality. When facing defenders who were more technical, he was able to beat them with the pacing of his routes and his ability to break on a dime.
Trey Palmer, WR, Nebraska
Trey made himself some money this past week. When asking DBs which receiver they respected the most out of this receiving group, many of them, including Riley Moss, mentioned Palmer. Palmer was practically unguardable out of the slot and I’m sure plenty of NFL quarterbacks would love to have him on their roster.
Ronnie Bell, WR, Michigan
Ronnie Bell consistently got open and consistently came down with the ball when given the chance but there weren’t any WOW moments. Bell looks like the type of player who is good at a lot of things but I did not see any elite traits.
Andrei Iosivas, WR, Princeton
There was a lot of buzz around Andrei heading into the week and I was definitely tuned into it. Iosivas is fast and has the potential to be a field stretcher at the next level but I did not see the true playmaking ability I expected and I believe he has a ways to go before being a full time contributor at the next level.
Xavier Hutchinson, WR, Iowa St.
Iosivas has a little more than an inch on Hutchinson but after watching both players, I felt Xavier played the field stretching big receiver role better than Andrei. I don’t think Hutchinson has the top end speed you see with Iosivas but at this stage in their careers, Xavier is the more technical receiver and also does a better job of adjusting to balls in flight and catching balls outside of his body.
Jonathan Mingo, WR, Ole Miss
Mingo had a very similar week to Ronni Bell in my opinion. Mingo is the bigger of the 2 and is much more rocked up but like Bell, I did not see many WOW moments from Mingo. Jonathan did what was asked of him, got open regularly and did a good job of securing the football but to me, he did not stand out.
