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Scouting Notebook: Senior Bowl Edition, Offensive Invitees

The first round of invites for the Senior Bowl are out

By ZachHicks21
NCAA Football: Texas Tech at Kansas State Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

The Indianapolis Colts just completed a huge fourth quarter comeback to beat the Miami Dolphins 27-24 for the team’s fifth straight victory. Although it wasn’t pretty, they were able to go out and get the job done on Sunday. With that win, the Colts are now in 6th place in the AFC Playoff race. That is amazing and all but we have some draft stuff to discuss in this piece.

The Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama is one of the biggest events of the draft season. The Nation’s best Seniors battle it out all week in front of hundreds of evaluators. The first round of invites has been sent out and the following players have either accepted their invite or have been confirmed as invited. To help me break down these players I enlisted a little bit of help from a few experts who know way more draft eligible guys than me year round.

Carter Donnick (Devy Football Factory), A.J Schulte (Dynasty Football Factory), Mark Jarvis (WhatsOnDraftNFL.com), and Gavino Borquez (The Draft Wire) join me as we provide quick notes on all 25 Senior Bowl invitees. Today we will be looking at the offensive players who were invited while tomorrow we will look at defensive invitees.

1.) Foster Moreau, TE, LSU

LSU v Florida Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Gavino Borquez’s Analysis

Possesses the ideal frame and catch radius for a tight end. A dominating blocker with natural receiving skills that weren’t utilized in college. Used mostly on shorter routes, exhibiting fluid transitions and ability to separate out of his breaks against linebackers. His huge catch radius makes him tough to cover. Fires out aggressively and delivers a strong punch at the point of attack. Displays great footwork to sustain blocks.

Top Highlight

2.) Nate Davis, OL, Charlotte

Charlotte v Tennessee Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images

Zach Hicks’ Analysis

Davis is another small school guy who needs to show out in the Senior Bowl. With decent size (6’2” 311) and athleticism, Davis has all the makeup to be a good developmental guard or tackle in the NFL. After leading the way for a vaunted rushing attack in Charlotte, Davis needs to play well against top competition in Mobile.

Top Highlight

3.) Trace McSorely, QB, Penn State

Maryland v Penn State Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

Carter Donnick’s Analysis

An exciting, enigmatic passer, Trace has terrific athleticism, and uses it on a consistent basis given his scrappy type of play style. With a nice lower base, McSorley’s mechanics are also surprisingly sound for a signal-caller with his type of ”chuck and pray” philosophy. Despite these positives, however, McSorley just doesn’t look or play like an NFL QB. His accuracy is extremely shotty, he possesses very weak velocity— especially on deep throws— and has a bad tendency to airmail balls which leads to unnecessary interceptions. It also certainly doesn’t help that he’s undersized at 6’0, 201 pounds, and a pretty terrible decision maker. Long story short...McSorley ain’t it.

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4.) Clayton Thorson, QB, Northwestern

Illinois v Northwestern Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Mark Jarvis’ Analysis

One week he’ll look like a first round talent and then the next week he’ll be a practice squad hopper. He has proven capable of working through his progressions, but all of that goes out the window when pressure breaks through. He’s probably going to wow coaches on the board, but this could be Luke Falk all over again.

Top Highlight

5.) Jalin Moore, RB, Appalachian State

Appalachian State v Penn State Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Mark Jarvis’ Anlaysis

A fiery runner who wants to slam through anything in his path, Moore is going to wear his body down quick as a pro. The vision and lateral agility are both lacking, but he’ll give everything he has to earn yardage in between tackles. He may not be able to perform in the practices or game in Mobile due to a late season injury, but his weigh-in will still be useful. He’s listed at 190 on the team roster but looks more like 205 pounds on the field.

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6.) Max Scharping, OT, Northern Illinois

Northern Illinois v San Diego State Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images

Carter Donnick’s Analysis

He’s got great size, is a real good athlete, and possesses some pretty high potential. But to sum him up, he’s simply a mess as of right now. Lumbering and not in a good way, Scharping is very uncoordinated, specifically with his back pedal during pass sets, and tends to struggle with speed rushers as a whole. He particularly has a bad habit of getting over aggressive in his punches, which leads to being beat badly. Ultimately Scharping’s a raw project who needs a lot of work. The Senior Bowl will be big for him.

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7.) Tytus Howard, OT, Alabama State

AJ Schulte’s Analysis

Strengths: Incredible length. Very good AA being a former TE. Light on his feet. Sturdy and strong anchor. Very physical blocker.

Weaknesses: Technique is all over the place. Use of Hands is spotty. Will need to be coached well. High upside, but rather low floor

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8.) Dalton Risner, OT, Kansas State

NCAA Football: Kansas State at Texas Tech Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

AJ Schulte’s Analysis

Strengths: Great technician, footwork and Use of Hands is very good. Quick mental processing, quickly ID’ing stunts and blitzes. Functional strength in punches is above-average, with plenty of pop to knock rushers back. Very physical player, finishes well.

Weaknesses: Isn’t an elite athlete. Will be 23 by draft day. Length gives him issues, likely leads to a move inside at the next level

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9.) Andy Isabella, WR, UMASS

NCAA Football: Massachusetts at Georgia Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

AJ Schulte’s Analysis

Strengths: Route-running master. Very soft hands, catches easy. Demonstrated great YAC ability in the open-field. Accelerates in and out of breaks smoothly.

Weaknesses: Lack of size at 5’10 190 is a major concern, likely leads to him forced to play in the slot. Isn’t physical outside as a blocker, limits his value

Top Highlight

Final Thoughts

Chris Ballard had ten draft picks in the 2018 NFL Draft and used three of them on Senior Bowl players (Darius Leonard, Kemoko Turay, and Tyquan Lewis). Obviously, Ballard will be keeping a close eye on the talented players down there this year as he hopes to shape this team into a Super Bowl contender.

I know the evaluations of each player were a bit brief in this piece but I wanted to get a base description of each guy to you all before the next round of invites are sent out. Maybe in the future some of these guys will be featured more in-depth in Scouting Notebooks. The Senior Bowl is a huge event that Ballard will have his eyes on so I will do my best to continually update you all on all the players heading down there.

Which one of these nine offensive players above caught your eye the most? Comment down below which player you want to see more of based off of this quick analysis.

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