Senior Bowl Notes: Jordan Love, Kyle Dugger show out on day two

Jordan Love and Kyle Dugger lead the Senior Bowl standouts from day two of practices.

It was another great day to be at the Senior Bowl practices, with the sun shining a bit more as practice started. The jokes began with draft Twitter early on with the North starting out once again with an extended period of stretching, and the coaches audibly mentioning keeping the hamstrings loose.

There was a lot more 11-on-11 today, which is always great to see during practice. The battles were fierce up front, and the competition downfield with the wide receivers and defensive backs continued to dominate the conversation. Let’s not forget about a bigger focus on the quarterbacks once again.

Who stood out and who fell flat during day two of the Senior Bowl practices? Let’s dive into the notes!

North Team

• Stock up for the North hamstrings.
• Utah State quarterback Jordan Love came out with a bit more zip on the ball on day two of practice. He continues to make tougher throws look easy. Even the wide receivers were surprised today with how fast the ball jumped out of his hand. Love made some excellent throws again down the field, and also showed great placement on throws in 11s in all spots.
• It was another rough day for both Anthony Gordon and Shea Patterson. Gordon just doesn’t have a lot of velocity on the football. He did make one wow throw into coverage on the move late in practice. Patterson continues to struggle, and to make things worse, his best ball of the day was dropped by Liberty wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden.
• TCU running back Darius Anderson looked good once again in the passing game, showing natural hands and the quickness to separate. He will certainly find a role with some team.
• UCLA running back Joshua Kelley also looked good again with a speed/quickness combo.
• The wide receivers led the talk on day two to no surprise. Ohio State’s K.J. Hill continues to look extremely fluid getting into his route, along with his very good hands. He’s gotten open all week long. The other big winner was Baylor’s Denzel Mims, who works well vertically and shows promise as a route runner.
• Quartney Davis was solid today, but he was a little late getting his hands up to catch those Jordan Love rocket balls. Michael Pittman quietly went about his business and looked solid in one-on-ones. SMU’s James Proche still is tops as far as catching the football and got some reps in returning punts.
• Brycen Hopkins and Adam Trautman got more looks in the passing game and capitalized.
• One of the top players for many entering the Senior Bowl, Washington’s Nick Harris, struggled a lot one-on-one against interior defensive linemen. It will be important to go back to the tape to see if play strength is indeed an issue.
• Connecticut’s Matt Peart looked a lot better on Wednesday, showing a strong anchor against edge rushers. Kansas lineman Hakeem Adeniji had a much better day after kicking inside to guard.
• Temple’s Matt Hennessy continues to impress me, and he will likely rise on my board if the tape matches his practices this week.
• Michigan edge rusher Josh Uche got more chances to beat tackles in practice on Wednesday, and he did just that. Uche also looked comfortable covering tight ends yesterday. He’s a big riser as of now for me.
• North Carolina’s Jason Strowbridge is moving into the top echelon of Senior Bowl prospects as far as this week’s performance goes. He made an impact in nearly every drill.
• Arkansas defensive lineman McTelvin Agim was a late add, but he showed great lower body strength against interior linemen and pushed the pocket back consistently.
• One quick note about Wisconsin’s Zack Baun: he got a lot more reps at inside linebacker today.
• Utah’s Francis Bernard looked so comfortable at the Mike spot in 11s, getting the defense aligned and communicating with everyone on the field.
• Troy Pride Jr. continues to be physical at the line of scrimmage and broke up a number of passes again today.

South Team

• Let’s start out with the quarterbacks here. Oregon’s Justin Herbert was solid once again in drills, showing good velocity and accuracy while on the move.
• Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts looked a bit better in drills today and made some nice downfield throws to receivers. However, he still processed the field a little slower in 7s and 11s later on in practice. Colorado quarterback Steven Montez struggled once again, missing easy throws and had a bad interception late in practice.
• Antonio Gibson stood out the most from the South running backs at Senior Bowl practice today. He has that extra gear when he gets into space and the quickness to make defenders miss. Gibson also looked great in pass protection drills.
• Eno Benjamin will be coveted because of his ability to create space in the passing game. He got open on a few wheel routes today.
• Florida wide receiver Van Jefferson continues to be unstoppable in one-on-ones. He looks so natural at creating separation and adjusts very well to the football when it’s in the air. Jefferson made a tough catch over the middle and immediately let the corner know about it.
• Devin Duvernay didn’t get as much separation deep down the field as I expected, but he made some great catches in traffic today.
• Austin Mack does well creating separation, but he had some frustrating drops again in practice today.
• Vanderbilt wide receiver Kalija Lipscomb looked better today, especially working vertically with his speed.
• What a day for LSU TE/WR Stephen Sullivan. He looked so fluid as a route runner and has the size to go up and get the football in contested spots. Sullivan also showed the ability to finish as a blocker. Teams should be taking notice.
• I finally got around to watching St. John’s tackle Ben Bartch today in practice, and he definitely belongs. He held his ground against the top competition today in one-on-ones. I’m extremely impressed with his footwork.
• LSU lineman Lloyd Cushenberry looked excellent once again today. He held up in drills against the top defensive tackles and looked more impressive once the run game got going in 11s, moving so well in space.
• Clemson’s John Simpson and LSU’s Damien Lewis struggled in 1-on-1s, but once they got into 11s, their abilities as run blockers stood out on multiple occasions.
• Javon Kinlaw is still awesome. That is all.
• Both Florida edge rushers, Jonathan Greenard and Jabari Zuniga looked excellent again today. Greenard looks great converting speed to power, and Zuniga flashed rushing from the interior with his quickness and violent hands.

• Lenoir-Rhyne’s Kyle Dugger was fantastic again today. Dugger was used as a deep safety and played in tight coverage against tight ends all afternoon. He had a great interception early in practice recovering with his speed. There do not appear to be any holes in his game.
• The only guy who got him was Jefferson, but UCLA corner Darnay Holmes looked impressive once again. He has the speed to stick with the receiver and is good at mirroring routes and recognizing how receivers want to win. As I said, he didn’t get beat much at all and hung with Jefferson in coverage up until the very end.