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The 2022/23 NFL season is officially in the books, with the Kansas City Chiefs beating the Philadelphia Eagles in a tremendous back-and-forth Super Bowl. Now is the time to progress to offseason content, with free agency and a lengthy pre-draft process.
Some people may have already missed some of that, as we had a full week between the East-West Shrine and Senior Bowl events. We have three/four days of practice and a game each to break down, to see which young prospects have already stood out and helped showcase their talents to NFL scouts.
I watched every practice period and the games (to recap everything we saw in Las Vegas and Mobile respectively) and settled on ten players on each side of the ball, which I wanted to point out as early risers in the process. Plus, I added a few other names at the end, who I thought helped themselves.
I already talked about the offensive side earlier. So here's the defensive version:
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#1. Will McDonald IV, Iowa State (Edge)
I really couldn’t settle on an edge defender from East-West Shrine week. Yet, at the Senior Bowl, I would say that was more of an underwhelming group, looking at Auburn’s Derick Hall, Notre Dame’s Isaiah Foskey and Army’s Andre Carter. So I thought it was appropriate to bring up a name that many considered part of that tier, but probably elevated his stock above those guys.
Will McDonald has been a very productive player for the Cyclones these last three years, combining for 33.5 tackles for loss, 27 sacks, eight forced fumbles and seven passes batted down at the line.
The question coming into the week was McDonald’s size, with more of a lanky build at 6’3” ½ and 241 pounds. Yet, I didn’t feel like he was lacking that strength in run defense, being the first to attack with his hands and anchoring against angular blocks routinely.
He stood his ground against Tennessee’s Darnell Wright a couple of times, who weighed in at 342 pounds (basically exactly 100 more than McDonald). So while some of his tape would suggest he may have issues setting a physical edge, we now have evidence that as a true base D-end/outside linebacker, he can take care at the point of attack. That being said, what he did as a pass-rusher was obviously what turned the heads of NFL scouts.
Watching him run the hoop drill, you saw that ankle mobility and bend to circle around, which directly translates to rushing the passer. He had a couple of reps during the week, where he cleanly defeated the hands of the tackle with a double-hand swipe or chop-rip.
If that guy was still able to get a hand on him, he would stay on that arc, once even doing so on all fours basically. Off that, he then put a wicked spin move on Tennessee’s right tackle on the second of back-to-back reps one-on-one (after threatening the corner and then stepping into the blocker’s space), in order to make him commit on the latter.
That ability to take the inside door opening as guys had to overset to the outside came into play on day three as well. Later during the red zone team period, you saw McDonald’s closing burst when Shepherd QB Tyson Bagent left the pocket the other way and the D-end would’ve run him down like a lion hunting an antelope (if not for pulling up late, to avoid pushing him in the back).
#2. Dante Stills, West Virginia (Interior D-line)
This has been one of “my guys” for like three years. I first started taking note of Dante Stills when I was watching his brother Darius play alongside him on the WVU defensive line (who I liked quite a bit as well) and have been waiting on Dante to go pro since then.
Across the past four seasons, he has racked up 47.5 tackles for loss, 21.5 sacks and three forced fumbles, going from second-team All-Big 12 in the first two to first-team all-conference the latter two years.
After lining up at 4i- and 5-technique a lot for the Mountaineers due to his combination of size and length, Stills almost exclusively played three-technique throughout East-West Shrine week. And let's just say it as it is, this guy was unblockable!
Early on day one, he had a pass-rush rep, where he cleanly beat the Oregon guard across his face with a swim move, where it wasn’t even a contest. His ability to win up the gap with a quick club-rip combo, stay on track through contact as he was cornering his rushes and then win cross-face (when guys started oversetting him) was crazy to watch. That’s along with having the power at nearly 290 pounds to ride blockers into the depth of the pocket, if they decide to give him ground.
Yet, Stills might’ve been even more impressive in the run game. Routinely, he would win his gap and own his space, while locking out with one arm, to shut down one-on-ones prematurely. There was a sequence on day two, where he just threw the Grand Valley guard Quinton Barrow (trying to reach-block him) to the turf as he caught the blocker (pulling the back-leg through) trying to bring his base around.
Then on the re-do, he back-doored that guy, which I’m not sure is how they’re supposed to drill it, but the cat-like quicks where impressive nevertheless. Stills showed his disruptive skills in team run drills as well, crashing through the shoulders of zone blockers and flashing from the backside. This, along with arm-over and back-dooring a couple of times to force quick cutbacks as well.
He didn’t really allow combos to form, knocking away the help-hand of the man trying to peel off and not wasting time with the guy trying to bring his hips around. I feel pretty certain that Stills led everybody in tackles for loss on each of the first two days.
Teammates recognized him as the IDL of the Week on the East side. In the actual game, he swum over and created a TFL on his first series, before getting another one on the last defensive play for the East.
#3. Keeanu Benton, Wisconsin (Interior D-line)
Unlike the edge group down in Mobile, other than Iowa State’s Will McDonald, I thought there were multiple guys on the interior who deserve to be mentioned. Nevertheless, none of those did impress quite like Wisconsin’s Keeanu Benton. Last year, he inexplicably dropped from second- to third-team All-Big Ten, despite reaching career-highs in tackles (36), TFLs (10) and sacks (4.5), along with two more passes batted down.
Since I hadn’t really studied Benton’s tape since the offseason (where I thought based on 2021, he was a solid, worker-bee type of nose tackle), I was shocked to see this guy flash as much as he did throughout Senior Bowl week.
Day one, he showed off his power and ability to pull linemen off himself right away during pass-rush drills. That’s along with guys oversetting to the outside and Benton blowing through the interior in a hurry with the tight arm-over to clear the blocker’s reach.
Day two he might’ve been even more impressive. He killed the Troy center Jake Andrews on consecutive reps. He beat him instantly on a club-swim combo and then getting grabbed on the latter (where it looked like he had the O-lineman’s shoulders turned and would’ve been able to get across his face) if not for the tug.
When setting up cross-face and club-rip moves generally, you saw Benton torque his upper body more than sufficiently,. When he ripped through, it looked more like he was starting a cold chainsaw, with the way he yanked that arm up.
In run defense, Benton routinely brought the fight, going from stacking at full extension to swatting away the hands, placing himself in the gap and pulling guys off himself. He did so during one-on-ones as well as full-team portions of practice. His wrestling background was on display, winning with quickness, leverage and violent hands.
Benton’s official stat log in the actual game will only read one tackle, but he did have a couple of QB hits. He beat TCU’s Steve Avila trying to slide in front of him and putting that guy’s teammate Max Duggan on his backside. That’s along with how disruptive he was all week in team drills and his effort chasing away from the play.
#4. Jeremy Banks, Tennessee (Linebacker)
A name I was vaguely familiar with, but hadn’t studied yet is this fifth-year senior from Tennessee. Jeremy Banks would’ve probably been higher on my watch list based on his 2021 stats, when he recorded 128 total tackles, 11.5 of them for loss, 5.5 sacks, an interception and four PBUs.
This past season, the majority of those numbers were more than cut in half and based on consensus boards, he’s on the fringe of even being drafted. If Banks has a solid combine, he may be moving closer to an early day three prospect.
What really perked me up was watching him in coverage. During one-on-ones with the running backs, Banks displayed some impressive burst when driving on option routes, where they could break either way. He would regularly just squat on guys and still affect the catch point once he exploded forward as they made their cut.
Banks was one of like two guys that could pick up and run with Fresno State back Jordan Mims in team drills as well. He did a nice job identifying dig routes and deep crossers coming in behind him during seven-on-sevens and full team drills.
Plus, you saw him redirect in a hurry after floating one way initially and then having to race down on the back catching a checkdown. He had a very impressive snap in coverage on day two against a tight end (Michigan State’s Daniel Barker). He turned with him down the seam and got a paw between that guy’s hands to bat the ball up for the safety behind him to pluck for the interception.
In team run drills, I thought Banks showed great lateral agility to trail runners from the backside and flatten behind blockers when he saw an opening. He has a pair of quick hands and jumps sideways to get to the other side of linemen looking to pin him away from the action.
On the play-side, he was very quick to fill before somebody could combo off to him. When did have to deal with guys climbing up, Banks pulled them off himself to get hands on the ball-carrier. This was something that happened on multiple occasions. A couple of times he blew through the outside shoulder of the fullback before that guy could even get to the line of scrimmage, to create disruption in the backfield.
Banks also had a few nice moments in the game, side-stepping blockers and once putting a huge hit on UCLA back Kaz Allen in the hole. During protection drills, you saw the former Vol LB charge full-force into running backs in blitz pick-up a few times, plus then he was slippery once he used his hands to slither around them.
#5. Marte Mapu, Sacramento State (Linebacker)
After showing out at NFLPA Bowl week, Mapu got the call up from Jim Nagy and my god, he made most of that opportunity. He was impressive from the first moment he stepped onto the field.
You saw him rapidly fill on the front-side of run plays and even from the backside, you saw the short-area burst to shoot through a crease and run things down. Nobody was able to get in front of him in time.
Mapu had a couple of big-time run stuffs during the inside run portion of day two, once blowing through the shoulder of the guard on a zone run and meeting the back for a TFL. Another time on an iso-run, he absolutely blasted the fullback before that guy could even reach the line of scrimmage, allowing the rest of the defense to converge on the ball.
On top of that, Mapu also made a couple of impressive plays in coverage as part of team-drills. Once on play-action, where he didn’t fall for it and drifted underneath a dig route, getting a hand on the ball (intended to be lofted over his head) to break it up.
He later raked the ball out of the tight-end’s hands on a stick route. That’s along with running down Houston's standout WR striding out after a solid play. He was still fired up and punched the ball out, with nobody else in the screen (not that it actually counted, but it showed his level of effort).
He had a couple of nice wins on pass-pro drills, once side-stepping Oklahoma RB Eric Gray, combined with the arm-over, to get around him cleanly. Mapu was clocked over 19 MPH multiple times during the week and his speed will be a major buy-in for NFL teams, considering his tremendous special teams background.
Unfortunately he wasn’t able to perform in the game on Saturday, but I promise you, basically all scouts will have added his name to their watch list. There will probably be a few more now heading to the Sac State pro day, since he didn’t receive a combine invite.
#6. Lance Boykin, Coastal Carolina (Cornerback)
A position group with several noteworthy names between the East-West Shrine and Senior Bowl was cornerback. I couldn’t help myself but talk about three games here with a couple of them from Vegas, and Lance Boykin is kicking things off.
Once just a two-star recruit, this guy began his career at Old Dominion before making a name for himself with the Chanticleers, where he recorded five interceptions, 12 PBUs and two sacks across his two seasons there.
Looking at this collection of receivers for the East team, there were plenty of challenges against pretty big names from Power-Five conferences (such as Arkansas’ Jadon Haselwood, Wake Forest’s A.T. Perry and a Fresno State guy, who had an excellent week himself, in Jalen Cropper). However, I thought this kid from Coastal Carolina more than held his own against all those guys.
Boykin showcased impressive hip mobility all week, flipping around by 180 degrees after opening up with vertical stems a couple of times. And he didn’t allow guys to detach vertically from him either. Yet, on the front-end of those reps, he was able to land some forceful one-handed stabs in press, to throw off receivers that way, while having to mirror more delayed releases.
They were doing some release drills on day three, where he simply blanketed multiple guys attempting to get to the edges of his frame, once making one of the tight-ends basically give up and just stop.
Boykin played sticky coverage throughout day three and put together a really strong showing. He might’ve even been better during the last practice session, not surrendering a single completion and showing several impressive moments of anticipating routes and having guys try to go through him.
His very last rep of the entire week (where they were just going one-on-one a final time) Boykin made defending a curl route by Georgia’s Kearis Jackson look easy, wrapping around and knocking the ball down. I would say there was maybe a small acclimation period during the first practice, but from day two on, he was arguably the top CB of the entire event. And he didn’t give receivers much breathing room during the actual game either.
#7. Tyrique Stevenson, Miami (Cornerback)
Now switching over to a more heralded corner from the Senior Bowl, I think Tyrique Stevenson reminded some people why he was once a top-50 overall recruit in 2019 for Georgia. He also showed why he should be in the discussion for being an early day-two pick.
Across his two seasons with Miami, Stevenson picked off three passes and broke up another 11, but a third-team All-ACC mention last year was the highest honor he received.
I could have easily gone with Stanford’s Kyu Blu Kelly (who other than in his matchups against former teammate Michael Wilson at receiver had about as good a week as anybody at that position) and even South Carolina’s Darius Rush (who did have a couple of day three gaffs but was outstanding at anticipating and breaking on routes other than that). Yet, I landed with Stevenson, because I could really only come up with two “losses” for him.
Princeton WR Andrei Iosivas once got him to bite on a stick-nod on day one. But once on that rep, you saw the corner’s make-up speed shine, still being able to swipe at the ball just as it arrived (even though the catch was made). He did allow a touchdown once during one-on-ones against South Alabama’s Jalen Wayne (where he kind of gambled on a break and the hometown WR was able to haul in the pass over the top), but he also ran perfectly with him, turned and got both hands on the ball for another near-pick when those two went at it another time.
Basically every other rep for Stevenson, it was shut-down time. He was very effective at landing those jams with the inside arm, yet not allowing his receiver to get even with him on a vertical, continuing to work against opponents trying to arm-bar him. He was able to impede the progress of those guys across him regularly, but didn’t allow them to “cheat” against him later on in reps.
Stevenson also excelled when falling off in zone and letting his length disrupt the catch point (when quarterbacks tried to fit in balls over his head for those cover-two hole shots). On day two, he stayed right at the hip of a fourth down shot down the field and leaped for a 50-50 ball, which he nearly pulled in himself.
He appeared to have hurt his calf, but thankfully was okay. What I give him tons of credit for is that after missing day three (when he could’ve easily shut it down) he decided to still play in the game, and he did so well.
#8. Nic Jones, Ball State (Cornerback)
The third name of this corner trio is a lesser-known again, in part because he’s the only Ball State player among the 619 prospects listed on the nflmockdraftdatabase.com consensus board right now. He also only had one-and-a-half seasons as a starter.
Nevertheless, Nic Jones was able to intercept three passes and break up another 15 across those 17 games. He really made a name for himself with his performances throughout East-West Shrine week. I could have easily gone with Kei’Trel Clark from Louisville or Terell Smith from Minnesota here, but in terms of who helped himself the most, I think Jones is the guy many scouts have now decided to put their eyes on.
Jones had some very impressive reps the first two days of staying right in phase with receivers and none that really stood out in a negative way. He did allow more completions on the second day, but the ability to swivel his hips around and not be caught out of position a whole lot was still a plus to note for me. He never allowed guys to get even with him when assigned with deep zone responsibility.
Day three was certainly his worst showing, gambling on a couple of routes it felt like, but he did get a pick during the team portion undercutting the throw (where App State QB Chase Brice tried to fit the ball in late to a curl route on the outside by Florida WR Justin Shorter).
You saw the athletic confidence to not prematurely drive on routes, but let his closing burst do the trick when he saw the receiver commit his hips. Jones wasn’t afraid to sit a little bit versus outside releases before opening his hips and running with guys down the sideline (because he trusted his top-gear to be up-to-par, which he was proved right about).
Even when he flipped the wrong way initially or had to due to the release by the guy across from him, you saw some impressive speed-turns to get back into phase. When assigned with deep zone responsibilities, he made sure to stay over the top in team drills consistently. Jones continued to show up in the actual game, getting in the hip-pocket of his man and disrupting the catch (including a pick in the fourth quarter, where the quarterback tried to fit in a deep crosser late and Jones was right underneath it).
#9. Sydney Brown, Illinois (Safety)
In terms of who I enjoyed watching the most among all the players at either event, Brown’s name is right up there at the top of the list. Somewhat in the shadow of his twin brother Chase (who rushed for over 1,600 yards this past season at Illinois), Sydney has been building a pretty resume himself.
Across 52 career games – of which he started all but one – he racked up 320 combined tackles, ten of them for loss, ten interceptions (two of those returned for touchdowns), 16 pass break-ups, four forced fumbles and a scoop-and-score.
On day one, Brown seemed very much in control of man-coverage reps versus tight-ends from off-alignment, being able to read the hips and jump on breaks in time. After that, he got levelled up and was covering receivers one-on-one quite a bit, where the success continued.
He continuously was able to stay in phase throughout routes and once he saw guys slow their feet, he drove on stuff in a hurry. He wrapped around on a curl route by Stanford’s Elijah Higgins, and perfectly running with Cincinnati’s Tre Tucker on a fade into the end-zone (where he got both hands on the ball for a near pick, with each of those coming on day two).
On the third day, he was on Stanford’s Michael Wilson (arguably the biggest standout of the entire week) who ran a hitch-and-go or hitch-to-wheel and didn’t get fooled at all, turning and running with him.
Earlier in that practice period, he made a tremendous interception during one-on-one’s in the red-zone, where he undercut Clemson tight-end Davis Allen on an out route. And he continued to excel in team period (whether he was playing off-man or quarter), with the ability to click-and-close and disrupt the catch point, once knocking the ball loose on a backside glance off an RPO.
Something that I wanted to note is how he consistently raked exactly through the ball in the midst of the paws of the target (without initiating premature contact that would draw flags). Brown consistently played with good leverage and activity in run defense, while showing great instincts and closing burst (once when he saw a bootleg by Louisville’s QB Malik Cunningham and outraced that guy to the flats). That high-level football IQ also showed up in the actual game, when he created a seven-yard loss on a running back screen in the fourth quarter.
#10. A.J. Finley, Ole Miss (Safety)
Not just the cornerbacks, but really the entire defensive back group in Las Vegas had multiple standouts, which I listed a few at the bottom here. However, I ultimately settled on one guy (in that range of Ball State CB Nic Jones) who I believe will continue to rise in this pre-draft process among a safety group with a lot of varying opinions.
Across the past three seasons as a starter, Finley combined for 228 tackles, 6.5 of them for loss, eight interceptions, 13 PBUs, two fumbles forced and recovered each.
Measuring in at 6’2”, 202 pounds, Finley profiles as a matchup piece against tight-ends at the next level and that’s the area he excelled in all week. He chose a very hands-on when given the opportunity and was able to smoothly slide his feet in front of those bigger bodies.
When Finley was in soft press, I thought he showed great patience to not fall for head-fakes and try to lean with guys. Instead, he waited for them to commit on the release, in order to attach to their hip-pocket.
Going up against Central Michigan TE Joel Wilson on day three he did ultimately give up a catch on his final one-on-one of the whole week. But I actually came away more impressed with his eye-popping recovery burst after being leveraged outside on a drag/crossing route. Just once I really saw somebody run away from him (Houston FB/EDGE Derek Parish, of all the guys there) because he completely gambled on the break.
Finley also had several nice moments in team drills, doing a nice job of fighting over a mesh concept on day three once. His best one, however, probably came in the second practice. It was an outstanding interception when he was lined up in the slot and was responsible for the flats. He mid-pointed a flare/flat and deep out route and then flipped open to jump in front of the deeper route and pick off the pass.
Plus, he had another to end practice (which was more so gifted to him) on a great play by the linebacker knocking it to him, who he broke up a streak route to the tight-end. When used as a deep middle safety (in practice and a for stretches of the game), Finley did a nice job of playing everything top-down but not giving room just to be safe, rather than being ready to limit plays for little yards after catch. People took note, as he was voted DS of the Week for the East.
Other winners that are interesting NFL draft prospects
EDGEs – K.J. Henry (Clemson), B.J. Thompson (Stephen F. Austin) & Caleb Murphy (Ferris State)
IDL – Adetomiwa Adebawore (Northwestern), Karl Brooks (Bowling Green) & Ikenna Enechukwu (Rice)
LBs – Aubrey Miller Jr. (Jackson State), Daiyan Henley (Washington State) & Ivan Pace Jr. (Cincinnati) &
CBs – Darius Rush (South Carolina), Kyu Blu Kelly (Stanford), Kei’Trel Clark (Louisville) & Terell Smith (Minnesota)
SAFs – Jammie Robinson (Florida State), Art Green (Houston), Christian Young (Arizona) & Trey Dean III (Florida)
If you enjoyed this analysis, please consider checking out the original piece, and feel free to check out my Youtube channel for more detailed content like this!
