The draft starts in Mobile.
For the 32 NFL teams in attendance, the Senior Bowl is a chance to see some of college football’s top players square off in a week of practices and a full game to wrap things up in order to prove to them that they can prepare, practice and compete like pros.
Within all of the action on the football field, this is team’s first opportunity to sit down and get to know the prospects after watching them for years at their perspective school and talking to their coaches to gain more information on them.
While many clubs view this as just the first step of the pre-draft process, Chargers general manager Tom Telesco sees it more than just that, given his track record of drafting players that partook in the event.
Since 2017, Los Angeles has signed or drafted 12 contributors who have participated in the Senior Bowl:
G Dan Feeney, Indiana – 2017
S Rayshawn Jenkins, Miami – 2017
DB Desmond King, Iowa – 2017
DE Isaac Rochell, Notre Dame – 2017
LS Cole Mazza, Alabama – 2017
DT Justin Jones, NC State – 2018
K Michael Badgley, Miami – 2018
LB Uchenna Nwosu, USC – 2018
C Scott Quessenberry, UCLA – 2018
LB Drue Tranquill, Notre Dame – 2019
S Nasir Adderley, Delaware – 2019
Telesco stuck to his guns in this year’s draft, selecting four players who participated in the Senior Bowl out of the team’s six selections.
QB Justin Herbert
RB Joshua Kelley
S Alohi Gilman
WR K.J. Hill
Why does Telesco love Senior Bowl players so much? Since he took the job in 2013, some of his biggest values when evaluating players is production, statistically and the time spent at school. Another thing that he covets is not only good players, but good people.
It’s rare that any of the guys brought in constantly have issues or are constantly in trouble with off-the-field stuff. Telesco brings in good football players that are tough, competitive and fit the culture of what the Chargers want to be both on and off the field.
I was present at this year’s Senior Bowl, and the four attendees that were selected by Los Angeles, stood out. Three of them – Herbert, Kelley and Hill – were my “practice players of the week”.
Here is what I had to say about Herbert:
During the red zone drills, he was dropping dimes in the corner of end zone. In the two-minute drill, Herbert looked composed, he was accurate with nearly all of his throws and each one had pop, displaying his arm talent that he is coveted for. Even when facing pressure, he was quick to diagnose it, never panicked, rolled out and found his targets each time. He didn’t really take any shots downfield, but his decision-making was precise and he showed great vision to efficiently work through his reads, which is something that he needs to do a better job at. For his phenomenal week, Herbert was named Practice Player of the Week.
Here is what I had to say about Kelley:
Like Herbert, Kelley had a stout week of practices. But he topped off his impressive week with a great performance on Saturday. The 5-foot-10 and 214 pound back finished with 15 carries for 105 yards rushing. Kelley is a competitive, full-speed ahead ball carrier with the vision, lateral agility, contact balance, toughness receiving/blocking traits that project him as a reliable horse in the backfield. If the Chargers move on from Melvin Gordon, Kelley is a name to watch for as a replacement.
Here is what I had to say about Hill:
Last year, it was former Ohio State and current Washington Redskins’ Terry McLaurin who made his money at the Senior Bowl. Following the footsteps of McLaurin is Hill. Hill has been productive and polished all week, displaying the technical finesse that has been coached up by Buckeyes wide receiver coach Brian Hartline. That was no different on Thursday, but he added a little spunk to his day with an eye-popping one-handed catch. The instincts and route mechanics that Hill boasts are traits that could go a long way if he was added to the Chargers wide receiver group.
As you can see, I was very fond of their week in Mobile. It appears that Telesco and the rest of the team’s evaluators were, too.
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