NFL Hot Press: Senior Bowl Rumors Friday

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Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst
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Senior Bowl Rumors Friday

Updated Jan. 24, 2020
By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.

Almost all of the general managers, coaches and scouts in attendance for the Senior Bowl left town after Thursday’s practice. But with all of those evaluators present, there is a lot of chatter going around. Here are some of the highlights from around the league on the fiftth day of the 2020 Senior Bowl week.

From speaking with sources, it sounds like the New York Jets’ initial inclination is to go with an offensive tackle or cornerback with their first-round pick. The Jets have the 11th-overall pick, so there should be some good options available as the 2020 NFL Draft has a strong class of offensive tackle talent. Team sources say there could be four tackles who go as top-20 pick, with that group consisting of Georgia’s Andrew Thomas, Louisville’s Mekhi Becton, Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs and Alabama’s Jedrick Wills. One source thought Becton could be a fit for New York from those four.

At cornerback, Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah will probably be off the board. Florida’s C.J. Henderson could be the next cornerback to get selected, but Henderson’s weak tackling could cause some teams to not view him as being worthy of going that high.

I asked about Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy or another one of the talented wideouts, like Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb or Colorado’s Laviska Shenault, but team sources didn’t think New York would go that direction. This is a strong draft for wideouts, so the Jets could land a good talent at that position on the second day. It sounded like theteam also might look to the free agency market for receiver talent.

Additionally, new Jets general manager Joe Douglas comes from Philadelphia, and the Eagles were a team that devoted a lot of resources toward building their offensive and defensive line. Thus, sources believe the Jets’ inclination will be toward addressing the offensive line with one of those edge protectors for Sam Darnold.

One of the top free agents in 2020 will be Seattle Seahawks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, and Clowney has stated a team’s likelihood of Super Bowl contention is a key factor for his signing. WalterFootball.com has learned from league sources that the Indianapolis Colts are one of the teams are expected to make a run at signing Clowney. The Colts have a ton of salary cap space and money to spend, and they could use an impactful player on their defensive line. Clowney would also be a great scheme fit in Matt Eberflus’ defense. Signing with Indianapolis would also give Clowney the opportunity to play the Texans twice per year, and going against his former team could be a nice perk to signing with Indianapolis. There could be a competitive market for Clowney, and his preference for Super Bowl contenders could rule out some teams, but sources tell me the Colts are going to be a team in serious pursuit of the star defensive end.

Since the start of the 2020 NFL Draft process, many projected Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy to be a top-five pick, including myself. However after speaking to a few team sources, they feel Jeudy could go lower than than that, perhaps in the No. 6-16 range. The main reason is size, as Jeudy is listed at 6-foot-1, 192 pounds, which is not very big for a No. 1 receiver. The other issue hurting Jeudy is how strong and deep the 2020 NFL Draft is at receiver. Teams picking high in the first round know a first-round caliber receiver will probably be available to them in Round 2, so they can get a top-five talent at a different position that does not have as good of options in the second round that wide receiver does. Thus, Jeudy could end up going lower than the typical projection during the 2019 season.

After a survey of team sources, here are the players who stood out for interviewing well at the Senior Bowl:

Florida wide receiver Van Jefferson
Dayton tight end Adam Trautman
Southern Illinois safety Jeremy Chinn
Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert
Temple offensive lineman Matt Hennessy
Utah cornerback Terrell Burgess

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