The 2025 Senior Bowl practices are in the books, and there was a lot to love from a class that, admittedly, doesn’t have the group of quarterbacks we saw in 2024, but has legit depth and plenty of other positions, including tight end, running back, defensive line, edge rusher, linebacker and cornerback.
On “With the First Pick,” the NFL Draft podcast I do with former Vikings GM Rick Spielman, we have a weekly segment during the college season we call “Pop or Drop,” where we highlight the players that had great weeks, and mention others who didn’t quite meet expectations. In Pop or Drop: Senior Bowl Edition, I’ve listed 11 players who caught my attention (and the attention of NFL eyeballs) and several other players who have the talent to be solid NFL players, but who didn’t differentiate themselves as much as I hoped they would during the three practices down in Mobile.
And that doesn’t mean they can’t, or that they’re NFL careers are doomed; I remember Tyson Bagent looking lost and overwhelmed at the Senior Bowl a few years ago, and when he was forced to start for the Bears during his rookie season he was a completely different player — one who was poised, decisive and in control. This isn’t the end of the journey, it’s the beginning.
Pop
1. Oluwafemi Oladejo, ED, UCLA
We spoke with Oladejo, who also goes by the nickname “O2” (which Rick quickly changed to “O2 Jo”), on Thursday morning at 6:45 a.m., just hours before the last day of practice, and he was sipping hot tea because he was hoarse from yelling for two straight days. To call him high energy would be underselling it by a good bit. And one of the most amazing things about Oladejo is that he’s been playing off the edge for just one season; he began his career at Cal, where he was an off-ball linebacker, and played that same position early in his UCLA career. But with a jam-packed LB room, he made the decision to move to the edge for 2024 and all he did was play like a grizzled veteran. For an idea of who Oladejo is — and with an eye for what he can become — just watch the Penn State game. The right tackle had a very long afternoon as Oladejo used a variety of pass-rush moves to win as consistently as any pass rusher has all season. I saw him and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin chatting it up before practice and if there was one player in Mobile who felt like a future Pittsburgher, it’s O2 Jo.
2. Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss
This QB class, as you may have heard, is reminiscent of the 2022 group, which didn’t see the first passer off the board until pick No. 22, when the Steelers took Kenny Pickett. That class also included Desmond Ridder, Malik Willis and Matt Corral — and none of those names is currently on the roster of the teams that drafted them. I say all that with an eye to the ’25 draft; where Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders are the top two quarterbacks and after that … everything is wide open. Rick said on Thursday’s podcast that he thought Dart had a good enough week to maybe find his way into the bottom of Round 1. I’m not yet willing to go that far (even though you may remember that I was much higher on Dart than Rick during the fall), but I’ll happily concede that Dart is better than Pickett was coming out of college. And in the last week, I talked to former Ole Miss standouts Chris Paul, Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen, and to a person they could not talk enough about Dart’s toughness and his leadership, the same qualities NFL teams were echoing at the Senior Bowl this week. There’s no doubt Dart had the best week among the QBs here in Mobile, and his arm strength is better in person than on tape. And he’s gone a long way in solidifying himself as QB3, at least with some 80 days until the actual draft.
3. Jack Bech, WR, TCU
What a fun player. I watched Bech in the fall, and again in the leadup to the Senior Bowl and all he does is make plays, time after time. And while he may not run a 4.3 40, he will consistently run great routes, can stretch the field vertically once he gets moving and was one of the most reliable receivers at the Senior Bowl (and that was the case in college, too; he had 96 targets and just a lone drop in ’24). He flashed his ability to high point the ball during team drills. My comp for him in the fall was Puka Nacua and I saw nothing to change my mind down in Mobile. The difference is that Bech could find his way into Day 2.
4. Elijah Arroyo, TE, Miami
It’s hard not to fall in love with Arroyo getting off the bus, and he backs it up with his play. He’s a long strider who is comfortable inline or in the slot, and can stress defenses between the numbers because of his athleticism. He has an enormous catch radius, soft hands and explodes out of his breaks. This tight end class is loaded and while Arroyo won’t be the first one at his position off the board, he should hear his name called early after his season with the Hurricanes and his performance in Mobile.
5. Tez Johnson, WR, Oregon
Yes, Tez Johnson weighs just 156 pounds, and yes, since 2010, the only two WRs to get a combine invite who weighed less than 160 pounds were Tutu Atwell and Kavontae Turpin. But those are two pretty good players, and Tank Dell, who was the reflexive comp for Johnson at the Senior Bowl, weighed 165 pounds during his combine a couple years ago. You’ll sometimes hear people say that “WR X was unrecoverable” and it’s with a slight degree of exaggeration; that was not the case when describing Johnson during Senior Bowl practices. No DB had a chance in one-on-ones and the smoothness with which Johnson ran routes, and the explosiveness he displayed getting off the line of scrimmage, at the top of his routes, and with the ball in his hands makes it very likely that he’ll hear his name called on Day 2. And while Dell played inside and out in college, Johnson is a slot-only but, man, he can do a lot of damage from there.
6. Devin Neal, RB, Kansas
There were a lot of great backs at both the Shrine and Senior Bowls, and I could list plenty of names that had good weeks. But Neal, who flew under the radar during the season, quietly flashed in Mobile, showing his one-cut-and-go explosiveness between the tackles, but also something he wasn’t asked to do a lot of at Kansas: be a weapon in the pass game coming out of the backfield. We had a chance to interview him and he made it clear that one of his goals this week was to prove to NFL teams that he’s an every-down back who can contribute as a runner and a receiver. Mission accomplished.
7. Quincy Riley, CB, Louisville
There’s the old saying: If DBs could catch, they’d play receiver. It was on full display on Day 2 of practices where Riley had legit opportunities to pull in three interceptions, and he ended up with none. But I loved his aggressiveness throughout the route — without getting flagged for being too handsy — his ability to get his head around and be in position to make a play on the ball. And in Riley’s defense, he had three interceptions with zero dropped opportunities during the season for the Cardinals. Coming into the week I had him graded as a Saturday pick, but what he did in Mobile will send me back to the tape.
8. Grey Zabel, OL, North Dakota State
Good luck finding someone who had a better week than Zabel. And before I get to all he did during the three practices — while playing new positions at guard and center — let’s start with perhaps the biggest single rep at Senior Bowl 2025. Marshall edge rusher Mike Green bull-rushed Oregon tackle Josh Conerly Jr. off his feet and to the ground in what must have been for Conerly one of those real-time “I can’t believe this is happening, I’m about to be all over social media” moments. Unsurprisingly, the defensive players went nuts, the crowd gasped, and even one offensive linemen looking on from the end zone could only put his hands to his helmet. Meanwhile, Zabel immediately made his way to Conerly to help him get off the turf. Because that’s what leaders do. And that’s not just me being hokey; that’s what NFL teams saw in Zabel, someone who is team first, can tune out the noise and oh-by-the-way was as close to dominant playing along the interior offensive line against some of the best players in the country. Rick wouldn’t be surprised if Zabel works his way into the first round.
9. David Walker, EDGE, Central Arkansas
Walker is built like a bowling ball with a low center of gravity and the brute force of a bear knocking down a tree to get some honey. He consistently flashed his ability to collapse the pocket against dudes who will have a chance to be top 75 picks, and that’s exactly what you want to see from a player who is coming from FCS and is trying to make the leap to the NFL. Rick’s comp for Walker was Brandon Graham.
10. Willie Lampkin, OL, North Carolina
We are all Lampkin. He measured 5-foot-10, 270 pounds, and has 32-inch arms which, frankly, sounds more like an uncle you might see at the family reunion than a future NFL offensive linemen. Mostly because future NFL offensive linemen average 6-foot-4 and weigh 315 pounds. But I’d just invite you to go watch Lampkin play. He lined up at left guard for the Tar Heels and he wasn’t that much bigger than their all-world running back, Omarion Hampton. But Lampkin not only held his own, he was a difference-maker, and he’s one of my favorite players in this class. His road to an NFL roster is going to be a tough one because he will be a trailblazer in the truest sense of the word. Yeah, Tez Johnson is 156 pounds, but Atwell, Turpin and Dell came before him and, to varying degrees, have had success in the league. Good luck finding an O-lineman who was just 5-10.
11. RJ Oben, EDGE, Notre Dame
Oben is an intriguing prospect who began his career at Duke with Riley Leonard and played his final season on a Notre Dame team that made it to the championship game. He’s a “hair-on-fire” player who flashes the ability to be a disruptive force coming off the edge. We talked to him in Mobile and he said NFL teams want to see him play with more consistency down in and down out, and if he can show that in the coming weeks and months, he could be a draft-weekend steal.
Drop
1. Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama
Milroe wanted to come to Mobile and separate himself from the pack, showing his ability to throw accurately downfield and doing it on a consistent basis. And while the arm strength has never been in question, Milroe struggled with touch on intermediate throws. It’s not the end of the world — Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix didn’t exactly set the world on fire at the Senior Bowl a year ago and both went on to be first-round picks, but it is a missed opportunity for the former Alabama QB.
2. Taylor Elgersma, QB, Laurier
I give Elgersma a ton of credit for showing up at the Senior Bowl because he was basically asked to play a game that uses a different-sized ball, on a field of different dimensions in a game with different rules. Yes, we call it football in both the United States and Canada, but that’s where the similarities end. It’s not a stretch to say Elgersma struggled during the practices, but I’d imagine had the other QBs on the roster been asked to take part in a Canadian football all-star game they would’ve had similar struggles. Here’s to hoping he can show progress in the actual Senior Bowl game, when it’s more about football. Because he has the size, mobility and arm strength to find his way onto an NFL roster.
3. Arian Smith, WR, Georgia
Smith was one of the fastest players in Mobile this week, and he was regularly one of the fastest players on the field in the fall. But the issues that plagued him during the season showed up at Senior Bowl practices; during Wednesday’s session, I counted three dropped passes (though he did make a catch in team drills). But Smith, who has all the talent in the world, has to prove over the next few months that he can overcome the concentration lapses at the next level, because if he can do that he has game-changing talent.
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