2018 Senior Bowl: 5 players to watch
By Joe Romano
Marcus Davenport, EDGE, UTSA
At the Senior Bowl is one place where small school players can make themselves some money. The number one player to watch in that regard is UTSA’s Marcus Davenport.
Well known by the NFL draft community already, Davenport is a name to know if your team needs help getting after the passer. After playing at such a small school, he will need an impressive showing in Mobile to keep his name inside that first round conversation. This season he impressed with 8.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss.
First and foremost Davenport is a physical marvel. Standing 6-foot-7 and 255 pounds with his athleticism are some of the rarest traits you will see from an athlete. These traits are a big reason his name has popped up in early mock drafts inside the first round.
John Owning (@JohnOwning) of FanRagSports did a great job breaking down the strengths of Davenport’s game on this Twitter thread.
Watching Marcus Davenport today. Has a complex and unique go-to move. Stab-chop-rip. Still needs some polish but it's still effective. He's a scary dude when he flattens. pic.twitter.com/ymSMgKXcx4
— John Owning (@JohnOwning) January 9, 2018
You can see the flashes of what makes Davenport so intriguing. He has a basketball background, and it shows with his get off and ability to move his feet at his size. He played mostly from a two-point stance at UTSA. With the Senior Bowl running base 4-3 defenses, teams will get to see how he does with his hand in the dirt, a big piece of the puzzle who seem him as a defensive end for their 4-3 schemes at the next level.
What will be most interesting to see is how well those skills translate when the competition increases. The best tackles in Mobile will be Brian O’Neill from Pitt (possible first rounder) and Western Michigan’s Chukwuma Okorafor (early Day 2 pick) who faces some of the same questions as Davenport coming from a small school. The battles between the two small school players will surely draw some eyes during practice.
If Davenport is to be a first round prospect and some project him top-15, he will need to impress scouts this weekend. With a dominant practice week he could push himself ahead of another guy who planned on being at the Senior Bowl but is rehabbing an injury, Boston College’s Harold Landry. There is a chance Davenport is the second EDGE rusher taken behind North Carolina State’s Bradley Chubb, and this week will give us an idea how true that looks.