The 2024 Senior Bowl is officially in the books following Saturday's game.

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Senior Bowl Takeaways: 

To recap the week, I thought I would share the biggest takeaways I gathered from watching practice and conversations with league personnel throughout the week.

Thoughts on the QBs

I'm not sure if you know this or not (sarcasm), but the QB position dominates conversations around the NFL. Whether that's just a group of friends ranting about their favorite team or NFL decision-makers trying to improve their rosters. You either have a bonafide franchise QB, or you are searching for one. And for those searching, many have deemed this QB class a great one to potentially find their next franchise QB. 

What will the Bears do?

The top three QBs in this class seemed pretty locked in, with USC's Caleb Williams, North Carolina's Drake Maye, and LSU's Jayden Daniels. Many around the league seem to agree with that assessment, I heard from multiple individuals who are already operating as if at least two QBs go in the top three, with a strong inclination that we could see the first three picks in the 2024 NFL Draft all being QBs. 

The next big question surrounding the top three is centered around the first pick currently held by the Chicago Bears. Many have wondered what the Bears will do with that pick. Will they trade it for a second straight year? Will they move on from Justin Fields and select a new QB? I asked these same questions, to which I was told that many around the league strongly believe that the Bears will not trade the top pick and target a QB to replace Fields and that QB most likely will be USC's Caleb Williams. 

Who is QB 4?

After the top three QBs, it gets a bit more complicated to figure out how the QBs will come off the board. Two top contenders to be the fourth QB drafted participated in Mobile, Alabama, at the 2024 Senior Bowl in Washington's Michael Penix and Oregon's Bo Nix. But a couple of other intriguing names also participated in Mobile this week in Tulane's Michael Pratt and South Carolina's Spencer Rattler. 

Overall, it was a rough week for all the QBs at the Senior Bowl, but the most popular names I heard positive feedback on from league sources were Penix and Rattler. This leads me to the big question of was QB 4 in his class at the Senior Bowl. There's a group of guys being considered for that spot. But at the moment, I'd say no; QB 4 wasn't in Mobile. Right now, I think we only see three QBs go round 1, with a slight chance at seeing a fourth go. If a fourth were to go, the QB I hear the most around the league is Michigan's JJ McCarthy.

Positions Viewed Highly 

Multiple big stages remain in this draft cycle, but it's becoming clear that a few positions will dominate the early stages of the 2024 NFL Draft. 

WR

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, but this WR class has caught the attention of NFL teams. I've been told that many believe that WRs will fly off the board in the first three rounds, and the Senior Bowl had multiple WRs who helped their draft stock. From conversations I had and from being live at practice this week, below are the WRs I believe improved their draft stock. 

• Roman Wilson, Michigan
• Brenden Rice, USC
• Ricky Pearsall, Florida 
• Malachi Corley, Western Kentucky 
• Ladd McConkey, Georgia
• Jha'Quan Jackson, Tulane
• Xavier Legette, South Carolina 

OT

It is an excellent year to need an offensive tackle, whether you are drafting in the top ten or near the end of the first round. This class includes two players many label "blue chip" prospects in Notre Dame's Joe Alt and Penn State's Olu Fashanu. But the NFL is high on multiple OTs in this class, including multiple players at the Senior Bowl. 

• Kingsley Suamataia, BYU
• Jordan Morgan, Arizona
• Tyer Guyton, Oklahoma 
• Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State

IDL

Some of the clearest feedback I received from the Senior Bowl was about the interior defensive line. Two players in particular that I have been told that the NFL is much higher on than I realized are Missouri's Darius Robinson and Texas' T'Vondre Sweat. Multiple people around the league raved about Robinson's flexibility across the defensive line, but nearly every person I talked to believed he could be a true game wrecker on the inside lined up as a three-tech. Sweat put on a show with his utter strength this week, and many around the league think he has a chance to be the first interior defensive lineman selected in April. I was also told that many around the league believe a good amount of interior defensive linemen will be selected inside the top three rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft. Below are the interior defensive linemen that stood out the most at the Senior Bowl.

•  T'Vondre Sweat, Texas
• Darius Robinson, Missouri
• Braden Fiske, Florida State
• DeWayne Carter, Duke

CB

I don't think any position had more players improve their draft stocks at the Senior Bowl than the CB group. And that same sentiment was shared with me by multiple people around the league. One-on-ones between WRs and CBs are designed to benefit the WRs, but multiple CBs came to prove a point this week and shined during that drill and team periods. Some even used the game Saturday as a cherry on top of an incredible week. 

• Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo 
• Cam Hart, Notre Dame
• Kris Abrams-Draine, Missouri
• Andru Phillips, Kentucky
• Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Louisville 

S

One of the positions I was the most excited to watch coming into this week was the talented safety group. Three of my top four in this class accepted invites and had great weeks. But the performances of some of the other players are what have multiple NFL teams excited to add a safety in the upcoming draft; one league source shared that they believe that teams will land a starting safety as late as round 5 with how deep this class is. Below are the players that impressed myself and league personnel that I spoke to last week. 

• Kamren Kinchens, Miami
• Javon Bullard, Georgia
• Kitan Oladapo, Oregon State
• Evan Williams, Oregon 
• Sione Vaki, Utah
• Cole Bishop, Utah
• Josh Proctor, Ohio State

Positions Viewed Poorly

While the positions above are being looked at as the best in the 2024 Draft class, some others are starting to be viewed at the bottom of the pack.

RB

The RB position has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past couple of years. The market for that position has dried up more than anyone could have expected. This makes drafting young RBs to replace veterans an emphasis for every team, but this year isn't being viewed in that light. One high-up NFC executive shared with me that he didn't think there was a single RB worthy of being drafted in the top three rounds in this class. Another person had this telling quote: "There's a few Robins in this class but not a single Batman." While that could end up being the case, there were some RBs whose performances in Mobile caught the eye of some NFL teams. 

• Dylan Laube, New Hamphsire
• MarShawn Lloyd, USC
• Ray Davis, Kentucky 
• Cody Schrader, Missouri 

TE

This draft class has one of the most anticipated TE prospects of recent memory in Georgia's Brock Bowers, but after him, the class leaves a lot to be desired. One AFC scout commented on the class by saying, "The lack of starting-level TEs in this class is going to make a player like Brock (Bowers) even more coveted come April." And while that sentiment was echoed by multiple people I spoke to in Mobile, there were a few TEs who had a great week. 

• Jared Wiley, TCU
• Brevyn Spann-Ford, Minnesota 
• Ben Sinnott, Kansas State

LB: 

The LB position is one of few that doesn't seem to have a consensus top player in this year's draft, which made this week even more important for notable LBs participating at the Senior Bowl. One scout spoke on the LB position and this year's class by saying, "It's different for every team, but if we are drafting an LB inside the first two days of the draft, we have to believe there's a chance he can play significant snaps during his rookie season. And in this class, there are only 2, maybe 3, that fall in that category for us." From this past week in Mobile, the following players stood out above the rest.

• Payton Wilson, North Carolina State
• JD Bertrand, Notre Dame 
• Trevin Wallace, Kentucky 

The 2024 All-Senior Bowl team

Listing the best players at each position from the 2024 Senior Bowl.