The 2026 Panini Senior Bowl still needs to be played this weekend, but in the NFL Draft community, we understand that the scouts and evaluators care a ton more about the practice week than the actual game. With the high-leverage portion of the week in the books, it feels like a great time to take a step back and digest all the action we have seen this week, specifically on the field. To have a little bit of fun, fellow A to Z Sports NFL Draft analyst Joe DeLeone and I decided to combine a mock draft with the winners from the week.

The objective was to fill a starting lineup on both sides of the football, so 22 prospects in total for each person. It was a traditional mock draft format, but we decided to make it a snake draft to make things a little more interesting. There were no rules on the sequence of positions that each of us had to draft. The only real objective was to create the best team possible out of the standouts that we saw down in Mobile. Here is what DeLeone and I ended up with.

Senior Bowl mock draft

1. Roberts: Lee Hunter, DT, Texas Tech 
2. DeLeone:  Max Iheanachor, OT, Arizona State 
3. DeLeone: Gabe Jacas, EDGE, Illinois 
4. Roberts: TJ Parker, EDGE, Clemson 
5. Roberts: Mike Washington Jr., RB, Arkansas  
6. DeLeone: Sawyer Robertson, QB, Baylor 
7. DeLeone: Sam Hecht, C, Kansas State
8. Roberts: Derrick Moore, EDGE, Michigan 
9. Roberts: Bud Clark, S, TCU
10. DeLeone: Kevin Coleman, WR, Missouri
11. DeLeone: Kyle Louis, LB, Pitt
12. Roberts: Dametrious Crownover, OT, Texas A&M
13. Roberts: Caleb Banks, DT, Florida 
14. DeLeone: Chris Johnson, CB, San Diego State 
15. DeLeone: VJ Payne, S, Kansas State
16. Roberts: Xavian Sorey Jr., LB, Arkansas
17. Roberts: Nate Boerkircher, TE, Texas A&M
18. DeLeone: Gracen Halton, DT, Oklahoma
19. DeLeone: Keylan Rutledge, OG, Georgia Tech
20. Roberts: Lewis Bond, WR, Boston College 
21. Roberts: Malachi Fields, WR, Notre Dame
22. DeLeone: Cyrus Allen, WR, Cincinnati
23. DeLeone: Malik Muhammad, CB, Texas
24. Roberts: Jeremiah Wright, OG, Auburn 
25. Roberts: JC Davis, OT, Illinois 
26. DeLeone: Jude Bowry, OT, Boston College
27. DeLeone: Bryce Boettcher, LB, Oregon 
28. Roberts: Zakee Wheatley, S, Penn State 
29. Roberts: Gennings Dunker, OG, Iowa 
30. DeLeone: Matthew Hibner, TE, SMU 
31. DeLeone: Tyren Montgomery, WR, John Carroll 
32. Roberts: Chandler Rivers, CB, Duke 
33. Roberts: Aaron Anderson, WR, LSU
34. DeLeone:  Kamari Ramsey, S, USC
35. DeLeone: Michael Taafe, S, Texas
36. Roberts: Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU 
37. Roberts: Jacob Rodriguez, LB, Texas Tech 
38. DeLeone: Jeremiah Wright, OG, Auburn 
39. DeLeone: Nadame Tucker, DE, Western Michigan 
40. Roberts: Colton Hood, CB, Tennessee 
41. Roberts: Ephesians Prysock, CB, Washington 
42. DeLeone: Zane Durant, DT, Penn State 
43. DeLeone: Kaelon Black, RB, Indiana 
44. Roberts: James Brockermeyer, OC, Miami 

Roberts’s starting lineup 

QB: Garrett Nussmeier (LSU) 

RB: Mike Washington Jr. (Arkansas) 

WR: Lewis Bond (Boston College) 

WR: Malachi Fields (Notre Dame) 

TE: Nate Boerkircher (Texas A&M) 

WR/TE: Aaron Anderson (LSU 

OT: Dametrious Crownover (Texas A&M) 

OT: JC Davis (Illinois) 

OG: Jeremiah Wright (Auburn) 

OG: Gennings Dunker (Iowa) 

OC: James Brockermeyer (Miami) 

DE: TJ Parker (Clemson)

DE: Derrick Moore (Michigan) 

DT: Lee Hunter (Texas Tech) 

DT: Caleb Banks (Florida) 

LB: Xavian Sorey Jr. (Arkansas) 

LB: Jacob Rodriguez (Texas Tech) 

CB: Ephesians Prysock (Washington) 

CB: Colton Hood (Tennessee) 

S: Bud Clark (TCU)

S: Zakee Wheatley (Penn State) 

Hybrid: Chandler Rivers (Duke)

When it comes to this draft, I wanted to do my best to attack the defensive line as much as possible. Joe made a huge blunder by not taking Caleb Banks when I admittedly forgot about him. Allowing me to get both Banks and Lee Hunter was an absolute heist. Rounding out that group with TJ Parker and Derrick Moore created an embarrassment of riches. I may have won strictly off of that defensive line strategy.

From there, my strategy was centered all around the balance of each position. I was more than comfortable with Lewis Bond and Malachi Fields at wide receiver, as well as Zakee Wheatley and Bud Clark at safety. The rest of my position groups were balanced. With that stellar defensive line, that is all I really needed. Getting Mike Washington Jr. at running back was another major win. He was the best running back on the board in my opinion, and by a large margin.

DeLeone’s starting lineup 

QB: Sawyer Robertson, QB, Baylor 

RB: Kaelon Black, RB, Indiana

WR: Kevin Coleman, WR, Missouri

WR: Cyrus Allen, WR, Cincinnati

TE: Matthew Hibner, TE, SMU

WR/TE: Tyren Montgomery, WR, John Carroll

OT:  ASU OT Max Iheanachor

OT: Jude Bowry, OT, Boston College

OG: Jeremiah Wright, OG, Auburn

OG: Keylan Rutledge, OG, Georgia Tech

OC: Sam Hecht, C, Kansas State

DE:  Illinois EDGE Gabe Jacas

DE: Nadame Tucker, DE, Western Michigan

DT: Gracen Halton, DT, Oklahoma

DT: Zane Durant, DT, Penn State

LB: Kyle Louis, LB, Pitt

LB: Bryce Boettcher, LB, Oregon

CB: Chris Johnson, CB, San Diego State 

CB: Malik Muhammad, CB, Texas

S: VJ Payne, S, Kansas State

S: Michael Taafe, S, Texas

Hybrid: Kamari Ramsey, S, USC

Drafting this team was much more challenging than I anticipated, especially when I tried to fill several spots at positions that struggled. So, thank you, Ryan, for stealing most of the good defensive backs.

Aside from that, I wanted to be aggressive in grabbing the best offensive tackle from the event, with Max Iheanachor with my first pick. He was phenomenal on the last two days and showed a solid ability to mirror in one-on-one drills. Additionally, along my offensive line, landing Sam Hecht was a home run. Hecht’s feet in pass pro and run blocking were the best of all of the interior linemen in Mobile.

One of the biggest overall winners from the event has to be Pitt’s Kyle Louis, who was making plays all over the field. His instincts against the run stood out consistently, as he flowed downhill on a number of team drill reps to make plays near the line. It was also impressive to see his pass coverage and awareness in making plays on the ball.

Lastly, it was easy to find defensive linemen, with how many guys dominated. Gabe Jacas flashed a high motor and impactful power every chance he had. Gracen Halton finished the week off with a fantastic Day 3. Zane Durant’s quick feet showed up often in one-on-one drills. And one of the most underheralded defenders was Nadame Tucker, who was unblockable during team period.

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