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Winners and Losers from First Day of Senior Bowl Practice
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- Winners and Losers from First Day of Senior Bowl Practice
Senior Bowl practice on Jan. 29, 2025. -- Alan Saunders / Steelers Now
MOBILE, Ala. —The first day of Senior Bowl practice for the 2025 season is in the books, and with Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan watching, several players greatly improved their draft stock, while some others gave themselves some more work to do over the rest of the week.
WINNER: Iowa state WR Jayden Higgins
It's a new NFL when it comes to size at the wide receiver position, and the success of players like Tyreek Hill , Zay Flowers and Jordan Addison has proven that you don't need prototypical size to have success at receiver in the NFL in 2025.
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But size certainly doesn't hurt, and in what is generally an undersized collection of wide receivers at the Senior Bowl, Jayden Higgins stood out literally and also metaphorically for his play on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-3 3/4, 217-pound wide receiver is currently projected as a late Day Two pick, but he looks a lot more like a player teams will be running to draft earlier. Higgins had just two seasons of FBS college football and did not play in the world's most dynamic offense, so a lot of his draft profile is a projection. But it's a nice-looking one from here.
LOSER: Alabama QB Jalen Milroe
Jalen Milroe is one of the most electric athletes in the entire 2025 NFL Draft class, not just the group assembled here in Mobile. So it shouldn't exactly be surprising that he didn't look great when he spent all of Tuesday throwing flat-footed.
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But the Senior Bowl is just as much about exploring the weaknesses of prospects as it is highlighting strengths, and there's no question that pocket passing is something that Milroe is going to have to work on.
He has the arm strength to throw a deep ball, but you wouldn't know it from his attempts on Tuesday. He was conservative and still struggled. He'd probably be better off cutting it loose and wowing with his physical tools, even if it doesn't end all that well. That's what Joe Milton III did here last year. Of course, Milton was a sixth-round draft pick. Milroe is looking to go a lot higher than that.
Virginia Tech defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles at practice for the Senior Bowl on Jan. 28, 2025. — Alan Saunders / Steelers Now
WINNER: Virginia Tech DT Aeneas Peebles
The team periods in these settings don't usually have a lot of explosive plays one way or another, so when one player wrecks back to back plays, you take notice. When that player is largely considered a Day Three prospect, it's even more eye-opening.
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That's what Aeneas Peebles did on Tuesday, when he tad a tackle for loss and blew up another play on back-to-back snaps, earning an attaboy from Tomlin in the process. He also held his own in 1 on 1 drills. In a deep defensive line group, it's going to take a lot to stand out, but Peebles did that on Tuesday.
LOSER: Oklahoma State RB Ollie Gordon
Ollie Gordon II is the highest-profile player at running back at the 2025 Senior Bowl, at least going by position on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board (he's currently 98th.)
But you wouldn't know it by watching Tuesday's practice. Gordon took just six team reps, while Donovan Edwards , Damien Martinez and Blayshul Tuten impressed. Gordon also didn't look great while he was out there, running with a high pad level and not displaying much change-of-direction ability.
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WINNER: UCF CB Brandon Adams
Brandon Adams is not a prospect with a ton of hype coming into the week. So he made some of his own. Adams dominated Arkansas wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa on a 1-on-1 route, grabbed an intercepted, and then let out a scream to make sure everyone knew who came down with it.
That'll work.
LOSER: Laurier QB Taylor Elgersma
Elgersma is the first Canadian college quarterback at the Senior Bowl. He started out as bit of novelty. They play different football in Canada, and while their have been crossover successes, it was probably asking a lot for him to do it in three days. It seems that Elgersma is likely to remain a novelty, as he significantly struggled on Tuesday, looking out of place even in a down group of Senior Bowl quarterbacks.
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