Winners from the week of practice
The week of practice at the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl is in the books.
Practices are always the most important part of pre-draft All Star games, and they’re the first real opportunity for prospects to impress the NFL. The practices are a chance for prospects to get NFL coaching, for NFL coaches to get around the players and see their process and how they carry themselves. They’re also a venue for scouts to look at their traits outside of their college schemes.
The New York Giants have drafted heavily out of the Senior Bowl under GM Joe Schoen. They have a heavy presence on the Senior Bowl coaching staffs this week, and they consider the “inside intel” to be a competitive advantage.
So, which players stand out and make a name for themselves is going to be important for the Giants.
Considering that the quarterback position is the single most pressing need for the Giants, we’ll look at the big names there before moving on to the other positions.
The quarterbacks
Jalen Milroe (Alabama)
This week hasn’t been kind to the former Alabama quarterback. He’s had some very visible struggles in practice, with poor throws as well as poor decisions. However, he’s also shown off his impressive arm talent and deep ball.
The big question regarding Milroe is what teams are looking for from him. How he takes coaching, applies what he’s being coached on, and performs in meetings may be more important to his draft stock than his play in any individual practice.
Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss)
Dart got off to a slow start this week as well, with reports of struggles as he applied lessons in the first practice. He rebounded in the second and third practices, showing off arm strength, accuracy, and placement.
More importantly, Dart showed in team periods that he was able to operate from under center as well as read the defense to find answers down the field. There were several instances in which he visibly worked through a progression, used his mobility to buy time, and then found his check-down to keep the offense moving.
Dart has had an impressive week and there are reports that he has jumped Shedeur Sanders as QB2 on some boards around the NFL.
Dillon Gabriel (Oregon)
Gabriel had a rough weigh-in, measuring 5-foot 10 1⁄2 inches, and 202 pounds. To be fair, that’s only half an inch shorter and 3 pounds lighter than Russell Wilson coming out of Wisconsin. But Gabriel is still significantly smaller than the NFL archetype and could be off some teams’ boards.
He was the stand-out quarterback of Day 1, which shouldn’t be surprising considering how much experience he’s had between UCF, Oklahoma, and Oregon. Other than his size, there were questions regarding his arm strength and ability to drive the ball in an NFL offense.
Gabriel seemingly answered those questions by delivering a ball that was clocked at 74 mph in practice. For reference, Josh Allen topped out at 62 mph.
It’s worth noting that there were similar questions regarding Justin Herbert and Bo Nix as quarterbacks in Oregon’s offense.
Riley Leonard (Notre Dame)
Regardless of anything else that happened this week, teams will like that Leonard showed up and competed this week after playing an extended season that culminated in the National Championship. Teams love players who take every opportunity to compete and few would have batted an eye had Leonard withdrawn.
While he might not eclipse Dart or Gabriel, Leonard had a solid week of practice. He showed solid accuracy and placement down the field. He’ll probably be looked at as a backup at the NFL level, but he’s making a case to be a draftable quarterback.
Position players
Mike Green (EDGE, Marshall)
Green lead the FBS in sacks this year with 17.0 and started the week on the right foot by weighing in at 6-foot-3, 251 pounds. He then had a dominant pair of practices before withdrawing to continue his draft prep at his home facilities. Green has been widely reported to be among the most impressive players on the property at the Senior Bowl, and definitely made himself some money in just two days’ work.
Grey Zabel (OL, North Dakota State)
In light of Green’s performance, it’s fitting that one of the most impressive offensive linemen is also a small school guy.
The NFL asked Zabel to practice at all five offensive line positions — from tackle to center — and won almost every single rep. Zabel has a versatile frame at 6-foot, 5 3/8 inches and 316 pounds, though his arms were short at 32¼ inches. His versatility and arm length could lead teams to look at him as a guard or center at the next level, and he could hear his name called before the second round is over after this week.
Tez Johnson (WR, Oregon)
Johnson might wind up being the smallest player in the NFL, but he had put teams on notice this week with a standout performance.
Johnson measured just 5-foot-9, 159 pounds, but that doesn’t matter as much when corners couldn’t lay a finger on him. He was seemingly toying with defensive backs throughout practice with great routes to take advantage of his quickness and agility. His size will be a problem for some (or even a lot of) teams, but he could be a real problem in the right offense.
Jack Bech (WR, TCU)
Bech has spent the week forcing teams who’ve over-looked him back to his tape. He had a good weigh-in at 6-foot-1, 212 pounds (though his hands are small at 8⅞ inches), and he’s been great in every practice.
Bech is a nasty route technician who knows how to get open and has terrific ball skills. He’ll draw comparisons to Cooper Kupp, and those comparisons aren’t off-base.
I also want to take the moment to extend my condolences to the Bech family, as Jack lost his brother in the terror attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. I couldn’t imagine competing in those circumstances, let alone doing so at such a high level.
Elijah Arroyo (TE, Miami)
Arroyo is coming off of a career year at Miami, but he also has work to do to rehabilitate his draft stock after losing most of two seasons to a torn ACL.
He started the week with a good weigh-in at 6-foot-4, 251 pounds, proving he has “NFL” size. He built on that to prove that the knee injury is behind him, showing off his route running and raw athleticism.
Arroyo has been very impressive and is likely raising his draft stock.
Omarr Norman-Lott (DT, Tennessee)
There are bigger name players on the premises, but Norman-Lott has been a stand-out in all three days of practice. His first step quickness, power, and hand usage have made him a legitimate problem for offenses.
Maybe most impressively, he has been disruptive in team drills as well as in one-on-one drills. This is a fantastically deep defensive tackle class, and teams are going to be getting difference makers into the second (or maybe even third) day.
Maxwell Hairston (CB, Kentucky)
If you followed our weekly college football primers during the season, Hairston’s name should be familiar. He’s undersized at 5-foot-11, 179 pounds, but has quick feet and fluid hips to go with great ball skills. Hairston has a knack for generating turnovers (and has three INT TD’s to his name), and the ability to play man or zone coverage.
He’s also one of the few defensive backs who has consistently held up in one-on-one routes against wide receivers this week. Considering the Giants have drafted two players out of Kentucky over the last three years, Hairston is a name to watch.
Quincy Riley (CB, Louisville)
Riley is another undersized (5-foot-10, 190 pounds) cornerback who made noise with some impressively sticky coverage throughout the week.
He does a great job of getting in phase with receivers and staying there throughout the rep. More impressively, he doesn’t panic at the catch point and does a very good job of disrupting. A lot of attention will go to the corners at the top of the draft, but guys like Riley (and Hairston) have the potential to start and be good players in the NFL.
