Oakland Raiders: 5 offensive players to watch at 2018 Senior Bowl
By John Buhler
The 2018 Reese’s Senior Bowl will be down in Mobile on Saturday afternoon. Here are five offensive players the Oakland Raiders need to watch in this game.
While there will not be any NFL games that matter on tap this weekend, it may not be a bad idea to tune in to watch the 2018 Reese’s Senior Bowl down in Mobile. This college football all-star game is the best that’s out there. There will be plenty of players the Oakland Raiders could scout and possibly draft this spring.
What makes the Senior Bowl so compelling is that you get guys from all across the country going at it for a week in practice down in Mobile. Every year, there will be a handful of guys that will wind up being gems that play in the Senior Bowl. It is a great way to see Group of 5 guys, or even Division II players in some cases, compete with some of the most notable upperclassmen from the Power 5.
Just look at who played in the game last year. Some of the most notable names from last year’s Senior Bowl include Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt, Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp and Philadelphia Eagles kicker Jake Elliott. All three of them played big parts in their teams making the playoffs.
Last season saw the Raiders use two of their top three picks on Senior Bowl players. The Silver and Black took safety Obi Melifonwu out of UConn and defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes out of UCLA. Since there is so much to watch in this game, here are five offensive players Raider Nation might want to pay attention to during Saturday afternoon’s exhibition.
It’s usually a risky proposition to draft a senior running back coming out of school. In many instances, these tailbacks have taken an extra year’s worth of beatings at the position for free. There are only so many hits a running back’s body can take before his on-field productivity rapidly decays.
However, there is one senior running back playing on Saturday that has to have our intrigue. That would be San Diego State Aztecs All-American running back Rashaad Penny. Along with Heisman Trophy runner-up Bryce Love of the Stanford Cardinal, Penny was the only other consensus All-American at running back.
He had big shoes to fill in the diminutive Donnel Pumphrey at San Diego State. Pumphrey was one of the most prolific rushers collegiately during his time in San Diego State. He played in the Senior Bowl last year. What makes Penny such a compelling prospect is that he is the right size to thrive in the NFL at 5-foot-11, 220 pounds and got to split carries with Pumphrey while playing at San Diego State.
Penny finished fifth in the Heisman voting. He leaves San Diego State with 488 career carries for 3,656 rushing yards and 38 rushing touchdowns. As a receiver, Penny hauled in 42 receptions for 479 receiving yards and six touchdowns. As a return specialist, Penny had 81 career returns for 2,449 yards and seven touchdowns.