2025 Senior Bowl Risers

The 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl took place in Mobile, Alabama last week, with three days of practices held Tuesday through Thursday and the game on Saturday. Two rosters of the top draft-eligible players from the college ranks were pitted against each other in a variety of one-on-one and team drills to prove their mettle.

PFF’s Trevor Sikkema said this event is designed to sort the NFL players from those who aren’t, and that’s the best description of the Senior Bowl’s purpose I’ve heard articulated. Most evaluators are more interested in the practices than the game, as they are engineered to test prospects in ways that answer that question.

Prospects are put in unique, unfamiliar situations to see how they respond. Players the league wants to see at new positions are given reps there, and we see draft prospects facing off and testing themselves against the best competition they’ll face before entering the NFL itself.

Without further ado, let’s dive in to some winners from the Senior Bowl practices (players are listed alphabetically by position):

Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel

It wasn’t a great week for the quarterbacks in general, but Gabriel was the best of the bunch in Mobile. He showed off his timing and anticipation, an impressive feat given how little time he had to work with his receivers. As many expected, he looked comfortable and in command during the practices, demonstrating his ability to run an NFL offense. He’ll likely be drafted as a priority backup on Day 2.

Virginia Tech RB Bhayshul Tuten

While I won’t be moving Tuten up my board after the Senior Bowl, I was much higher on him than most, and it seems the league might be starting to catch up. Tuten came in healthy and had the fastest recorded speed for a back during the week, helping himself stand out in a loaded class. It’s hard for running backs to truly stand out at this event given its nature, but with Tuten’s speed and short-area agility clearly translating, he’s moved himself into the Round 2 discussion.

TCU WR Jack Bech

Bech was one of the biggest risers from Senior Bowl week. A big-bodied slot receiver, he had a few crazy contested catches, including the play of the day on Tuesday, going up and securing a pass between two defenders. Bech is tough, wily, and nimble for his size, gaining consistent separation throughout the week. He likely solidified his place as a top-50 selection.

Oregon WR Tez Johnson

Gabriel’s teammate was another big winner last week. The coaches put Johnson in difficult positions and he stepped up, beating much larger cornerbacks in press coverage and winning on the outside. He’s one of the lightest receivers in Senior Bowl history, checking in at 156 pounds, but he wins so consistently and in so many ways that it’ll be hard for teams to ignore. He’ll get compared to Texans WR Tank Dell, who went in the third round, and that’s likely Johnson’s floor at this point.

Iowa State WR Jayden Higgins

Although he had a rough first day of practices, Higgins bounced back in a major way the rest of the week. You like to see that kind of resilience in a player, and he won in multiple ways against a variety of coverages. As a bigger receiver, Higgins jumps off the tape by the way he gains separation, and that was on full display during Senior Bowl week. He got consistent separation against corners of all shapes and sizes, shaking them at all levels of the field and getting open. It’s exactly what we wanted to see from him and it solidifies his stock as an early Round 2 player — and he might even sneak into Round 1.

Miami WR Xavier Restrepo

I was lower on Restrepo after film review than I thought I’d be. Although I stand by my reservations with him as a prospect, the guy just wins. He gets open consistently and makes plays, and that’s a skill in and of itself. Possession slot receivers are rarely flashy players, but winning teams seem to employ them all the time. Restrepo made play after play all week, even making noise in red zone drills, and it got much harder to not take him seriously as a candidate for the top 50.

Utah State WR Jalen Royals

Royals was my WR7 in my updated wide receiver rankings — I loved his profile as an elite deep threat for an NFL team. He showed this week he might be a lot more than that. Though his tape with the Aggies was that of someone with a limited route tree, perhaps that was just because no one in the Mountain West could cover him on go balls. Royals was all over the field last week, showcasing much more flexible hips than I expected and gaining consistent separation at all three levels of the field. If he’s already added those elements to his game, he’s going to go even higher than I thought.

Miami TE Elijah Arroyo

Arroyo is a guy I didn’t get eyes on before writing my updated tight end rankings article, but his performance in Mobile was so dominant I had to go back and watch some film on him. Based off what I saw, he jumped all the way to my TE3. He moves like a wide receiver and is built like a traditional in-line tight end. While his run-blocking skills are a work in progress, he has the necessary attitude and commitment to improve, and he cooked linebackers, safeties and slot corners alike all week. His upside is crazy and I’d be surprised if he falls out of the top 50 at this point.

North Carolina OL Willie Lampkin

The outlier of all outliers on the offensive line, Lampkin measured in at 5-10, 270. He would be the smallest offensive lineman in football from Day 1, but he dominated all week against the best opponents the college ranks could offer. Leverage wins in the trenches, and Lampkin is a master of utilizing his natural advantages to cover for his lack of size. He’s still probably too small to play guard in the NFL, but he could move to center, and he stonewalled every defensive tackle he matched up against.

North Dakota State OL Grey Zabel

The biggest riser of the week was Zabel, who went from an intriguing Day 2 prospect to a candidate to go in the top 20. Scouts were buzzing after what Zabel put on film during the practices — I’m not sure he lost a single rep all week. After playing left tackle with the Bison, he moved inside at the Senior Bowl, a much better fit for his skillset in the pros. It’s early to call anyone outside the top 10 a “first-round lock,” but Zabel is on his way to hearing his name called on Day 1.

N.C. State OT Anthony Belton

A hulking and divisive tackle prospect, Belton was expected by most to move inside to guard in the NFL. Instead, he played more at tackle at the Senior Bowl and was one of the better tackles at the event. His size was clearly a problem for edge rushers to get around and he moved his feet extremely well. It was an eye-opening performance that immediately turns Belton into a Day 2 tackle prospect after entering the week as a Day 3 guard.

Minnesota OT Aireontae Ersery

Before the 2024 season, Ersery was seen as a fringe first-round talent and had a lot of fans in draft circles. He had a disappointing senior year, but he did a lot to right the ship at the Senior Bowl. It wasn’t perfect, but he performed admirably against some of the top talent at the event. While many tackle prospects spent much of the week inside, Ersery almost exclusively played at tackle and held up quite well. If he keeps up this momentum, he can work his way back into the top 50 and maybe even higher.

Marshall DE Mike Green

Some players go to the Senior Bowl looking to push their stock into first-round territory. Green cemented himself as a top-20 pick last week, answering any lingering reservations scouts may have had about his production relative to the level of competition. He was the best edge rusher in attendance and cooked some of the best tackles at the event. With so many teams needing pass rush help near the top of the draft, it’s possible Green will push himself into the top 10 with performances like that.

Texas A&M DE Shemar Stewart

I evaluated Stewart as an interior defender, as I felt his size and lack of consistent production off the edge in college meant that would be his more natural fit in the NFL. That may have been a premature conclusion to reach. Stewart was unblockable at times last week, with his natural athleticism too much for most of the tackles to handle. He still needs to develop a pass rush arsenal but he’s winning against top talent off athleticism alone. Stewart isn’t slipping out of the first round, not after a week like that.

Toledo DT Darius Alexander

Alexander made himself a lot of money last week. Small-school prospects can be hard to evaluate, as the level of competition naturally puts an asterisk next to their accomplishments. But when they come out and put on a show at a big stage like the Senior Bowl, you take notice. Alexander was one of PFF’s highest-graded interior defensive linemen in 2024 and he backed it up on the field in Mobile. He’s probably a third-rounder now and could sneak into Round 2 as a pass-rushing 3-tech.

Ole Miss DT Walter Nolen

Coming off a phenomenal season for the Rebels, Nolen carried that momentum straight into the Senior Bowl. He was dominant in run defense and showed flashes as a pass rusher, moving people off the ball on every rep. His strength and acceleration are clearly problems for offensive lines to deal with. At this point, Nolen is a safe top-50 pick, and he could hear his name called as early as the tail-end of Round 1.

Notre Dame LB Jack Kiser

Kiser’s played a ton of college football, but 2024 was his first season handling a full-time starting workload. It’s an odd profile to evaluate, but he proved at the Senior Bowl that we shouldn’t overthink him. He’s impressively fast, with great sideline-to-sideline speed and read-and-react abilities that let him make plays consistently. In run defense, he was firing downhill and he ran with all sorts of different players in coverage.

Louisville CB Quincy Riley

Coming off a disappointing season for the Cardinals, it was important for Riley to show out during the pre-draft circuit. He got off to a great start during Senior Bowl week where he was arguably the best cornerback in attendance. Despite not being a plus athlete, his experience shined and he was successful against multiple types of receivers. I was particularly impressed with his ability to lock up bigger receivers in press on the outside, and though he’ll likely play the slot in the NFL, his versatility will be a plus to his draft stock.

Florida State CB Azareye’h Thomas

While he struggled at times against smaller, shiftier receivers, Thomas excelled at exactly what he’ll be tasked with doing in the NFL — playing physical press-man coverage against big-bodied wide receivers. He repeatedly stuffed the competition in a locker, using his length and fluidity to blanket them in coverage. A likely second-rounder, Thomas had an up-and-down season at Florida State, but he showed he can do exactly what his profile suggests he should.