Lammey: Raiders get ‘leg up’ on Broncos with Drew Lock at Senior Bowl
Jan 21, 2019, 9:02 PM | Updated: Jan 22, 2019, 8:46 pm
The second leg of the “All-Star Road Trip” takes me to Mobile, Alabama, and the 2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
For 14 years in a row, I’ve made this road trip to see some of the best incoming talent to the NFL. Last year, for example, we saw first-round quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen at the Senior Bowl.
This season, I want to see if guys like Drew Lock (Missouri) and/or Daniel Jones (Duke) are able to impress enough to be selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft.
There were no practices on Monday in Mobile, but there’s plenty of action with players checking in and scouts/general managers arriving in town.
Here is my first 2019 Senior Bowl report:
Small school, big dreams
One of the most intriguing prospects I’ll be watching down here is Stetson tight end Donald Parham. Measuring in at a whopping 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds, Parham will see the best competition he’s ever played against this week going up against the nation’s best seniors.
Parham has to prove that he can hang with the improved competition. His size will get him a lot of attention, and scouts I’ve talked to are already excited about his prospects as a red-zone threat.
It’s a strong tight end class in 2019, but Parham has been a “sleeper” prospect to this point of his career. He won’t be a “sleeper” anymore if he has a big week in Mobile.
Raiders get a leg up with Drew Lock
Denver Broncos fans should know the name Drew Lock. The Missouri quarterback might be the best player here and could be a target of the Broncos with the No. 10-overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
But the Oakland Raiders, and head coach Jon Gruden, have an advantage over the Broncos this week.
The Raiders coaching staff is coaching the North team at the Senior Bowl, the squad with Lock on its roster. If Gruden likes what he sees with Lock, then perhaps he drafts the young passer before the Broncos even have a chance at him.
Oakland has the No. 4-pick overall in the draft, and there has already been buzz that they might be looking at a quarterback to replace Derek Carr. Broncos fans should hope that Lock impresses this week, but perhaps not too much with the Raiders staff getting a whole week to work with him.
Broncos buzz
Lock may be buzzing around any Broncos conversation here in Mobile, but he’s not the only player to talk about with this team.
For those who think the Broncos pass on Lock, the name Joe Flacco keeps coming up. Flacco has a big arm and could work in Rich Scangarello’s Shanahan-like system, just like he did under then-Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak in 2014.
No matter if it’s Lock or Flacco, most people that work in the league (or cover the NFL) believe Case Keenum’s time as the Broncos starter will come to a close this offseason.
