Senior Bowl: Keion White, Asim Richards among the stars in ‘The Pit’

MOBILE, Ala. — I could tell things were going to be wild for Georgia Tech DL Keion White when the National Team warmed up Wednesday.

As the team got onto the field for some walk-through drills – before they even stretched for the day – White was a problem. I put in my notebook that he was being “cantankerous” because he was shoving the quarterback or giving him a little bit of his shoulder pads just to let him know he was coming for him – and this was during warmups!

When real practice started, White excelled with his play. He’s a disruptive player inside who hunts quarterbacks. However, his best play came in run defense. While he was getting pressure on the left tackle, the running play went away from him.

While others stopped pursuit, White ran down the line of scrimmage to follow the back to the safety level. It is just a small example of the hustle and heart White showed on the field in his second day of Senior Bowl practice.

I was really concentrating on the 1-on-1 battles between the offensive line and the defensive line. This is called “the pit” and it’s my favorite drill at these all-star games. I immediately wrote down Asim Richards because of his movement and athleticism at the tackle position.

.@CecilLammey has his eyes on the line, and I focused on WRs and DBs and came away impressed by @StanfordFball’s Kyu Blu Kelly. It’s the @DenverSportsCom practice report from the Senior Bowl! pic.twitter.com/By57xrepuB

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) February 1, 2023

As the day went on, and the battles wore on, I wrote down more of Richards’ highlights because of his dominating play. Richards has a strong base and was taking rushers to the ground at times.

I don’t think BYU OT Blake Freeland had a bad rep all day. He’s huge, measuring in at 6-feet, 7-inches and is an imposing figure on the edge because of his size. Usually, taller tackles are a problem because they don’t bend as well due to their height.

I saw Freeland bend naturally with his knees (you don’t want to be a waste bender) while stunting defenders who were trying multiple moves to get by him.

I wrote up North Dakota State OG Cody Mauch after Tuesday’s practice. On Wednesday, it was more of the same from Mauch – who seems to be a favorite of the media covering the Senior Bowl this year. A left tackle in college, Mauch was playing mostly guard and got some reps at center too. Other than one low snap, I thought he did good with the position switch while also taking some defenders to the ground in one-on-one drills.

Like Mauch, I wrote up Nesta Jade Silvera after Tuesday’s practice. Silvera showed more of the same on Wednesday, which is always something I look for when a player shines as brightly as Silvera showed on the first day. He certainly repeated his strong performance on the opening day with another disruptive performance on Wednesday.

I also like the way that Silvera seemed to be a natural leader who was rallying the players on his side of the ball. The defense won most of the reps in team drills, and Silvera was a big reason why.

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TOP-FIVE PLAYERS ON THE NATIONAL TEAM FOR WEDNESDAY:

1. DL Keion White, Georgia Tech
2. OT Asim Richards, North Carolina
3. OT Blake Freeland, BYU
4. OG, Cody Mauch, North Dakota State
5. DL Nesta Jade Silvera, Arizona State

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