Redskins should be careful not to weigh Senior Bowl too heavily

FOXBORO, MA – NOVEMBER 08: A Washington Redskins helmet before the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on November 8, 2015 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Redskins should be careful not to weigh Senior Bowl too heavily

The 2020 Senior Bowl is officially behind us, and it’s given more information to teams like the Redskins. One should be wary of putting too much stock in the game’s results, however.

With college football in the rear view mirror, it’s only natural that the Senior Bowl gets all of the publicity and scouting attention that the game of football itself relinquished earlier in the month, after the National Championship was taken home by LSU. The Washington Redskins experienced that excitement firsthand in Mobile, Alabama.

The Senior Bowl is commonly a key checkpoint in the draft process, with some of the sport’s top seniors taking on the challenge of leaving their comfort zone, and performing with an unfamiliar team, against unfamiliar opposition. Teams often use the Senior Bowl not only to get an up-close look at traits, but to see how prospects respond to adversity and coaching in the moment.

The Senior Bowl is a very important tool in getting unique information about prospects of interest, but the Redskins would be wise not to weigh the results of the Senior Bowl too heavily. The Senior Bowl, as it stands, is only one game. It provides a different kind of context, and is thus valuable, but it is a supplementary kind of source. The tape should always be the primary mode of information gathering, with interviews and meetings coming in second, and analytical profiles coming afterward.

The best function the Senior Bowl serves, in conjunction with other draft processes, is giving teams like the Redskins a look at FCS and D-III prospects; players who don’t often play against FBS and Power 5 competition. This year, that subset entailed prospects like Dayton TE Adam Trautman, South Carolina State OT Alex Taylor, Lenior-Rhyne defender Kyle Dugger, Souther Illinois S Jeremy Chinn, and Georgia Southern CB Kindle Vildor.

Trautman, Dugger, and Chinn all impressed during Senior Bowl practices, proving that they belonged with this level of competition, and in the Senior Bowl game itself, the defensive backs all played well, with Kindle Vildor setting the tone with an interception in the first half. This was the only opportunity for these FCS and D-III prospects to make an impression on scouts against top-tier talent, and they succeeded in doing so.

The Redskins drafted three players from the Senior Bowl last year (Montez Sweat, Terry McLaurin, Jimmy Moreland), so it’s not brash to suggest that they might be on the lookout for one of these players for at least one of their selections in the 2020 NFL Draft. It’s a good thing, to be involved and informed. But the Redskins should be mindful of how much emphasis they place on one week.