Senior Bowl 2025: Jacob Parrish, Shemar James, Danny Striggow Among Day 3 American Team Winners
The American Team had its most intense day of competitions to close the week
Senior Bowl practices concluded on Thursday, leaving the upcoming game as the last time for NFL teams to see many of these prospects in full pads and a competitive setting before the NFL Draft. Let’s break down nine of the top performers from the American Team’s final practice.
In case you missed my National Team top performers article, here’s my content plan for the next week or two. I plan to drop my interviews with Senior Bowl attendees in the coming weeks. I may need to subtitle them because they often took place in crowded environments, and it was windy on the final day (I need to invest in a mic for next year).
I’ll do a full Senior Bowl week recap once I get home from Mobile and then circle back to cover the Shrine Bowl.
American Team Top Performers
1. Jacob Parrish, CB Kanas State
I entered Senior Bowl week lower on Parrish than some in the media. I still think he has physical limitations, but no one can deny his success in Mobile. Parrish is undersized at 5'9 7/8", 196 lbs. with 31 1/4" arms but is a dense, aggressive athlete who re-routes receivers at the line of scrimmage with powerful jams. His anticipation and willingness to play downhill are also key elements of his game.
Parrish made several impactful plays on Thursday. He stripped the ball away from Kobe Hudson on a slant route in the 1-on-1s with a perfectly timed punch and triggered downhill to pop Isaac TeSlaa on a goal line slant from the back of a stack. Parrish got his inside hand around TeSlaa to knock the ball out on the well-timed strike. His timing and physicality at the catch point showed up on tape all week.
2. Shemar James, LB Florida
James is an undersized linebacker with a 6'1 3/8", 226 lb. build and 32 1/8" arms, but his movement skills help compensate for his lack of size. He’s a fluid athlete with tremendous burst and top speed. According to Zebra Technologies, James’ max speed of 20.71 miles per hour was the top speed on the entire American Team roster on Day 2. He already reached a respectable 19.23 mph on Day 3.
James had an excellent final day of practice. He ducked around Miles Frazier for a perfect run fit in an 11-on-11 session, showed off his closing burst to catch RJ Harvey in the flat and eliminate one of Jaxson Dart’s primary reads in a goal line situation, snuffed out a wide receiver screen for no gain, and broke up passes intended for Trevor Etienne and Brashard Smith in the 1-on-1s.
Those 1-on-1 reps were especially impressive. Etienne and Smith cooked linebackers throughout the week. James’ patience and acceleration helped him deal with Etienne, and his straight line speed kept him in position to play Smith’s hands on the vertical route.
3. Mac McWilliams, CB UCF
McWilliams was one of the later invites for this year’s Senior Bowl, but he finished the week as one of the event’s top cornerbacks. He’s a little undersized at 5'10", 181 lbs. but did a good job elevating to force an incompletion on a red zone fade route against 6'2 7/8" Isaac TeSlaa on Day 3.
McWilliams had two other highlight moments on Thursday that stood out to me. In one of the red zone 11-on-11 sessions, he read Jaxson Dart’s eyes and let the slot receiver continue up the seam to break on a shorter route. Jamaal Pritchett made the initial catch, but McWilliams identified and punched the pocket to knock the ball out late.
Lastly, McWilliams stuck with Jalen Royals on a short red zone fade, turned his head to locate the football late, and punched up between Royals’ hands to knock the ball away. McWilliams has popped in man coverage throughout this week with both his ball skills and abilities to anticipate, mirror, and smother routes at the top of the stem.
4. Jack Bech, WR TCU
Bech has been one of the most consistent performers this week. He and Jaylin Noel handled themselves the best day-to-day among all the receivers in Mobile. Bech isn’t an elite level athlete. He won’t stack defenders downfield, but his cutting ability, dense frame, and route running savvy help him generate consistent separation.
Bech beat Tulane’s Caleb Ransaw on a comeback route, generating three or four yards of separation at the top of the stem. He caught a deep catch and run touchdown in one of the 11-on-11 periods. Bech gave a subtle push, high-pointed the ball over Jacob Parrish on a contested catch, and got both feet down along the sideline of the end zone in the 1-on-1s. Bech also beat Johnathan Edwards in the 1-on-1s.
5. Brandon Adams, CB UCF
Adams and his 32 1/4" arms gave receivers fits throughout the week. I thought he battled some false steps when operating in press and got grabby at times during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, but he mostly overcame those concerns in the 1-on-1s. The 1-on-1s are heavily slanted toward wide receivers, but Adams used leverage well throughout the week to put himself in position to make plays on the ball.
On Thursday, Adams posted a nice red zone rep against Chimere Dike where he maintained inside leverage, drove Dike’s route out of the back of the end zone without fouling, and used his length to split the receiver’s hands to force the incompletion at the catch point.
Adams had a similar rep against Jalen Royals. He used inside leverage to keep himself between the quarterback and receiver and drove Royals out of the end zone at the top of the stem. Had Adams maintained a little better field awareness, he might’ve come down with an interception inbounds. Either way, it was a great play.
6. Danny Striggow, Edge Minnesota
Striggow got a late call to participate in the Senior Bowl after Shemar Stewart headed home. He arrived with little time to spare to take part in the final practice and made an immediate impact. He took reps as a wide 9, 5-tech, and reduced inside at 3-tech and 2i.
Striggow turned an impressive showing at the Hula Bowl into several key plays in the 11-on-11 period. He countered off a long-arm to beat right tackle Miles Frazier for a sack. On the very next play, Striggow used good hand placement and lower body strength to beat Frazier through the B-gap and flow down the line to the ball for a run stop.
7. Clay Webb, G Jacksonville State
Webb began his college career as a five-star recruit at Georgia before transferring down to Jacksonville State. Maybe he wasn’t ready for Power Five football when he first joined the Bulldogs, but I have little doubt he could’ve started for a major program in 2024 based on his strong showing throughout the Senior Bowl.
Aside from being one of the most engaging and fun prospects to interview in Mobile, Webb offers solid measurables at 6'3", 310 lbs. with 32 5/8" arms. His best work on Thursday came in the 11-on-11 periods, where his mobility made him an asset in the run game. Webb reach blocked Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, led the way on gap runs to pick off wide 9s, and took nice angles working to the second level on combo blocks.
Webb isn’t an elite athlete in space, considering he still overshoots or struggles to mirror some second level players in space, but his urgency and short-area quickness help him get the job done.
In pass protection, Webb displays a sturdy anchor, flashes of impressive hand placement, and nice flexibility to contort his lower half and remain attached to blocks. His footwork is quick enough to recover when he’s stressed by the initial rush move. There’s room for him to improve his strike consistency and maintain an even lower pad level.
8. Mason Taylor, TE LSU
I came back low compared to the consensus on my initial evaluation for Taylor. His play speed and route definition just seemed average at LSU, and his blocking in-line fell below the serviceable line. I will be revisiting his tape in the coming days to see what I originally missed because Taylor impressed me throughout the week.
Taylor continued to torment Billy Bowman Jr. in Thursday’s 1-on-1s. Even when Bowman showed good discipline not biting on Taylor’s stutter-go, he still got mossed in the end zone. Taylor didn’t face a high volume of contested catches in college, but he performed well in crowded air space and showcased both good ball tracking and strong hands in Mobile.
Those strong hands were on display in a 1-on-1 rep against Dan Jackson. The safety attempted to rake Taylor’s hands on a tight window catch, but Taylor yanked his arms free and put the ball out of Jackson’s reach.
Taylor also had an impressive 1-on-1 rep in pass protection against Jack Kiser. He mirrored Kiser well and finished the play by punching, reloading, and punching again to keep the linebacker from regaining his full balance.
9. Marcus Yarns, RB Delaware
Yarns’ route running came alive in the 1-on-1 drills against linebackers. He had some of the most impressive wins among all running backs on Thursday. Yarns used a slight hesitation before accelerating past Demetrius Knight, generating roughly three yards of downfield separation. He tracked the ball well too, plucking it out of the air with a full extension grab. Other running backs have dropped similar passes this week.
Yarns also dusted Smael Mondon Jr., who is one of the better coverage linebackers in the upcoming draft. Yarns used a nasty head fake to get Mondon to declare his hips and broke in the opposite direction. Mondon was completely out of the play.
Remaining Day 3 American Team Notes
The American Team decided to run 2-on-2s with the OL and DL, which really put the offensive linemen in a bind. They struggled to adjust to the defense’s stunts and had their most losses of the week.
Day 3 was Miles Frazier’s toughest practice because the American Team had him taking such a larger number of reps at right tackle. The position shuffle, combined with the American Team running 2-on-2 with frequent stunts, led to several losses. Frazier also struggled at right tackle in the 11-on-11 session.
The Ole Miss defenders took advantage of the 2-on-2 reps, frequently pairing up to dominate the offensive line duo across from them. Princely Umanmielen ended up with several straight shots at the quarterback by stunting inside.
Tim Smith had a very impressive bull rush win during the 1-on-1 competitions at the end of practice against Jonah Savaiinaea. Smith went after Savaiinaea with a forklift and quickly neutralized the lineman’s hands before driving him into the pocket.
The American Team linebackers had their best day in the 1-on-1s covering running backs. Shemar James broke up passes to Trevor Etienne and Brashard Smith. Smael Mondon Jr. broke up two passes intended for RJ Harvey, Jack Kiser broke up a Devin Neal target, Eugene Asante got his hand on an Etienne target, and Demetrius Knight deflected a ball intended for Smith.
Upton Stout had some nice reps in the red zone 1-on-1s, locking down Kobe Hudson and Chimere Dike. He also had an aggressive run fit in the 11-on-11. He has the perfect attacking mentality for a nickel who’s ready and willing to contribute near the box.
Billy Bowman Jr. struggled again in the 1-on-1s covering wide receivers but had two nice pass breakups against tight ends. I can’t get behind him playing a nickel role in the NFL that will require him to play a significant amount of man coverage. It’s just not something he does well against receivers.
RJ Oben beat Willie Lampkin cleanly with a swim move in 11-on-11. He also beat CJ Dipree for a run stop. Oben has strung together a few splash plays this week and has popped at least once every day. He’s outperformed my expectations.
Princely Umanmielen had a few nice rushes working against Carson Vinson in the 11-on-11 session. Umanmielen bull rushed Vinson back into the quarterback one time and knocked him off his feet with a low, powerful spin move another time.
Barryn Sorrell and Princely Umanmielen combined for a dominant rep in the 11-on-11s. Sorrell took a wide alignment and beat Miles Frazier around the outside. Frazier bumped Jalen Milroe’s arm while trying to recover, leading to a fumble. Umanmielen started in a tighter alignment than Sorrell and dipped and bent around Carson Vinson for a sack as well.
Jackson Slater continued his strong week in pass protection in the 11-on-11s. His wide base, anchor, and grip strength have been impressive throughout the week. The 2-on-2s were difficult for him and most of the offensive linemen, but he looked good in the full team setting.
Jaxson Dart dropped in a perfectly layered pass over the middle of the field to Isaac TeSlaa between Demetrius Knight at the second level and Dan Jackson at the third level. It might’ve been the best throw from the week.