5 wide receiver and defensive back winners from Senior Bowl Day 2

Raiders should have plenty of options at WR if today is any indication

MOBILE, AL. — It was a wet and rainy afternoon for Day 2 of the Senior Bowl. While that certainly led to plenty of drops, the wide receivers still won the day as a whole with many of them creating separation from the defensive backs. That’s good news for the Las Vegas Raiders, who will be in the wideout market this offseason.

Christian Watson, WR, North Dakota St

For the second day in a row, Watson has been a standout performer as Marcus listed him as a top moneymaker yesterday, so in two days he’s managed to ball out twice and catch the eyes of two different analysts. He was winning deep consistently and snapping his routes off in the intermediate areas to create separation, proving that he belongs and can handle the top competition. With a 6’4” and 211-pound frame, the former Bison has the size and speed combination to start climbing up some draft boards.

Calvin Austin, WR, Memphis

Austin caught me by surprise today, mainly because he doesn’t exactly look the part at 5’ 7 3/8” and 172 pounds. However, he has plenty of speed to burn defensive backs deep and that was on full display during the second practice. He also made a couple of nice sideline catches during the seven-on-seven and team periods, showing off some great awareness and body control to get two feet inbounds.

Velus Jones Jr., WR, Tennessee

Another guy who was wreaking havoc in multiple areas of the field today. Two plays stood out to me from Jones, one deep route where he shook the corner so bad the corner had to tackle him with the ball in the air, and another where he attacked leverage and made a sharp cut on a dig route to beat his former teammate Alonte Taylor. Jones is currently looking at a late Day 3 projection, so he could be a quality late-round pickup for the Raiders.

Khalil Shakir, WR, Boise State

Unlike the other three wideouts listed above, Shakir only stood out in the short area of the field, but he was dominant on those five- to ten-yard routes. He showed great quickness, shiftiness and explosion to create multiple yards of separation on several occasions. The Boise State product even got the best of Baylor’s Jalen Pitre, who was one of the top defensive backs on Tuesday.

Derion Kendrick, CB, Georgia

Honestly, Kendrick didn’t do anything in particular that necessarily stood out, but he was one of the few corners who held their own in the one-on-one drills. His athleticism and stickiness in man coverage were on display, and he only really “lost” on some shorter routes where he was playing off coverage. I would have liked to have seen some more ball skills from the converted wide receiver, as I think that’s where he has the most room to grow, but Kendrick was without a doubt the best cornerback on Day 2, in my opinion.

He’s looking at a late-second to mid-third-round selection currently, so the Clemson transfer could be a good value pick for the Raiders, especially if they are going to play more man coverage in the new regime.