Five things to look for in Senior Bowl

NFL teams scouting the 71st Senior Bowl will be provided with cutting-edge tracking technology to help with their analysis of the more than 100 players.

The North and South are set to battle at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

“Last year was our sixth season as the tracking technology partner of the league,” said John Pollard, of Zebra Technologies, which produces the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. “As the tracking technology partner of the league our system is installed in all of the stadiums around the U.S., all 31 stadiums. Our system is also installed in Mexico City stadium where the Mexico City game is played each year and also in the three stadiums in the U.K.”

Transmitters will be placed in the shoulder pads of each player and one in the footballs used in the Senior Bowl.

“What that allows the NFL to do is capture unique metrics on players throughout the game,” Pollard said. “They capture information like who’s on the field and what time. How far those players are far from each other on a single play. Also, how fast and how far they are running for a series of plays.”

Separation information, top-speed data and tight-window throw calculations are a few of the metrics documented.

“What we are seeing in terms of the Next Gen Stats service are really exciting and unique analytics and elements that allow us as fans and media to appreciate the athleticism and capabilities of these players,” Pollard said. “All of these elements are now are becoming more common place in discussion about football.”

Here’s are five things to watch in the game:

1. Technology. Here some of the metrics for three players from metro Atlanta from the week of practice.

From Day 2 of practice:

--Running back Antonio Gibson (Memphis, Eagles Landing High) – fastest among all running backs and eighth fastest overall for Day 2 practices, reaching 20.15 mph.

--Safety Kyle Dugger (Lenoir-Rhyne, Whitewater) – 18.73 mph max speed, 4,993 total distance – seventh most among all defensive backs and 15th most among all players.

--Wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden (Liberty, Paulding County) – 4,707 yards of total distance. 20.05 mph max speed, second fastest among wide receivers on Day 2 and 10th fastest among all players on Day 2.

From Day 1 of practice:

--Gibson: highest acceleration of all the RBs during Day 1 of Senior Bowl practices. Multi-talented big-bodied wide receiver/running back from Memphis who can catch, run, and return kicks. Looks to follow in the footsteps of Tony Pollard, who had a nice Senior Bowl showing in 2019.

--Dugger: 19.07 max speed during Day 1. Tied for third highest acceleration on Day 1 for all defensive backs. Small-school safety who reportedly has put up impressive testing numbers in inner circles.

--Gandy-Golden: Reached a max speed of 19.5 mph on Day 1. Big receiver (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) who was extremely productive at Liberty, where he caught 79 passes for 1,396 yards last season.

2. Herbert to lead South. Former Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert, who's projected by ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper to be drafted sixth in the NFL draft, will lead the South team.

“I like to think about how things work,” said Herbert, a science major. “I think defenses work similar. You need to know how they work and what they are trying to get to. Try to figure out why things work the way they do. I think there is a big correlation between (science) and (reading defenses).”

Herbert threw 195 passes, and his peak speed was 66 mph, according to his Next Gen stats.

“I’m really excited for Justin,” Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy said. “Everyone has pegged him as one of the top 10 guys for two years.”

3. Hybrid defenders. NFL teams are looking for hybrid defenders such as Dugger, who can play strong safety and linebacker.

“The game is changing,” Nagy said. “The game is getting smaller on defense. It’s more matchup-oriented, so you need guys that have kind of a hybrid skill-set.”

With more spread concepts, defenses have to cover more ground.

“The way the league is going with match-up and zones,” Nagy said. “Nobody plays base defense anymore. It’s all sub stuff.”

4. Linemen class is down. The Falcons must continue to build along the offensive line despite spending heavily in free agency and using up a lot of draft capital last offseason.

Offensive line coach Chris Morgan was on hand for the Senior Bowl practices and was closely scouting the prospects.

“It’s a good (offensive tackle) group,” Nagy said. “Offensive line, on the whole is probably down a little bit. For our game the tackle group is really strong in the junior class. The (Tristan) Wirfs kid at Iowa and (Andrew) Thomas at Georgia, those kids are great players. Last year, we had nine of our 10 North guys drafted in the first three rounds. We had five first-round offensive linemen. It’s not going to be that strong of a group.”

5. The return of Hurts: Former Alabama/Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts is back in the state where he started his college career.

“I wear a wristband that says rare breed,” Hurts said. “I use it as a hashtag, untamed and all of these things.”

Hurts made 172 throws in practice, with 23 averaging more than 55 mph. His top speed was 66.1 mph, according to his Next Gen Stats.

“I have the ability to make every throw and any play,” Hurts said. “I win.”

Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff believes the play of Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Buffalo’s Josh Allen has helped Hurts’ NFL prospects.

“Sure it does, the athletic quarterback,” Dimitroff said. “Watched that. It was one of the most impressive things I felt watching the pro game this year. It was really interesting to watch that.

“We have some really interesting quarterbacks in this draft. Jalen, of course, and Herbert as well. We have a number of guys that are moving around really well. That is going to be a really cool trend to watch.”

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