West Virginia Players Shine In Reese’s Senior Bowl

The West Virginia Mountaineers had the most players in program history play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl today. Five different players (Grier, Jennings, Sills, Long and Wesco) were selected to play. Here are some highlights from Twitter.

Will Grier

Kyle Shanahan gives a quandary of an answer about why Grier was named the starter but for Grier, being named the starter is a good thing.

On the first play of the game, Will Grier answered any remaining question about his arm strength with an NFL throw. Grier drilled a 10-yard slant between two defenders. There was concern about Grier’s arm strength coming into the week but Will quickly answered them by throwing 66 MPH. The average NFL quarterback throws 60 MPH so Grier displayed NFL quality arm strength.

Just a note about strength, being able to throw the ball 50 yards downfield is only a part of that equation. There were times during the season where Will did not rifle a ball. That is the question that many scouts had about Will. This throw answered them.

The NFL Network’s twitter highlights this play but reality is this is a bad decision by Grier. It’s a tough throw and one that highlights his arm strength again but Grier rolls to his left and squares his shoulders before throwing a ball up for grabs in the middle of the field. Luckily for Will, Hunter Renfrow jumps in front of the defenders and brings the ball down.

Trevon Wesco

Wesco also got the start for the South team and showed off his versatility and his blocking by leading the way on this touchdown. Wesco may have improved his stock the most. Multiple draft analysts fell in love with the Inwood native who combined size and strength and soft hands.

Wesco absolutely killed his job interview and showed all the necessary traits. Look for his name to be called in April.

Gary Jennings

Jennings showed all the traits he showed off through his time with West Virginia: strong hands, good routes and deceptive speed. Here Jennings is able to get behind the safety and make a tougher-than-it-looks catch for a touchdown.

This catch is going to make Jennings a millionaire. Jennings has always displayed the ability to come down with tough catches thanks in part to his physicality and his strong hands. He showed that here.

David Sills

Every quarterback knows when you get into the redzone, you find your big wide receiver. David Sills did what he has done for the past two years and just catches touchdowns. Sills gets the outside release and sells the deep corner route and simply stops on a dime and catches the back shoulder fade for the touchdown. Sills has always had great body control and foot awareness and he shows that here being able to get two feet down.

During the week Sills showed off his football acumen. He’s never been the fastest player but he has a great first step and amazing release, he’s so big that most corners have to play off because they can’t jam him at the line. Once Sills gets into the field, he has such great football smarts and receiving skills. He keeps his hands down until the last minute while shielding the defender and creating last second separation.

On this route watch as he leans his route inside then at the last minute he bends it towards the sideline creating a yard of separation between him and the cornerback. This gives his quarterback a greater margin of error when making those small percentage throws downfield.

David Long

I know you are all shocked to see David Long knife through an offensive line for a tackle for loss. The man only recorded a TFL in every game he played the last two years. I don’t know if its because he’s smaller than most linebackers, faster than people give him credit for, or just has a nose for the ball (hint, its the last two) but Long continually finds a way to bring down ballcarriers behind the line of scrimmage.