Greater importance for this year’s Senior Bowl: Since Ian Book Previously stepped onto a football field for a College Football Playoff semifinal against Alabama, the NFL announced a different format for this year’s scout combination that postpones their formal training for NFL clubs to Notre Dame’s professional day. The league also announced that the teams will not be allowed to host 2021 candidates for visits to its facilities.
This increases the importance of Fighting Irish professional day training, which Book said has not yet been scheduled, and makes his performance in the Senior Bowl even more crucial.
“It is a strange year. Every day you kind of wait for some news, like something being canceled, or not (canceled), ”said Book. “As for the Senior Bowl, I’m very happy that they could do that. I talked to (executive director) Jim Nagy and thanked him for being able to make it happen. The next thing is the professional day – without matching, not visits – that just makes every little thing more important. This is more important, the professional day is more important and it’s about taking each representative at a time and going out and competing. “
Book is one of three defenders, along with Sam Ehlinger from Texas and Feleipe Franks from Arkansas, competing in the national team at the annual star game.
Book made some impressive pitches in training on Tuesday, including an attack in Wake Forest Sage Surratt this caught the attention of the Miami Dolphins coaches, who are training the national team this week. Book said his top priority this week is to quickly absorb the Senior Bowl playbook and show teammates and the Dolphins team the ability to command the huddle with confident leadership.
“There are some things I did today that I would like to go to the cinema and change,” he said. “It is a good friendly competition (with Ehlinger and Franks). These guys want to work. We have studied, they encouraged me and I forced them, but it is a competition.”
Borland in Meyer: Ohio State Tuf Borland believes that former Buckeyes and new Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer will have no trouble making the transition to the NFL, although he has never trained on Sundays before. The prospect linebacker spent the first three years of his career at OSU playing for Meyer, who stepped down after the 2018 season.
“Coach Meyer is an incredible coach who has been around for a long time,” said Borland. “I think he studied the game (NFL) in his time off, and I think he will do an incredible job.
“You talk to every player who has played for Coach Meyer, and all the players respect him, they love him. He will do an incredible job.”
Meyer’s new club has two choices in the first round in the NFL’s 2021 Draft to rebuild the squad, including the number one overall team.
Flowers not sweating the size of Smith: Alabama WR Star DeVonta Smith did not participate in the weigh-in on Tuesday, although he plans to be weighed and measured for height on Alabama’s next day. Smith, the explosive winner of the Heisman Trophy, is listed at just 175 pounds on Alabama’s list. Brian Flores of the Dolphins, who is training Smith’s national team this week, indicated little concern, however, about Smith’s size.
“If you are a good player – I mean, you can choose as much as you like about the size of a guy – good players are good players, they are good players,” said Flores. “I think we can all see that, and this guy is a very good player. He played a lot in college, he played a lot in big games – the biggest games of the year. You can criticize all day about things in people, but he he’s a very good player. It was nice to meet him too. He’s a good boy too. “
Smith is not available to play or practice due to a finger injury sustained in the College Football Playoff national championship game.