MOBILE, Ala. --Tuesday morning started with height and weight measurements for all 110-players participating in Saturday's Senior Bowl. With scouts and media on hand, each player took the stage one-by-one in what became the first official measurement of the 2015 NFL Draft process.
In the afternoon, Ken Whisenhunt and the Titans coaching staff got their first look at the North team they'll be coaching on Saturday from Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Early on, players worked to get comfortable with the new drills presented to them, while displaying their respective skillsets.
With Marcus Mariota declining his Senior Bowl invitation, Tuesday's focus was on three North team quarterbacks: Baylor's Bryce Petty, East Carolina's Shane Carden and Oregon State's Sean Mannion.
Petty, who is expected to garner the most attention of the North team signal callers, took more reps on Tuesday and is likely to start on Saturday.
The practice started with walkthrough drills with Petty receiving all the reps on one half of the field, while Mannion and Carden split reps on the other.
Petty, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound signal-caller from Baylor, has the stature to play in the NFL. It isn't even Petty's arm that worries scouts, but rather his transition from Baylor's spread offense to being able to play under center and drop back in the NFL, something he never had to do as a Bear. That's what scouts want to see this week.
Mannion stands the tallest of the three at 6-5 and 229 pounds, while Carden, who threw for 4,736 yards and 30 touchdowns his senior season at East Carolina, measured in at 6-2 and 218 pounds.
Tuesday's top performer was arguably 5-foot-8 Duke wide receiver Jamison Crowder, who was electric with the ball in his hands and gave cornerbacks fits during one-on-one drills. Similar to former first round pick Kendall Wright, some analysts have compared him to Brandin Cooks, a rookie last year with the Saints. Crowder's foot quickness and acceleration helped him create separation on each route he ran and he looked comfortable throughout the practice.
Here are some notable plays from the North team's first practice.
• Stanford Wide Receiver Ty Montgomery has a monster build. He's just under six-feet tall but is a rock-solid 216 pounds. Montgomery was a special teams ace as a returner at Stanford, and is looking to hone his skillset as a receiver.
• The first big play of the 1-on-1 portion was a Petty touchdown pass to Ohio State's Devin Smith. Petty rolled right and found Smith up the right sideline wide open in the end zone.
• Both Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah and Minnesota's David Cobb showed impressive burst out of the backfield and the ability to run crisp, precise routes.
• Cincinnati linebacker Jeff Luc won two-consecutive 1-on-1 battles in coverage against running backs going deep. He was able to keep up and force a good throw from the quarterback. Both went incomplete.
• Sean Mannion connected on a deep ball to Crowder up the right sideline, beating Miami of Ohio cornerback Quinten Rollins.
• Rollins rebounded on his next rep against a deep route, forcing his receiver to the sideline, finding the ball, but ultimately dropping a possible interception. He is an interesting prospect, having also made his mark as a college point guard at Miami of Ohio.
• Texas cornerback Quandre Diggs had a nice breakup on a deep ball from Petty to Montgomery. He's a guy that's been tabbed as a possible Titan in some mock drafts.
• Baylor receiver Antwan Goodley saved his college quarterback on a crossing route over the middle. Petty threw a wobbler, but Goodley was able to dive and make the catch.
• During the team portion of practice, Petty made arguably the throw of the day, a deep 20-25 yard out route to Pierce. The ball was thrown over the defense and placed only Pierce could catch it. Unfortunately, Pierce couldn't hang on and the ball fell incomplete.
Titans coaches take the field with the North squad on Day 2 of the 2015 Reese's Senior Bowl. (Photos: Gary Glenn)
