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Senior Bowl Recap: Questions Left Unanswered On Final Day By Former Irish Standouts

Originally posted on FanNation Irish Breakdown
By Ryan Roberts | Last updated 2/3/23

Things were pointing up for both former Notre Dame defensive end Isaiah Foskey and offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson heading into the final day of practice for the 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl. Both players put together big improvements on Wednesday and were hopeful that Thursday would be the cultivation of their improvements.

Unfortunately that final day did not quite live up to expectations. Both players had their struggles, leaving some unanswered questions heading into an easy day of walk thru on Friday and game day on Saturday.

There was still some good littered throughout but it wasn’t enough. Neither player took a massive step forward.

SOLID PERFORMANCE FROM FOSKEY

It wasn’t necessarily that Foskey was bad on Thursday. You just didn’t see much of him at all. From pass rush one-on-ones to inside run, team and everything in between, there just wasn’t a lot of action for the former Notre Dame.

For the reps he did take, Foskey had a lot of stalemates and very few wins. Even though the first two days were inconsistent, you still got glimpses of tremendous upside from Foskey. The double swipe on Wednesday was a thing of beauty. The bull rush on Michigan offensive tackle Ryan Hayes on the first day was outstanding.

On Thursday, there just wasn’t a highlight. Foskey still suffers from a lot of the same issues. He just doesn’t have a ton of pass rush moves in his arsenal right now.

Foskey is a pure power rusher who has some eye popping explosiveness and power. When an opposing offensive tackle is able to counter his power profile, however, it can be extremely mixed results for Foskey.

You just saw no creativity on Thursday. Everything was attacking straight down the chest and ending with some movement created but no plays being made. It was not the final message that Foskey was looking to send to end the week.

DAY TO FORGET FOR PATTERSON

After a struggling first day, Patterson put together a rock solid day two of practice on Wednesday. With Thursday being the last live action, there was hopes that he would have a repeat performance or potentially improve on it to end the week.

Unfortunately that did not happen.

There simply weren't a ton of positives to take from the dead from the former Notre Dame captain. There were a couple of solid early reps but for the most part, you were left wanting a lot more. Patterson missed a variety of blocks, including some very quick pressures. It was a maddening day.

One of the few positives was a really nice early rep against Wisconsin defensive tackle Keeanu Benton who has looked like a man amongst boys throughout most of the week. Patterson remained patient during their matchup on the pass rush one-on-one.

Patterson played with a solid base, as well as playing with enough bend to redirect effectively to the spin. That was one of the better reps anyone had this week against Benton.

In the run blocking portion of practice, Patterson also had a solid rep against Louisville defensive lineman YaYa Diaby. He was able to establish early leverage and create some movement at the point of attack.

Patterson didn’t finish the rep at the highest rate but still showed a lot of promise throughout. From there, the day got bleak.

In team work, Patterson had a really troubling rep working against Bowling Green defensive lineman Karl Brooks. He played with poor posture and lunged quickly off the snap.

Brooks was able to use a quick club and knock Patterson off balance. It was a quick loss and the lack of length for Patterson really showed up.

Patterson was involved in one of the highlight plays of the day. Unfortunately, he was on the wrong side of the action against Northwestern standout Adetomiwa Adebawore, who had a tremendous week.

There was nothing fancy about it. Adebawore put his head down and went right down Patterson’s chest. He played with poor pad level and bend, resulting in getting driven out of the screen. All of Patterson’s issues were alive on a single rep.

ALMOST GAMEDAY

The Friday for both teams will serve as a walk thru to prepare for Saturday’s game. There won’t be any built in analysis. The practice week is officially over.

With such an up and down week, the only remaining opportunity is for the players to end the event off with a bang. It’s true that most scouts don’t care much about the game, they are more focused on the practices.

Still, what you do when the lights shine brightest does matter. Some players are also not the best practice players and instead excel in live action. Both Foskey and Patterson hope to end the week off right on Saturday at 2:30 PM eastern time on NFL Network.

This article first appeared on FanNation Irish Breakdown and was syndicated with permission.

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