Senior Bowl's Jim Nagy Identifies Two 'Unusually Strong Groups' in Draft

The 2025 NFL Draft is still three months away, but major themes among the hundreds of draft-eligible players are already beginning to take shape.
The Reese's Senior Bowl is this week, which marks the major kickoff of draft season. Executive Director Jim Nagy spoke to the media on Monday afternoon about the week ahead as well as this year's draft class.
"This year's roster, we're really excited about it," Nagy said. "I do feel like it's our best roster. It should be; we can bring juniors now."
What Nagy alluded to is that the NFL has begun allowing juniors to be eligible to participate in the Senior Bowl, whereas prior to 2024, it was only seniors and juniors who'd already graduated. The broader acceptance of talent has helped the Senior Bowl land an even more impressive group of players, and Nagy has noticed two position groups in particular that are both substantial among the Senior Bowl rosters but also the draft in general.
"The two positions of strength, I think in the draft and really on these rosters are running back and defensive line," Nagy said. "I think those are unusually strong groups"
For the Indianapolis Colts--who have four assistant coaches down in Mobile as members of the American and National Team coaching staffs--they have needs at both of those positions.
At running back, Jonathan Taylor saw a staggering 80.2% of the offensive snaps in the games he played without a suitable complement, neither in the form of an early-down backup or a third-down passing game specialist.
When asked about there being potentially 30 running backs with draftable grades, Nagy acknowledged, "That's probably the number it was for us... It's really deep." He then went on to single out players such as Oklahoma State's Ollie Gordon II, Damien Martinez of Miami, and Trevor Etienne of Georgia, who are standouts among the running back group.
Nagy not only applauded the top of the running back class but also the depth of the class as a whole for its versatility and value throughout the draft.
"It's a really diverse skillset group," Nagy said. "You've got guys like Brashard Smith from SMU (and) Marcus Yarns from Delaware, who are like really cool third-down backs that can detach, can play receiver. Brashard was a receiver. You've got big backs like Damien (Martinez), who weighed in at 240-some pounds. Ollie Gordon was 233 yesterday, so they come in all shapes and sizes. Donovan Edwards, he's another guy that can play some receiver.
"It's a cool group," Nagy continued. "Whatever you need this year, there's guys out there. I think the depth of the class is gonna go into the fifth-sixth round. You're gonna get good players in that range."
Nagy was also pressed about the defensive line group and pass rushers as to what they bring to this year's draft class.
"It's ridiculous," Nagy reflected. "I really love the edge group we brought in. Sacks is a really transferrable stat. Pressures and QB pressure rate and all that stuff, if you can get to the quarterback in college, that really is one thing that carries over.
"Mike Green from Marshall, this is a big prove-it week for him," Nagy continued. "Led the country in sacks with 17.0. Donovan Ezeiruaku from Boston College, 16.5 sacks, ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Kyle Kennard from South Carolina, SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Josaiah Stewart at Michigan. It is a loaded group."
The Colts could have some needs at defensive end coming in the very near future. Dayo Odeyingbo is a free agent this offseason, Samson Ebukam is a salary cap cut candidate, and both he and Kwity Paye only have one year left on their contracts. It would be wise to get ahead of the need.
Senior Bowl practice begins at 9:30 a.m. C.T./10:30 a.m. E.T. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
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