MOBILE, Ala. -- When it comes to the quarterbacks here at the Senior Bowl, the National Team, with Kenny Pickett, Carson Strong and Desmond Ridder has it all over the American Team in terms of size.
After all, at 6-foot-3, Ridder is the shortest of the National quarterbacks. But he has more than two inches on each of his American Team counterparts, North Carolina's Sam Howell, Liberty's Malik Willis and Bailey Zappe of Western Kentucky.
All of the American Team quarterbacks are taller than the magical 6-foot threshold, which can be a real issue for a quarterback in the NFL -- though less so than it used to be. But none reach 6-foot-1.
And while the likes of Drew Brees, Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray -- all of whom are 6-foot or under -- has changed the way NFL teams look at shorter quarterbacks, there's still something of a stigma about the lack of ideal height when it comes to judging one quarterback against the next.
Quite frankly, if two quarterbacks are similar in talent level, the one who has more ideal size is likely to get the nod.
The one thing that has changed that thinking is quarterback mobility.
That is where Howell and Willis stand out.
Both are excellent runners as well as accomplished passers. And they hope that the stigma against shorter quarterbacks no longer applies.
"I would definitely say so. There’s a ton of 6-foot quarterbacks who are having success in the NFL," Howell said Wednesday on the second day of Senior Bowl practices. "It might matter to some people, but you can either play quarterback or you can’t. That’s the reality of it. I think I can definitely get the job done no matter how tall I am."
That might be the case for Howell, a three-year starter at North Carolina who was the top-rated quarterback prospect coming into the 2021 season. He threw for just over 10,000 yards and 92 touchdowns in his three seasons, completing nearly 64 percent of his career passes.
For Willis, the stigma of being too small for the position also applies to his school. Liberty isn't exactly considered a football factory. But it's where he transferred after spending two seasons and playing sparingly at Auburn.
In two seasons at Liberty, he completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 5,176 yards, 5,107 yards with 47 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions.
Had he posted those numbers at Auburn, nobody would bat an eye at Willis as a prospect. But the fact he did so at Liberty causes some to question his talent.
"I guess so for y’all. But the big school and little school guys, we all look at it as football is football," Willis said. "We’ve got to come out here and play. Y’all do us dirty because we’re a small-school guy, but football is football. They work out every day, we work out every day. Our schedule when I was at Auburn and Liberty were pretty much the same. Y’all focus on that a little too much in my opinion. There’s just more people at the games."
To Willis' point, in his two seasons at Liberty, the Flames played Ole Miss, Syracuse, N.C. State and Virginia Tech. They didn't exactly duck opponents.
Willis had his good games and bad games throwing the football against those teams, but one thing that was constant was his running. He had 108 rushing yards along with 217 passing yards and three TD passes in a win over Virginia Tech in 2020. He had 71 rushing yards this season in a loss to Ole Miss.
Willis had 1,835 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns in just 23 games for the Flames.
The Steelers have made no secret that they covet a quarterback who has the ability to not only stand in the pocket and make throws, but also to be able to scramble for yardage when needed.
Willis wants to be known as a quarterback who can run. He doesn't want to necessarily be known as a running quarterback.
"I try to take what the defense gives me. If somebody is in the backfield with me, I probably shouldn’t stay in the pocket," he said. "If it’s a clean pocket, I can stay in the pocket. I try not to have a set thing in my mind where I’m going to run this play or I’m going to throw this play from the pocket. I try to play the game of football."
But his ability to run is apparent.
He had the seventh-fastest time of any player at practice this week -- offense or defense -- reaching 20.58 miles per hour.
Everyone knows Willis can run. But some question his ability to pass at the NFL-level, a skillset he's working hard to show this week.
"Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I just keep going to work every day," Willis said. "They can say what they want, really. They can say I’m the best in the world, the worst in the world. It is what it is."
The opinions vary on Howell, as well.
Considered the top quarterback prospect in the draft class going into the season, Howell struggled as running backs Javonte Williams and Michael Carter and wide receivers Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome all left for the NFL after the 2020 season.
With an almost entirely new array of weapons, Howell went from being a pocket passer who could move, to running an offense that included designed runs for him.
He wound up throwing for 3,056 yards and 24 touchdowns, the lowest totals of his career, but running for 828 yards and 11 touchdowns, a pair of numbers that eclipsed his totals from his first two seasons combined.
"Going into the season there wasn’t much of a plan at all for me to run that much. It was something we kind of did early on and had some success doing it, so we continued to do it," Howell said. "I just want to do whatever we needed to do to help us win."
Despite having 183 rushing attempts, he didn't miss any time -- a check mark in his favor. Howell's running wasn't predicated on speed as much as it was toughness. He would often lower his shoulder and use his 220-pound frame to get extra yards.
"It really didn’t affect me much. I was fortunate to stay pretty healthy," Howell said. "I showed I would be able to take hits like that and stay healthy."
Can either have that same kind of success running the ball in the NFL? That remains to be seen. First and foremost, they have to show they can pass the test throwing the ball.
"You’re never going to be perfect, but keep working each day," Willis said. "I feel that’s the way to go about it."
• Rains soaked the area here all day Wednesday, making practices a tough watch and even more difficult to keep track of.
But they'll still be better than what's happening tomorrow. The practices have already been moved indoor with thunderstorms expected to hit the area.
• Miami (Ohio) defensive lineman Dominique Robinson has been practically unblockable in the first two days of practice.
At 6-foot-4, 258 pounds, Robinson has the classic size to play 3-4 outside linebacker for the Steelers. But what is really intriguing about him is his first step.
He won inside and out working against guards and tackles with that first step.
Interior lineman Cole Strange of Tennessee-Chattanooga did get the best of Robinson on their second of two reps against each other -- players always did two in a row against the same player -- and let Robinson know about it.
That was likely because he had been regularly whipping everyone else.
But after Strange did that, the rest of the defense began calling for a rubber match. This was a true case of being careful what you ask for.
Robinson used his first step to get around Strange on the third rep with Strange barely laying a hand on him -- much to the delight of the National Team defense.
• Jermaine Johnson of Florida State is almost identical in size to Robinson and is equally as effective. But the Steelers probably won't be in the market for an edge rusher.
• Wednesday wasn't as strong a day for two of my Day 1 stars, interior offensive lineman Zion Johnson of Boston College and defensive tackle Travis Jones of UConn.
Both were about 50-50 in their one-on-one drills up front.
But Johnson, who played center and both guard spots, did show some nice movement getting out in front of a screen from the center position.
Johnson had struggles with power rushes today, though that could have been because of the very wet turf. Jones, meanwhile, didn't show the same burst off the snap he did Tuesday. But that could have been because of the wet track here, as well.
• Northern Iowa's Trevor Penning is the best offensive lineman here for either team. He moves his feet like a man half his listed weight of 330 pounds.
North Dakota's Matt Waletzko has intriguing size at nearly 6-foot-7 and 310 pounds. He's a long lean offensive tackle who moves well. But he's got to learn how to use his hands to keep defenders off him.
• Speaking of using their hands better, the same could be said of Minnesota's Daniel Faalele and Kentucky's Darian Kinard.
Both are massive blockers, but you can tell they simply won a lot in college by overwhelming opponents with their size.
Both need to watch Tunch Punch videos created by the late Tunch Ilkin.
• Alabama's Phidarian Mathis and Georgia's Devonte Wyatt are a pair of 300-plus pound defensive tackles for the American squad. But man, they both carry it well.
And they're light on their feet for being such big guys.
Wyatt is getting first-round consideration and I can see why.
• I still haven't gotten a chance to watch tape of ULCA defensive tackle Otito Ogbonnia, but after watching him consistently overpower people again today, I'm putting that on my to-do list when I get back home. That dude is strong.
Oklahoma's Perrion Winfrey has had his moments as a pass rusher, as well. He's a big, strong guy with a nice bull rush and ability to counter off of that.
• Georgia guard Jamaree Sayler is a big, powerful interior lineman. He stoned Florida's Zach Carter in a one-on-one drill to end practice today, riding him out and finishing off two solid days of work.
• I'm not going to pass much judgment on how the quarterbacks threw the ball today. The rain was constant and sometimes very heavy.
It was a rough day to evaluate those guys.
I will say this, Zappe has adjusted his throwing style a bit from what I saw of him on tape. He still has a little hitch in his throw and it's more from the shoulder than coming over the top, but it hasn't seemed to have affected his accuracy.
