MOBILE, Ala. -- Cedar Falls, Iowa, isn't exactly a hotbed for NFL prospects.
But in 2020, Cedar Falls was on the list of places NFL scouts had to put on their list of stops for the season due to the presence of offensive tackle Spencer Brown.
Brown wound up being selected in the third round by the Bills in last year's draft and appeared in 13 games, 10 of them starts, for the AFC East champions.
Typically, a big-time prospect such as Brown would be his team's starting left tackle, especially at an FCS school such as Northern Iowa. But that wasn't the case for Brown, largely because he wasn't the best offensive tackle on his team.
That honor belonged to Trevor Penning, who not only was the best offensive tackle in FCS last season -- he was the only finalist for the Walter Payton Award given to the best player in FCS -- but perhaps in this draft.
Penning was one of the stars of Senior Bowl practices here, dominating whoever was thrown at him time and again during National Team sessions. He also plays with quite a nasty streak, tossing defenders to the ground and then giving them a little extra shove to make sure they stay down.
Penning, who has been training with other top tackles such as Evan Neal of Alabama and Charles Cross of Mississippi State with esteemed lineman trainer Duke Manyweather in Texas, feels he belongs in the conversation to be among the first tackles taken in this year's draft.
"I’d say I’m up there," Penning said. "I’m right up there for sure."
He's also a student of the game. Penning said as soon as he found out he had been invited to the Senior Bowl, he began studying who he would face this week.
"When they sent the tweets out for the teams, I looked at my team as well as the other team," he said. "I went on Youtube and just studied. I caught a couple of games of each player and studied what they do, their pass rush moves, how they play overall."
Penning is confident. And he should be.
Many draft analysts are predicting Neal or Cross could be the top pick in this year's draft. They and North Carolina State's Ikem Ewonu are expected to be taken no later than the top 12 picks in this year's draft.
Penning (6-foot-6, 330 pounds) won't be any later than the fourth offensive tackle selected. And that could put him in range for the Steelers, who have the 20th pick in this draft.
What will the team that selects Penning be getting?
"(A) Physical, mauler mentality," Penning said of his playing style. "I just want to play the game the way it’s meant to be played."
Trevor Penning consistently plays with that edge! pic.twitter.com/4XiGH4N1Hr
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) February 4, 2022
Hard. And you could tell he was perhaps going too hard for some of the defenders he faced this week's liking.
More than once someone who had been tossed around like a rag doll jumped up and tried to go after Penning. But that's fine. He was practicing like he had a chip on his shoulder.
Turns out, he did.
"It’s an awesome experience going against the top guys in the draft and being able to show I belong here and just continuing that going forward," Penning said.
No doubt. Having Brown not only get drafted early but also start for the Bills didn't hurt, either.
"It showed that we can come from anywhere," Penning said. "It doesn’t matter if you’re from the SEC, Big Ten. If you can ball, you can ball. Having him being able to start as a rookie, that’s awesome."
• Michigan State's Connor Heyward has played running back, wide receiver and tight end. This week, he was asked to move to fullback at the Senior Bowl.
The younger brother of Steelers All-Pro defensive tackle Cam Heyward met earlier this week with the Steelers as all players were scheduled to do. Each team gets 15 minutes with every player here early in the week.
But the Steelers also met with Heyward on Thursday, as well, showing additional interest in the 5-foot-11, 239-pound chess piece.
"Mostly fullback," Heyward said of what teams wanted to see him do this week. "They want me to do some tight end stuff. And they’ve talked about me running the ball a little bit. Whatever the coaches ask me, I’m willing to do. I’m working hard on special teams, as well."
What did his brother tell him about this process?
"He told me to just take it day by day, soak it all up, learn everything you can learn and be coachable," Heyward said. "It’s a wonderful opportunity. You’re here with a lot of elite coaches, as well."
Heyward had a nice week of practices. He held up really well in backs-on-backers drills Thursday and did well when it came to working in one-on-one routes against linebackers.
Like his brother -- and father Craig "Ironhead" Heyward -- he's just a football player.
• Like everyone else, I had to watch Thursday's practices from television as the practice was held indoors because of rain in the area.
But I now have a better idea of how I'd stack the quarterbacks coming out of this week.
I would have loved to see Matt Corral of Ole Miss here this week, but that wasn't possible because he's an underclassman. But I now believe there are three first-round quarterbacks in this draft -- Corral, Kenny Pickett of Pitt and Malik Willis of Liberty. The order in which those guys will be selected will be dependent on who is doing the picking.
But I think any of those three would be in play for the Steelers with the 20th pick in the draft.
I would not trade up to get any of the three. I wouldn't balk at moving up in the second round to get Sam Howell, Desmond Ridder or Carson Strong -- assuming Strong passes the medical tests at the NFL Scouting Combine.
• If the Steelers don't take a quarterback in the first round, it will almost certainly be an offensive lineman that they take. Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert closely watched the one-on-one blocking drills this week. Wednesday, they even were down on the field -- in a heavy rain -- watching that closely.
Many of the league's other talent evaluators were upstairs watching inside.
• If not a quarterback, others who were here this week who would be in play for the Steelers at 20 would include Penning and guard Zion Johnson.
Obviously, there are a lot of players who aren't here who also could be the pick.
One sleeper? Central Michigan offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann. He's an easy mover, as well. He's a little raw, but his athletic traits are off the charts.
