Senior Bowl week has arrived in the NFL, and there's plenty of money to be made and players to be scouted over the next few days down at one of the most important all-star games in the country.
After spending several days evaluating players at the East/West Shrine Game, NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock has turned his attention to those seniors who will be down in Mobile, and there's one prospect in particular whom he will be keeping a close eye on -- Washington defensive tackle Danny Shelton.
"He reminds me of Haloti Ngata. If he takes care of business between now and May 1st, I think he's a top 10 pick," said Mayock. "When you put the tape on, he's quick. He gets up and down the line of scrimmage and plays forever at 350 pounds."
Shelton was a multi-year starter for the Huskies and capped off his best season in 2014 with All-America honors while anchoring the most productive defensive line in the country. He finished in the top 25 in sacks and recorded a remarkable 93 tackles on the year from his interior spot. At 6-foot-2 and a generously listed 340 pounds, it's not hard to see the Ngata comparisons, but he'll have to earn that high praise with a good week of practices during the Senior Bowl.
While Shelton might be a surprising name in Mayock's top 10 at this point, Mayock also offered up another prospect who could be a fast-riser among scouts and NFL personnel folks.
"An offensive tackle from Pittsburgh, T.J. Clemmings, played on the right side and a former defensive player -- the sky is the limit for him, and he could be the fastest-riser coming out of Mobile if he plays as well as I think he can," said Mayock. "I think he's got a left tackle skill-set after only playing on offense for two years."
Clemmings will have his work cut out for him trying to stand out among a deep offensive tackle group that features Wisconsin's Rob Havenstein, Colorado State's Ty Sambrailo and LSU's La'el Collins among others.
Senior Bowl coverage starts on NFL Network Monday night at 10:30 pm ET and runs throughout the week leading up to Saturday's kickoff from Ladd-Pebbles Stadium at 4 p.m.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.