The 2015 Reese's Senior Bowl gave scouts from every NFL club a chance to add a layer to their evaluations on some of the top seniors from the college ranks. Draft-day money was both made and lost in the process, although the prospects have multiple opportunities between now and the draft to help, or hurt, their standing. Here is a look at several of the winners and losers from Senior Bowl week.
Winners
Nate Orchard, DE, Utah: The question facing Orchard entering the week was whether he could do anything other than rush the passer, and do it from a stand-up position in a 3-4 defense. He answered it emphatically. Orchard showed an ability to pursue and make plays on the perimeter, and his underwhelming size (6-foot-3, 251 pounds) didn't appear to be an issue. Against the run, Orchard acquitted himself well.
Clive Walford, TE, Miami: There wasn't a player in Mobile who drew more praise during the practice week than Walford. Although he had an ugly-looking drop in the game on Saturday, he had already established himself as one of the 2015 draft's elite tight ends well before the game kicked off. He was smooth as a route-runner and caught passes in traffic. He was an effective blocker as well.
Kevin White, CB, TCU: White showed the skills needed to play either cornerback or nickel back, and such versatility could help his draft status significantly. NFL Media analyst Bucky Brooks saw impressive potential in White, despite his small size (5-9 3/8, 180 pounds). He topped off his week with an interception in the game Saturday.
Carl Davis, DT, Iowa: NFL Media's Mike Mayock said Davis' play in Mobile might have vaulted him into the first-round conversation. At 321 pounds, he is a force inside and proved to be very difficult to move at the point of attack. Quality defensive tackles are difficult to find at the pro level and Davis' play in Mobile will make him one of the most closely watched defensive linemen at the NFL Scouting Combine next month.
Phillip Dorsett, WR, Miami: The smallish (5-9 3/8, 183) Hurricanes receiver wasted no time establishing himself as one of the fastest and most explosive athletes in attendance. Mayock suggested that Dorsett could be among the fastest players at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
Kurtis Drummond, FS, Michigan State: An NFL scout told CFB 24/7 that Drummond quietly had an impressive week and showed strong instincts in tracking deeper passes. Unfortunately, a strained hamstring suffered during the week's last practice prevented Drummond from playing on Saturday, but the veteran Big Ten standout did enough prior to the injury to solidify himself as one of the top safeties in the 2015 draft behind Alabama's Landon Collins.
Laken Tomlinson, G, Duke: Tomlinson showed toughness and good leverage all week. NFL Media analyst Charles Davis said Tomlinson's performance specifically against Washington defensive lineman Danny Shelton -- arguably the top prospect in Mobile -- served to forward his draft standing among scouts. An AFC scout told CFB 24/7 that the All-ACC guard showed a high level of football intelligence as well. Mayock was high on Tomlinson's performance too.
Losers
T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh: There was high excitement for Clemmings at the beginning of the week, but that excitement had waned by the time practices wrapped up. Considering Clemmings only has a couple of years of experience on the offensive line, it's not surprising that he had his troubles in an all-star setting. Mayock was less than impressed by Clemmings' week as well. Nevertheless, Clemmings still has the potential to be a very high draft pick. And his athleticism is obvious -- his performance at the combine could help him more than his Senior Bowl week hurt him.
Reese Dismukes, C, Auburn: The Tigers' senior struggled for much of the week, both in getting a push off the line of scrimmage and in handling some of the quick first steps of the defensive linemen on hand. Here, Houston's Joey Mbu gets past Dismukes in one-on-one drills. Dismukes will turn toward the NFL Scouting Combine and Auburn's pro day as a means of overcoming concerns NFL scouts had about his play both entering and exiting the Senior Bowl.
Bryce Petty, QB, Baylor: The former Bears star predictably struggled at times in making the adjustment to a pro-style system after spending his college career in a no-huddle, shotgun attack. He has the necessary size and his release was arguably the quickest of any quarterback at the Senior Bowl. But Petty did little to allay concerns about his accuracy, and NFL Media analysts on more than one occasion suggested that the third-best quarterback in the 2015 draft, behind Oregon's Marcus Mariota and FSU's Jameis Winston, did not emerge in Mobile.
Blake Sims, QB, Alabama: Sims had a strong Tuesday, but seemed to regress during the week and had an especially rough go of it on Thursday, when he mishandled a couple of snap exchanges and threw at least one interception in practice. Davis put it best in saying Sims entered the week as an undrafted free agent, and exited the week with the same status. Sims figures to get an opportunity to make an NFL roster, but didn't do much to enhance his draft standing at the Senior Bowl.
Ty Montgomery, WR, Stanford: The week started off on the wrong foot for Montgomery when he measured 5-11 3/4 at the weigh-in, more than two inches shorter than his 6-foot-2 listing from Stanford. Montgomery plays a physical brand of football and has a strong, thick frame. Those are positives, but they aren't traits that are easy to display in an all-star practice setting, where much of the contact is limited and skill-position players aren't tackled to the ground. Montgomery was a step slower than some of the more explosive receivers in Mobile. On the plus side, he did get to show his kickoff-return prowess Saturday night with 49 yards on two returns.
Trenton Brown, OL, Florida: The biggest Senior Bowl prospect (6-8, 376) struggled in one-on-one drills and simply didn't have the necessary quickness to handle some of the pass rushers on hand. Brown left the impression that offensive guard is his only path to the NFL, an AFC scout told CFB 24/7. For someone with his size and length, that's disappointing.
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