College football all-star game season will soon come to a close, but we’ve got one more game to cover. This time we’re looking at the premier game with the 2022 Senior Bowl. This game will take place on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at 1:30 p.m. in Mobile, Alabama. The game features the best-of-the-best senior prospects in college football.
The 2021 NFL season was one of the first years since Brett Veach became general manager that the Kansas City Chiefs did not draft a player from the Senior Bowl. That’s likely to change in this upcoming draft.
Our twenty-second group of prospects includes a corner with roots in Kansas City, a dominant interior defensive lineman, a small-school edge rusher and an Andy Reid-style H-back.
Clemson CB Mario Goodrich
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A Kansas City native who played for Lee’s Summit West high school, Goodrich was one of college football’s best cornerbacks in 2021. Listed at 6-foot and 188 pounds, Goodrich is long, physical and already has the footwork of a seasoned NFL pro. This wasn’t the case early on with Goodrich as he was a little bit of a late bloomer for the Tigers defense. He put an exclamation point on his senior campaign with an 18-yard pick-six in the Cheez-It Bowl.
At the Senior Bowl, Goodrich has been locking up the biggest and most physical receivers in practice, impressing in press coverage. But he’s also showing off his wheels at practice too. During Tuesday’s practice, he was clocked at 21.22 MPH max speed, coming in as the second-fastest corner for the day of practice.
The Chiefs have some key free agents at the cornerback position, including their best cover corner in Charvarius Ward. Could Brett Veach opt to bring Goodrich home to help solidify the secondary in 2022?
Michigan State H-back Connor Heyward
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Brother of Steelers DL Cam Heyward, Connor is a versatile fullback who can do it all. His blocking helped Michigan State RB Kenneth Walker II to a career year with over 1,600 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns. Heyward also has some rushing ability himself, with 211 carries for over 800 yards and five touchdowns during his five-year career with the Spartans.
Listed at 5-11 and 239 pounds, Heyward is surprisingly agile. He put on a clinic in route-running throughout the practice week down in Mobile, beating linebackers with ease in the passing game in 1-on-1 drills. He’s impressed as a blocker in the run game, stonewalling standouts like FSU DE Jermaine Johnson.
Everyone knows that Andy Reid loves a fullback in his offense. Heyward is the type of player who can make an impact as a blocker, in short-yardage situations, in the passing game and on special teams right away. He’s got the body of a fullback, but a skillset more attuned to that of an H-back, which will have big appeal for a team like Kansas City.
Miami (OH) DE Dominique Robinson
AP Photo/Butch Dill
A former high school quarterback who was recruited as a receiver, Robinson is an intriguing athlete for the Miami Ohio Redhawks. He played receiver until the 2020 college football season, which is when he first made the switch to edge rusher. He’s still learning the position, but his 2021 campaign showed promise, with 29 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and plenty of pressure generated.
Weighing in at 6-4 and 254 pounds, Robinson has a long and wiry frame, but he knows how to use it to his advantage. His quickness and get-off have been among the most impressive during the course of the practice week at the Senior Bowl. He was able to bend the edge against almost every offensive tackle he faced. As new as he is to the position, Robinson has a surprising amount of tools in his toolkit. While the quickness is most impressive, he showed the ability to win with power, hand-fighting and countermoves.
The Chiefs need more production from the edge rusher position, full stop. They lack athleticism at that spot and really could use a guy with the speed and ability that Robinson has showcased at the Senior Bowl thus far.
Oklahoma DL Perrion Winfrey
AP Photo/Butch Dill
Listed at 6-3 and 303 pounds, Winfrey transferred to Oklahoma from junior college in 2020. The 2021 season was really his coming out party with the Sooners defense, as he appeared in 11 games, notching 23 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and 5.5 sacks on the season.
Winfrey has been one of the most-talked-about players in Senior Bowl practice this week. He’s been nearly unblockable lining up at three-technique, showing off explosive quickness and brute power against the interior offensive linemen in attendance. One media member down in Mobile told me that he’s having an “Aaron Donald-esque Senior Bowl.”
Brett Veach has made the defensive line his emphasis for the 2022 NFL offseason. Adding a player like Winfrey in the draft would be a great way to reinforce the defensive interior, but the team might need to move up to grab him if his Senior Bowl rise continues.
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