Concurrent with the Senior Bowl in 2022 is the East-West Shrine Game, which has moved to the Las Vegas Raiders’ home, Allegiant Stadium, in Paradise, Nevada.
While there has been a majority of the focus on the Senior Bowl, there are still some gems rising to the fore at the practices during the East-West Shrine Game.
In a situation like the Houston Texans’, it isn’t one position that is going to complete the rebuild, at least not at this stage. Houston still has to be open to best player available at every pick, just as they were in the 2021 NFL draft.
According to Bill Smith from NFL.com, a player who stood out during Tuesday’s practice was Wisconsin linebacker Jack Sanborn.
Sanborn stood out in RB/LB one-on-one receiving drills Tuesday, including one rep where he stoned the back at the top of his route and broke on the pass to knock it away.
The Wisconsin ‘backer was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2021 and earned the team’s Defensive Player of the Year honor. His 88.8 PFF grade ranked fifth among FBS off-ball linebackers last season.
Sanborn provided the Badgers with 89 combined tackles, 16.0 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, and a fumble recovery through 13 games.
The Texans already have a youngster looking to take the next step in his development in year two with Garret Wallow. The 2021 fifth-round pick from TCU started to see more snaps on defense throughout the season after becoming a staple on special teams through 17 games. Finding another coverage linebacker to give Houston two adequate nickel linebackers would be the transition they have been hoping to make since the days of Zach Cunningham and Benardrick McKinney.
Houston’s leading tackler was linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill with 108 combined tackles. However, Grugier-Hill was on a one-year contract, and his 2022 with the team is uncertain, albeit he was a strong longer room presence.
There are still significant stops along the way in the predraft process, and free agency could dictate what Houston does. Nevertheless Sanborn is a name the Texans need to keep tabs on.
