Behind the Steel Curtain
It was a was cold, but beautiful day in Mobile, Alabama, an excellent start to the 2026 Senior Bowl. After a harrowing day of travel thanks to Winter Storm Fern messing up flights and causing both of us to have to rebook and adjust on the fly, we were glad to put those headaches behind us and watch some young men in pads have the biggest job interview of their lives.
Here’s what we saw on the ground at Day 1 of the Senior Bowl.
JB: Steelers general manager Omar Khan is usually a mainstay in Mobile during Senior Bowl week, but missed practice today to help introduce his new head coach Mike McCarthy to the media for the first time. Whether or not Khan, Weidl, and McCarthy show up to Mobile at all this week is still up in the air, but given Pittsburgh’s history of taking players who participate at the Senior Bowl I would be shocked to see no major Steelers brass show up.
RP: Though he is no longer part of the team, we did see former Steelers defensive line coach Karl Dunbar working with the defensive line group in his Steelers hoodie. Dunbar was with the Steelers for eight seasons, and we hope he gets another opportunity in the league.
JB: It doesn’t look like a good year to need a quarterback, and unfortunately for the Steelers, it seems like that may just be what they need the most. If you were hoping for someone to step up and separate themselves from the rest of the pack in Mobile that certainly did not happen on day one of practice. North Dakota State quarterback Cole Payton made arguably the best throw of the day, turning his hips to make a left-handed throw rolling to his right on a ball that traveled 50 yards in the air.
RP: I second Joey’s note about the passers. It isn’t a particularly strong class at the position, and that really shows at the Senior Bowl.
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is the biggest name here, but after shutting down his season early due to injury, it was clear he was still shaking off some rust today.
Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia had arguably the best command of the huddle on the field today, but that’s probably his strongest trait. Measuring in at 5’9, Pavia’s stature is going to be hard for scouts to get over. He was easily the smallest guy on the field today, and he threw every ball on a line. At one point, a coach on the field yelled out “That’s a TV timeout,” after a Pavia pass led a receiver into heavy traffic, implying that the receiver would have been getting treated by the medical staff had this been an actual game. Pavia also had some hiccups on reps under center.
Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson and Arkansas’ Taylen Green have all the physical tools, but consistency is still their bugaboo....
