MOBILE, Ala. -- It took a while for Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders' coaching staff to get into meaningful one-on-ones and team drills in the second Senior Bowl practice of the afternoon, and the North team's hyped defensive line exceeded expectations. 

The first of three days of preparatory sessions for Saturday's game got underway on an overcast day with a slight drizzle and temperatures in the low 50s in Mobile, Alabama, and the two best players on the field came from schools in Illinois and Arizona. 

Khalen Saunders, the man with a YouTube highlight reel titled "The Aaron Donald of the FCS" -- which I must say, truly isn't drastic hyperbole -- made a fantastic first impression with the hundreds of evaluators inside Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Oh, and he ended practice by back flipping in front of the entire team, which drew a raucous celebration.

Early in a one-on-one rep against Beau Benzschawel, the Western Illinois superstar put the Wisconsin All-American on skates with a forceful bull rush.

Against another Badgers blocker, Michael Deiter, Saunders demonstrated the polish to his game by spinning out of his grasp at the end of the rep. In 11-on-11, Saunders repeatedly won with an explosive first step to move into the backfield on run plays, and he finished with a would-be sack of Penn State's Trace McSorley on a quick move to the inside in team drills.

For Saunders to be as dynamic of a mover off the snap as he is at 320 pounds is impressive. For him to be comfortable utilizing his hands to beat offensive linemen when his acceleration can't is what could get him drafted in the second round. 

Against blockers in one-on-ones and in a team run-game drill, Arizona State's Renell Wren was probably even a little more disruptive than Saunders. In the morning, the Sun Devil standout measured in at just under 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds with long, 33 and 3/4-inch arms. Wren's intimidating length gave North offensive lineman like Texas A&M's Erik McCoy and NC State's Garrett Bradbury fits. 

He seemingly understands his length is a luxury and fires his arms into blockers immediately after the snap -- if he hasn't already blown past them with tremendous explosiveness. Like Saunders, Wren showed advancement as a pass-rusher too with an awesome chop (pushing the blocker's arms down) and club (hitting the blocker's back to get upfield). 

More defensive line standouts from Tuesday

Boston College's Zach Allen, wearing No. 44 this week, had a collection of wins in one-on-ones thanks to swim and swipe moves he put on film often in the past two seasons. There was plenty of power to his rushes too, which isn't shocking for a 280-pounder.

TCU's L.J. Collier is a loose-hipped, hand-work master, and those two strengths of his game were on full display in one-on-one as well. His patented one-arm bull rush to rip move was as effective in practice today as it was in 2018 in the Big 12. 

Washington's Greg Gaines overwhelmed interior blockers in one-on-ones and team drills and flashed some hand usage. He's a compact, nimble nose tackle prospect with some pass-rushing upside.

Oregon's Jalen Jelks gave Kansas State's Dalton Risner some problems with a speed-to-inside-crossover move, which at 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, is what you'd expect. He's a fluid but undersized defensive lineman.

Maryland's Byron Cowart exhibited some noticeable burst off the ball into the backfield in team drills too.

All in all, the defensive line won the day over an offensive line group featuring plenty of household names who should hear their names called in the first three rounds of the draft. 

Jakobi Meyers, Terry McLaurin have productive afternoons 

Two of the grabs came from familiar face Ryan Finley, but Meyers looked the part of a good-sized, athletic receiver with outside and slot versatility on Tuesday. In one of the first one-on-ones of the session, Meyers shook Penn State's Amani Oruwariye at the line for the easy catch over the middle. 

In team drills, he ran an intricate comeback route that ended in a completion and was found across the middle on a dig route on which he created just enough separation to make the catch in stride get upfield. The "other" NC State receiver had a fine day.

As for McLaurin, who came into this week as more of a special-teams ace than someone expected to light it up as a receiver, he rocked the one-on-one drills and capped that portion of practice with a quick win against press at the line and a one-handed grab on a comeback route with Texas' Kris Boyd in tight coverage after he recovered from McLaurin's clean release. He was also found often on shallow crossing routes in team drills. 

More notes from Tuesday's practice 

  • UMass stud Andy Isabella was ridiculously explosive in and out of his breaks while running routes and routinely generated major separation down the field but the North quarterbacks didn't stretch the field much. He created serious yards after the catch on two screens in team drills and dazzled with a spin move well down the field. Isabella did deal with a few drops, especially in one-on-ones. "He's definitely got juice. I think his hands could be a problem," according to one scout.
  • Missouri's Drew Lock didn't have a super-clean showing, as he held the ball too long on a few reps in 7-on-7s, yet true to form lofted a perfect deep ball for a touchdown and made an extremely long throw from the far hash on deep crosser near the sideline that hit the receiver in the hands but was dropped. 
  • Duke's Daniel Jones struggled early, particularly in a quick-passing drill. Once the jitters dissipated, he settled in and threw in-rhythm and on-target to the short and intermediate portions of the field. Like Lock, he found tight ends open on deep crosses a few times. 
  • USC's Chuma Edoga, who measured in with nearly 35-inch arms but at just under 6-foot-4 and 303 pounds -- light for an NFL offensive tackle -- had one heck of a practice. I thought he'd get overwhelmed by the likes of Texas' 274-pound defensive end Charles Omenihu or Boston College's Zach Allen among others. That wasn't the case. No, Edoga didn't erase everyone, and that's fine. He did play with considerably more power than his film showed, demonstrated the ability to quickly recover if initially beat, and was smooth in his pass-blocking sets while simultaneously using his long arms to his advantage with well-timed, on-target punches.