#senior-bowl

#senior-bowl

If last offseason was about rebuilding the Chicago Bears' offense, this one is shaping up to be about stabilizing and reshaping the defense. A year ago, Ryan Poles attacked the offensive line from every angle, adding four new starters through a mix of the draft, free agency, and trades. The result was tangible progress. This offseason calls for a similar approach on the other side of the ball, where needs are both obvious and unavoidable. That's what makes this weekend in Mobile so important.

The Senior Bowl showed me exactly where the Cowboys need help heading into the 2026 NFL Draft, not that it wasn't obvious, and it is exactly where people think. I watched the first couple days of Senior Bowl practices and saw guys fighting for their futures and somehow get coming back to the same thought about the Cowboys. This team isn't missing talent, it's missing balance. The middle of the offensive line is fine in Dallas, but the edges aren't. Also, the defense, oh my the defense, doesn't have enough players who can affect the quarterback when the game needs it.

MOBILE, Ala. - Georgia Tech guard Keylan Rutledge can't be missed during Senior Bowl practices. He's the mauler, the beast, the one pounding his opponents into dust. And he's attracted the interest of the Dolphins, a team wanting to get better in the trenches. On Tuesday, Rutledge (6-foot-3, 316 pounds), projected as a mid-round pick, had a few impressive displays of physicality and aggression - including one against SMU's Jeffrey M'Ba, and one against Texas A&M's Scooby Williams. He drove them both to the ground.

The Senior Bowl is an invite-only showcase of upperclassmen prospects and an important step toward forming a plan for the 2026 NFL draft. You can check out practice coverage Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN App, and then at 5 p.m. ET on ESPNU/ESPN App. Thursday's practices will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU/ESPN App, and then at 5 p.m. ET on ESPNNews. (There will be a re-airing on ESPN2 at 10 p.m. ET.)

This is all about planning for the future. The Commanders fell way short of expectations last time around, and the same cannot happen again in 2026. Head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters built up enough confidence from their first year together to avoid any pressure about their job statuses. Even so, fans and analysts are watching their moves closer than ever this offseason.