Did Manuel show enough in the Senior bowl to warrant a move up on draft day?  Source: US-Presswire

The 2013 Senior Bowl is in the books and while the South beat the North 21-16, there are also individual winners and losers. The winners improved their draft stock, but did any of them get into position to be taken by the Jacksonville Jaguars at number two overall in the 2013 NFL Draft?

I think that there was definitely some movement upward with two guys in particular that the Jags may take a harder look at. Ezekiel Ansah and EJ Manuel.  Defensive end and quarterback should both be big for the Jags in the 2013 draft, it really just depends on who they favor as the more valuable player immediately.  Ansah really made quite the case for himself during the game.

E.J. Manuel, QB, Florida State

• Manuel really put on a show in the Senior Bowl with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown.  He showed that he is a good athlete (four rushes, 10 yards, one TD) and can throw the ball decently (7/10, 76 yards, one TD, one pick).  He may not be a perfect quarterback yet, but his athleticism should translate well to a position that is becoming increasingly more versatile.  There will be a lot of debate about who is the best quarterback coming into the draft and Manuel may end up a part of that discussion.  He’s not #2 overall worthy, but he could be that mid-round quarterback that some Jags fans want to take.

Ezekiel Ansah, DE/OLB, BYU

• Like Manuel, Ansah is an athlete.  He is a big guy who could really do well with some quality coaching right out of the gate.  While not generally considered to be a guy worthy of #2 overall, the defensive ends in this year’s draft are a lot closer together in talent and potential than usual.  He may have pushed himself into the top ten with an impressive performance during Senior Bowl week and has some serious potential that may pique the interest of teams like the Jags.  He finished the senior bowl with 1.5 sacks, seven tackles, and one fumble forced.

All in all, it was a good Senior Bowl that will probably give some defensive players an edge as they tended to control the game.  It will be curious to see just how much Manuel and Ansah move up draft boards.

- Luke N. Sims

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Here is the time , location, network coverage, and weather for today’s game.

Time:  Jan 26, 3:00pm CST

Location: Ladd-Peebles Stadium (40,646)

Television Coverage: NFL Network

Weather: 65^°, 75% humidity, 3 mph SE wind

Need I remind any of us how bad our linebacking corps was at the start of the season?  Starting Kyle Bosworth, Russell Allen, and Paul Posluszny was bad beyond belief.  I cringed thinking what a terrible season this was for Poz in the middle.  He simply couldn’t turn a good depth guy (Allen) and a bad replacement (Bosworth) into starting linebackers.  Daryl Smith finally returned to the lineup late in the season, but it is apparent that the Jags need depth and one more starting caliber player at the position.

Thankfully there looks to be some possible candidates preparing to show off at the 2013 Senior Bowl.

Brown could be a good traditional 4-3 OLB for the Jags if they wanted to take him early in the second.  Source:  Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

Arthur Brown, OLB, Kansas State

• Brown’s transfer to Kansas State from Miami (Florida) really helped K-State get on track on defense.  Brown had 201 tackles and 16.5 tackles for a loss to go with three sacks and three interceptions during his two seasons at Kansas State.  The guy is a practically a machine.  He looks to be a second round pick but could be worth more than that for teams that need linebacker help.

Khaseem Greene, OLB/DB, Rutgers

• Greene intrigues me.  He played defensive back for his first three years in college and then moved up to linebacker for the 2012 season.  He has an impressive 136 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, six sacks, and two picks as a linebacker.  These totals come on the heels of an impressive 141 tackles, 14.5 tackles for a loss, and 3.5 sacks as a strong safety the year before.  Green could be versatile for the Jags, especially since they have had difficulty running with tight ends in the past.

Jamie Collins, OLB/DE, Southern Mississippi

• Projected to be a third round pick, Collins could be interesting piece with the Jags.  While he wouldn’t fill the need of a traditional 4-3 OLB, he could be used extensively in unique packages that new head coach Gus Bradley likes.  Bradley is known to move some guys around and could value the versatility of a guy like Collins (10 sacks, 20 tackles for a loss, 92 tackles, four forced fumbles in 2012) on a pass rush starved team.  Like Greene, Collins started his college career as a DB.

- Luke N. Sims

Feel free to leave comments on here or visit us at Facebook or Twitter!

You can also find me on Twitter @LukeNSims