The 2022 college football season was chalk full of great wide receivers, and the Senior Bowl represented that well.
“[Being here] means a lot,” star Nebraska receiver and LSU transfer Trey Palmer said. “Just out here being blessed.”
Palmer learned many coaching styles from Ed Orgeron to Mickey Joseph and took a lot of advice and improvement from them.
“They really brought me in like I was a son of their own and really just helped guide me through college,” Palmer said.
Palmer was not the only Big 10 representative, as the nation’s second leader in tight end touchdowns also appeared in Purdue’s Payne Durham.
Durham got to play with some of the best receivers in the nation in West Lafayette including Rondale Moore who is now with the Cardinals as well as David Bell who now has a spot with the Cleveland Browns.
“All those guys are heck of receivers, and what they do well helps me produce as well, so when they’re running routes and defenses are focused on them, kind of leaves me open more, so it’s been awesome to watch those guys work and watch them grow and do it with them. It has been a really cool experience,” said Durham.
While Durham learned a lot from the receivers that came before him, many players are building new connections with some of the men they spent time with at the Senior Bowl.
Ronnie Bell out of Michigan touched on one of the more surprising connections he made.
“Surprisingly enough, me and Jay Reed have clicked pretty well, him being a Michigan State guy, but there’s definitely no tough blood, we’re all out here and we’re all looking to compete with one another,” Bell said.
Puka Nacua out of BYU stated Ronnie Bell as one of the people he enjoyed working with.
“Ronnie is my roommate, so I’ve been able to talk with him, Mike Wilson is someone that I’ve been training with out in California whose a great size, we’re similar in body type, he’s very aggressive. Elijah Higgins, some of the bigger receivers. It has been super nice working with everybody because everybody has their own different strengths,” Nacua said.
Overall, the Senior Bowl proved to be a success for many of these players not only on the field, but off the field working and making connections.