Trey Rucker Stands Out Among Cowboys on First Day of Senior Bowl Practice
STILLWATER – The first day or practice in Mobile, Ala. at Whitney-Hancock Stadium and the 2025 Senior Bowl. All four of the invitees from Oklahoma State, running back Ollie Gordon II, linebacker Nick Martin, edge defender Collin Oliver, and safety Trey Rucker were placed on the National team. They were joined by some familiar faces in four Iowa State Cyclones, Wyatt Milum, the big offensive lineman from West Virginia, Texas Tech offensive line behemoth Caleb Rogers, the Oregon Ducks including quarterback and former OU signal caller Dillon Gabriel.
The head coach of the National team is New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and he is joined by Green Bay Packers pass game coordinator Jason Vrable, who will be the offensive coordinator; Cleveland Browns defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire, who will coordinate the defense; and Tennessee Titans coaching assistant Perry Carter, who will handle special teams.
Ollie Gordon II has a real chance with Kafka as his head coach. There are plenty of running backs in the game including Jo'quavious Marks of USC, Donovan Edwards from Michigan, Syracuse’s LeQuint Allen Jr. Damien Martinez of Miami (Fla.), and Virginia Tech’s Bhayshul Tuten Virginia Tech. The Giants and Kafka are looking for a flagship running back after trading away Saquon Barkley to the Eagles before last season.
Gordon II had one decent run today, but they were just going thud as far as contact on the 11-vs.-11 team work. Gordon was supported by his running backs coach in John Wozniak. Wozniak was there to take in the practice on the University of South Alabama campus.
All of the other Cowboys players at the Senior Bowl are on defense and the practice televised on the NFL Network really only spotlighted one of the Oklahoma State defenders as safety Trey Rucker made a couple of plays in the one-on-one drills as he had awkward feet in his first rep against Washington State wide receiver Kyle Williams, but Williams struggled some with the route and Rucker closed to break it up.
His second go was against Miami (Fla.) tight end Elijah Arroyo, who broke away, but Rucker again closed on Arroyo where throughout the practice many other defenders could not.
Then in the full 11-vs.-11 team work Rucker did a nice job covering UCLA tight end Moliki Matavao breaking the pass up and playing very physical.
We only saw a little of the other defenders as linebacker Nick martin was close on the play where Rucker broke up the pass to Matavao. You can see Martin’s helmet in the cover shot on the story. Martin did get a surprise as his position coach from Oklahoma State, Joe Bob Clements was there for support and talked to Martin after the practice. Those practices are also a coaching convention of sorts with both NFL and college coaches in attendance.
Collin Oliver we saw with one rep in the defensive line vs. offensive line one-on-one. Oliver got a good start but wasn’t able to get all the way to the quarterback. We’re sure Oliver got more reps. The key for Colline Oliver will be getting great takeoff out of his stance as these offensive tackles are long and very athletic.
The Senior Bowl practices are televised by NFL Network, and they start at 11 a.m. CT and 1 p.m. CT with the National scheduled to go first each day on Wednesday and Thursday. The game is at 1 p.m. on NFL Network on Saturday.