Miami Hurricanes Performances in the Senior Bowl

Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Braxton Berrios and placekicker Michael Badgley were on the North team in the 2018 Senior Bowl played in Mobile, AL on Saturday, January 27th. The ‘Canes were also expected to be represented by Chad Thomas but an undisclosed minor injury kept Thomas, aka Major Nine, from competing. However, Thomas, a defensive end from Miami, was impressive in practices per The Palm Beach Post.

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Braxton Berrios, Wide Receiver/Punt Returner

Berrios was measured at the Senior Bowl and he stands at 5’8 ¹⁄₂ and 177 pounds with a 9 ¹⁄₄ hand, 28 1/8 arm length, and 68” wingspan. Berrios, a former 3-star recruit out of Raleigh, NC had a stellar senior season in Coral Gables. Berrios caught 55 passes for 679 yards and 9 touchdowns with a 12.3 yard per catch average. While the YPC is a low stat he was used often in the bubble screen game which equates to an outside run at the college level.

In the Senior Bowl workouts, Berrios was lauded by NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks for his abilities:

2. Miami’s Braxton Berrios showed me he’s the ultimate slot receiver. While he’s a little undersized, he has exceptional short-area quickness and burst. He has a knack for getting open. He’s fearless over the middle of the field, and you see that in drills. In the right system, he could be a headache because he has enough stop-start quickness and savvy to be a tough matchup for nickel corners.

I think he’s a more explosive version of Cole Beasley. -- Bucky Brooks

During the actual Senior Bowl game, Berrios caught one pass for four yards and had a punt return for 26 yards finishing with 70 total punt return yards on 5 returns.

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Michael Badgley, Placekicker

Michael Badgley has had an up and down career at the University of Miami, like most of the senior class. The unsettled coaching between Al Golden, Larry Scott, and Mark Richt was tough on this resilient group of young men as they seek a career in the NFL. Badgley has made 77 career field goals in orange and green and three of his six missed field goals in 2017 were from fifty or more yards out. Badgley has a strong leg and needs to improve his accuracy to make an NFL roster but with the uncertainty in kicking in the NFL at the time he could make a roster in 2018.

Badgley showed off his power in the Senior Bowl making a 50 yarder while hitting the upright on a 55 yard field goal for his only miss of the day. Badgley’s biggest question heading into the NFL Draft and free agent workouts will be his disastrous Capitol One Orange Bowl against the Wisconsin Badgers. Badgley missed two field goals, one from 20-29 which could’ve pulled Miami within four of Wisconsin.