10 thoughts after spending Tuesday and Wednesday watching the North and South teams practice at the Senior Bowl.

1. A year ago at this time, when the Bears were coaching in the Senior Bowl, I asked a national scout for another team who had been the best player in practice for the week. He quickly answered Temple’s Haason Reddick, who went on to be the 13th pick in the draft by the Cardinals, continuing a fantastic rise for a player who entered college as a walk-on. Reddick played with his hand in the dirt at Temple but showed the NFL he could play as an off-the-ball linebacker in the Senior Bowl. His stock shot up immediately, and he catapulted from being a mid-round pick to a first-rounder.

So I went back to the same scout Thursday morning and asked him what player had impressed him the most. He provided two names. Let’s be clear from the start: This doesn’t mean these guys are necessarily bound for the first round. It also doesn’t mean they’re necessarily the best players who will be on the field in Saturday’s game. They’re the two players who had impressed him the most through two practices:

• Colorado State wide receiver Michael Gallup

• Pittsburgh left tackle Brian O’Neill

Gallup put up huge numbers the last two seasons and was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award this season, losing out to another player in the Senior Bowl, Oklahoma State’s James Washington. Gallup had 100 receptions for 1,413 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior, following up the 76 catches, 1,272 yards and 14 touchdowns he posted as a junior. He had 13 catches for 263 yards and three touchdowns this past fall in a game against Nevada.

He measured just a hair under 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds and has shown a knack for getting open. He does a nice job of competing for the ball and is physical. Originally committed to South Carolina, Gallup didn’t qualify academically, so he wound up at Butler Community College in Kansas and from there made his way to Fort Collins, Colo. He’s an interesting prospect and one to keep an eye on when he tests at the scouting combine.

O’Neill isn’t going to be at the top of the offensive tackle rankings when the draft arrives, but he probably helped himself out this week. The redshirt junior measured 6-6½ and 298 pounds with 34 1/8-inch arms. He has a little mean streak in him and showed good versatility for the Panthers, starting 37 consecutive games, the last 12 at left tackle. Not everyone was sold on him this week, and an East Coast scout told me he thought O’Neill would have benefited most from returning to school for one more season. He has shown well overall, though.

2. There’s another offensive tackle with an interesting story in Army’s Brett Toth, the first West Point product to take part in the Senior Bowl. He has been lining up at right tackle but is quick to admit it’s a projection for him when it comes to pass blocking. Army had a grand total of 65 pass attempts this past season, so it’s going to take some time to get him trained to block edge rushers. That’s why teams are looking at him on the interior as well.

“For starters, they’re wondering if I can pass block,” said Toth, who measured nearly 6-6 and 303 pounds. “My weight is questionable right now because I’m having to do different obligations for the Army, and some are wondering if I can also play some guard as well. Whatever they tell me to do, I am going to end up doing.”

What Toth isn’t going to be able to do, however, is join the NFL right away. He has a two-year commitment to the Army after graduation in the spring, meaning the soonest he could join a team would be 2020. That’s barring a change of plans anyway.

“It’s going to be at least two years,” Toth said. “It changes every now and then depending on the administration that is in office. Once they tell me I have the green light, I am going to pursue the NFL.”

Toth will graduate in May with a degree in nuclear engineering. Maybe he gets the green light to chase his football dream before his two years of service are up. It’s possible. He looks like he has a little edge to him, but it’s a projection game, especially if Toth isn’t available until 2020.

How did every Bears player fare this season? And what is their contract status? A position-by-position look at the 2017 roster. (Colleen Kane, Rich Campbell) (Colleen Kane, Rich Campbell)

3. Probably the best story in Mobile, period, was Central Florida outside linebacker Shaquem Griffin, who had his left hand amputated when he was 4 because of a birth defect. Griffin sure as heck doesn’t treat it as a handicap, and he was named MVP of the Peach Bowl after UCF’s victory over Auburn for posting 12 tackles, 3½ for a loss and 1½ sacks. He moves well, and the Texans coaches have experimented with him at safety a little bit as he’s undersized for a linebacker at 6-1, 223 pounds.

You can’t knock his production, though. Griffin had 74 tackles and seven sacks last season. He has yet to be invited to the combine in Indianapolis and is holding out hope an invitation arrives. He plays hard and has practiced hard this week. Griffin, whose twin brother Shaquill is a cornerback for the Seahawks, is the definition of a tweener. He could still get a combine invite, and hopefully he does because he brings a lot of energy to the field.

4. March 6 is a day to circle on the calendar. That’s the deadline for teams to use the franchise or transition tag. I mention that because when you start considering which wide receivers could be in play via free agency, you have to keep an eye on a couple of guys who could be getting the tag.

It seems very unlikely Sammy Watkins will be leaving the Rams after this season. The sense I got in talking to a few people this week is that one way or the other, general manager Les Snead will find a way to keep Watkins in place. Whether that means a multiyear contract or one of the tags, I don’t know right now. The Rams have to keep a massive pile of cash and cap space socked away to re-sign defensive tackle Aaron Donald at some point, and after that they’ll have to pay running back Todd Gurley. But the Rams had the highest-scoring offense in the NFL this season, and Watkins was one of the primary reasons. Yes, he caught only 39 passes, but he was effective in the red zone with a team-high eight touchdowns, and his vertical threat opened up things for fellow wide receiver Cooper Kupp and Gurley.

The other wide receiver to keep an eye on when it comes to the tag is the Jaguars’ Allen Robinson, who suffered a torn ACL in the opener. He has said he will be able to pass a physical in March to sign a free-agent deal elsewhere, but some doubt seriously if the Jaguars will allow that to happen. The team was talking with Robinson’s representatives about a new contract before the injury. He’s by far the Jaguars’ best receiver, and they are expected to allow Marqise Lee to depart via free agency. Maybe they have Robinson sign a prove-it deal or a contract with some upside should he prove he’s healthy, or maybe they tag him. But the Jaguars can’t afford to lose him to a receiver-needy team such as the Bears or the 49ers, who have much more cap space than the Bears.