The Panini Senior Bowl has always had a way of pulling together regional stories, and this year, Memphis shows up in the form of two very different defensive linemen. Auburn edge rusher Keyron Crawford and Tennessee interior lineman Bryson Eason took separate routes out of the 901, but they land in Mobile with a shared mission: prove that what they’ve been doing on Saturdays can translate to NFL Sundays.
Keyron Crawford
Crawford looks like the guy you draw up on the whiteboard. At 6‑4, 255, he carries the kind of length and frame that make offensive tackles subtly adjust in their stance before the snap. Auburn’s staff leaned into that, moving him around the front and letting him hunt from different alignments, and the production followed: 36 tackles, 9.5 for loss, 5.0 sacks in 2025, and a pressure profile that put him near the top of the Tigers’ defense. Those aren’t empty numbers; they came in a league where every left tackle you face is on someone’s draft board.
What jumps on tape is the first step. Crawford threatens the outside shoulder quickly enough that tackles have to open their hips, and once they do, he converts speed to power, walking them back toward the quarterback with a long‑arm or bull rush that plays to his length. When he’s really cooking, he layers a counter — a spin back inside, a club‑rip — that shows you a player who has clearly lived in the pass‑rush drills and not just relied on raw talent. Senior Bowl one‑on‑ones are a perfect laboratory for that skill set; if he stacks wins there, you’ll hear his name creeping up edge boards by midweek.
Bryson Eason
Eason is built from a different mold. Listed around 6‑3, 315, the Tennessee defensive tackle operates in the fight between the guards, in the space where your neck gets thick and your patience gets tested. Across 57 career games and 30 starts, he totaled more than 90 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks, quietly becoming one of the anchors of the Vols’ front. He’s the guy who eats a double team so the linebacker can run free and doesn’t complain when the credit goes elsewhere.
His game is defined by heavy hands and discipline. Watch him against SEC run games, and you see a player who strikes, locks out, and holds his ground long enough for the picture to clear. When Tennessee stunted, Eason proved he could cross a face without losing his gap integrity, a subtle detail that shows up in coaching rooms when staffs decide who they trust on early downs. He won’t wow anyone with track‑meet testing, but Mobile isn’t a track; it’s a series of short, violent moments, and that suits him.
For Memphis fans, there’s pride wrapped up in seeing both body types — the sleek edge and the stout interior — carrying the city’s name into one of football’s highest‑leverage job interviews. These are not hype‑creation prospects; they are finished products still in need of one more coat of polish. If Crawford leaves Mobile with a handful of splash rushes on tape and Eason strings together a week of stonewalled double teams and pocket push, the story 4 Star Sports Media will tell is simple: Memphis sent real grown‑man football players to the Senior Bowl, and the league noticed.
4 Star Sports Media is proud to partner with the Chris Hope Foundation for all written coverage of the 2026 Panini Senior Bowl.
This collaboration supports CHF’s ongoing mission to provide hope and assistance to families facing serious illness, while spotlighting the nation’s top college football talent in Mobile, Alabama. Together, we’re uniting purpose and passion—celebrating excellence both on and off the field throughout Senior Bowl week.
