The first day of padded practices for the Senior Bowl took place Tuesday, providing the first real look at some of the top prospects who will play in Saturday’s showcase game. Here are five observations coming out of the two practice sessions between the North and South teams.

Texas A&M Defensive end/outside linebacker Von Miller has had a great week of practice, and is one of the best natural pass rushers I have ever seen. I’m really looking forward to seeing him in action at the Senior Bowl on Saturday.

The first-round offensive tackles that I’ve been talking about all week long really impressed me.

I think the Brandon Marshall trade is a great deal for the Miami Dolphins on several different levels.

Dez Bryant is certainly a top five talent, but Mike Mayock explains why his stock has fallen dramatically.

At Jimmy Clausen‘s workout on Friday, I saw pretty much what I expected to see.

This is a defensive draft, especially early on. So out of the 32 picks in the first round, I think you’re only going to see between 12-14 offensive players taken, which means you’re going to get 18-20 defensive players picked.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the effect the Donovan McNabb trade will have on the draft, and the more I think about it the more I believe the Redskins will be a factor in the NFC East.

While the Redskins got their man in Donovan McNabb, the Eagles now have 11 picks in the upcoming draft after acquiring a second-round pick from Washington. Look for Philadelphia to target defense.

The Eagles have made a huge trade, dealing QB Donovan McNabb to the rival Redskins for the 37th overall pick in this year’s draft, and a conditional choice in the 2011 NFL Draft.

I’ve got three prospects I’m keeping my eyes on at the draft in a few weeks, second- and third-round guys that will have some real value to the teams that draft them.

My favorite stop for a pro day every year is Austin, Texas. They put on a great show and, trust me folks, there’s no lack of talent. This year, the curiosity was quarterback Colt McCoy, and I think the most important factor was he showed he was healthy.

I think the NFL scouts and coaches in attendance at Dez Bryant‘s private workout today — and there were a ton of them — left with more questions than answers.

I’ve been to an awful lot of quarterback pro days, and Sam Bradford’s workout Monday gets an “A” on all levels.

Sam Bradford completed 39 passes this past season for the Sooners, but that was because of two shoulder injuries. He came out today at his pro day and threw the ball 63 times and only one of them touched the ground. And, trust me, it was because one of the receivers dropped the football.