Former Toledo defensive tackle Darius Alexander made a big impact at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, both during last week’s practices and in the Senior Bowl game at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Saturday.
Alexander impressed media observers and NFL Draft pundits with his performance throughout the week of practices and one-on-one drills leading up to Saturday’s game. He was named the top defensive lineman at the Senior Bowl in a vote by the offensive linemen participating in the practices. He followed that with a noteworthy performance in the game, picking up one tackle for loss, another tackle for no gain and several pressures on the American Team quarterbacks.
Former Toledo defensive tackle Darius Alexander made a big impact at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, on Saturday.
The American Team pulled out a 22-19 victory over the National Team, which featured Alexander and Rocket teammate Maxen Hook.
Alexander, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, earned second-team All-MAC honors at defensive tackle in 2024 after making third-team all-league in 2023. He set career highs in tackles (40) and tackles for loss (7.5) this past season and had a memorable 58-yard pick-six in Toledo’s 48-46, six overtime victory over Pittsburgh in the GameAbove Sports Bowl.
He finished his Rocket career with 127 tackles, 22.0 tackles for loss and 9.0 sacks. Hook was a four-time All-MAC safety, one of only three Rockets ever to achieve all-league honors four times.
Hook and Alexander are hoping to become the latest Rockets to be selected in the NFL Draft (April 24-26). A total of 10 Rockets have been drafted since 2017, including Philadelphia Eagles’ cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, who was selected in the first round of the 2024 Draft and is a finalist for the league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year honor.
Like Alexander, Mitchell also had an impressive showing at last year’s Senior Bowl practices, though he did not participate in the game.
