Senior Bowl 2012: 5 Senior Bowl Participants Who Leave Us Shaking Our Heads

As everyone in the draft community knows, the Senior Bowl is one of the most important events in the draft calendar, perhaps even more so than the NFL Combine. After spending months watching film on these guys, NFL personnel men get a chance to watch the players compete with top competition, live and in-person. 

For better or worse, a lot of times these Senior Bowl practices are given too much weight in their evaluation. Here are five players that have done nothing but hurt their stock over the past week. 

Chris Polk, RB, Washington

Once considered to be a fringe-first rounder, Polk has quickly played himself out of the conversation for the best back not named Trent Richardson. 

He has done nothing over the past week to show any kind of explosiveness to his game, which was one of his biggest question marks coming into the Senior Bowl. He isn't overly physical or shifty and does not run with great pad level. It's not like Polk is a terrible player, he just doesn't do anything that makes him stand out and suggest he can be a great player at the next level.  

So far, Polk has done nothing to suggest that he is anything more than a system back that really doesn't do anything spectacular enough to warrant a top pick. 

Dwight Jones, WR, North Carolina

Jones has the ideal size for a receiver and possesses a good knack for plucking the football, but he does not bring much else to the table. 

All week long he struggled in two major areas that are crucial at the next level: gaining separation and beating press coverage. When you struggle in the two areas that are the most difficult to adjust to at the next level, it is going to kill your draft stock. 

Jones may have played himself out of being a draftable player. 

Alfonzo Dennard, CB, Nebraska

Alfonzo Dennard came into the Senior Bowl as one of the top three corner prospects, but his play this week may have killed his chances to be a first-round pick. 

He displayed bad footwork and anticipation, and his lack of recovery speed led to him getting beat on a consistient basis.To make matters worse, he will miss a chance to redeem himself during the game because of a hip flexor injury. 

Dennard was so bad that Russ Lande of Sporting News claimed, "If you did not know Dennard was a top prospect, you would have thought he was a borderline free agent based on his play all week." Ouch.

Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State

Anyone who still considers Moore to be a legitimate prospect as a starting NFL quarterback needs to stop. Now. 

Moore is a great thrower—until he has to throw for more than ten yards. He lacks the arm strength and accuracy on deep and intermediate routes to play in the NFL. His elongated delivery only makes matters worse for projecting Moore as an NFL quarterback. 

On top of all of his woes as a pro passer, he measured under six feet, which is a huge concern in evaluating a quarterback.

At this point, Moore will be lucky if he even gets drafted.  

Zebrie Sanders, OT, Florida State

Sanders was a possible first round selection and one of the top offensive lineman coming into the Senior Bowl, but he may have played himself out of the top three rounds. 

The purpose of the Senior Bowl is to see prospects against top talent, which is where Sanders struggled. The top edge rushers ate him alive, despite his elite athleticism for the position. He needs a stronger base in order to hold up at the pro level.

 Because of that, Sanders is viewed as more of a "project player". Those guys tend to be drafted in rounds 4-7, not 1-3.