East-West Shrine Game 2014: Roster Breakdowns, Top Invites and Watch List

More than 100 potential NFL draft selections are in St. Petersburg, Fla. this week to participate in the 89th East-West Shrine Game (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, NFL Network).

With coaches, executives and scouts from all 32 NFL teams in attendance, each of those prospects will be looking to bolster their likelihood of hearing their name called from the stage at Radio City Music Hall in May.

While the cream of the crop among seniors in the 2014 draft class might be at the Senior Bowl next week, there is plenty of talent at the Shrine Game to make the trip to South Florida worthwhile for NFL teams.

From solid large-school talent to small-school sleepers, the prospects at the Shrine Game ranges from potential Day 2 draft picks or possible undrafted gems.

East Roster

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Eastern Illinois' Jimmy Garoppolo leads the roster of quarterbacks for the East squad.

Pos	#	First Name	Last Name	HT	WT	School
C	74	Chris	Elkins	6'2"	289	Youngstown State
C	67	Zac	Kerin	6'4"	308	Toledo
C	64	James	Stone	6'3"	307	Tennessee
G	77	Antwan	Lowery	6'4"	355	Rutgers
G	63	John	Urschel	6'3"	317	Penn State
OT	71	Kyle	Bryant	6'5"	308	Youngstown State
OT	52	Donald	Hawkins	6'5"	310	Texas
OT	66	Laurent	Duvernay-Tardif	6'5"	321	McGill (Canada)
OT	72	Matt	Feiler	6'6"	330	Bloomsburg
OT	76	Matt	Hall	6'9"	323	Belhaven (Miss.)
QB	11	Jimmy	Garoppolo	6'2"	225	Eastern Illinois
QB	6	Jordan	Lynch	6'	220	Northern Illinois
QB	9	Jeff	Mathews	6'3"	225	Cornell
RB	24	Zach	Bauman	5'7"	196	Northern Arizona
RB	27	LaDarius	Perkins	5'7"	189	Mississippi State
RB	20	Rajion	Neal	5'11"	211	Tennessee
TE	82	Alex	Bayer	6'4"	258	Bowling Green
TE	8	Crockett	Gillmore	6'5"	253	Colorado State
TE	18	Blake	Jackson	6'3"	238	Oklahoma State
WR	80	Jeremy	Gallon	5'7"	183	Michigan
WR	84	Matt	Hazel	6'1"	196	Coastal Carolina
WR	1	Allen	Hurns	6'1"	193	Miami (Fla.)
WR	81	Patrick	Laird	6'2"	222	Army
WR	85	Ja'mes	Logan	6'2"	187	Mississippi
WR	88	Erik	Lora	5'10"	200	Eastern Illinois
K	16	Zach	Hocker	6'0"	182	Arkansas
Pos	#	First Name	Last Name	HT	WT	School
CB	21	Ricardo	Allen	5'9"	187	Purdue
CB	26	Ross	Cockrell	6'	183	Duke
CB	3	Pierre	Desir	6'1"	197	Lindenwood
CB	15	Phillip	Gaines	6'1"	195	Rice
CB	23	Andre	Hal	5'10"	190	Vanderbilt
CB	5	Nevin	Lawson	5'10"	188	Utah State
DL	96	Jay	Bromley	6'3"	307	Syracuse
DL	98	Will	Clarke	6'6"	277	West Virginia
DL	90	Bruce	Gaston, Jr.	6'2"	316	Purdue
DL	94	Zachariah	Kerr	6'2"	334	Delaware
DL	97	Demonte	McAllister	6'2"	297	Florida State
DL	56	Garrison	Smith	6'1"	310	Georgia
DL	99	Ethan	Westbrooks	6'3"	264	West Texas A&M
DL	57	Kerry	Wynn	6'5"	268	Richmond
LB	13	Xavius	Boyd	6'1"	236	Western Kentucky
LB	2	Preston	Brown	6'1"	262	Louisville
LB	40	Glenn	Carson	6'3"	244	Penn State
LB	4	Andrew	Jackson	6'	259	Western Kentucky
LB	46	Derrell	Johnson	6'1"	248	East Carolina
LB	34	DeDe (Devekeyan)	Lattimore	6'	237	South Florida
LB	41	Johnny	Millard	6'2"	232	Cal Poly
S	10	Tre	Boston	6'	198	North Carolina
S	17	A.J.	Marshall	5'11"	197	Wake Forest
S	29	Hakeem	Smith	6'	186	Louisville
S	14	Jemea	Thomas	5'9"	191	Georgia Tech
P	30	Steven	Clark	6'5"	232	Auburn

Rosters are from the Shrine Game's official website; however, heights and weights have been updated from Monday's weigh-in results, courtesy of Optimum Scouting's Eric Galko, while injured players have been removed from the rosters.

West Roster

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Washington's Keith Price is among the three quarterbacks on the West roster.

Pos	#	First Name	Last Name	HT	WT	School
C	63	Dillon	Farrell	6'5"	309	New Mexico
C	64	Gabe	Ikard	6'3"	304	Oklahoma
C	58	Khalil	Wilkes	6'1"	292	Stanford
G	68	Christopher	Burnette	6'3"	306	Georgia
G	79	Dakota	Dozier	6'4"	312	Furman
G	75	Ryan	Groy	6'4"	325	Wisconsin
G	72	Austin	Wentworth	6'4"	315	Fresno State
OT	77	Kevin	Graf	6'6"	309	USC
OT	76	Danny	Kistler Jr.	6'7"	318	Montana
OT	78	Charles	Leno, Jr.	6'4"	302	Boise State
OT	71	Jeremiah	Sirles	6'6"	315	Nebraska
QB	17	Keith	Price	6'	196	Washington
QB	11	Tommy	Rees	6'1"	214	Notre Dame
QB	10	Keith	Wenning	6'2"	219	Ball State
RB	24	Brennan	Clay	5'11"	196	Oklahoma
RB	20	Timothy	Flanders	5'8"	212	Sam Houston State
RB	37	Anthony	LaCoste	5'10"	203	Air Force
RB	31	Ben	Malena	5'8"	193	Texas A&M
TE	83	Ted	Bolser	6'5"	257	Indiana
TE	82	Kaneakua	Friel	6'4"	263	BYU
TE	48	Jordan	Najvar	6'6"	262	Baylor
WR	2	John	Brown	5'10"	175	Pitt State
WR	18	Quincy	Enunwa	6'2"	227	Nebraska
WR	81	Seantavius	Jones	6'3"	209	Valdosta State
WR	89	Chandler	Jones	5'9"	180	San Jose State
WR	6	Bernard	Reedy	5'8"	174	Toledo
K	4	Anthony	Fera	6'2"	208	Texas
Pos	#	First Name	Last Name	HT	WT	School
CB	22	Bene	Benwikere	5'11"	194	San Jose State
CB	23	Carrington	Byndom	5'11"	180	Texas
CB	12	Bennett	Jackson	6'	187	Notre Dame
CB	16	Rashaad	Reynolds	5'10"	191	Oregon State
CB	5	Shaquille	Richardson	6'	194	Arizona
CB	25	Marcus	Williams	5'11"	195	North Dakota State
DL	97	Beau	Allen	6'2"	333	Wisconsin
DL	70	Justin	Ellis	6'2"	351	Louisiana Tech
DL	95	Evan	Gill	6'3"	292	Manitoba (Canada)
DL	98	Derrick	Hopkins	6'	321	Virginia Tech
DL	93	Cassius	Marsh	6'4"	254	UCLA
DL	90	Josh	Mauro	6'5"	276	Stanford
DL	96	Chidera	Uzo-Diribe	6'2"	252	Colorado
DL	99	Larry	Webster, III	6'6"	249	Bloomsburg
FS	27	Stephen	Obeng-Agyapong	5'10"	209	Penn State
LB	56	Shaquil	Barrett	6'1"	260	Colorado State
LB	40	Nate	Dreiling	6'3"	236	Pitt State
LB	42	Devon	Kennard	6'3"	257	USC
LB	55	Prince	Shembo	6'1"	254	Notre Dame
LB	41	Tyler	Starr	6'4"	249	South Dakota
LB	44	Max	Bullough	6'3"	265	Michigan State
S	3	Alden	Darby	5'10"	192	Arizona State
S	8	Daytawion	Lowe	5'11"	196	Oklahoma State
S	1	Sean	Parker	5'10"	193	Washington
S	9	Daniel	Sorensen	6'1"	208	BYU
S	21	Brock	Vereen	5'11"	199	Minnesota
P	15	Richie	Leone	6'3"	215	Houston

Rosters are from the Shrine Game's official website; however, heights and weights have been updated from Monday's weigh-in results, courtesy of Optimum Scouting's Eric Galko, while injured players have been removed from the rosters.

Top Players

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Gabe Ikard is the top prospect at this year's Shrine Game.

1. Gabe Ikard, C, Oklahoma

A four-year starter on the Oklahoma offensive line, Ikard has very good movement skills for an interior offensive lineman. He has the quickness to move between blockers smoothly along the line of scrimmage and make key run blocks at the second level.

Questions about his size and power might have kept him out of the Senior Bowl.

Though he is not going to drive many NFL defensive linemen off the line of scrimmage, he has proven he can hold his own against top competition thanks to his intelligence, discipline and being technically sound.

2. Ross Cockrell, CB, Duke

Cornerback is the strongest overall position at this year’s Shrine Game, so many of them make a solid case to be among the top five players.

But the best in the group might be Duke’s Ross Cockrell.

Cockrell might not stand out in terms of size, strength or speed, but he is a well-rounded cornerback who has been successful against even some of college football’s best and biggest wide receivers.

He makes up for what he lacks in strength and explosion by being consistently physical with receivers. He has good quickness to defend route breaks and very good ball skills.

3. Shaquil Barrett, OLB, Colorado State

Best suited to play outside linebacker in a 3-4 defensive scheme, Barrett is an explosive edge defender who can hit the backfield promptly when he times his get-off correctly.

He is a strong edge-setter in run defense but also an effective inside and outside rusher.

Barrett needs to become a more complete pass-rusher to thrive in that capacity in the NFL, and he does not have great athletic range. That said, he has good size for the position and has been highly productive at Colorado State. He has the versatility to play a variety of spots, especially against the run.

4. Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, Eastern Illinois

Looking to follow in Tony Romo’s footsteps from Eastern Illinois to the NFL, Garoppolo is a legitimate mid-round quarterback prospect in this year’s draft class.

He is a strong-armed passer with an elite-level release and a demonstrated ability to big throws down the field.

Garoppolo needs to be more consistent with his downfield touch. He also makes more mistakes, especially under pressure, than he can get away with at the next level. Nonetheless, the 2013 Walter Payton Award winner has the potential to develop into an NFL starting signal-caller.

5. Prince Shembo, OLB, Notre Dame

Shembo’s senior season at Notre Dame fell short of expectation, but he is still a solid Day 3 prospect as an edge defender, ideally as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defensive scheme.

A high-effort defender, Shembo is a good athlete with a solid burst off the line of scrimmage. He uses his hands well as a pass-rusher and effectively crashes in off the edge as a run-stopper.

Shembo’s versatility is limited: He might be too small to play defensive end in a 4-3 scheme, while his coverage skills are subpar. Still, he has the potential to be a solid player in an edge defender rotation.

Author's Note: An earlier version of this slide included Missouri cornerback E.J. Gaines. Gaines is not playing in this week's game due to injury.

Players to Watch

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East Carolina's Derrell Johnson is a versatile outside linebacker who could be a great value selection on Day 3.

While the top five prospects in the Shrine Game all come into the week with their draft stocks fairly secure, the following five are among the players with the potential to rise as high as anyone playing in Saturday's contest.

Pierre Desir, CB, Lindenwood

Desir could leapfrog the entire group of cornerbacks at this week’s Shrine Game with a strong week of practices.

The winner of this year’s inaugural Cliff Harris Award for the nation’s top small-school defensive player, Desir has been a dominant presence for two seasons at Division II program Lindenwood.

Desir has locked down opponents throughout his collegiate career, showing off explosive speed and closing burst in the process. He has very good ball skills and is a strong open-field tackler. If he can prove these skills translate against tougher competition this week, NFL teams will be buzzing about him.

Justin Ellis, NT, Louisiana Tech

Though his game is unrefined, Ellis should draw scouts’ intrigue for his size alone.

A gargantuan who weighed in at 351 pounds, Ellis has shown the ability to dominate opponents with his sheer power.

A strong bull-rusher who is rarely driven off the line of scrimmage, Ellis also has decent movement skills considering his size. He does not show much skill in breaking down blockers, however, aside from simply overpowering them.

Derrell Johnson, OLB, East Carolina

Though his career has gone largely overlooked outside of East Carolina, Johnson has been productive and versatile.

Both fluid in coverage and disruptive as a rusher, Johnson’s potential to be a dynamic player is specifically high as a pass-defender.

Johnson has a good burst off the line of scrimmage and can change directions well. His tackling could be better, but he can circumvent blockers with not only his quickness but also his strength and use of hands.

Marcus Williams, CB, North Dakota State

One of the best players on the defending three-time FCS champion Bison, Williams is a nimble athlete and an aggressive playmaker in coverage.

He has the speed and change-of-direction quickness to cover wide receivers at all levels of the field. Williams also has the instincts and ball skills to make big plays on the ball in the air.

Also an impactful kickoff returner, Williams could be a great value pick for both defense and special teams on Day 3. He really struggles as an open-field tackler, however, and must improve in that capacity to thrive in the NFL.

Tim Flanders, RB, Sam Houston State

A productive ballcarrier who ran his way to more than 5,700 yards in his career at Sam Houston State, Tim Flanders has the talent to be the next in a long line of late-round small school picks turned productive NFL running backs.

Flanders is a compact runner who has good burst, makes acute cuts and can drive through contact. He might not add much value as a receiver or pass protector, but he should be able to make plays both inside and outside as a runner.

Dan Hope is an NFL/NFL draft Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow @Dan_Hope