Why the Senior Bowl Matters for Top NFL Draft Prospects
The Senior Bowl is basically a week-long job fair for NFL hopefuls. It’s highly touted for the intense level of competition on the field between 110 of the best players in college football while providing invaluable connections off the field.
There’s a reason this week matters. It will help shape and determine who the top NFL draft prospects are by providing them with one last opportunity to impress scouts, general managers and coaches while wearing full pads.
It’s quite possible that no other predraft event can affect a prospect’s draft stock like the Senior Bowl can. Sure the NFL Scouting Combine is worth mentioning, but that event is a bunch of football players running around in shorts and a T-shirt. The Senior Bowl is all about football.
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As with previous years, the Senior Bowl has had a little trouble courting some of the top draft prospects. Those who turn it down are either hurt or prospects who saw nothing to gain from participating because they were already ranked among the best at their position. This year’s invitees have followed a similar pattern.
Some of the notable quarterbacks to turn the event down this year are UCLA’s redshirt junior Brett Hundley and Oregon’s Heisman Trophy winner, Marcus Mariota.
With talent evaluators from every NFL team certain to be in attendance during this important week, Hundley’s decision to skip this opportunity will undoubtedly be heavily scrutinized by personnel and media members alike. Mariota on the other hand just finished a 15-game season and is already considered a possible top pick in the draft.
Last year, Alabama’s A.J. McCarron made a similar choice to opt out of the Senior Bowl only to fall all the way down to the fifth round of the draft. He ended up being the ninth quarterback drafted that year.
Other big names who won’t be showing off their talents in Mobile include West Virginia WR Kevin White, UCLA LB Eric Kendricks, FSU WR Rashad Greene and Wake Forest CB Kevin Johnson.
History shows that more than a few of these names will come to regret their decision not to participate.
Despite an inevitable list of no-shows, this star-studded event attracts a wide array of elite NFL prospects looking to establish themselves as the best at their position. While these prospects show off their skills, the week-long Senior Bowl seems to be increasing in popularity among NFL fans.
The recent growth in interest is partially due to the NFL Network transforming the offseason into one of the most intriguing reality shows TV has to offer—thus providing an entirely new level of exposure to prospects and the draft process as a whole.
Then throw in a social media platform such as Twitter and you’ve got one of the most talked about sporting events in January. Because of this, each year it seems as though the Senior Bowl stage only gets bigger. The Oakland Raiders noted Derek Carr "showcased his talents in the 2014 Senior Bowl":
Why Does the Senior Bowl Matter?
This annual showdown has a rich tradition of hosting the nation’s premier college football seniors over the years, and as of 2013, it now allows juniors who have graduated to participate.
To steal a quote from the executive director of the Senior Bowl, Phil Savage, “To have 500 former players on active NFL rosters emphasizes the fact that each year the Senior Bowl features the future stars of the league,” via seniorbowl.com.
When you consider nearly one out of every three starting quarterbacks at the start of the 2012-13 season participated in the Senior Bowl and 21 former participants made the Pro Bowl that year, according to the event's official website, it’s clear this game is on a different level relative to all other college all-star games. Dane Brugler of NFLDraftScout.com highlighted DB Quinten Rollins out of Miami (OH) as a player to watch:
For fans, this Saturday’s game is a great opportunity to watch the next generation of NFL stars battle each other on an even playing field. But for NFL execs and scouts, the week leading up to the game is far more interesting.
Each year, representatives from every NFL team flock to Mobile, Alabama, to see the ultra-competitive practices involving the nation’s top prospects, all of whom spend their week learning NFL systems and doing one-on-one interviews with scouts from every interested party.
In many cases, this week offers teams their first real opportunity to sit and talk with prospects to acquire vital information about who that player is. They can use these moments to help paint the picture of each prospect of interest by filling in some holes about their off-the-field demeanor and personalities.
The lobby of the main hotel for the Senior Bowl will be swarming with NFL scouts and team personnel interviewing and observing players all week. Everywhere you look there will be players talking to scouts and coaches. Sometimes the interactions are lighthearted and friendly, while other times they morph into a brutal interrogation.
Whatever the method, the end goal is the same—each team is looking to fall in love with a prospect it thinks can help its franchise win games.
According to Savage, as per John DeShazier of NewOrleansSaints.com:
"What people don’t realize is that beyond meeting and talking to head coaches and general managers, these players are interviewed by assistant coaches and scouts. And in three or four years, a lot of those assistant coaches and scouts are going to be in decision-making positions as a GM or head coach, and that first impression that you make in Mobile can really carry and serve you well three, four, five years down the road.
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Though the goal for players is to have fun and try not to get overwhelmed, it’s certainly easier said than done. Consider the mental and physical overload these players must endure after a grueling season of high-level football that began way back in July for them.
In some ways, the entire week of practices and activities offer up a pressure-filled situation for these players that may create cracks in their polished presentation of self.
These athletes literally have millions of dollars on the line this week. The plays they make or give up down here in Mobile, Alabama, could be the difference between a first-round destination and a fifth-round landslide.
In one-on-one drills, prospects look to make a name for themselves while all eyes are on them, both on the sidelines and at home.
To put this into perspective, no play they participated in over the span of their entire collegiate career will be scrutinized and dissected quite like a single rep at a Senior Bowl practice.
In the months before the 2013 NFL draft, a left tackle out of Central Michigan named Eric Fisher climbed up draft boards faster than a roach running when the light turns on. That was the same year Texas A&M left tackle Luke Joeckel was considered the unanimous top prospect among many experts.
However, Fisher was so impressive during practice and drills at the Senior Bowl that he ended up being the first pick overall in the draft that year going ahead of Joeckel, who was slated to be the favorite.
| 7 | 2014 |
| 10 | 2013 |
| 8 | 2012 |
| 12 | 2011 |
| 10 | 2010 |
| 11 | 2009 |
It was also 2013 when three of the top five draft picks were Senior Bowl participants. That year 10 attendees from the game were taken in the first round. In 2012, eight players represented the Senior Bowl in the first round.
One year earlier, quarterback Brandon Weeden caught the eye of his Senior Bowl coaching staff which was the Cleveland Browns that year. The Browns ended up drafting him with the 22nd pick overall.
Fisher and Weeden both could be examples of how players' value can see a tremendous rise during the Senior Bowl to the detriment of the team that valued them.
The case for establishing the importance of the Senior Bowl is pretty clear-cut. The lives and careers of 110 NFL draft prospects are sure to be dramatically altered over the course of the next week. If you have any interest in seeing the next generation of NFL stars going head-to-head, stay tuned and updated with the events to come down in Mobile, Alabama.
Ryan Riddle is a former NFL player who writes for Bleacher Report.
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