Winners and Losers from 2026 Senior Bowl

The Senior Bowl game can be a launching point toward stardom.

While the week's practices tend to hold more weight throughout the evaluation process, the actual all-star contest is the last opportunity for college football's best talent to make a positive on-field impression prior to the the upcoming NFL draft.

Dak Prescott, Daniel Jones and Justin Herbert all earned MVP honors before becoming high draft picks.

This year's rosters don't feature a top-10 pick at quarterback. However, LSU's Garrett Nussmeier continued to impress with how he handled the American Team's offense. The same can't be said of Arkansas' Taylen Green.

While the quarterbacks may have been underwhelming as a group, the running backs who took the field Saturday definitely impressed.

Those two positions highlight the winners and losers from the latest edition of college football's premier all-star event, with the NFL draft right around the corner.

Winner: QB Garrett Nussmeier, LSU

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Garrett Nussmeier rose like a phoenix from the ashes of the frigid South with his week in Mobile, Ala., culminating with MVP recognition thanks to her performance during Saturday's Senior Bowl contest.

"I haven't played football in three months," Nussmeier said during a post-game interview with NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. "It's good to be out there again, be out there with the guys and play the game I love.

The quarterback added, "Been through a lot the last six months...I'm so blessed and so thankful."

Nussmeier always had the ability and mentality to lead an offense. He shined during the 2024 campaign. But he suffered through an oblique injury this past season, while also dealing with the turmoil within the LSU Tigers program. As a result, his draft stock plummeted. He needed a strong week in Mobile and provided one.

The American offense dominated during the game's first quarter. Nussmeier completed five of eight passes for 57 yards and scored a rushing touchdown after making the correct call on a zone-read.

Granted, the LSU product did throw an interception, but it was a beautiful seam throw that his tight end allowed to ricochet off his hands.

How Nussmeier handled everything this season, stepped into an unfamiliar situation and became a stabilizing force during the event really showed his maturity and capabilities as a quarterback.

Loser: QB Taylen Green, Arkansas

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On the opposite side of the spectrum, Taylen Green didn't look comfortable in the all-star setting. The dual-threat quarterback struggled with consistency throughout the practice week, which carried into Saturday's contest.

Green has the physical tools every coach and evaluator wants in the quarterback position. A strong arm is attached to a big, sturdy frame, with the level of athleticism to be a weapon if deployed properly.

But an NFL quarterback needs to be consistent when working from the pocket. Everything else adds to the individual's effectiveness. It still starts as a passer, though. Green's mechanics, decision-making and ball placement were all sporadic.

At one point, the 6'6", 229-pound quarterback rolled to his right, threw across his body and attempted a pass all the way across the field. It's a poor decision under optimal settings. With the winds whipping at Hancock Whitney Stadium, the result was nearly disastrous, narrowly avoiding a turnover.

One play shouldn't define an individual's entire performance. In this case, Green's decision encapsulated what went wrong with him throughout the game and practice week. The quarterback's upside is obvious. The same applies with how much development he still needs.

Winner: American Team's Running Backs

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Arkansas running back Mile Washington Jr.

With the weather making it difficult to throw the ball, the American Team operated its offense through its running backs to great effectiveness.

Arkansas' Mike Washington Jr., Indiana's Kaelon Black, South Carolina's Rahsul Faison and Oklahoma Jaydn Ott ran extremely hard, with each finishing their carries with authority. As a group, these backs bowled through tacklers, pushed piles and continued to fall forward when they were eventually brought to the ground.

That type of effort is expected from a prospect like Washington, who weighs 228. But Black and Faison did the same thing and neither is as big, particularly the former, who is under 210 pounds.

The NFL is looking for running backs capable of maximizing their runs. This group may not have the most wiggle anyone has ever seen from the position, but it certainly got the yards available to them and a little more.

Ott's performance was particularly encouraging after a massively disappointing season during his lone campaign with the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Cal transfer didn't start a single game during his final collegiate season and ran for only 68 yards. Yet the runner seen on the field Saturday looked like a potential feature back on Sundays. Ott must answer questions about what went wrong at Oklahoma. If his answers are satisfactory, his abilities as a runner are evident.

Loser: Tight Ends

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Wyoming tight end John Michael Gyllenborg

The incoming tight end class is suspect. The group in Mobile didn't particularly help matters.

Throughout the practice week, this position group didn't have anyone step up and assert himself as the top option. Instead, it only confirmed the previous concern for any team in need of an upgrade.

Currently, Oregon's Kenyon Sadiq is the only tight end viewed as a first-round option. Beyond that point, multiple prospects have the potential to be something more than they were at the collegiate level, but they're projections.

The door was wide open for any prospect at the Senior Bowl to shine and stake their claim as a top-three option.

Three massive drops during the contest certainly won't help anyone's case.

Stanford's Sam Roush dropped an easy pass on the first drive despite no defenders around him. Wyoming's John Michael Gyllenborg couldn't adjust to a perfectly thrown seam pass, the ball bounced off his hands and turned into an interception. Ohio State's Will Kacmarek couldn't handle another seam pass later in the contest.

If anything, those tight ends in attendance created more excitement with their blocking than anything else. They're in-line options, not consistent offensive weapons.

Winner: Edge Nadame Tucker, Western Michigan

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Zion Young may have been awarded this year's Senior Bowl Defensive MVP, but Nadame Tucker was every bit as good and had more to gain from a standout showing.

Tucker punctuated an outstanding final collegiate season with a two-sack performance, including a forced fumble, during the all-star contest. The reigning MAC Defensive Player of the year was explosive and slippery, with the polish to finish rushes.

It's no longer uncommon to hear of a college football player taking the long road before finding success. Tucker's path may have been longer and more winding than most.

The 24-year-old prospect attended two different community colleges before spending three seasons with the Houston Cougars. He produced little during his time in H-town. He finally exploded onto the scene this past year with 21 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks.

"I never counted myself out," Tucker told the Detroit Free Press' Dave Birkett. "Yeah, it can feel like it's a long shot. It can feel like the NFL is a long shot. As long as you keep faith, you don't know the future. It's one day at a time and work. Work never fails."

When asked about needing time before flourishing, Tucker added, "I was in a great environment [at Western Michigan]. It wasn't toxic. I was just around great people, great energy and people that want to see me succeed."

Tucker's performance Saturday isn't an aberration. He's a legitimate pass-rusher with plenty of juice. More importantly, he showed it against the highest level of competition at the height of the evaluation process.