Senior Bowl 2017 Roster: Highlighting Top NFL Prospects in College Showcase

Now that conference championships are over, the only NFL game between now and Super Bowl LI is the Pro Bowl.

Of course, you might not have much interest watching this annual all-star game. The game means next to nothing, and the level of play in recent years has left plenty of football fans wanting.

Fortunately, the Pro Bowl isn't the only noteworthy game being played this weekend. We'll also have the Reese's Senior Bowl on Saturday. The Senior Bowl is an exhibition of sorts for seniors and college graduates looking to make the transition to the NFL.

While many scouts and personnel executives place more importance on the practices leading up to the actual Senior Bowl game, Saturday will bring an opportunity for fans to get a firsthand look at some of the prospects teams will be targeting on draft weekend.

For the prospects themselves, this is an opportunity to push their draft stock up a notch before next month's NFL Scouting Combine.

Today, we're going to take a look at the Senior Bowl game and examine some of the prospects who will be worth watching.

2017 Reese's Senior Bowl

What: North Team vs. South Team

Where: Mobile, AL

When: Saturday, January 28

Time: 2:30 p.m. ET

National TV: NFL Network

NFL Coaching Staffs: Cleveland Browns (South) and Chicago Bears (North)

Current Rosters

Player	School	Position
North Team
South Team
Sefo Liufau	Colorado	QB
Nate Peterman	Pittsburgh	QB
Trent Taylor	Louisiana Tech	WR
Zane Gonzalez	Arizona State	K
Corey Clement	Wisconsin	RB
Zay Jones	East Carolina	WR
John Johnson	Boston College	S
Cooper Kupp	Eastern Washington	WR
Aarion Penton	Missouri	CB
Jamari Staples	Louisville	WR
Rasul Douglas	West Virginia	CB
Desmond King	Iowa	CB
C.J. Beathard	Iowa	QB
Connor Harris	Lindenwood	LB
Amba Etta-Tawo	Syracuse	WR
Jalen Robinette	Air Force	WR
Obi Melifonwu	Connecticut	S
Lorenzo Jerome	Saint Francis	S
Nate Gerry	Nebraska	S
Jordan Lewis	Michigan	CB
Brendan Langley	Lamar	CB
Kareem Hunt	Toledo	RB
Toby Baker	Arkansas	P
Ben Gedeon	Michigan	LB
Chris Wormley	Michigan	DE
De'Veon Smith	Michigan	RB
Sam Rogers	Virginia Tech	FB
Vince Biegel	Wisconsin	LB
Colin Holba	Louisville	LS
Jordan Herdman	Simon Fraser	LB
Kyle Fuller	Baylor	C
Carroll Phillips	Illinois	DE
Haason Reddick	Temple	LB
Tyler Orlovsky	West Virginia	C
Dion Dawkins	Temple	G
Dan Feeney	Indiana	G
Kyle Kalis	Michigan	G
Adam Bisnowaty	Pittsburgh	OT
Julien Davenport	Bucknell	OT
Taylor Moton	Western Michigan	OT
Zach Banner	USC	OT
Jordan Morgan	Kutztown	G
Mike Roberts	Toledo	TE
Amara Darboh	Michigan	WR
Jeremy Sprinkle	Arkansas	TE
Jonnu Smith	Florida International	TE
Isaac Rochell	Notre Dame	DE
Dawuane Smoot	Illinois	DE
Tarell Basham	Ohio	DE
Derek Rivers	Youngstown State	LB
Larry Ogunjobi	Charlotte	DT
Ryan Glasgow	Michigan	DT
Jaleel Johnson	Iowa	DT
Stevie Tu'ikolovatu	USC	DT
Duke Riley	LSU	LB
Montravius Adams	Auburn	DT
Antonio Pipkin	Tiffin	QB
Artavis Scott	Clemson	WR
Tyus Bowser	Houston	LB
Justin Vogel	Miami	P
Davis Webb	California	QB
Fred Ross	Mississippi State	WR
Ben Boulware	Clemson	LB
Josh Dobbs	Tennessee	QB
Gerald Everett	South Alabama	TE
Ryan Switzer	North Carolina	WR
Justin Evans	Texas A&M	S
Evan Engram	Ole Miss	TE
Tre'Davious White	LSU	CB
Donnel Pumphrey	San Diego State	RB
Matt Dayes	North Carolina State	RB
Jamaal Williams	Brigham Young	RB
Ryan Anderson	Alabama	LB
Johnathan Ford	Auburn	S
Damontae Kazee	San Diego State	CB
Rayshawn Jenkins	Miami	S
Marquez White	Florida State	CB
Corn Elder	Miami	CB
Jordan Sterns	Oklahoma State	S
Ezra Robinson	Tennessee State	CB
Cameron Sutton	Tennessee	CB
Alex Anzalone	Florida	LB
Freddie Stevenson	Florida State	FB
Jake Elliott	Memphis	K
Eddie Vanderdoes	UCLA	DT
Josh Carraway	TCU	DE
Harvey Langi	Brigham Young	LB
Antonio Garcia	Troy	OT
Dalvin Tomlinson	Alabama	DT
Isaac Asiata	Utah	G
Cole Mazza	Alabama	LS
Nico Siragusa	San Diego State	G
Justin Senior	Mississippi State	OT
Danny Isidora	Miami	G
Jessamen Dunker	Tennessee State	G
Conor McDermott	UCLA	OT
Jon Toth	Kentucky	CB
Jordan Willis	Kansas State	DE
Forrest Lamp	Western Kentucky	Guard
Ethan Pocic	LSU	C
Josh Reynolds	Texas A&M	WR
Taywan Taylor	Western Kentucky	WR
Travin Dural	LSU	WR
Chad Williams	Grambling State	WR
O.J. Howard	Alabama	TE
Daeshon Hall	Texas A&M	DE
Tanoh Kpassagnon	Villanova	DE
Keionta Davis	UT-Chattanooga	DE
Carlos Watkins	Clemson	DT
Tanzel Smart	Tulane	DT

Prospects to Watch

O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama

This year's draft is believed to be especially deep with defensive talent, but that doesn't mean that teams looking for offensive help are out of luck. In fact, some of the skill positions—like wide receiver, running back and tight end—feature top-tier talent.

The tight end pool is particularly appealing. 

"[This] may be the best tight end class I've seen since I've been doing this," NFL Network draft expert Mike Mayock recently said, per Chase Goodbread of NFL.com.

Fans will get to see one of the nation's top tight ends when Alabama's O.J. Howard takes the field. The 6'6", 251-pound prospect hauled in an impressive 45 receptions this season for 595 yards and three touchdowns. He had four catches for 106 yards and a score against Clemson in the National Championship Game.

Howard is more than just a pass-catcher, though. As Bleacher Report's Ian Wharton recently pointed out, he is a complete package at the tight end position:

Pro Football Focus (PFF College) rates Howard first overall among all college tight ends for the 2016 season.

Fans should get the opportunity on Saturday to see exactly why Howard is so highly regarded.

Forrest Lamp, G, Western Kentucky

You'll be forgiven if you aren't too familiar with Western Kentucky offensive tackle Forrest Lamp, since Western Kentucky isn't always in the national spotlight. However, many project Lamp a guard at the pro level, in the coming months.

You can get a good introduction to Lamp in the Senior Bowl.

The 6'3", 300-pound lineman has played an impressive brand of football all season long, even against top-tier competition.

PFF College rates Lamp fourth overall among all offensive tackles for the season. As a four-year starter, he brings plenty of experience to go with some solid game film. If Lamp can shine in Mobile, he could potentially rise to first-round status.

"The No. 1 goal at the Senior Bowl is to play and practice well," Lamp explained, per Dane Brugler of CBSSports.com. "I want to prove myself like [Ali] Marpet and Eric Fisher and others who came from 'smaller schools' and prove myself like I did against Alabama and LSU."

Marpet, who played college ball at Hobart, ended up going in the second round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two years ago. The Kansas City Chiefs took Fisher first overall out of Central Michigan back in 2013.

Don't be surprised if Lamp follows in their footsteps and hears his name called on the first or second day of the draft.

Kareem Hunt, RB, Toledo

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

If your favorite team is in need of running back help, you're in luck. This year's class is loaded with big-name backs like Leonard Fournette, Christian McCaffrey and Dalvin Cook. However, there are some intriguing small-school prospects as well.

Toledo running back Kareem Hunt might just be the best running back with whom the casual fan is not familiar. He racked up an impressive 1,475 yards rushing, 403 yards receiving and 11 total touchdowns in 2016 alone.

The 5'11", 225-pound running back can do a little bit of everything well and is especially dangerous when he gets into the open field. A good showing during Senior Bowl Week is likely to endear him to more than one NFL team.

Former Browns running back Earnest Byner has been helping Hunt train at the IMG Academy and believes teams are going to like what they see.

“I like what I saw on tape but really love what I’m seeing at the fields at IMG Academy,” Byner said of Hunt, per Mark Podolski of the News-Herald. “People at the Senior Bowl and combine can be impressed when they see him work.”

Fans who might not have seen Hunt play at Toledo will have the opportunity to see his impressive skills for themselves on Saturday.