The Senior Bowl is one of the biggest weeks of the year for me. I have been attending the Senior Bowl as a fan since 1987 and covering the game as a media member since 2016. There are few things I look forward to more than sitting in the bleachers (now at beautiful new Hancock Whitney Stadium) and taking in the best senior NFL Draft prospects available. As a lifelong resident of Mobile, Alabama there is nothing else like it.
Complicating things a bit on this roster prediction is we still don’t know if the Shrine Game is going to siphon off some of the top prospects now that the game is in Las Vegas. I wrote a piece about this a few months ago at Deep Fried Draft. For the sake of this exercise, we are going to assume that the process will be the status quo.
So many players returned to school for an extra year of eligibility when normally they would be in the NFL already. This eligibility issue also muddles up who can get in an invite. There may be a handful of players that I list below who aren’t even eligible to play in the 2022 Senior Bowl.
This is also a prediction and not who I personally would choose if I were running the Senior Bowl. Each list would look different if based on my personal evaluations and who I think is the “best” at each position. The Senior Bowl, led by executive director Jim Nagy, generally does a great job of balancing that with potential draft capital and what players NFL teams are interested in seeing.
You can see Shane’s picks for the offense and specialists HERE!
Let’s take a look and then let me know who I missed out on!
Defensive Line (20 Total)
*This will include players I classify as edge rushers and defensive linemen. Some of the edge rushers may play LB in the game*
Adam Anderson, Georgia
Kingsley Enagbare, South Carolina
Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan
Myjai Sanders, Cincinnati
Jeremiah Moon, Florida
DeAngelo Malone, Western Kentucky
Jermaine Johnson II, Florida State
Logan Hall, Houston
Josh Paschal, Kentucky
Jordan Davis, Georgia
Devonte Wyatt, Georgia
Perrion Winfrey, Oklahoma
Haskell Garrett, Ohio State
Jayden Peevy, Texas A&M
Isaiah Thomas, Oklahoma
Dante Stills, West Virginia
Michael Clemons, Texas A&M
John Ridgeway, Arkansas
Travis Jones, UConn
Phidarian Mathis, Alabama
The top three, Anderson, Enagbare, and Hutchison are no-brainers. So much so that they may just decline altogether. Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt could dominate the 1-on-1s in practice and cement their status in the first round. Players like Myjai Sanders, Josh Paschal, and Deangelo Malone could use a great week to strengthen or create their status as Top 100 players. Logan Hall will inevitably draw comparisons to his former teammate Payton Turner. Turner used the Senior Bowl as a launching pad into the first-round last year. Jeremiah Moon may actually project to LB if he were to suit up at the Senior Bowl.
Just Missed
Ali Gaye, LSU
Boye Mafe, Minnesota
Big Kat Bryant, UCF
Tyree Johnson, Texas A&M
Amare Barno, Virginia Tech
Kobie Whiteside, Missouri
Marquan McCall, Kentucky
Glen Logan, LSU
Jeffery Johnson, Tulane
Demetrius Taylor, Appalachian State
The hardest cuts to make were UCF edge Big kat Bryant and Texas A&M’s Tyree Johnson. Both would be the first ones up in case of injuries or dropouts. Kentucky’s mountain-sized Marquan McCall could be a fun watch in Mobile as well.
Linebackers (12 Total)
DeMarvion Overshown, Texas
Channing Tindall, Georgia
Merlin Robertson, Arizona State
Ventrell Miller, Florida
Nate Landman, Colorado
Darrian Beavers, Cincinnati
Quay Walker, Georgia
Bumper Pool, Arkansas
Mike Rose, Iowa State
Jeremiah Gemmel, North Carolina
Aaron Hansford, Texas A&M
Devin Lloyd, Utah
Two tremendous athletes highlight this LB group with Overshown and Tindall. Merlin Robertson has been consistently good for Arizona State. There will be no other LB here with the production of Nate Landman. Aaron Hansford accepted an invite to play here last year before deciding to return to College Station. Devin Lloyd has a lot of buzz as a rising prospect on many boards.
Just Missed
Micah McFadden, Indiana
Kuony Deng, Cal
Damone Clark, LSU
Grant Morgan, Arkansas
Isaac Slade-Matautia, SMU
It was hard leaving off productive players like Micah McFadden and Grant Morgan. I also think teams will be intrigued by the length and athleticism of Kuony Deng.
Cornerbacks (12 Total)
Derion Kendrick, Georgia
Josh Jobe, Alabama
Akayleb Evans, Missouri
Trey Dean, Florida
Allie Green IV, Missouri
Coby Bryant, Cincinnati
Tariq Castro-Fields, Penn State
Zyon McCollum, Sam Houston State
Riley Moss, Iowa
Damarion Williams, Houston
Marcus Jones, Houston
Joshua Williams, Fayetteville State
The one thing most in this group have in common is length. Everyone on this list is over six feet tall with the exception of the two Houston corners. Williams and Jones are excellent special team players. Joshua Williams would be the most intriguing of this group as he is one, I will likely not see play this season. Castro-Fields also accepted an invite for the 2021 Senior Bowl but opted back into Penn State.
Just Missed
Steven Gilmore, Marshall
Mario Goodrich, Clemson
Kekaula Kaniho, Boise State
Chase Lucas, Arizona State
Cam Taylor-Britt, Nebraska
Two of my personal favorite corners in this class, Steven Gilmore and Kekaula Kaniho just don’t project as players I could see being in the first wave of invites.
Safeties (12 Total)
Jaylan Foster, South Carolina
Jaquan Brisker, Penn State
Chris Smith II, Georgia
Kolby Harvell-Peel, Oklahoma State
Isaiah Pola-Mao, Southern Cal
Smoke Monday, Auburn
Marcelino McCrary-Ball, Indiana
Quentin Lake, UCLA
Greg Eisworth, Iowa State
Elijah Hicks, Cal
Leon O’Neal, Texas A&M
Nolan Turner, Clemson
This safety group has intrigue. 6th-year senior (and former walk-on) Jaylan Foster has earned his spot with his excellent play this season. Brisker is a phenomenal athlete. I love the bloodlines of Quentin Lake. Auburn doesn’t have many Senior Bowl eligible prospects, so Smoke Monday was an easy call.
Just Missed
Jalen Pitre, Baylor
Yusuf Corker, Kentucky
Jordan Mosley, Maryland
AJ Thomas, Western Michigan
Bryce Cosby, Ball State
This was the only position where I didn’t have an issue with anyone I left off. In fact, there are a couple of safeties I could have left off if there are some conversion prospects out there.
The 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl will take place on Saturday, February 5th.
See more from Brian on Twitter @DeepFriedDraft and on Draft Countdown here!