With Brian living in Mobile, Alabama, the Senior Bowl has been a big part of what Draft Countdown does. Not only that, but it is an event where most players increase their draft stocks and work with NFL staffs. Just like we did last year, we will predict what players will get invited to the Senior Bowl Roster and some runners-up who could be replacements. Brian will be making his defensive predictions as well.
With there being a ton of older players in college football this season, it is a difficult choice to pair these lists down appropriately. Also, players may return to school, not accept the invite, etc. Add in that the Shrine Game pulled a few players away from the Senior Bowl last year, and it could be a mix of which game players attend. For this list, I am assuming the Senior Bowl roster will have their top choice of players.
This is also a prediction and not who I personally would choose if I were picking the Senior Bowl roster. Each list would look different based on my personal evaluations and who I think is the “best” at each position. The Senior Bowl generally does a great job of balancing that with potential draft capital and what players NFL teams are interested in seeing.
In many cases, I would squeeze a small school player in here and there, but it was a tough fit for all players deserving to go. Take a look and let me know who I missed out on!
Quarterback (6 Total)
Jayden Daniels, LSU
Sam Hartman, Notre Dame
Bo Nix, Oregon
Michael Penix, Washington
Spencer Rattler, South Carolina
Jordan Travis, Florida State
Nix and Penix feel like locks to be invited, and Daniels’ play this season gets him there. Travis may be more college football star than an NFL star, but he has played well enough to earn an invite. The last two spots are difficult, and it may depend on who decides to declare. But, Rattler/Hartman have to go and have big names and the physical tools to impress.
Runners Up
Carson Beck, Georgia
Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma
Devin Leary, Kentucky
Joe Milton, Tennessee
Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland
Kurtis Rourke, Ohio
DJ Uiagalelei, Oregon State
Tyler Van Dyke, Miami (FL)
Running Back (6 Total)
Trey Benson, Florida State
Blake Corum, Michigan
Ray Davis, Kentucky
Daijun Edwards, Georgia
Marshawn Lloyd, Southern Cal
Jase McClellan, Alabama
There are a few standout RBs that just make sense like Corum, Davis, Edwards, and Lloyd. Benson would be a great get if he decides to go as well. McClellan fills the Alabama quote, even if he is more of a pure Day 3 player.
Runners Up
Isaiah Davis, South Dakota State
Frank Gore Jr., Southern Miss
Dylan Laube, New Hampshire
Jo’Quavious Marks, Mississippi State
Kendall Milton, Georgia
La’Damian Webb, South Alabama
Miyan Williams, Ohio State
Roydell Williams, Alabama
Fullbacks (2 Total)
Jaheim Bell, Florida State
Brant Kuithe, Utah
Bell is a slam dunk if he is considered an FB/H-Back. Kuithe is a bit more complex since he is out for the season with an injury. The Senior Bowl would be a huge opportunity for him to rehab his draft stock though.
Runners Up
Corey Dyches, Maryland
Kalel Mullings, Michigan
Trent Pennix, NC State
Marshel Martin, Sacramento State
Wide Receivers (16 Total)
Jermaine Burton, Alabama
Malachi Corley, Western Kentucky
Tre Harris, Mississippi
Tory Horton, Colorado State
Xavier Legette, South Carolina
Ladd McConkey, Georgia
Jalen McMillan, Washington
Rome Odunze, Washington
Ricky Pearsall, Florida
Brenden Rice, Southern Cal
Will Sheppard, Vanderbilt
Jamari Thrash, Louisville
Devontez Walker, North Carolina
Xavier Weaver, Colorado
Johnny Wilson, Florida State
Roman Wilson, Michigan
WR is always difficult. There are a ton of high-profile names (Roman Wilson, Odunze/McMillian, etc) that are sure to be invited. But when you get about 5 or 6 WRs in, it becomes a bit of a crapshoot. Will there be reliance on last year’s hyped-up prospects (Ladd McConkey and Juice Wells for example, who missed my cut), or go with good players who could bring a new school/element (Rice, Pearsall, Sheppard, Weaver, etc). There are also a few WR surprises every year that don’t have much buzz until the Senior Bowl invite. Who will that be this year?
Runners Up
Anthony Gould, Oregon State
Lideatrick Griffin, Mississippi State
Tyrone Howell, UL-Monroe
Caulin Lacy, South Alabama
KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Penn State
Luke McCaffrey, Rice
Bub Means, Pittsburgh
Ainias Smith, Texas A&M
Theo Wease, Missouri
Juice Wells, South Carolina
Jordan Whittington, Texas
Isaiah Williams, Illinois
Tight Ends (7 Total)
Erick All, Iowa (injured)
Dallin Holker, Colorado State
Brevyn Spann-Ford, Minnesota
Ben Sinnott, Kansas State
Cade Stover, Ohio State
Tyler Warren, Penn State
Benjamin Yurosek, Stanford
Tight End is thin this year and made it difficult to feel good about six names. Stover is the only real slam dunk of the group. All will not be able to participate but will have been invited. Yurosek, Holker, and Sinnott had good years but may be on the bubble. Spann-Ford is big and athletic, but is he a good enough prospect? Guys like Jalin Conyers, Theo Johnson, and Trey Knox were my next up.
Runners up
McCallan Castles, Tennessee
Jalin Conyers, Arizona State
Zach Heins, South Dakota State
Theo Johnson, Penn State
Trey Knox, South Carolina
Caden Prieskorn, Mississippi
Austin Stogner, Oklahoma
Jared Wiley, TCU
Offensive Line (25 Total)
Kiran Amegadjie, Yale (Injury)
Graham Barton, Duke
Cooper Beebe, Kansas State
Anthony Belton, NC State
John Campbell Jr., Tennessee
Marques Cox, Kentucky
Olu Fashanu, Penn State
Troy Fautanu, Washington
Zach Frazier, West Virginia
Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State
Tyler Grable, UCF
Joshua Gray, Oregon State
Tyler Guyton, Oklahoma
Sataoa Laumea, Utah
Beaux Limmer, Arkansas
Christian Mahogany, Boston College
Dylan McMahon, NC State
Jordan Morgan, Arizona
Drake Nugent, Michigan
Patrick Paul, Houston
Dominick Puni, Kansas
Walter Rouse, Oklahoma
Xavier Truss, Georgia
Sedrick Van Pran, Georgia
Zak Zinter, Michigan
Offensive Line is always the most difficult to predict. There are so many, but tons of deserving names on my Runners Up list I wanted to include. It is also another position where a few names will emerge with Senior Bowl invites that haven’t been given the appropriate scouting in the media yet. Fashanu likely won’t attend, but the rest absolutely could. Barton, Beebe, Fuaga, Mahogany, and Van Pran all feel near slam dunks. Yale’s Kiran Amegadje would have gotten an invite, but he will be unable to participate due to injury. The rest have good shots to go, but there are plenty in the runners-up I like.
Runners Up
Isaiah Adams, Illinois
Javion Cohen, Miami (FL)
Ethan Driskell, Marshall
Javon Foster, Missouri
Matt Goncalves, Pittsburgh
LaDarius Henderson, Michigan
Myles Hinton, Michigan
Jeremy James, Mississippi
Christian Jones, Texas
Matthew Jones, Ohio State
Seth McLaughlin, Alabama
Jonah Monheim, Southern Cal
Zion Nelson, Miami (FL)
Doug Nester, West Virginia
Julian Pearl, Illinois
Will Putnam, Clemson
Andrew Raym, Oklahoma
Charles Turner III, LSU
Kickers (2 Total)
Joshua Karty, Stanford
Will Reichard, Alabama
Reichard is far from my top 2 choices, but as we saw last year, the Senior Bowl will pass on better specialists (see Jake Moody) to bring in the big SEC schools like Alabama and Georgia. He received an invite last year but went back to school. Karty is my Kicker 1 and if he declares, has a good shot to make this or the Shrine.
Runners Up
Ryan Coe, North Carolina
John Hoyland, Wyoming
Harrison Mevis, Missouri
James Turner, Michigan
Punters (2 Total)
Oscar Chapman, Auburn
Tory Taylor, Iowa
Punter is tough to pinpoint. Taylor is my #1 but isn’t a slam dunk per se. Bringing in an Auburn specialist makes a lot of sense, even if Chapman isn’t draftable.
Runners Up
Nik Constantinou, Texas A&M
Jeremy Crawshaw, Florida
Kai Kroeger, South Carolina
Austin McNamara, Texas Tech
Kyle Ostendorp, Arizona
Long Snappers (2 Total)
William Mote, Georgia
Michael Vinson, Notre Dame
Vinson feels like a slam dunk. The second LS is difficult to guess, so I will go with the Dawg.
Runners Up
Marco Ortiz, Nebraska
Bailey Parsons, Stanford
William Wagner, Michigan
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