The East-West Shrine Bowl announced last month that the annual game will not be played in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The game was scheduled to take place on January 23rd in St. Petersburg, Florida, but now the longest-running collegiate all-star game will take a year off.
This decision is an understandable one given the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there’s no denying that it could vastly alter the draft strategy in 2021 for the Kansas City Chiefs. The game and practice week is typically among the most prominent pre-draft scouting stops. It historically has produced a number of Day 3 draft picks and undrafted free agents throughout the NFL.
Since Andy Reid’s arrival in 2013, the Chiefs have had over 30 players on the team who have participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl. Right now the team has eight players on the 53-man roster and four on the practice squad who previously played in the game. Check it out:
- DB Daniel Sorensen (2014)
- RG Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (2014)**
- WR Gehrig Dieter (2017)*
- DB Tedric Thompson (2017)
- CB Rashad Fenton (2019)
- OG Nick Allegretti (2019)
- DE Mike Danna (2020)
- P Tommy Townsend (2020)
- DT Tershawn Wharton (2020)
- OT Yasir Durant (2020)
- OL Darryl Williams (2020)*
- CB Lavert Hill (2020)*
- DB Rodney Clemons (2020)*
*practice squad, **opt-out
As you can see, even in recent years, the Chiefs have relied heavily on the game to find some of their most productive late-round and undrafted players. Between Daniel Sorensen and Laurant Duvernay-Tardif alone, the East-West Shrine Game has produced thousands of snaps and over 80 career starts in Kansas City.
Standout rookie DT Tershawn Wharton might not have been on the Chiefs’ radar if it weren’t for this all-star game. Brett Veach told reporters after Wharton had signed that the East-West game was where he caught the attention of the team.
This cancellation just adds another challenge for the front office in Kansas City when it comes to evaluating prospects in the 2021 draft class. It’s also a big blow to the prospects who were already at a disadvantage due to a college football season altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’ll make every single snap ahead of draft season that much more important for the players who plan to declare for the 2021 NFL draft.
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