One of the big benefits of coaching in the Senior Bowl is the ability to work closer than any other NFL franchise with a large crop of draft prospects. For the Detroit Lions and Dan Campbell, they’ll get a look at three quarterback prospects often mentioned in aspirational connection to the team when they head the American team in Mobile next month.
The Senior Bowl revealed the quarterbacks who will play for Campbell and the Lions in the practices and game, which takes place on February 5th.
Detroit will handle Sam Howell from North Carolina, Malik Willis of Liberty and Bailey Zappe of Western Kentucky.
It’s a broad range of prospect levels. Howell is generally projected in the back half of the first round, where the Lions hold the pick from the Los Angeles Rams. Willis is now expected to be a Day 2 pick, in the second or third round. Zappe often gets slotted in the early part of Day 3, the fourth or fifth round.
Interestingly, Kenny Pickett from Pittsburgh and Desmond Ridder of Cincinnati will be on the other roster. Pickett is often projected as the top quarterback in the draft, while Ridder is often in the same range as Howell or Willis. They will be on the roster coached by the New York Jets, who took QB Zach Wilson at No. 2 overall last year.
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