The East West Shrine Bowl is upon us, and there is some history with the game and the New England Patriots.
In 2022, the Patriots selected Jack Jones, Pierre Strong Jr., and Tyquan Thornton in the NFL draft, while signing D’Eriq King, Brad Hawkins, and LaBryan Ray as undrafted free agents. All six players appeared in the Shrine Bowl that year.
Like most teams, the Patriots usually scout for future players on the practice squad, camp invites, or for future roster maneuvers. So if the Patriots select a player for the game, there’s a good chance they could meet again down the line.
New England will be coaching the West, while the Atlanta Falcons oversee the East. So they’ll get a better sense of how these prospects prepare, practice, and carry themselves. But they’ll also have plenty of chances in-game to see these players up close and personal from both sides.
A true advantage for both the Patriots and Atlanta Falcons is the fact that both NFL teams will get to start having conversations with the prospects, while watching them prepare first-hand.
For the sake of this piece, we wanted to focus on the players the Patriots will see all week, as this is the first time the game is featuring NFL coaching staffs. So the Patriots’ scouting may slightly change.
Here are the players fans should be keeping an eye on.