The Senior Bowl announces first prospects to accept invites, revamped interview schedule

The Senior Bowl announces the first prospects to accept invites and also a revamped interview schedule and structure for NFL teams

The Senior Bowl is starting to reveal the first few prospects who have accepted invites to play in the 2024 edition of the all-star game. There are several players committed to heading to Mobile, Alabama, in the first week of February to participate in one of the biggest events on the NFL draft calendar.

Some of the initial acceptances:

Kris Abrams-Draine, CB, Missouri

Cooper Beebe, OL, Kansas State

Jaheim Bell, TE/FB, Florida State

Jacob Cowing, WR, Arizona

Jalyx Hunt, LB, Houston Christian

Dylan Laube, RB, New Hampshire

Ricky Piersall, WR, Florida

Michael Pratt, QB, Tulane

Ben Sinnott, TE, Kansas State

Among the early acceptances, Kansas State offensive lineman Cooper Beebe is the biggest fish. Beebe is a potential top-50 overall pick and a prospect scouts want to see in the individual practice matchups. Abrams-Draine is another player with significant upward mobility entering the Senior Bowl.

In addition to the early acceptances, Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy announced the event is revamping the player/team interaction and interview process. From Nagy’s release on social media,

After consulting with numerous #NFL scouts, front office execs, & GMs the following upgrades will be implemented this year:

* Every Senior Bowl player will meet with every NFL team for a minimum of 10 minutes (Mon & Thurs).

* Similar to Combine format, every team will get 64 players upon request for an additional 15 minutes (Tues & Wed), meaning that teams will leave Mobile with 25 minutes of interview time with roughly half roster, which is significantly more time than at any all-star event to date.

* Quarterbacks will be removed from the 10-minute scheduled interviews (Mon & Thurs) in favor of new format where they will be on 40-minute rotations with pods made up of 5-6 teams (2 reps per club). Each QB pod will have game film & whiteboards available. Under this new setup, if teams also include QBs in their 15-minute requested interviews, they will get 55 minutes with QB prospects in Mobile.

* All specialists will be setup on 30-minute group Zoom calls with special teams coaches from all 32 NFL clubs. Logic here is that ST coaches are the ones essentially drafting these players in April so we want to connect our players with them as early as possible in pre-draft process. Specialists will also be available for the 15-minute requested interviews.

* All interviews will conclude by no later than 9:30 pm on Monday & Thursday and 9 pm on Tuesday & Wednesday so players have ample rest/recovery time each night.

It’s a welcome layer of organization and formality to the process, which has been somewhat chaotic in recent years.

Lions full 2024 mock draft 2.0: The bye week projections

At this point, mock drafts are about ideas and getting more familiar with players who could intrigue the Lions during the 2024 NFL draft in April in Detroit. 

Another quarter of the season has come and gone for the Detroit Lions. Just as they did in the first four weeks, the Lions went 3-1 in Weeks 5-8 and arrived at their bye week with a 6-2 record.

That makes it a good opportunity to produce another edition of the Lions Wire full 2024 mock draft.

The pick order is based on the current NFL standings and playoff seeding ladder. Detroit would pick 29th in the first round.

The first edition was completed prior to Week 5.

At this point, mock drafts are about ideas and getting more familiar with players who could intrigue the Lions during the 2024 NFL draft in April in Detroit.

2024 NFL mock draft roundup: Ravens load up on defensive talent

We’re looking at the roundup for early 2024 NFL mock drafts and the Baltimore #Ravens are expected to pursue talent in the secondary via @Thacover2NFL

The Ravens are 3-1 and atop the AFC North, but it’s never too early for a look ahead to the 2024 NFL draft.

We recently looked at the mock drafts from around the country, and the consensus has Baltimore reloading on defense, especially in the secondary.

Ravens land All-ACC offensive tackle, talented SEC CB in Draft Wire’s latest 2-round mock

The Baltimore #Ravens land a talented offensive tackle, and All-SEC cornerback in Draft Wire’s latest 2 round mock draft via @Thacover2NFL

The Ravens are 2-0 and atop the AFC North, but it’s never too early for a look ahead to the 2024 NFL draft.

Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy recently took an updated look at the 2024 draft class with a two round mock that has Baltimore landing an offensive tackle, and a cornerback in both rounds.

2024 NFL draft: Preseason CB watch list and early rankings

2024 NFL draft: Preseason CB watch list and early rankings entering the 2023 college football season

The popular saying is true: no NFL team can ever have enough cornerbacks. More CBs are drafted each year than any other position, with no less than 36 selected in every draft since 2020.

With such a huge demand comes a giant group of aspiring collegiate corners. The early impression on the class is that there is room for a couple at the top to seize the bull by the horns and emerge as the best, while the next grouping is slightly lower-end than the similar tiers of the past couple of seasons at the same preseason point.

These are very fluid rankings. In general, these are early impressions about the NFL potential of players who still have a considerable amount of football to play before they’re drafted. Some underclassmen are included here strictly as mentions; it is not meant to advocate for a player to leave early.

After watching enough to get a baseline feel for the players, here is an early listing and my preliminary ranking for the cornerbacks in the NFL draft class of 2024.

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Taking an early look at the top 15 CB prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft class

After the Eagles passed on adding defensive backs to the roster last weekend, we’re taking an early look at the top 15 CB prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft class

The 2022 NFL draft came and went with the Eagles passing on a cornerback and safety in all seven rounds, choosing to address the position via undrafted free agency.

Cornerback was deemed an urgent position of need with no established starter at the position opposite Pro Bowl corner Darius Slay.

It’s the third time in four years that Philadelphia has bypassed selecting a cornerback in the draft. It’s the fifth time in six years they haven’t selected a safety.

The Eagles really like the young cornerback already on the roster and add former Clemson All American cornerback Mario Goodrich via undrafted free agency as well.

If 2022 doesn’t produce a starter opposite Slay, the 2023 NFL draft offers an opportunity to find a successor and starter at both spots.

Here are the top 15 cover guys to watch heading into the next college football season.