Tag: Senior Bowl

Senior Bowl announces confirmed attendees for 2020 All-Star game

The Senior Bowl has announced the first wave of players who have accepted invitations to participate in the 2020 Senior Bowl.

The Senior Bowl announced the first wave of players who have accepted invitations to play in the 2020 All-Star game.

Last year, Missouri quarterback Drew Lock and Kansas State offensive lineman helped the North defeat the South 34-24 in the Senior Bowl. Both players went on to be selected by the Broncos in the NFL draft.

The current list of players that have been confirmed for the 2020 Senior Bowl can be seen below.

School
First Name
Last Name
Pos.
Conf.
California Evan Weaver ILB Pac-12
Auburn Prince Tega Wanogho OT SEC
Clemson K’Von Wallace DS ACC
Georgia Southern Kindle Vildor CB Sun Belt
Vanderbilt Ke’Shawn Vaughn RB SEC
Michigan Joshua Uche EDGE Big Ten
Dayton Adam Trautman TE FCS
South Carolina St. Alex Taylor OT FCS
Colorado Davion Taylor OLB Pac-12
Tennessee Darrell Taylor Jr. EDGE SEC
Portland State Charlie Taumoepeau TE FCS
LSU Stephen Sullivan TE SEC
North Carolina Jason Strowbridge EDGE ACC
Kentucky Logan Stenberg OG SEC
Texas Tech Terence Steele OT Big 12
Clemson John Simpson OG ACC
Syracuse Alton Robinson EDGE ACC
Notre Dame Troy Pride Jr. CB IND
USC Michael Pittman Jr. WR Pac-12
Vanderbilt Jared Pinkney TE SEC
Florida Lamical Perine RB SEC
Connecticut Matt Peart OT AAC
Michigan Shea Patterson QB Big Ten
North Carolina State Larrell Murchison DT ACC
Utah Zack Moss RB Pac-12
Colorado Steven Montez QB Pac-12
Baylor Denzel Mims WR Big 12
Michigan Josh Metellus DS Big Ten
West Virginia Colton McKivitz OT Big 12
Michigan Sean McKeon TE Big Ten
Alabama Jared Mayden DS SEC
Minnesota Kamal Martin OLB Big Ten
Texas A&M Braden Mann PT SEC
Vanderbilt Kalija Lipscomb WR SEC
Oregon Shane Lemieux OG Pac-12
South Carolina Javon Kinlaw DT SEC
Notre Dame Khalid Kareem EDGE IND
Houston Josh Jones OT AAC
Ole Miss Benito Jones DT SEC
Texas Brandon Jones DS Big 12
Texas Collin Johnson WR Big 12
Tennessee Jauan Jennings WR SEC
Alabama Anfernee Jennings ILB SEC
Florida Van Jefferson WR SEC
Pittsburgh Dane Jackson CB ACC
Purdue Brycen Hopkins TE Big Ten
Miami Trevon Hill EDGE ACC
Baylor JaMycal Hasty RB Big 12
Ohio State Malik Harrison ILB Big Ten
Oklahoma State A.J. Green CB Big 12
TCU Jeff Gladney CB Big 12
Liberty Antonio Gandy-Golden WR FBS
Oklahoma Neville Gallimore DT Big 12
LSU Kristian Fulton CB SEC
Utah Leki Fotu DT Pac-12
LSU Blake Ferguson LS SEC
Notre Dame Jalen Elliott DS IND
South Carolina Bryan Edwards WR SEC
Oregon Troy Dye OLB Pac-12
Texas Devin Duvernay WR Big 12
Lenoir Rhyne Kyle Dugger DS SAC
Cincinnati Josiah Deguara TE AAC
Appalachian State Akeem Davis-Gaither OLB Sun Belt
Alabama Raekwon Davis DT SEC
California Ashtyn Davis DS Pac-12
Auburn Marlon Davidson DE SEC
Minnesota Carter Coughlin DE Big Ten
Mississippi State Brian Cole II DS SEC
Notre Dame Chase Claypool WR IND
Southern Illinois Jeremy Chinn DS FCS
South Carolina Joseph Charlton PT SEC
Florida Atlantic Harrison Bryant TE C-USA
Michigan Ben Bredeson OG Big Ten
Georgia Rodrigo Blankenship PK SEC
Utah Julian Blackmon DS Pac-12
Utah Francis Bernard ILB Pac-12
Wisconsin Zack Baun OLB Big Ten
Georgia Southern Tyler Bass PK Sun Belt
TCU Darius Anderson RB Big 12
Utah Bradlee Anae EDGE Pac-12
Arizona State Brandon Aiyuk WR Pac-12
Washington Trey Adams OT Pac-12
Kansas Hakeem Adeniji OT Big 12
South Carolina D.J. Wonnum EDGE SEC
Iowa State Steve Wirtel LS Big 12
Penn State Robert Windsor DT Big Ten
Florida Jabari Zuniga DE SEC
Wyoming Logan Wilson LB MWC
Alabama Terrell Lewis LB SEC
Washington State Anthony Gordon QB Pac-12
Arizona State Eno Benjamin RB Pac-12
UCLA Darnay Holmes DB Pac-12
Ohio State DaVon Hamilton DT Big Ten
Utah State Jordan Love QB MWC
Texas Tech Jordyn Brooks LB Big 12
Utah Terrell Burgess DB Pac-12
Louisiana Robert Hunt OG Sun Belt
Florida Jonathan Greenard EDGE SEC
Saint John’s Ben Bartch OG Division III
Clemson Tremayne Anchrum OL ACC
The 2020 Senior Bowl will take place at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday, Jan. 25. The game will air on NFL Network.
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Dolphins nearing opportunity to coach at 2020 Senior Bowl

The Miami Dolphins are on the cusp of an opportunity to coach at the 2020 Senior Bowl.

The Miami Dolphins’ team may have a big opportunity lying ahead of them in January — a chance to greatly assist in their scouting efforts ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft in April. Every year, the NFL descends upon a small town on the Gulf of Mexico to meet the greatest senior prospects in the country at the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

Hosted in Mobile, Alabama, the event pits two NFL coaching staffs against one another for the week — coaching up all-star rosters of the best seniors in the country for a week of practice before culminating in an exhibition game at the end of the week. How is a team picked to have their coaching staff run one of the teams for the week?

Here’s what the Senior Bowl’s website states:

“National Football League coaching staffs coach the two Senior Bowl teams each year. The staffs are determined in cooperation with the NFL. The teams with the lowest winning percentage that season usually get the first opportunity to coach in the game, but only if a majority of their staff – and head coach – are intact.” 

The caveat that teams must have the majority of their coaching staffs intact is critical, because no matter what happens from here on out in 2019, the Miami Dolphins are now on the short list to run a team for the week — as pointed out by the Senior Bowl’s executive director, Jim Nagy.

The New York Giants are facing significant changes — including potentially firing head coach Pat Shurmur at the end of the year. The Washington Redskins have already fired head coach Jay Gruden this year and will be undergoing a new coaching search. That leaves the Cincinnati Bengals, the Detroit Lions and the Miami Dolphins as teams likely to pick in the top-5 of the NFL Draft order that will have intact head coaching staffs at their disposal and hence be eligible for selection.

For the Dolphins, this would be a big boost to the team’s efforts to evaluate players, because it gives Miami a week of being hands on in a football setting with more than 50 NFL Draft prospects. That level of closeness will inevitably give the Dolphins more clarity on which senior prospects might happen to be the ones Miami wants to get into their building.

With two losses in two weeks, Miami almost ensures they’ll be in position to get the offer — as Washington and New York play one another this weekend and the Lions are facing another potential win as well as they visit Denver to play the Broncos for a winnable game.

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Trio of Ohio State Football Players invited to 2020 Senior Bowl

Ohio State football players Malik Harrison, Damon Arnette, and Devon Hamilton have been invited to participate in 2020 Senior Bowl.

The accolades for Ohio State football players continue to grow as three defensive players have been invited to the 2020 Senior Bowl thus far. For those unfamiliar, the Senior Bowl is considered the premier all-star game for the country’s best senior collegiate football players and top NFL draft prospects.

The first round of invitations was sent out and the Senior Bowl announced this week that Ohio State Linebacker Malik Harrison, cornerback Damon Arnette Jr., and defensive tackle Davon Hamilton have accepted their invitations.

The Buckeyes defense was ranked  No. 2 overall for yards allowed and No. 5 for points allowed.  Harrison was the season leader with 69 tackles including 16 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, four pass breakups, and two fumble recoveries.

Arnette had 34 tackles including one tackle for loss, 1 forced fumble, seven pass breakups, and one interception he returned 96 yards for a touchdown. Hamilton recorded 25 tackles including 9.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, and one fumble recovery.

Jim Nagy, the Senior Bowl Executive Director, referred to Malik Harrison as “one of the most talented LBs in this year’s draft”:

Harrison is one of the top NFL prospects from the Ohio State senior class and was listed as the 4th best linebacker according to NFL draft analyst Matt Miller.

The Senior Bowl is scheduled to be played on January 25, 2020, in Mobile, Alabama.

Beloved Georgia football player accepts Senior Bowl invitation

Highly-respect Georgia football kicker Rodrigo Blankenship accepts Senior Bowl invitation

The Reese’s Senior Bowl, one of the most prestigious post-season scouting games for NFL Draft prospects, has extended an invitation to Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship.

‘Hot Rod’ accepted the offer Tuesday, becoming the first Bulldog kicker in over 10 years to represent Georgia in the event.

Blankenship is currently a perfect 198/198 on extra points for the Dawgs and 78/95 on field goal attempts. Though his numbers may have slightly dipped from his outstanding sophomore season, the beloved place kicker is still one of, if not the best in the nation right now.

No matter what happens in the Sugar Bowl against Baylor, everyone can agree Georgia will certainly miss this Damn Good Dawg.

Saints stand to benefit as loaded 2020 wide receiver draft class gets deeper

The 2020 NFL Draft class may feature the best group of wide receiver prospects ever assembled, which is big news for the New Orleans Saints.

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The New Orleans Saints are putting up points and winning games in spite of a very shallow depth chart at wide receiver, thanks to Herculean efforts from All-Pro Michael Thomas and creative play-calling from Saints coach Sean Payton. Thomas has proven he can put the world on his shoulders for New Orleans’ passing game.

However, the lack of production from the group as a whole can’t be ignored: in the four games since their bye week, all of the non-Thomas receivers have combined for 8 receptions and 90 receiving yards (with two touchdown catches) on 21 total targets. Those stats all came from Tre’Quan Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. Practice squad call-up Krishawn Hogan has logged 37 snaps in that time, but has yet to receive his first target with the Saints.

Fortunately, the situation shouldn’t remain this grim forever. The 2020 NFL Draft class is shaping up like one of the best groups in recent memory, rivaling the 2014 class that put Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans, Brandin Cooks, John Brown, Sammy Watkins, and Allen Robinson into the pros.

While the top draft prospects in this year’s draft are underclassmen who or may not leave early for the NFL — names like Alabama stars Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs, Oklahoma big-play threat CeeDee Lamb, and Clemson’s clutch performer Tee Higgins — there are plenty of options generating excitement around the league. Four talented juniors have already declared, at least two of whom are popular picks in the conversation of who might be a first-round pick:

  • Laviska Shenault Jr., Colorado
  • Jalen Reagor, TCU
  • Isaiah Hodgins, Oregon State
  • Gabriel Davis, UCF

Shenault has a reputation as one of the most versatile players in the draft class, having lined up everywhere from slot receiver to tight end and fullback, and still found ways to make plays. Think of him as a Swiss army knife in the mold of Taysom Hill, but with more aptitude as a receiver (which is saying something, given Hill’s four touchdown catches this season).

Reagor is another hot name in draft circles, given his game-breaking speed and ability to track the ball in flight deep downfield. He’s averaged over 15 yards per catch in his career despite the Horned Frogs’ instability at quarterback (half a dozen different passers have targeted Reagor over the last three years), drawing comparisons to Cooks, the Saints’ own former first-round pick.

Something has to be said for both of the two big men who have declared early, as Hodgins (6-foot-4) and Davis (6-foot-3) have each caught 70-plus receptions and scored double-digit touchdowns this season. There’s room in the NFL (and in New Orleans) for either of them to contribute.

And this doesn’t even include the numerous talented seniors in this year’s draft class, ranging from Minnesota graduate Tyler Johnson to Arizona State product Brandon Aiyuk, as well as Texas Longhorns fixtures Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson. Keep an eye on Ohio State alum K.J. Hill and experienced South Carolina receiver Bryan Edwards.

Of that group, four have already accepted invitations to participate in the 2020 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., taking the opportunity to practice in front of NFL scouts ahead of the annual all-star game. Those participants include Aiyuk, Edwards, as well as Longhorns prospects Duvernay and Johnson. They’ll be joined by receivers not previously mentioned such as Kalija Lipscomb (Vanderbilt), Antonio Gandy-Golden (Liberty), Michael Pittman Jr. (USC), and Chase Claypool (Notre Dame), all of whom will have a good shot at improving their draft stock.

So all of this was said to say: the Saints do not lack for options at addressing the wide receiver position during the offseason. They’ve thrown resources at the problem before, it just hasn’t worked out — Smith hasn’t consistently helped the offense after being drafted in the third round last year, while the Saints lost their wager that Cameron Meredith would be a better free agent addition than what it would have cost to keep Willie Snead. Here’s hoping the players New Orleans already has to work with can continue doing enough to compete for Super Bowl LIV.

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Notre Dame Football: Jones Headed to Collegiate Bowl

Others are taking notice of the late charge Jones has put on as well as he will be a part of the NFLPA Collegiate Game

Jamir Jones saved his best for last at Notre Dame, having easily his best year in his senior season.

The Rochester, New York product finished the regular season with career-highs in tackles with 24, forced fumbles with two and sacks after registering four-and-a-half this season.

Others are taking notice of the late charge Jones has put on as well as he will be a part of the NFLPA Collegiate Game held at the Rose Bowl Stadium on January 18.

Jamir is the brother of former Notre Dame defensive lineman Jarron, who has been a part of several NFL practice squads and was drafted in the first round of the XFL’s linemen draft back in October.

Another Pair of Notre Dame Stars Headed to Senior Bowl

Pride has 33 tackles on the year along with one interception, as he recorded his first last-Saturday at Duke.

It seems like just about every hour at this point another Notre Dame player accepts an invitation to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl

We’ve given you the stories on both Chase Claypool and Jalen Elliott but that’s not enough as a couple of other Notre Dame seniors accepted their invitations to the annual Mobile, Alabama event today.

Enter Troy Pride, Jr. and Khalid Kareem.

Pride has 33 tackles on the year along with one interception, as he recorded his first last-Saturday at Duke.

Kareem has four-and-a-half sacks on the season and 11 for his Notre Dame career.  The defensive lineman has totaled 31 tackles this season.

That brings the total to four for Notre Dame players headed to Mobile, a sign of a strong program.

Notre Dame – Claypool in Senior Bowl

I talked last week about how Chase Claypool’s development as a WR throughout his career has opened eyes in the college football world, but also by scouts at the next level. Well, it looks like he’s going to have an even greater opportunity to raise …

I talked last week about how Chase Claypool’s development as a WR throughout his career has opened eyes in the college football world, but also by scouts at the next level.

Well, it looks like he’s going to have an even greater opportunity to raise his draft stock in the eyes of evaporators with an invitation to the Senior Bowl.

In recent years, with the boom of NFL Draft interest, the Senior Bowl has become the premier event for NFL personnel executives to further evaluate prospects. Current Executive Director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl and 18-year NFL scout Jim Nagy has done a tremendous job using social media to promote the event and publicize those players getting invites to the week.

I emphasize week, not game, because it is really the measurements, practices and workout that provide evalutators with the analysis they’re looking for.

The crop of wide receivers for the 2020 NFL Draft is being hailed as one of the best ever by many draft analysts. Eligible prospects include Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs, and DeVonta Smith, Clemson’s Tee Higgins, Colorado’s Laviska Shenault, Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb, Minnesota’s Tyler Johnson, USC’s Michael Pittman, Texas’ Collin Johnson, TCU’s Jalen Reagor, and Oklahoma State’s Tylan Wallace.

 

 

Notre Dame Captain Headed to Senior Bowl

The Reese’s Senior Bowl announced Tuesday night that senior-captain, safety Jalen Elliott will participate in the 2020 Senior Bowl at the conclusion of this college football season. We are proud to announce @NDFootball DB Jalen Elliott ( @Jae_Uno_) …

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The Reese’s Senior Bowl announced Tuesday night that senior-captain, safety Jalen Elliott will participate in the 2020 Senior Bowl at the conclusion of this college football season.

Elliott has started all nine games this season and recorded 35 tackles along the way while also picking off a pass against New Mexico and Bowling Green, both.  He also intercepted four passes during Notre Dame’s 12-0 regular season in 2018.

The Lloyd C. Bird High School (Virginia) product was recruited as a three-star safety in the 2016 class and has appeared in all 47 Notre Dame games since stepping foot on campus for the first time as a student-athlete back in 2016.

He will undoubtedly be missed next year, although Kyle Hamilton’s start and Isaiah Pryor’s recent commitment makes you feel pretty good about where the safety position will be headed into 2020.