So you thought college football season was over, didja? Nah, not by a long shot. Real fans know all too well that there’s a small cadre of all-star bowl games to keep the fires–and, of course, the highlight reels–stoked for a few more weeks deeper into winter. Time was that these games were played exclusively in January and the one with the highest profile, the Senior Bowl, was traditionally the first time that college players received a paycheck (legally) of any kind. But thanks to NIL and playoff expansion, times have changed, and we’re only getting started.
The Senior Bowl experience, celebrating its Diamond Anniversary year in Mobile, Alabama, has just kicked off what is a de facto pre-combine and has given the NFL Network a needed influx of live programming at a time when the post-Championship Sunday lull leading up to the fortnight of preparation for the Super Bowl has taken root. For the 30 teams that have already seen their seasons come to an end, especially the 29 that currently have head coaches (even if a few have tenures of mere days) it’s appointment viewing and virtually all have both boots and eyes on the ground.
USA TODAY’s Jeff Risdon was among those who dropped the first wave of insights from yesterday’s initial practice:
It’s an interesting quarterback class this year. Here’s what I took away from watching them in the first practices.
Jalen Milroe, Alabama
He’s the headliner here, the local hero. The leader of the Crimson Tide for the last two seasons didn’t have a great first day. Accuracy in 1-on-1 drills is always dicey on the first day, what with working with new receivers and not having timing established. Having said that, even simple swing passes and quick slants showed shaky ball placement. That’s something that needs to get better quickly for Milroe. He is a little bigger in person than expected for a player who measured in at 6-foor-1 and 220 pounds. Milroe struggled in team drills with interior pressure, not appearing to see it or react quickly.
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
Gabriel was pretty handily the most accurate passer on the National team. His touch and quick release were very consistent even in throwing to guys he just met this week. The lefty allegedly hit 74 MPH velocity but that had to have been a glitch in the measuring instruments, because Gabriel quite clearly has the weakest throwing arm here. His deeper throws really hang up, even on a nerly windless day. Of all the quarterbacks, Gabriel had the best sense of his own game on Tuesday.
Seth Henigan, Memphis
For my money, Henigan was the best all-around quarterback on the first day. He’s got a big arm and is a well-built 6-foot-3. and his delivery is a little prolonged compared to Milroe and some others here.
Henigan showed savvy and quicker-than-expected acceleration to get outside the pocket. He nicely stuck with a couple of downfield routes when he was pressured. We don’t have all the exit velocity numbers from the day just yet, but the ball really comes out sizzling from Henigan’s over-the-top delivery.
He also has what some might consider overreactions to the other invited passers, and you’d best believe folks eager to find one are paying attention. THE NEW YORK POST’s veteran Giants scribe and former fellow SUNY sports editor Paul Schwartz (Go, Danes!) had his own thoughts for a team that’s front and center in this hunt:
While the Giants have the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, there is a decent chance neither (Colorado’s Shadeur) Sanders, nor (Miami’s Cam) Ward, will be available at that spot, with two quarterback-needy teams, the Titans and the Browns, owning the Nos. 1 and 2 picks, respectively.
For those who believe (Giants coach Brian) Daboll prefers mobile quarterbacks, the one to watch at the Senior Bowl is …Milroe . His legs are an offensive dream, as far as his athletic ability, but his right arm can be a nightmare. He needs to show in these practices that he can project as a decent passer at the next level.
There’s also Jaxson Dart from Ole Miss, Eli Manning’s alma mater. Getting quarterbacks from that college in Oxford, Miss., has been good to the Giants. Before Manning, Charlie Conerly from Ole Miss played for the Giants from 1948-61. That legacy does not mean much, as far as connecting the dots with Dart and the Giants, but he does seem to have considerable upside. Dart started for three years at Ole Miss after spending his freshman year at USC. After transferring, he ended up with 72 touchdown passes and 22 interceptions. Dart this past season led the SEC in completion percentage (69.3) and passing yards (4,279). If he shows scouts at the Senior Bowl he can quickly process information and that his throwing mechanics are not as poor as some believe them to be, Dart could see his draft stock on the rise.
There’s other impact position players on display, as SB NATION’s Jay Robins reported. I took particular note of a familiar target of Ward’s that Robins reported some encouraging news about:
Elijah Arroyo | TE | Miami
The smoothest route runner of the tight end class from Day 1, Arroyo displayed impressive separation on his 1 on 1s and in team sessions. His hands were impressive as well, not dropping any of his targets on the day. More performances like Tuesday’s would make a case for Top 3 Tight End in this class.
But they’re not the only propsects on display this week. Tomorrow night an even older post-season event will be held, the fentennial iteration of East-West Shrine Game. For decades it was a San Francisco staple, but has now found its way into the geographically neutral home of the FCS Championship Game, Frisco, Texas. (Hey, if the Hula Bowl can now be played (like it was in near-obscurity 20 days ago) in the island paradise of central Florida, we can play a East-West game in the Central time zone).
The Shrine game tends to draw names from smaller schools–perhaps none smaller than one A TO Z SPORTS’ AJ Schulze pointed out from a place that was a perennial foe to schools like the ones Schwartz and moi attended:
Thomas Perry, OL, Middlebury
It’s hard for me to point to any other player as this week’s biggest riser. Perry just moved differently than any other offensive lineman here at the Shrine Bowl, and had some eye-popping reps in drills all week. His movement skills and play strength have stood out all week…@BigDuke50 calls him “Thomas the Tank” bc he’s one of the strongest players in the draft. Tireless worker. Just needs reps and development. Has improved each day at EW practices.
This, too, will provide live content for NFLN, and don’t think they’re done even with that. There’s also a game scheduled for their air three weeks from this coming Saturday–on the first full day of competitive spring training baseball games. The Allstate HBCU Legacy Bowl will be held in New Orleans, which should be just about cleaned up from Super Bowl celebrations by that point. The game exclusively features candidates from HBCU schools, which is a smaller sample, so several players, including Grambling quarterback Myles Crawley and Virginia Union running back Jada Byers, were pre-ordained to be in attendance even BEFORE the 2024 regular season unfolded. One might hope by then the Saints, who are among the entities that are making this game possible, might actually have a head coach to represent them by then.
It’s actually the fourth time this game will serve as the absolutely last college football game of the eligibility year, not that all but the most passionate fans might have noticed them before. But considering the potential number one pick overall in this year’s NFL Draft began his college career at an HBCU school, to ignore it completely at this point might be an error in judgement. You never know where the next guy who can help a team to a Super Bowl might pop up.
Like I said, times have changed.
Courage…