The Importance of the Senior Bowl and Its impact on the NFL Draft
Carson Wentz. Aaron Donald. Von Miller, Kyle Long. These are four of the best players at their positions but they also have two other things in common, they are all first round picks and were also participants in the annual Senior Bowl. Each year, the event brings together college football's best seniors from around the country and each year, a few seniors stand out from the rest of the group. Some years its a QB that shines, others its a another position like RB or WR but either way there is always at least one player who makes an impact. In order to understand how much impact the Senior Bowl can have on the outcome of the NFL Draft, let's look back on some past Senior Bowls and see who made a name for themselves.
Let's start with the Senior Bowl class of 2011, a group that had some good talent but two of the more noticeable players from that draft just so happened to be QBs; Jake Locker from Washington and Christian Ponder from Florida State.
Now going into that season Locker did have some hype behind him and was even considered a first round pick but during that year fell out of favor a little bit and lost some steam heading into the Senior Bowl. As for Christian Ponder, he was consistent at QB for Florida State and was an interesting prospect but at the time was not viewed as a top 10-15 pick. Fast forward to the Senior Bowl and after an impressive performance, Ponder was named game MVP. Soon after, Locker was drafted 8th overall by the Titans followed by Ponder at 12th overall to the Vikings.
This was one of the more recent examples of how the Senior Bowl can make a big impact on the top half of the NFL Draft but its not the only example. In 2013, Florida State had another QB in the Senior Bowl, EJ Manuel, who also won game MVP and who also went in the top 20 (16th overall to the Bills). Now it may seem like I'm picking only on QBs so let's take QBs out of the conversation; defensive lineman Quinton Coples (2012), offensive lineman Justin Pugh (2013) & edge rushers Melvin Ingram (2012), Ezekial Ansah (2013) & Marcus Smith (2014) were are just a few recent names who all played in the Senior Bowl and also were drafted in the first round.
Now if we're keeping track, I just listed 12 former first round picks who participated in the Senior Bowl and benefited from playing in the game. Now have all of these players panned out like their teams hoped, no, but the main point of the discussion is that if a prospect is given the opportunity to participate in the event, there are 12 reasons in this article alone to support why he should accept the invitation. Let's round out this discussion with a quick look at how this upcoming Senior Bowl could impact the 2018 NFL Draft.
Just like the aforementioned 2011 Senior Bowl, this group is also headlined by two QBs with alot of hype and a ton of questions, Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield & Wyoming's Josh Allen. Not only do both of these QBs have a chance to cement their status as first round picks but if they can impress the coaching staffs as expected, they may very well vault themselves into the top 5.
Needless to say, the Senior Bowl can make a bigger impact on the NFL Draft than some may think. Not only can this game improve or worsen the draft stock of certain prospects, but it also gives NFL coaches a an depth look at the future of the NFL and like Senior Bowls of past, this year's group may be the best we've seen in recent memory.