By Josh Martin
The outcome of the game has little to no relevance. The college football season ended 3 weeks ago in an anticlimactic BCS National Championship game where the biggest storyline coming out of the game was the beauty of Katherine Webb. The game is played at a Division 2 football field in Mobile, Alabama and it doesn’t even sell out. No one in the top 10 of most mock drafts is playing in the game. So why should we watch the Senior Bowl? I’ll tell you: It’s the only time you will ever see a full contact game between two squads full of players each with realistic dreams of being drafted in April. Even the marquee SEC matchups of November don’t fit these qualifications as some players don’t have legitimate NFL aspirations, and many more are underclassmen ineligible for the draft all together. And while the #1 rated Quarterback and projected #1 overall pick Geno Smith (West Virginia) did not make the trip down to Mobile, 6 other top quarterback prospects did. Tyler Wilson, Ryan Nassib, EJ Manuel, Mike Glennon, Landry Jones and Zach Dysert each chose to risk their draft stock in the hopes that it would rise with an impressive senior bowl performance. What is at stake that makes this game so compelling? The answer is simple: Money.
While the #1 overall pick may be locked up to Smith, it is more than likely that either the Arizona Cardinals, or Buffalo Bills, each desperate for a franchise QB and with the 7th and 8th overall picks respectively, or both will select a quarterback in the 1st round. But after those two picks there comes a stream of teams who are not looking to draft a quarterback until the beginning of the second round. Those six Quarterbacks, along with other notable prospects such as Tyler Bray and Matt Barkley are vying neck and net for one of those spots. And how life changing is it to be drafted 7th overall compared to early 2nd round? In 2012, the 7th overall pick signed a contract for 14 and a half million dollars over 4 years. The first pick of the second round earned a comparatively meager 6 million over the same period. A seemingly meaningless game on a high school field could change any of the six quarterback prospects’ rookie contracts by 8.5 million dollars or more. Most of them would leave Mobile disappointed with their performance.
Tyler Wilson, Arkansas (Draft Projection Pre-Senior Bowl: Round 1, Pick 8 Buffalo)
The 6-3, 220 pound pocket passer would have been drafted early he had come out after his dominant junior season in which he threw for 3,638 yards, 24 tds and 6 interceptions on 63.2% passing. He struggled with his accuracy in his Senior season as the Razorbacks struggled on the field, but this year’s QB class is considerably weaker than last year’s which featured Andrew Luck and RGIII. After a solid week of workouts for the South squad, he was underwhelming in the game. Wilson seemingly avoided risk while completing an impressive 8 of 11 passes for an unimpressive 40 yards (3.6 YPA). Wilson did not throw either a TD or an interception. He played 3 series and those drives produced 0 points for the South. With not much to take from this performance, it doesn’t effect his stock that much, but there was not a lot of promise on his deep throws. He was 0 of 3 on passes of more than 12 yards, including an unforced underthrow to a wide open Mychal Rivera down the seam on what should have been an easy 30 yard gain and possible touchdown. A boring game simply wasn’t the expectation for Wilson, but it is what he provided.
Grade: C
Stock Report: Slightly Down
Mike Glennon, NC State (Draft Projection Pre-Senior Bowl: Round 2,Pick 6 Arizona)
Mike Glennon is not a threat to run the ball, he threw an alarming 17 interceptions in his Senior campaign, and yet he has a shot to be a top 10 pick this April. When he is at the top of his game, he is unstoppable, and he clearly has the best arm strength on tape of anyone in this draft class.
He threw for over 4000 yards and 31 touchdowns his senior season despite many accuracy issues. He, like Wilson, was also underwhelming on Saturday as his accuracy issues continued. He finished 8 of 16 with 82 yards passing (5.1 YPA) and no TDs or picks. The North team scored a total of 10 points on his 5 possessions. While Glennon was able to show off his arm strength on an impressive 22 yard completion to his Tight End in the 3rd quarter, he also overthrew several deep pass opportunities on the outside. The fact that he was interception free in his first game against an NFL ready secondary was impressive, but not much else about his Saturday performance was.
Grade: C-
Stock Report: Slightly Down
EJ Manuel, Florida State (Draft Projection Pre-Senior Bowl Round 3, Pick 4 Oakland)
EJ Manuel is a mobile and efficient quarterback who started each of the past two years for FSU. While certainly not an every down dual threat, he has the potential to break contain and gash a defense for a big gain on the ground occasionally. He finished his senior season with a sky high 68% completion percentage, 23 TDs and 10 interceptions as he led the Noles to a 12 and 2 record. His skill set, efficiency and leadership have drawn comparisons to Russell Wilson. He certainly benefited most from his Senior bowl appearance, going 7 for 10 with 76 yards (7.6 YPA) with one interception, racking up one TD through the air on an electric, perfectly placed 20 yard pass and another one on the ground. Manuel was able to show off his arm strength and mobility and earned the honor of the game’s MVP. Manuel was in for 4 drives and led the South to 3 touchdowns and all 21 of their points. A fantastic game surprised a lot of critics, and boosted Manuel’s draft stock immensely.
Grade: A
Stock Report: Way Up
Ryan Nassib, Syracuse (Draft Projection Pre-Senior Bowl R3, P6 Cleveland)
The pocket passer who threw for 3700+ yards, 26 TDs and 10 interceptions his senior year and thoroughly outdueled Geno Smith in his final collegiate game in the Pinstripe Bowl was once slotted to be the 8th overall pick in our mock draft. But reality set in leading up to an in the Senior Bowl. After a lackadaisical week of workouts, Nassib went just 4 of 10 for 44 yards and an interception. Less than a month after looking like the next Tom Brady against West Virginia in the Pinstripe Bowl, Nassib easily succumbed to the South’s pressure. There was little good to take away from this performance. The 5th year senior from Syracuse looked rattled at every release and lacked the arm strength to make most of the throws presented to him.
Grade: F
Stock Report: Slipping
Zach Dysert, Miami (OH) (Draft Projection Pre Senior Bowl Round 3, Pick 12 San Diego)
Dysert is an underhyped prospect from Miami of Ohio who completely rewrote the record books there, many of which were previously written by Ben Roethlisberger. He has a high ceiling as many believe he can be developed into an extremely successful NFL quarterback. According to experts, he fit right in with all of the players from BCS AQ schools in the practices leading up to the Senior Bowl. His performance in the actual game was just that: fitting in. He finished 10 of 16 for 93 yards (5.8 YPA) for a touchdown and an interception. Those were easily the best stats amongst the North’s QBs against the vaunting South D. He led 4 drives and one for a touchdown. He made a few poor throws and decisions, but for the most part it was a positive day especially compared to how the others QBs fared.
Grade: B-
Stock Report: Neutral
Landry Jones, Oklahoma (Draft Projection Pre Senior Bowl Round 4)
Landry Jones certainly had a solid college career. As a 4 year starter at Oklahoma, Jones passed for over 16,000 yards, 120 touchdowns and lead the Sooners to 40 victories and only 12 losses. Jones, while breaking several records owned by the likes of Sam Bradford and Jason White, never seemed to show up for the biggest games of his career. That held true for his senior season as the Sooners fell to Kansas State, Notre Dame and Texas A&M, failing to score 20 points in any of those games. Had Jones come out of the draft after his fantastic redshirt sophomore season, he likely would have been a top 10 pick, but instead he chose to return to college and earn his degree, and you can’t blame him for that. But Jones seemingly has regressed since his sophomore season in which he completed 405 passes for over 4,700 yards and 38 TDs. And after reportedly having an outstanding week in practice leading up to the Senior Bowl, so outstanding that CBS Sports published an article talking about how Jones may still be the most talented QB in the draft class, Jones simply didn’t show up during the game. 3 for 9 for 16 yards simply isn’t going to cut it at any level.
Grade: F
Stock Report: In Freefall
Other Standout Performances:
Eric Fisher – Showed why many people place him in the same category as OT Luke Joeckel
Ezekiel Ansah– Showed his freakish athleticism by playing on the Special Teams Unit and recording a vicious strip sack on Zac Dysert. Won most outstanding player for the South Team
Sio Moore– Was around the ball at all times, made some big stops and solid tackles.
Kawa’an Short– Constantly took on double teams and blew up running plays. Won most outstanding player for the North Team
Kenjon Barner– Showed off his hands by catching 7 passes for 59 yards and a Touchdown
Michael Williams – Caught 2 balls for 39 yards and a Touchdown
Denard Robinson – (looks like he has a lot of work to do on route running before he can be a successful receiver in the NFL)
TJ McDonald– Hard hitter at the Safety Position, however, he got beat on a post route which was caught for a Touchdown by Alabama Tight End Michael Williams
Beneath The Helmet 