2024 Draft - All-Star Games (Senior, Shrine, Hula)

The Senior Bowl game was played yesterday and just like the East-West Shrine Bowl, it was a one-sided affair with the National Team dominating the American Team. However, unlike the Shrine Bowl, the Senior Bowl game was just dreadful watching, as several players that practiced throughout the week opted out of playing in the game, not to mention the QB play (outside of Rattler & Nix) was really bad.

There was a bit of a "crisis" on Sunday morning when the National Team only had 3 WR's dress for the game and didn't have enough DL. To even out the DL rosters, the American Team "traded" FSU Braden Fiske to the National Team for the game. But the 3 National Team WR's - North Carolina's Tez Walker, UCF's Javon Baker and Rice's Luke McCaffrey - were completely gassed in the 2nd half and they had to run 2 TE sets for most of the day.

You'd like to think that with such a disadvantage at WR and hardly any rotational DL, the National Team would be at a complete disadvantage, but as mentioned earlier, the American Team QB's behind Rattler were absolutely dreadful and could have relegated themselves to the end of Day 3 or UDFA status at the end. Joe Milton III was the main culprit - has a cannon for an arm, but absolutely no feel for how to play QB: he's a flat-footed statue in the pocket and threw picks when rolling outside of it. Sam Hartman - the only QB to dress behind Nix on the National side - was just as bad, but at least he was able to move the offense into FG range a few times.

Before the game started, Jim Nagy tweeted out that the game was sold out, but not everyone attended the game as there were some empty seats in the upper seating area. And the fans who stayed didn't get their money's worth.

Here's the players who stood out during the game:

- South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler: he was only in there for 2 offensive possessions and won the game MVP, which says more about how the rest of the game went than it does about Rattler. Still, Rattler looked "in-command" of the offense on the first series and threw a dime TD to put the American side up 7-0 early. I do think he's firmly entrenched as QB7 behind Williams/Maye/Daniels/McCarthy/Nix/Penix Jr and should be drafted on Day 2 and has a chance to be a starting QB in the NFL.
- FSU DT Braden Fiske: it's a credit to him that he had to switch teams the morning of the game and even when playing against different OL, he showed out well. He generated pressure early - including a TFL - and then should have had a safety late in the game when Joe Milton III held onto the ball way too long and paid the price for it (just he would in the NFL). I wouldn't be surprised if Fiske played himself into Day 2 status after the week he's had.
- Georgia WR Ladd McConkey: he was already a "winner" during the week, but it was even more obvious during the game. You wouldn't think he was a winner because he didn't have hardly any stats, but he was getting wide open all day long, and the American QB's behind Rattler couldn't find him for some unknown reason. He also showed well as a solid punt returner.
- Auburn DT Marcus Harris: like Fiske, Harris was living in the opponent's backfield for a good majority of the day. It's unknown where he'll line up in the NFL at 6'2", 284 lbs with only 32" arms, but he showed really good penetration throughout the game, which makes me think he could be a 3T in a 4-3 if he add 10 lbs.
- Notre Dame CB Cam Hart/Washington St CB Chau Smith-Wade/Louisville CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr: all 3 CB's played well and Smith-Wade and Brownlee had picks, with Smith-Wade nearly having a very long Pick 6. Cam Hart has the best size of the bunch at 6'2", 200 lbs, but all three could be early Day 3 options for the Vikings if they want to add outside CB depth.
- North Carolina LB Cedric Gray: he had several really nice tackles and a nice PBU on a touch pass that was meant to go over him and to a TE with Gray leaping and breaking it up. Gray doesn't profile as a game-changing LB, but he's a very solid LB that gets the job done.
- Kentucky LB Trevin Wallace: similar to Gray, Wallace had a bunch of very nice tackles and just stuffed holes at the line all day long. I don't think he has the coverage ability to Gray as Wallace seems to be "stiff" with no change of direction, but he's a downhill, "thumping" type of LB and he's good at it.

Here's a YouTube video of the game: