Dawgs By Nature
NFL coaches and scouts have an up-close look at prospects ahead of the NFL draft
Thursday was not the last day of practice for the Senior Bowl, just the last day of any type of contact. Fridays are busy with walk-thru’s and then different fan-based activities. It is supposed to rain so most likely the shorts/helmets will be conducted indoors at the University of South Alabama’s domed practice facility. Almost every coach and scouts leave Mobile, Alabama and will watch the game on a recorded device. As far as the media, it‘s about 50/50 who leaves while the remainder hangs around for the actual game.
RELATED: DAY 2 SENIOR BOWL DIARY
The game will be broadcast this Saturday on NFL Network and NFL+ with a kickoff at 2:30 (EST). The entire coaching staff of both rosters are current NFL coaches collected from various clubs. The American team’s head coach is Cleveland Browns special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone while the National squad’s head coach is New York Giants Offensive Coordinator Mike Kafka.
This is interesting because the Browns have the second overall pick, and the Giants own the third selection in the 2025 NFL draft.
In the past, an entire coaching staff from an NFL team would comprise the coaches for each roster. But coaching staff will have a vacancy or two after the season which became problematic. The Senior Bowl changed its coaching staff format and now calls it a “Coach Up” format where coordinators and assistant coaches are placed into elevated or different roles from the ones they currently hold with their respective clubs. In total, at least one coach from 13 different teams that submitted nominations was chosen for this year’s game.
In addition to Ventrone, Browns DL coach Jacques Cesaire is the National squad’s DC.
A lot of folks don’t realize how many players are drafted from this game. Last year, 10 first-round draft picks and 45 of the Top-100 picks participated in the 2024 contest. The Reese’s Senior Bowl is coming off four consecutive drafts with at least 100 players selected, which has represented over 40 percent of the entire past four draft classes
The starting lineup is usually decided by Friday’s helmet and shorts day, but all players play in the game. The starting quarterback usually plays into the second quarter, but there have been times when this ends up being the entire first half while the other two come in and play a quarter each. Usually, this college All-Star game has six quarterbacks, but this year there are seven.
Dawgs By Nature staff writer Barry Shuck is at the Senior Bowl again this year. Here is what looked appealing to him in the Thursday practices.
DE Shemar Stewart and EDGE Mike Green made statements for two days and have left Mobile. I suppose they showed everything they had and impressed enough. Stewart came in ranked #22 and now looks like he will go in the middle teens.
I mentioned yesterday about a...
