Oh goody, I thought when I heard that the Washington Redskins coaching staff would tutor the South players in the 2012 Senior Bowl on January 28. Mike and Kyle Shanahan would get the first, up close look at Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin 3rd and other playmaking skill players the Redskins desperately need.
Not so fast there, cowboy.
My friend Eric Galko (never met him, exchanged tweets) of Optimum Scouting burst my bubble. Juniors are not eligible to play in the Senior Bowl. Andrew Luck and Griffin 3rd are redshirt juniors and the game is not called the Junior-Senior Bowl.
That is Shanahan’s loss (and ours), but also a loss for the Senior Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game played on January 21. Neither Andrew Luck nor RG3, if he indeed declares for the 2102 NFL Draft, will ever play in those games because the Bowls’ own rules conspire against them.
Come on people. It’s the 21st Century. The Bowls bill themselves as a preview of NFL Draft prospects, a sort of prep school for the pros. They have enough of a partnership** with the league to guess which undergrads will go high in the Draft. The word “undergrad” should not apply to athletes who have, you know, graduated.
Both the Senior Bowl and the Shrine Game are leaving money on the table by depriving the viewing audience of Draft-eligible undergrads like Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III.
Mike Shanahan is a loser too. Working out Luck or Griffin would help him decide how hard to push a move up in the Draft to get them…or not.
As it stands now, here are the highest rated senior quarterbacks and wide receivers likely to play in one of the Bowls. We show their projected Draft round in (parenthesis).
Quarterbacks
1. Ryan Tennehill, Texas A&M (1-2)
2. Kirk Cousins, Michigan State, (2-3)
3. Kellen Moore, Boise State, (6-7)
Wide Receivers
1. Kendall Wright, Baylor (1)
2. Michael Floyd, Notre Dame (1-2)
3. Dwight Jones, North Carolina (2-3)
Here’s an idea. If the Redskins cannot get Griffin, why not go for his playmaking wide receiver Kendall Wright? Just saying….
** The NFL names the coaching staffs for both sides of the Senior Bowl and for the East-West Shrine Game. Both games are broadcast on the NFL Network.
Point after
Optimum Scouting Draft Rankings, All Positions.
DC Pro Sports Report Mock Draft tracker.
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