Championship-game quarterbacks put Senior Bowl roster in spotlight

When Notre Dame and Ohio State square off in the CFP national championship game on Monday night, the Reese’s Senior Bowl will be the spotlight. The starting quarterbacks – former Fairhope High School star Riley Leonard for the Fighting Irish and Will Howard for the Buckeyes – are among the seven signal-callers on the roster for Mobile’s annual all-star game.

Howard and Leonard are joined by Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Memphis’ Seth Henigan, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Louisville’s Tyler Shough.

“I feel like this is as good a group we’ve had from top to bottom in the last few years,” said Jim Nagy, the Senior Bowl’s executive director, about the QB collection. “Last year, we had Bo Nix and Michael Penix go in the top 12 (of the NFL Draft). I don’t know if we’re going to have two top 12 picks this year, but from top to bottom, this is a really solid group. Just from a national perspective, having the two guys in the game tonight with Riley and Will Howard is a big deal.”

The strength of the quarterback class is only one factor in what Nagy judges to be “the best roster that we’ve put together” for the Senior Bowl. Another is a stronger lineup of draft-eligible juniors.

In November 2023, the NFL announced juniors who declared for the NFL Draft would be eligible for Senior Bowl consideration for the first time. (Underclassmen who had graduated already had been eligible.)

“We had 10 first-round picks last year,” Nagy said. “All 10 of those guys were seniors. I felt like we didn’t have great buy-in from the junior class. They kind of dropped that announcement on us in early November. For whatever reason, we just didn’t get a ton of traction with juniors last year or their agents. We certainly did this year.

“The junior class, there’s a bunch of guys that – there’s probably 20, 25 guys that we think could be first-round picks out of this group. They all won’t be. Things are going to shake out how they shake out through the spring, but it’s our best roster that we’ve put together. I feel confident I can say that.”

While the quarterback group likely attracts the most attention from fans, the defensive linemen and the running backs are going to be putting smiles on the faces on NFL scouts during Senior Bowl week, Nagy said.

Walter Nolen was a consensus All-American defensive tackle for Ole Miss. South Carolina’s Kyle Kennard and Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku also were consensus All-American defensive lineman for the 2024 season. Kennard and Ezeiruaku are listed as edge rushers on the Senior Bowl’s roster.

“The edge group, it’s also an unbelievably talented group,” Nagy said. “I mean, the sack production from this group — you’ve got Kyle Kennard, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year; you’ve got Donovan Ezeiruaku from Boston College, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. You’ve got the national sack leader from Marshall, Mike Green, who had 17 sacks. So that position’s absolutely loaded.”

The Senior Bowl lineup features 15 running backs, including SEC standouts Jarquez Hunter of Auburn and Travis Etienne of Georgia and AP first-team All-American Cam Skattebo of Arizona State.

“The running-back group is the best running-back group that the NFL has seen in a draft in a while top to bottom,” Nagy said. “It’s really good.”

Leonard is among seven former Alabama high school stars coming to this year’s Senior Bowl

“He’s a pretty special young man,” Nagy said of Leonard. “I say it every time I talk about him: His parents did an unbelievable job with him. So I think having the decision-makers — you know, that’s the key thing for all these players. The scouts have seen these guys, right? Like they’ve been through South Bend. Every scout in America, every team’s had scouts through South Bend to see Riley. But, you know, these head coaches and GMs that are making the picks at the end of April have not. So that’s where just for those guys to be around Riley and see him with his teammates, that’s what’s big for all these quarterbacks. And then seeing the athlete up close, I mean, we all know what a great athlete he is.”

The other Alabama high school alumni in the 2025 Senior Bowl include:

• Florida linebacker Shemar James of Faith Academy in Mobile
• Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson of Pinson Valley
• Alabama safety Malachi Moore of Hewitt-Trussville
• South Alabama wide receiver Jamaal Pritchett of Jackson
• Tulane safety Caleb Ransaw of Sparkman in Harvest
• Jacksonville State guard/center Clay Webb of Oxford

Johnson and Ransaw started their college careers at Troy. Other 2025 Senior Bowl players from Alabama colleges include:

• Ole Miss cornerback Trey Amos (Alabama 2023)
• Auburn linebacker Eugene Asante
• Alabama punter James Burnip
• Alabama tight end CJ Dippre
• Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter
• Ohio State center Seth McLaughlin (Alabama 2020-2023), who won’t be able to play because of an injury.
• Auburn linebacker Jalen McLeod
• UCF cornerback Mac McWilliams (UAB 2020-2023)
• Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe
• Alabama A&M offensive tackle Carson Vinson

Senior Bowl week provides a proving ground where publicity doesn’t play a factor. Michigan pass-rusher Josaiah Stewart and Purdue offensive tackle Marcus Mbow are comparatively unheralded prospects that Nagy expects to turn heads next week when the NFL descends on the Port City.

“Josaiah Stewart from Michigan is the guy I think could really jump out here as a pass-rusher,” Nagy said. “Really violent. Played at Coastal (Carolina), so there’s some Sun Belt ties there. Had 12 sacks as a true freshman at Coastal Carolina. I would throw that name out there as kind of an under-the-radar guy that people might not know.

“And then Marcus Mbow, a lineman from Purdue, I think he’s got a chance to go in the first round. Purdue didn’t win a lot of football games this year, and they’re not in national big games a lot.”