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'Tis the season of college football watch lists — but this one might actually have some legitimate clout.
The Senior Bowl — the annual showcase game for the best seniors and NFL-bound underclassmen in the nation — released a 350-man watch list this week. The typically ballyhooed names were on it — Mariota, Hundley, 75 SEC players — but nine Conference USA players also made the cut.
That number might seem low with a team like Marshall and schools in Florida, Texas and Louisiana in the league, but note that C-USA only had nine picks in the 2014 NFL Draft.
And consider the importance of the Senior Bowl's list — compared to those of the Manning or Thorpe award — is that it is a viable parsing of college football's best talent ahead of the college football season and the 2015 NFL Draft, the latter of which has made the Senior Bowl a critical, and highly publicized scouting tool over recent years.
Below are the C-USA players who were recognized. Note that inclusion this doesn't guarantee an invitation to the game, just as exclusion from this list doesn't mean a player can't be invited to Mobile.
D'Joun Smith |
CB |
FAU |
Rakeem Cato |
QB |
Marshall |
Tyler Heinicke |
QB |
Old Dominion |
Jordan Taylor |
WR |
Rice |
Jamarcus Nelson |
WR |
UAB |
Eric Tomlinson |
TE |
UTEP |
Cameron Clemmons |
OT |
Western Kentucky |
Cam Thomas |
CB |
Western Kentucky |
Willie McNeal |
WR |
Western Kentucky |
Is there anyone that the Senior Bowl missed? Anyone that you guarantee will make it in 2015? Let us know below, we'll relay the message — promise.