Feeling he has nothing to prove at the Senior Bowl, Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley has decided to skip the Senior Bowl next week. His agent, the famed Jimmy Sexton, broke the news during a radio interview Thursday.
Th Senior Bowl is considered the nation’s top college football all-star event, and is the top showcase for potential draft picks outside of the annual scouting combine. The game serves as a great opportunity to work in front of NFL coaches an scouts from every NFL franchise and receive instruction from NFL coaches. The practices during the week sometimes carry more weight for a player’s draft profile than the game itself, so any player opting out is missing out on far more than a game experience.
Of course, for some players, the game ultimately means little for the potential draft positioning. Mosley is expected to be a solid first round draft pick, perhaps in the top half of the opening round. Even a shabby performance in the Senior Bowl practices and game may not have been enough to drop him far in the first round, never mind out of it completely, nor would a good showing do much to move him up much higher in the draft considering some of the options and needs of teams drafting at the top of the order. For Mosley, the focus will be on the scouting combine, and that is a perfectly fine decision.
Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron also decided to pass on a Senior Bowl invite, feeling his workload over the past three seasons will speak for itself. McCarron will need a great showing at the scouting combine and any potential pro day workout in order to change his draft outlook. Most expect McCarron to be a third round draft pick, which made his decision to turn down a Senior Bowl invite a little more confusing.
Helmet sticker to AL.com.