sam-howell.jpg

The Reese's Senior Bowl annually serves as an opportunity for the nation's top senior draft talent to make an impression, as players and people, on NFL talent evaluators. A horde of media and NFL personnel descend upon Mobile, Alabama this week for a week of practices leading up to Saturday's game.

Here are some of the storylines to follow and everything that you need to know for the game:

Jets, Lions coaching National and American squads

The process of picking which teams will coach each team is determined through the NFL regular season. The two NFL teams with the worst records and returning coaching staffs are given right of first refusal to coach the game. There is a bit of a twist, however. In order to expose more coaches to the responsibilities of being a head coach, neither Dan Campbell nor Robert Saleh are allowed to coach their respective teams. Campbell named assistant head coach/running backs coach Duce Staley as the stand-in head coach. Jets tight ends coach Ron Middleton will lead the National Team. The coordinators are not allowed to serve in their normal roles either. 

Over the weekend, the Reese's Senior Bowl, in partnership with the NFL, hosted its first HBCU Combine, which provides prospects from historically black colleges with the opportunity to perform in front of a larger contingent of talent evaluators. The Senior Bowl Minority Fellowship is also placing two coaches from HBCUs on the coaching staffs of each team. Those coaches will be the eyes and ears of the other 31 teams responsible for communicating how players respond to day-to-day activities.

Quarterbacks under the microscope

A year ago, the NFL Draft was littered with talent at the quarterback position. Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance, Zach Wilson and Mac Jones were all picked in the first round. Only Jones participated in the Reese's Senior Bowl. 

The situation is almost entirely flipped this year. Of the perceived top group of quarterbacks, Ole Miss' Matt Corral is the only one that will not be competing. The Jets will be coaching Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder, Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett and Nevada's Carson Strong while the Lions will be coaching Liberty's Malik Willis, Western Kentucky's Bailey Zappe and North Carolina's Sam Howell. With the exception of Zappe, every quarterback competing has appeared in the first round of a mock draft at some point during the process.

The Jets are probably not in the market for a quarterback after taking Wilson a year ago. Detroit could theoretically be in the market if they are not satisfied with the present or future with Jared Goff. They hold the No. 2 and either the No. 31 or No. 32 overall selections.

Small school talents with big-time potential

Fans will recognize most of the college football logos running around Hancock Whitney Stadium but the unique aspect of the Reese's Senior Bowl is that it allows players from smaller schools and Power 5 programs alike to compete on an equal playing field. Wisconsin-Whitewater offensive lineman Quinn Meinerz impressed last year and catapulted himself into a third round pick by the Broncos. 

Some of the lesser recognized decals will adorned by defensive backs Gregory Junior (Ouachita Baptist), Joshua Williams (Fayetteville State), Zyon McCollum (Sam Houston State) and Tariq Woolen (Texas-San Antonio). The offensive line position will be represented by Max Mitchell (Louisiana), Braxton Jones (Southern Utah), Spencer Burford (Texas-San Antonio), Luke Goedeke (Central Michigan), Bernhard Raimann (Central Michigan), Nick Zakelj (Fordham), Matt Waletzko (North Dakota), Trevor Penning (Northern Iowa), Cole Strange (Tennessee-Chattanooga) and Ja'Tyre Carter (Southern).  

The small school narrative is fun but the National Champion Georgia Bulldogs were not about to be upstaged. They lead all programs with six players participating. Penn State, Oklahoma and Cincinnati each have five representatives.

When and where

South Alabama's Hancock Whitney Stadium will play host to the Reese's Senior Bowl February 5, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. ET. The event is open to the public and will be televised on NFL Network. Hancok Whitney Stadium is a state-of-the-art $78 million facility that opened in 2020. CBS Sports' Ryan Wilson will be on-hand all week to cover the event for CBS Sports HQ.

Later this week, CBS Sports will dive deeper into the players with the most to gain and the top overall talents participating. The rosters for each team can be found on the game's website.