The 91st East-West Shrine Game takes place in St. Petersburg on Jan. 23, with a week of practices kicking off on Monday the 18th. For four days, over 100 aspiring NFL players will take to the practice fields on teams guided by former NFL coaches June Jones and Charlie Weis in hopes of improving their draft stock.

This will mark my fifth trip (fourth in a row, plus 2010) to St. Pete to take in all the action live. And while I will get a look at every player throughout the week, here are ten who have piqued my curiosity from prep work and watching almost 200 college football games from the 2015 season so far. 

- Cody Core, WR, Ole Miss

Laquon Treadwell gets all the attention as the Rebels’ top receiver, and for good reason; he’s a legitimate top 20 prospect likely to hear his name called in the first handful of picks in this year’s draft. Yet Core has a lot to offer NFL teams as well.

While Treadwell’s hallmark is power and strength, Core is more of a smooth glider. He’s got nice size at 6’3” and is clearly faster than his Ole Miss mate, notably in releasing from breaks into the open field. He didn’t post the kind of numbers many expected, in part because he and QB Chad Kelly never really developed much chemistry. It will be interesting to see if Core can distinguish himself with unfamiliar passers against a defensive back crop in St. Pete which appears to be among the stronger of the position groups. Core’s speed and experience playing in the SEC could make for a big week. 

- James Cowser, Edge, Southern Utah

I will quote my friend Dane Brugler of CBS on Cowser, a player I’ve only seen twice on film so far,

Cowser is a highly active rusher with good edge speed to dip his inside shoulder, shave the corner and find the quarterback. He has quick, active hands and understands how to use them to swipe and swim with a diverse set of hand tactics. Cowser is tough-minded and doesn't wear down, leaving it all on the field to break the rhythm of blockers throughout the course of a game.

I noticed the power in his hands and his ability to quickly get a shoulder clean and then tack straight towards the QB under controlled burst. He should have a real advantage against a pretty underwhelming group of offensive tackles on the West, the best of which appears to be Nebraska’s Alex Lewis. Cowser has a chance to show ability to play in space during team drills as well, something he didn’t do all that much for the FCS-level Thunderbirds.

- Brandon Doughty, QB, Western Kentucky

As I talked about in the Draft Breakdown podcast preview, Doughty is one of three Shrine Game quarterbacks who I rate higher than three counterparts in the more prestigious Senior Bowl. Doughty is my favorite of the three, thanks in part to throws like this…

There are a couple of detractions he must overcome. One of them is out of his control, his age; he’s 24 and a sixth-year senior thanks to a medical redshirt. That matters to NFL teams, and it will keep him from being drafted before several vastly inferior but younger talents. Secondly, his velocity on intermediate throws is questionable. When he guns it, the accuracy wanes. I want to see if that perception I’ve garnered from watching 5 WKU games holds up in person.

One interesting point here: Doughty will play on the East roster. The Head Coach is Charlie Weis and the QB Coach is none other than Brady Quinn. 

- Matt Judon, Edge, Grand Valley State

Judon is the rare small-school prospect I’ve actually seen play in person. Instead of wondering how the 6’3”, 255 pound D-II star will fare with the big boys, I’m waiting to break out the “told you so” smirks when folks from around the country finally get a load of Judon against bigger and better competition.

He posted 20 sacks last fall while playing in the D-II equivalent of the SEC West, also racking up 23.5 TFLs against the run and 81 total tackles. Judon accomplished this with NFL-ready burst and bend off the edge, and he finishes with both control and power. I have a feeling no player will gain more national acclaim from the week than Judon, who can play both 4-3 DE and 3-4 OLB but seems a better fit in the latter role at the next level.

One of the things scouts will be watching is how he controls himself. Opposing fans threw the “dirty” label at him all year, and he definitely plays through the whistle. Sometimes the practice sessions do get heated, yet often the prime conflagrants are praised; this is how Tre Boston and Josh Norman rose up in prior Shrine Game weeks. If Judon can straddle that line and turn in a big week, I can see him being a Day Two pick.

Late edit--Judon is not participating after suffering a minor injury during training. He will be ready for the Combine, per Judon himself in a conversation we had on Jan 16th. Appalachian State edge rusher Ronald Blair is also missing the week with a minor injury.

- Victor Ochi, Edge, Stony Brook

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. I could wax poetic on Ochi’s violent hands, quick first step, excellent ankle and hip flexion to turn the corner and controlled power to finish the play, but I’d rather just show you an example…

 

The goal for the week for the 6’2”, 252-pound Ochi is to prove he can do what he did to low-rung FCS blockers against a big upgrade in competition. He doesn’t have great length and that probably limits his NFL options to playing off the ball as a rush LB, so he needs to thrive in team drills and prove he can play the run well, too. Ochi is another guy who can elevate himself into the conversation at the end of the third round with a strong week.

- Keenan Reynolds, RB, Navy

Wait, what? I thought Reynolds was a quarterback!

Yeah, well…

The good folks who put together the rosters seek input from NFL execs (among others they consult) and those advisors told them the NFL wants to see the college touchdown king as a running back. And that’s the right decision for a 5’11” artful dodger who completed exactly 50% of his 226 passes over his final two years.

I’m sure we will see some gadgets plays where Reynolds takes the snap, but it’s important for him to demonstrate he can be an effective runner when he takes, not makes, the handoff. His receiving skills will also be under close scrutiny. It would be great if he got some reps as a return man, too. 

- Jake Rudock, QB, Michigan

If you would have told me even in October that I would be excited to watch Jake Rudock audition for the NFL in an all-star game, I’d have told you to pass what you’re puffing. I mean, Iowa willingly let him transfer within the same conference. Early in the season, it looked like the Hawkeyes made a good decision as Rudock was wildly off target on deeper throws and felt the pressure a little too quickly.

Then Harbaugh happened. Rudock got better every week, a lot better in several facets. The errant deep balls started to connect as he figured out the timing with his wideouts. His ball placement, his release platform, his confidence in his pre-snap defensive evaluation all improved. When I saw him live against Rutgers, it almost looked like he was playing 7-on-7 spring ball; he was so in command of both the offense and the defense.

The arm has always been there. So has the leadership and character. In St. Pete we will see just how much of the improvement was tied to Jim Harbaugh’s omnipresent tutelage and how much is Rudock himself. The guy I saw against Rutgers at the Big House, as well as watching games against Indiana, Penn State and a very talented Florida defense, is no worse than a fifth-round pick.

- Tajae Sharpe, WR, UMass

One of the perks of being a member of various football writing associations is that I get deluged with emails from colleges promoting their players for various awards and recognition. I do try and check all of them out, and the one I got from UMass on Tajae Sharpe definitely caught my eye.

Here’s the picture part:

 

Pretty impressive, isn’t it? And Sharpe will get the added benefit of catching passes from his college QB, Blake Frohnapfel during practices. At his size and with his experience and familiarity, Sharpe should stand out even in a group that features several taller wideouts with definite NFL traits.

- Justin Simmons, S, Boston College

Many in the online draft community have taken a recent shine to Simmons…

 

 

I admittedly haven’t seen much of Simmons yet. For whatever reason Boston College was just not on the menu very often this fall. From what I have seen, he’s very quick to diagnose and react. Those are critical traits to playing safety. Five INTs tells me he has ball skills, but the one full game I watched was Tyler Boyd from Pittsburgh catching two balls over him, including a touchdown.

If he meets the hype, Simmons should stand out in St. Pete like Meatloaf at a bulimia support group. Here’s hoping he doesn’t disappoint.

- Anthony Zettel, DL, Penn State

The 6’4”, 284-pound Zettel is a good case study of a player who was more highly regarded entering the season than at the end…even though he played pretty darn well in 2015. He didn’t make as many splash plays as he had earlier in his career, but that was a result of the unforeseen explosion of Carl Nassib and the emergence of Austin Johnson inside.

Part of the battle for Zettel is to zero in on one specific NFL role. At his size, he’s not going to play tackle regularly in the NFL. Can he show enough quickness to prove he can play 4-3 strongside end? Does he have enough power and sand in the pants to play 5T or shaded 4 in an odd front? What are his actual measurements, as I’ve heard from one person he is now in the 270s while another source places him at 6’3” and 292 instead of his above listed dimensions?

On paper from the summer, Zettel looks like the top defensive lineman on either roster. He can revitalize his draft stock with a strong week, perhaps playing his way into joining Nassib at the Senior Bowl the following week.