All-star game season approaching … If its late November and the regular college football season is winding down then a young football player’s fancy turns to the upcoming all-star games. Or something like that. In fact, while most of the college football world is focused on the initial 12-team playoff that gets underway in less than a month, the post-season all-star games are slowly starting to come together. It appears there will be 5 major all-star games this year culminating with the Senior Bowl on February 1st in Mobile. The East-West Shrine Bowl will be played the same week, but on Thursday night, January 30th in Dallas, while the other games include the Hula Bowl on January 11th in Orlando, the Tropical Bowl on January 18th also in Orlando, and the HBCU Legacy Classic on February 22nd in New Orleans.
The different games have already started to announce the names of players that have committed to their game, although it is important to note that players will often switch games especially if they get an offer to a higher rated game. The Senior Bowl has announced roughly a couple of dozen accepted invites to date, and if the early returns are any indication it could be a big year in Mobile for WRs as several top prospects at the position including Jalen Royals of Utah State, Oregon’s Tez Johnson and Jaylin Noel of Iowa State have already committed. So have two of the top small-school offensive linemen in OTs Grey Zabel of north Dakota State and William&Mary’s Charles Grant. And there is at least potential terrific match-up shaping up when the OL and DL go one-on-one as rising Minnesota OT Aireontae Ersery, a legit first-round prospect, and Arkansas DE Landon Jackson have both committed to being in Mobile. At the same time, the East-West Shine game currently has fewer committed players but still has some promising entries in LSU DE’s Braydyn Swinson and Sai’vion Jones as well as Louisville QB Tyler Shough.
