For one week every year, the center of the football world is 150 miles from the closest NFL stadium.
Welcome to Mobile, Alabama, home of the Senior Bowl.
The 70th edition of the college showcase game will be played Saturday, Jan. 26, but the real work gets done during the week of practices, where NFL coaches, general managers and scouts gather to watch the top outgoing players in college football. In keeping with tradition, NFL staffs will coach the North and South squads. Jon Gruden's Raiders will coach the North while Kyle Shanahan's 49ers lead the South.
Last year, three of the Giants' six draft picks were selected to the Senior Bowl: guard Will Hernandez, defensive tackle B.J. Hill, and quarterback Kyle Lauletta, who was named the game's MVP. Seventeen former Senior Bowlers were named to the 2019 Pro Bowl. The Giants hold the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, which takes place April 25-27 in Nashville.
"We tried to build this a lot like an NFL personnel department, really," first-year Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy said on “Senior Bowl Live” in partnership with Yahoo! Sports. "We cut the country up into five areas. I took the Southeast, and we had four veteran scouts. It's the first time we've really had four veteran scouts on the road. They've got 69 years of experience between the four of them, so we were hitting games every week, watching tape all week. We put the board together, and then the week of Thanksgiving I got on calls with 17 teams in the league and just went down the board – basically, 'Here's who we've invited, here's the next group of guys we want to invite, and here's our cut line. … Who do you guys want to see?' Because we're trying to build this for them. This is the NFL's game. We're trying to get the rosters for them. So the input from the teams was a huge part of it."
As is always the case around draft season, much of the focus will be on the quarterbacks. This year's crop of Senior Bowl invitees includes eight players at the position, four on each team. The North Team quarterbacks are Drew Lock (Missouri), Trace McSorley (Penn State), Ryan Finley (N.C. State), and Daniel Jones (Duke). The South's are Tyree Jackson (Buffalo), Will Grier (West Virginia), Jarrett Stidham (Auburn), and Gardner Minshew (Washington State). Last year's game featured No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen, who was taken at No. 7.
"This class, from top to bottom, it's a really, really good group," Nagy said. "Talking to my friends in the league, when you just look at the senior class … they all bring something to the table. When you talk to teams, you can basically shake them up and take names out of a hat and they're going to come up with a different order. Everyone's kind of got a different guy they're locked in on during the week. So it's really going to be a fun process for the league to come down to see these guys throwing in drills one after the other and who can build that momentum through the week."
Our Giants.com crew will be there for the week, so stay tuned for practice reports, player media sessions, and what the draft analysts are saying. Here is what you need to know about the 2019 Senior Bowl:
MEDIA DAY: Tuesday, Jan. 22. All players are scheduled to be in attendance, as well as both head coaches.
ROSTERS: The Senior Bowl rosters feature the nation's top senior collegiate football players and NFL draft prospects on teams representing the North and South. Only college seniors and fourth-year junior graduates are eligible for the game. Fourth-year junior graduates must have graduated by the December prior to the game to be eligible.
PRACTICE SCHEDULE (all times Eastern):
Tuesday
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm (SOUTH)
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm (NORTH)
Wednesday
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm (NORTH)
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm (SOUTH)
Thursday
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm (NORTH)
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm (SOUTH)
GAME: Saturday, Jan. 26
TIME: 2:30pm
LOCATION: Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Alabama
TELEVISION: NFL Network
Photos of Giants who played in college football's annual showcase of the top outgoing seniors in the nation.
North quarterback Daniel Jones of Duke (17) throws a pass during practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl college football game, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Oklahoma's Sterling Shepard #3 runs through drills for the South team during NCAA college football practice for the Senior Bowl, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, at Ladd–Peebles Stadium, in Mobil, Ala. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Sanford's James Bradberry #25 is seen in a drill for the South team during NCAA college football practice for the Senior Bowl, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, at Ladd–Peebles Stadium, in Mobil, Ala. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
North Squad OG Will Hernandez of UTEP (76) runs drills during the North team's practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl college football game in Mobile, Ala.,Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
North Squad defensive tackle B.J. Hill of North Carolina State (98) during the first half of the Senior Bowl college football game in Mobile, Ala.,Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
South defensive end Oshane Ximines of Old Dominion (7) runs drills during practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl college football game, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
South squad tight end Evan Engram of Ole Miss (17) runs on the field during the player introductions of the Senior Bowl NCAA college football game, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
North squad defensive tackle B.J. Hill of North Carolina State in action during the North teams practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl college football game in Mobile, Ala.,Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
North squad offensive guard Will Hernandez of UTEP in action during the North teams practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl college football game in Mobile, Ala.,Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
North quarterback Daniel Jones of Duke (17) scrambles during the first half of the Senior Bowl college football game, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Oklahoma's Sterling Shepard #3 runs through drills for the South team during NCAA college football practice for the Senior Bowl, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, at Ladd–Peebles Stadium, in Mobil, Ala. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
South squad defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson of Alabama (54) during the introductions of the players at the Senior Bowl NCAA college football game, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Colorado offensive lineman Nate Solder runs a route during practice for the North team during the 2011 Under Armour Senior Bowl at Ladd Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama on January 26, 2011. (AP Photo/Alix Drawec)
North quarterback Daniel Jones of Duke (17) throws a pass during practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl college football game, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
QB Daniel Jones during the Senior Bowl, Jan. 26, 2019, in Mobile, Ala.
South defensive end Oshane Ximines of Old Dominion (7) before the start of the Senior Bowl college football game, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Oklahoma wide receiver Sterling Shepard (3) runs through drills during NCAA college football practice for the Senior Bowl, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, at Fairhope Municipal Stadium, in Fairhope, Ala.(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Joe Webb during practice for the 2010 Under Armour Senior Bowl at Ladd Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama on January 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Ben Liebenberg)
North squad defensive tackle B.J. Hill of North Carolina State in action during the North teams practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl college football game in Mobile, Ala.,Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
North quarterback Daniel Jones of Duke (17) throws a pass during practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl NCAA college football game, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
North squad cornerback Isaac Yiadom of Boston College in action during the North teams practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl college football game in Mobile, Ala.,Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
South defensive end Oshane Ximines of Old Dominion (7) during practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl college football game, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
North quarterback Daniel Jones of Duke (17) before the start of the Senior Bowl college football game, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
South wide receiver David Sills V of West Virginia (21) before the start of the Senior Bowl college football game, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
University of Alabama Birmingham receiver Joe Webb is pictured during the Senior Bowl South squad practice in Mobile, Ala., Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
