The 2013 Senior Bowl, held annually in Mobile, Ala., is set for kickoff at 4 p.m. ET at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, and will be televised by NFL Network. While a player’s performance in this game
undoubtedly can help (or hurt) his NFL draft stock, much of a player’s fate in the professional ranks is secured by the practices leading up to the game. Among the big-name players on rosters for this game are quarterbacks Landry Jones of Oklahoma, Florida State’s EJ Manuel and Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson. Oregon’s Kenjon Barner, UCLA’s Johnathan Franklin, Florida’s Mike Gillislee and Stanford’s Stepfan Taylor are among the running backs, while Baylor’s Terrance Williams and Michigan’s Denard Robinson (a former QB) are worth keeping tabs on at wide receiver.
A first for this game this year is seeing two fourth-year juniors—OL D.J. Fluker of Alabama and OL Justin Pugh of Syracuse—getting a chance to participate after getting clearance from the NFL. Fourth-year juniors had been previously excluded from the game, even if they had graduated.
Having fourth-year juniors play in last year’s game would have meant Baylor's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III and Alabama All-America linebacker Dont'a Hightower would have been eligible. Both were first-round draft picks.
"This is a breakthrough moment for the Senior Bowl game because the league allowed us to bring in these two players who graduated in December and were on campus for four years and their coach supported their candidacy for the Senior Bowl," Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage said. "The reason we wanted to do this was because in the past there have been a number of fourth-year juniors who had graduated who were not allowed to play in the Senior Bowl."
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