NFL Draft Watch: East-West Shrine Bowl Tracker

The 2025 NFL Draft Watch is in full effect with the start of all-star game invitation announcements.

Volume XXIV Edition LXVI | NFL Draft Watch: East-West Shrine Bowl Tracker

Welcome to the November 8, 2024 edition of the All Access Football NFL Draft Watch, Presented by Sports Management Worldwide.

SMWW SENIOR BOWL MEET & GREET

The SMWW Senior Bowl Meet & Greet is just 80 days away! The Reese’s Senior Bowl is not just an all-star game but one of the largest annual gatherings on the football calendar. Join SMWW, AAF and hundreds of other professionals in Mobile, on January 27, 2025 and come introduce yourself to the who’s who of the football industry.

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NFL DRAFT WATCH: ALL-STAR GAME INVITE PROCESS

With invitations for the 2025 all-star game circuit starting to circulate, we can officially declare that NFL Draft Watch season is upon us! The announcements serve a critical purpose for the football community.

From an evaluator point of view, it starts to signal which draft-eligible prospects intend to declare for the NFL Draft. Typically, if players/school publicly acknowledges an all-star game invitation, the player usually enters the draft, in most cases.

Having worked directly in a decision-making capacity involving various all-star games for the past decade, most recently with the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, we can provide unique perspective on the inner-workings of this process here at All Access Football.

The Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama serves as the premier destination along the all-star game circuit. Traditionally, this game produces the most first round draft picks, the highest number of NFL general managers who attend in person and over 1,000 credentialed media. Players can often times elevate their draft stock. The Senior Bowl, which will be held on February 1, 20025, recently announced that invitations for their event are being sent out this weekend.

The 100th East-West Shrine Bowl is scheduled to be held at ‘The Star’ in Dallas, Texas on January 30, 2025. This is the longest running all-star game event and is organized in association with the NFL. Like any intense competitor, there has been a major push by the East-West Shrine Bowl in recent years to compete for the top draft-eligible prospects.

Due to the competitiveness of player recruitment and the increased public relations visibility on social media, the intensity of the invitation process has heated up. Hence, we have seen the East-West Shrine Bowl begin the invite process earlier. While many will acknowledge, or accept the invitation, many of these players later acknowledge, or accept an invite to the Senior Bowl, which can be confusing from a surface perspective.

So why does it occur? It’s all about impressions and relevance. The Shrine Bowl gets PR, the players elevate their draft status, the schools use the announcement as another recruitment tool for high school players and every body benefits. Welcome to the social media age.

While these two events are jockeying for the top prospects, additional all-star games such as the Hula Bowl and Tropical Bowl cater to later round prospects and projected undrafted players. All Access Football will be in attendance for all four events, so be sure to subscribe to the No.1 independent football newsletter on the planet for updates!

EDITOR’S NOTE: The East-West Shrine Bowl will make official player acceptance announcements soon.

Below are the initial 35 player invites accepted for the 100th East-West Shrine Bowl.

2025 EAST-WEST SHRINE BOWL ROSTER TRACKER

POS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | YEAR | HEIGHT | WEIGHT | FORTY

QB Kyle McCord, Syracuse, Sr, 6025, 221, 4.80

RB Bhayshul Tuten, Virginia Tech, Sr, 5090, 205, 4.50

WR Jalen Royals, Utah State, Sr, 5114, 193, 4.45

WR Kaden Prather, Maryland, Sr, 6040, 211, 4.50

WR Tai’Shar Felton, Maryland, Sr, 6010, 186, 4.42

WR Kyren Lacy, LSU, rSr, 6016, 213, 4.50

WR Ricky White, UNLV, rSr, 6006, 173, 4.55

WR Da’Quan Felton, Virginia Tech, rSr, 6041, 215, 4.42

TE Oronde Gadsden II, Syracuse, rJr, 6042, 225, 4.55

TE Eli Stowers, Vanderbilt, rJr, 6035, 234, 4.59

OT Caleb Rogers, Texas Tech, Sr, 6044, 305, 5.10

OT Charles Grant, William & Mary, Sr, 6035, 280, 4.85

OT Aidan Williams, Minnesota-Duluth, rSr, 6053, 297, 5.05

OT Nash Jones, Texas State, rSr, 6046, 320, 4.99

OG Joshua Gray, Oregon State, rSr, 6040, 306, 5.00

OG Garrett Dellinger, LSU, Sr, 6045, 322, 5.05

OG Miles Frazier, LSU, rSr, 6053, 335, 5.40

DT Zeek Biggers, Georgia Tech, Sr, 6051, 330, 5.25

DT Joe Evans, UTSA, Sr, 6030, 335, 5.30

ER Bradyn Swinson, LSU, rSr, 6032, 250, 4.76

ER Sai’vion Jones, LSU, Sr, 6051, 280, 4.82

ER Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr., Virginia Tech, rSr, 6021, 242, 4.80

ER Fadil Diggs, Syracuse, DE, #10, 6043, 264, 4.80

ER David Walker, Central Arkansas, 6021, 260, 4.62

LB Greg Penn III, LSU, Sr, 6010, 235, 4.58

LB Aaron Smith, South Carolina State, LB, 6010, 218, 4.70

CB Zy Alexander, LSU, Sr, 6010, 188, 4.47

CB Dorian Strong, Virginia Tech, rSr, 6000, 182, 4.37

CB Glendon Miller, Maryland, rSr, 6021, 206, 4.54

CB Bilhal Kone, Western Michigan, Sr, 6011, 184, 4.55

S Dante Trader Jr., Maryland, Sr, 6000, 190, 4.55

S Alijah Clark, Syracuse, Sr, 6010, 180, 4.45

S Jonas Sanker, Virginia, Sr, 6006, 210, 4.50

S De’Rickey Wright, Texas A&M, Sr, 6035, 235, 4.55