I think the most dominant Senior Bowl performance I ever witnessed occurred in 2014. Back then, the first day of practices were split between two locations -- one at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, and one at W.C. Majors Field in Fairhope, a good 20 miles away.
Watching both was nearly impossible to pull off even with meticulous planning and a zippy rental car. I always tried my best to pull it off as best I could, and I was handsomely rewarded for my effort to get over to Fairhope that winter.
Why? Aaron Donald was there.
It took all of two one-on-one reps to be in awe of Donald, the undersized Pitt defender who arrived with praise for his elite college production but also questions about his smallish frame. With each passing rep, those questions were quickly quashed.
Poor Cyril Richardson. It was just how the DL-OL rotation happened to shake out, but the ex-Baylor offensive lineman was absolutely pummeled in one-on-ones against Donald -- just as anyone else was when they went against him.
After Donald turned in another dominant showing at Day 2’s practice, I rhetorically asked him: “Are you just showing off now?” Donald laughed, but he never slowed down in Mobile, earning top practice player at the event.
Donald ended up the 13th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, retiring following the 2023 season as one of the most dominant defenders of his generation. Clearly, his Senior Bowl week was just a small taste of what was to come.
For many other prospects, the week of practice and the game has also provided a springboard into their pro careers. With Saturday’s Senior Bowl game set to kick off on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET live on NFL Network and NFL+, I handpicked the five most impressive performances from past Senior Bowl players -- who are still active today -- in the previous 15 iterations of the all-star game.
Year: 2024
Drafted: Round 2, No. 39 overall by the Los Angeles Rams
Fiske made history before taking his first snap in the 2024 Senior Bowl, swapping teams prior to kickoff. After working all week with the American Team -- even earning practice player of the week honors -- he went against his former teammates in the game, playing for a shorthanded National Team.
The trade really paid off for the National squad, which won the game, 16-7. Fiske led the way up front with four tackles (1.5 for loss), half a sack and a pressure that led to an incomplete pass. He made his impact felt immediately, with a hustle play to tackle Emani Bailey from behind, 14 yards downfield -- unusual for a 295-pound defensive tackle. He then added a few run stuffs in the first half and kept it up after halftime, nearly taking down Joe Milton III for a safety in the fourth quarter.
Fiske translated his huge week in Mobile to the NFL. The second-round pick of the Rams joined teammate Jared Verse to create a terrific pass-rush duo. Fiske finished his rookie year with 8.5 sacks in the regular season and 1.5 more in two postseason games before leaving the Divisional Round loss to the Eagles with a knee injury.
Year: 2019
Drafted: Round 3, No. 76 overall by Washington
McLaurin arrived in Mobile as a bit of a curiosity, earning a reputation of being a very fast receiver and possessing strong special-teams value by scouts. But he also never ranked higher than third on the Buckeyes in receptions in any of his four seasons with the team.
Years later, McLaurin has clearly established himself as one of the league’s bright young receivers, coming off his fifth straight 1,000-yard campaign and becoming Jayden Daniels’ favorite target this season, which was McLaurin’s finest to date. But like Prescott, McLaurin had to wait longer than he should have to be drafted, taken 76th overall in Round 3 by Washington.
Perhaps we should have paid more attention to what he did in Mobile. McLaurin immediately flashed his speed in the week’s first practice and stacked impressive performances each time he went out there, all the way through the game. He caught four passes for 53 yards and added a 19-yard run, missing out on game MVP honors to Daniel Jones, who accounted for two TDs.
Year: 2016
Drafted: Round 4, No. 135 overall by the Dallas Cowboys
The 2016 draft featured a mélange of talents at quarterback, and several of them are still active today. One of those is Jared Goff, who was picked first overall. Another is Prescott, who somehow lasted until the 135th overall selection
Looking back, it’s easy to say he should have been picked earlier. But Prescott slipped even farther than many expected at the time, especially following a strong Senior Bowl showing.
All week long, Prescott was the most efficient thrower among the six quarterbacks in attendance, whether it was seven-on-sevens or full-team drills, and even under center, which was new to Prescott at the time. With each passing day, Prescott appeared to improve his standing in Mobile, and he finished the week as game MVP, throwing his team’s lone touchdown pass.
Year: 2020
Drafted: Round 1, No. 6 overall by the Los Angeles Chargers
Herbert was very much a known commodity when he arrived at the 2020 event, projected to be a top-10 pick after four highly successful seasons at Oregon. But there were other future QB stars there that year, including Jalen Hurts and Jordan Love, so the competition was thick. Even still, there was no better passer at that event in 2020. Herbert still wasn’t completely and unilaterally beloved in the scouting community prior to Mobile, but he left having solidified his standing among evaluators.
There was a poise and maturity to his game that shone through his practice sessions, putting some distance between himself and the other QBs. Then Herbert capped the week with MVP honors in the game, despite only playing the first quarter -- and his team lost by 17 points, too. He was sharp throwing the ball and even made a nifty 19-yard scramble, the likes of which we’ve since seen in the NFL.
The league -- and the world -- virtually shut down shortly after that, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly altering the NFL draft landscape. Herbert’s 44 games with the Ducks certainly offered plenty of quality tape to pore over, but his excellent week in Mobile was the perfect topper prior to him being taken sixth overall by the Chargers.
Year: 2010
Drafted: Round 1, No. 13 overall by the Philadelphia Eagles
Graham seemed to improve with each passing practice that year as one of the highest-rated defensive players attending, but it was in the game at week’s end where he really shined brightest. He earned game MVP honors by logging five tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles -- one of the more dominant individual game showings over the past few decades.
The Eagles traded up for Graham to select him 13th overall that year. It took time for him to develop into a Pro Bowler, but Graham notched the key strip sack that helped Philadelphia win its first Super Bowl in February 2018.
He was placed on injured reserve earlier this season with a torn pectoral, but prior to the injury, he became the first Eagle to play in 200 regular-season games with the team.
Year: 2021
Drafted: Round 3, No. 98 overall by the Denver Broncos
First off, Meinerz DID NOT play in the Senior Bowl game in 2021, but I wasn’t going to write this piece without mentioning him. There might have been more dominant individual blocking performances in the Senior Bowl annals, and I’d honestly read a 5,000-word breakdown on that from someone else more qualified (and committed to the effort required for such a Sisyphean undertaking). But few prospects that I’ve witnessed or can recall appeared to help themselves more over the course of the all-star week -- even while suffering a significant injury -- than Meinerz did.
Prior to the expansion of the transfer portal, the Senior Bowl often acted as a showcase event for the best of the best among small-school prospects. Some stood out; many flamed out. Meinerz, a Division-III guard, had major hurdles to overcome, facing big-name defensive line talent and proving he could do so after missing the entire 2020 college season, wiped out by COVID.
All Meinerz did was dominate from the first snap. Sure, it didn’t hurt that he created quite the stir with his exposed-belly look, not to mention coining the mantra: “Let the belly breathe.”
But this wasn’t empty hype. Meinerz stepped into game-like conditions for the first time since December 2019 and won far more battles than he lost, often burying defenders and drawing oohs and ahhs from the crowd and the broadcast booth alike.
“This is getting borderline ridiculous what he is doing up front this week,” NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah famously said, watching Meinerz ragdoll offensive linemen in practice like the boulders and logs he tossed as part of his training during the lost season.
Meinerz suffered a broken hand in Thursday’s practice, and he was overruled after protesting to play in the game two days later. But he did enough in three practices to convince the Broncos to use a top-100 pick on a D-III interior lineman who hadn’t played a true game in almost a year and a half.
You can’t tell me that happens without a dominant showing in Mobile. And boy, have the Broncos not regretted that one, as Meinerz has developed into one of the best guards in football.