Ohio State star Braxton Miller's potential as an NFL wide receiver will be on display this fall for the first time, but it could be a postseason look that gives NFL scouts a better chance to see Miller up close: the Reese's Senior Bowl.
Miller leads 375 players selected to the Senior Bowl watch list, which was released Tuesday and will comprise most or all of the 110 players who participate in the annual all-star game each year. Like the watch lists for the individual national awards in college football, players not on the list can still be selected. According to Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage, a former Cleveland Browns general manager, about one-fifth of last year's Senior Bowl players were not on the 2014 watch list.
Miller's position change from quarterback to wide receiver has been one of the most intriguing stories of the preseason and will, in time, create some draft intrigue as well. If Miller receives an invitation to the Senior Bowl and accepts, it will be the second consecutive year that a Senior Bowl player will show scouts his skills at a different position. Last year, Auburn's Nick Marshall practiced and played cornerback in the Senior Bowl after a two-year quarterback career at AU. Miller, unlike Marshall, will get an entire college season at his new position before getting a chance to put his athleticism on display during the pre-draft process.
Miller was a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year at quarterback for the Buckeyes from 2012-2013, and sat out last season with a shoulder injury before switching to wide receiver this summer. At 6-2, 215 pounds, and as an accomplished rusher as a quarterback, Miller has the size and athleticism to be an impact starter for the Buckeyes at an alternate position.
Other top draft prospects on the Senior Bowl watch list include USC QB Cody Kessler, Auburn WR D'haquille Williams, Oklahoma linebacker Eric Striker, FSU LB Terrance Smith, Alabama DL Jarran Reed and Baylor DE Shawn Oakman.
The Senior Bowl will be held at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 30, 2016.
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