Jacksonville coach Gus Bradley and his staff oversaw the South squad in last week's Reese's Senior Bowl, and Jaguars general manager David Caldwell said the task was a big benefit in the team's draft preparation.
Front offices have extra work this year because a record number of underclassmen (98) declared for the draft, so the time spent with the seniors in Mobile, Ala., was a plus.
"There were 110 guys there that we now feel good about," Caldwell told the Florida Times-Union. "Generally, some of those guys we'd be interested in working out or bringing in for a visit. We don't have to do that with a lot of those guys because we had them for a week. There's not that much more that we need to know about those players in terms of a workout or interview."
Each franchise can have up to 30 prospects visit team offices before the draft, and Caldwell said it was an advantage to talk to players this early in the process.
"I think at the Senior Bowl, it's more uncensored, so to speak," Caldwell told the Times-Union. "I think when you get to the combine, they have a good two months to kind of rehearse how they're going to approach the interviews. But when you have them for a week, you can tell."
It's extremely unlikely that anyone at the Senior Bowl will be drafted by the Jaguars with the No. 3 overall pick; numerous top seniors and all the underclassmen except Alabama linebacker Adrian Hubbard missed the event. But Jacksonville has 10 overall picks, including five in Rounds 4 and 5, which means a handful of players the Jags saw up close and personal in Mobile could end up in Jacksonville.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
