As the NFL playoffs wind down, many eyes in the league have already turned their attention toward the next crop of eager, young hopefuls vying for a shot at playing on any given Sunday.
The annual East-West Shrine Game isn't the first all-star college game of the year (there are minor regional games set earlier), nor is it the biggest (that's next week's Senior Bowl), but it's an important part of the draft process that has been growing for years now and has sent a number of impressive prospects not only to the Senior Bowl as "call-ups," but also to the NFL, where Shrine Game alum have been playing important roles as rookies.
Bleacher Report will have everything you need to know from the practices this week, but my standard college all-star game disclaimer applies: This is a small part of the process. A tremendous performance/disappointing practice session this week doesn't supersede the hours of tape on these guys, nor should it.
No one gets drafted or passed on solely because of what he does at a game like this.Here's where it's useful, however. Many of these players don't play against the top level of competition week in and week out. Those who do are often overshadowed by other players on their respective teams. All-star games put these players in the context of their peers on a level playing field and with NFL-caliber (or at least NFL-style) coaching. ons ended like this, with ruminations about his future in the wake of a disappointing playoff performance. But Manning did not throw interceptions into the face of defensive trickery or a vicious blitz Sunday. He threw the football poorly, in decent weather, against a superficially straightforward game plan.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2325439-mike-taniers-monday-morning-hangover-weekend-of-upsets-and-classics
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