The Senior Bowl is annually the best pre-NFL draft event in terms of attracting the top senior talent from around the country. More than 80 of the more than 110 players who head to Mobile, Alabama, end up being drafted every year, regularly featuring a handful of future Pro Bowl- and All Pro-level players. Four eventual first-round picks participated in the 2017 Senior Bowl, and there have been as many as a dozen (the 2011 class, led by Von Miller) in recent years.
But the game also has struggled to regularly attract top quarterbacking talent. That’s why the news Friday that Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield has accepted an invitation to play in the 2018 game is a huge development — both for the folks who run this quality event and for NFL teams eager to see as much of the top passers as possible.