MOBILE, Ala. -- The Senior Bowl event is typically loaded with high-end draft prospects, and the 2024 edition this week will be no different.
More than 120 players will attend the 75th annual scouting event with practices beginning Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at Hancock Whitney Stadium at the University of South Alabama. The National team will practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., and the American team will practice on those days from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. Media sessions will be conducted on the field with players for a 10-minute window following each practice.
On Wednesday, Media Day will take place from 4:30 p.m. until 6:15 p.m. at the Mobile Convention Center. During that time, all players and the head coaches from the American and National teams are scheduled to be available.
The game will be played Saturday at 1 p.m. at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
The Steelers will have a presence at this event on and off the field. Mike Tomlin is expected to be on-hand to observe this class as he usually is, and Steelers assistant offensive line coach Isaac Williams will assist the American team as its offensive line coach.
We will have a presence at the event, too. I will be on site for coverage beginning Tuesday and running all the way through the game on Saturday.
Here are five position groups to monitor at the Senior Bowl, with some names the Steelers could take interest in throughout the NFL Draft process who have received an invite to the event:
1. CORNERBACK
When the Steelers drafted Joey Porter Jr., they got a good cornerback in press coverage who needs to work on his tackling. Why not go back into the well for his college teammate?
While the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Kalen King might not bring the exact size and length that Porter does, the Penn State cornerback plays well in press coverage and has the speed to catch back up with receivers when he needs to. King is coming out as a junior, but this is the first year that draft-eligible underclassmen will be permitted to participate in this event. King (National team) has been a name projected to the Steelers in recent mock drafts, so he'll be one to monitor.
Another pair of intriguing names for the Steelers on Day 2 of the draft are Toledo's Quinyon Mitchell and Michigan's Mike Sainristil. Mitchell (National) was a second-team All-American and, at 6-feet tall, has good length to play outside.
Sainristil was a pivotal part of Michigan's National Championship team in the Wolverines' secondary. He transitioned from wide receiver to cornerback prior to the 2022 season and was an All-Big Ten pick at his new position in 2023. Sainristil (Senior Bowl team unknown) is a second- or third-round talent with potential to be an instant contributor on special teams and potentially as a nickel cornerback.
2. CENTER
With Williams closely on hand to work with the offensive linemen, one would think he would pay closer attention to a position of need for the Steelers. Georgia's Sedrick Van Pran (American) and West Virginia's Zach Frazier (team unknown) are the top two consensus centers on draft boards, though Van Pran profiles closer to what the Steelers might be looking for because of his experience in a zone running scheme.
If Van Pran is an attractive enough commodity for the Steelers to draft in the first round, he would join Broderick Jones, Darnell Washington and George Pickens as former Georgia players to be selected in the first three rounds of the last two drafts.
Frazier would profile better as a second-round pick by this stage, but participation at the Senior Bowl could elevate him into the first-round discussion for a team that needs a center.
Two other names to watch at center are Oklahoma's Andrew Raym (American) and LSU's Charles Turner (American), though those would likely be Day 3 selections on draft weekend.
3. DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Texas product T'Vondre Sweat (American) is a strong run defender and has a case to be a first- or second-round selection with a strong showing in Mobile. The 6-4, 362-pounder was a unanimous first-team All-American and was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Sweat posted 45 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks and four pass breakups in 2023.
His Longhorns teammate Byron Murphy II (American) is likely going to rank as a second- or third-round pick. He earned Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year and second-team All-American nods after posting career highs of 29 tackles (13 solo), 8.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and seven quarterback hurries.
A Day 3 sleeper who will be in Mobile is Duke's DeWayne Carter (National). He is a tad undersized at 305 pounds, but he shows motor. In 2023, he was named second-team All-ACC after posting 5.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and five QB pressures.
4. INSIDE LINEBACKER
N.C. State's Payton Wilson (National) could be exactly what the Steelers need from an inside linebacker in coverage, and he could come with a Day 2 selection. At just shy of 24 years old, the 6-4, 238-pound Wilson tallied 138 total tackles, six sacks, three interceptions and six passes defensed for the Wolfpack in 2023.
Michael Barrett (National) started 35 games at Michigan and could be worth a late-round flyer as a developmental prospect. The same can be said for Washington's Edefuan Ulofoshio (National), the third-team All-American who racked up 94 tackles in 2023.
5. QUARTERBACK
The Steelers won't be in the market for Caleb Williams or Drake Maye, so evaluations for quarterbacks would have to turn to prospects who could be scooped up in the mid-to-late rounds as depth options behind Kenny Pickett and the potentially returning Mason Rudolph.
A candidate to fill this criterion is five-year Tulane starter Michael Pratt (American). Over his last two seasons, Pratt completed 63.5% of his passes for 5.090 yards, 47 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. At 6-3, 220 pounds, Pratt is the project pocket passer the Steelers' new offensive coordinator could be looking for as a depth option.
The unanimous QB1 in the 2019 high-school recruiting class was Spencer Rattler, but he was eventually benched for Williams in 2021 at Oklahoma. He transferred to South Carolina prior to the 2022 season and was largely inconsistent, which pegs him as a Day 3 selection as a project. He is known for bailing on pockets a tad too soon -- which was a knock on Pickett out of his draft class -- and he isn't incredibly mobile.
A fun quarterback to look at would be Sam Hartman, the Notre Dame product who led Wake Forest to the ACC Championship Game in 2021 against Pickett and Pitt. Pickett and Hartman reuniting as locker mates three years later would be a sight, based on that history within the ACC. Hartman is a likely Day 3 pick after producing historic numbers in six college seasons, ranking fourth all-time with 134 career passing touchdowns and ranking fifth with 15,656 career passing yards.
