Senior Bowl rosters: Who are the starting quarterbacks for the pre-Draft all-star game

While the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl are big events this week and next for players already in the NFL, the Reese’s Senior Bowl will come to you on Saturday, February 5th from Mobile, Alabama. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. ET at the University of South Alabama, Hancock Whitney Stadium. The game will air on NFL Network with the National Team (New York Jets) and the American Team (Detroit Lions) facing off.

The quarterbacks on the National Team are Desmond Ritter from Cincinnati, Kenny Pickett from Pittsburgh and Carson Strong from Nevada. The American Team has Malik Willis from Liberty, Bailey Zappe from Western Kentucky and Sam Howell from North Carolina. According to Jim Nagy, Kenny Pickett and Malik Willis were named the starters for their respective teams from a vote they won from their defensive teammates.

For the National Team, Pickett has undergone some scrutiny for the size of his hand size, but it hasn’t shaken his performance among the three quarterbacks on the team. While the Senior Bowl participants are thrown into uncharted waters from the jump, Pickett is reported as developing chemistry quickly and having his arm strength on display. Strong and Ridder will look to build chemistry throughout the week before the game, but Ridder will need to highlight his accuracy and Strong will look to add some mobility to his game to show he isn’t just a big arm and he can evolve with the playstyle of the current NFL.

For the American Team, Howell has been showing off his arm strength and reportedly fitting the ball into some tight windows. He needs to tune up his timing which will hopefully come with more reps throughout the week. Willis is known for his improvisation skills, but he is trying to show off his arm strength a little too much. Reports are that he needs to tune in the exit velocity on his throws as a number of his dropped passes were attributed to how hard they were coming out. Zappe is doing his best to show that he can belong, but among the other five quarterbacks, he is clearly a tier below.