2023 NFL draft: 10 biggest offensive standouts from 2023 East-West Shrine & Senior Bowl events
The 2022/23 NFL season is officially in the books, with the Kansas City Chiefs beating the Philadelphia Eagles in a tremendous back-and-forth Super Bowl. Now it’s time to progress to offseason content, with free agency and a lengthy pre-draft process.
Some people may have already missed some of that, as we had a full week between the East-West Shrine and Senior Bowl events. We have three/four days of practice and a game each to break down, to see which young prospects have already stood out and helped showcase their talents to NFL scouts.
I watched every practice period and the games (to recap everything we saw in Las Vegas and Mobile respectively) and settled on ten players on each side of the ball, which I wanted to point out as early risers in this process. Plus, I added a few other names at the end, who I thought helped themselves.
We'll start on the offensive side. Make sure to also check out the version on defense.
#1. Jake Haener, Fresno State (QB)
While Jake Haener was originally a three-star recruit for Washington, he only threw 13 total passes for the Huskies (due to the presence of eventual fourth-round pick Jacob Eason) before transferring to Fresno State.
Across three seasons there, he completed 68.2 of his passes for just over 9,000 yards and 67 touchdowns, compared to 17 interceptions. In a quarterback class with a lot of uncertainty after the top four, this young man showed that he should be in the discussion for the next names up.
Throughout the Senior Bowl (especially from day two onwards) Haener was easily the most consistent quarterback of the week. His second day may have been the most impressive. He was right on point with multiple deep passes during one-on-ones, showed the ability to work through progressions in seven-on-sevens and was very accurate throwing on the move.
Jake Haener is unbelievable
https://t.co/16umbV9Ht8
Haener continued to stand above the rest on day three and had a tremendous red-zone session. He put the ball perfectly away from trailing defenders for his receivers to make a play on vertical routes, getting the ball out just as the back-foot hit off play-action and pinning it to chest of guys crossing the field.
One ball in particular stood out. He put it high and slightly behind Purdue tight end Payne Durham on a wheel route out of a tight stack (away from the trailing defender) for a touchdown during red-zone drills of day three (although the TE deserves credit as well for holding onto the ball through a big hit).
Obviously, Haener ended up being named the Senior Bowl MVP for his performance in the game Saturday. He went 12-of-19 for 139 yards and a touchdown, including a 44-yard score to Michael Wilson (making him work back and high-point the ball on a post route off play-action) to cap the day.
However, for me it was his command of the offense and how well he acclimated himself with new guys around him. His eyes didn’t drop with bodies around him in the pocket and once he left that space, you saw Haener pointing at guys and making them adjust their routes on the fly on multiple occasions.