Alabama Football: Five Tiders at Senior Bowl and two who declined invites

Alabama football has four players in the Senior Bowl: Brad Bozeman; J.K. Scott; Da’Shawn Hand and Levi Wallace. Rashaan Evans and Anthony Averett declined. Shaun Dion Hamilton will meet with NFL representatives.

It is audition time this week in Mobile, AL. Five Alabama football players will do their best to impress NFL coaches and team representatives. Shaun Dion Hamilton is still recovering from a knee surgery and will not play. He will spend the week meeting with several NFL teams.

Brad Bozeman, Da’Shawn Hand, J.K. Scott and Levi Wallace look to showcase their talents in practices and Saturday’s game. Two more Crimson Tiders were expected to play but decided to not participate. Rashaan Evans said he wanted to focus his attention on preparing for the NFL Combine. Anthony Averett is still gimpy from his fluke ‘bus-related’ injury shortly before the Clemson game.

What Tide players need to do during Senior Bowl week

Shaun Dion Hamilton

Since Shaun cannot play, he will field many questions about his injury and recovery. In NFL conversations, the former Tide defensive signal-caller will need to reinforce his reputation as a smart, team leader.

Da’Shawn Hand

Hand never lived up to his 5-Star recruit billing. 2017 was to be the season Da’Shawn refuted claims he was only an average player. Hand did that to an extent but an early injury slowed for several weeks and hampered his performance. Hand needs to show strong pass-rushing ability during the week.

Bradley Bozeman

Bozeman was not highly valued coming out of high school. His hard work and determination paid off in being named to seven All-American teams this season.  Bozeman is a big guy, larger than typical NFL centers. He needs to show he can hold his own in one-on-one pass blocking.

Levi Wallace

The former Crimson Tide walk-on was one of the top cornerbacks in the SEC last season. Some stats indicate Wallace performed better in pass defense than Averett. Wallace’s problem will be overcoming a deficiency in NFL physical attributes for cornerbacks. He is undersized weight-wise and does not have great speed. Neither the weight or speed can be changed in Mobile so he has to perform at a high level.

J.K. Scott

Scott has little to prove in terms of punting. He just needs to reinforce his kicking strengths as a punter and kickoff man.

How Tide players not playing in Senior Bowl look for the NFL Draft

Depending on which Draft-Guru is trusted, Alabama football could have anywhere from three to five first-round selections in the 2018 NFL Draft. Minkah Fitzpatrick, Calvin Ridley and Da’Ron Payne are likely first-round picks. Ronnie Harrison and Rashaan Evans have a chance to be first-rounders as well.

Next: 2018 Recruiting Class trends up after big weekend

The Reese’s Senior Bowl kicks off at 1:30 PM, CST, Saturday, January 27th. The game will broadcast on the NFL Network.