2012 Senior Bowl Game Thread: TV Schedule, Rosters, Players To Watch

The 2012 Senior Bowl gets underway today at 1:00pm PT with kickoff happening on NFL Network. Mike Mayock and Charles Davis will provide analysis throughout the game while Paul Burmeister will handle play-by-play duties. The game will also be available on SiriusXM Radio with Jason Horowitz handling play-by-play and Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan handling the analysis.

This is the last of the major All-Star games, which means the next significant step in the NFL Draft process will be the NFL Combine at the end of February. The week of practice leading up to this game will leave just as much an impression as anything else, but a strong performance in today's game could get a player further on the radar of a given team. I would argue that a player who struggled in practice could improve their stock a bit, while a player that excelled in practice might not hurt their stock as much in game conditions.

Earlier in the week I asked what positions people thought were most important to address in the coming months. Wide receiver ran away with the vote. Of the 1,510 votes, 1,186 voted wide receiver first. Cornerback came in second, with guard, outside linebacker and running back following it.

Matt Waldman had an interesting breakdown of what fans can expect to see during the game today. In breaking down the two teams, he had some interesting comments about the wide receivers and the red zone:

However in the red zone, there are some receivers worth watching. Juron Crinor, Marvin McNutt, Jeff Fuller, and Brian Quick join Adams, Jones, and Posey as players I would consider as likely targets inside the 20. Fuller struggled mightily this week in red zone drills. He either failed to get off the line or he dropped the ball. If he is fortunate enough to see a cushion or tight coverage without a punch from the defender, Fuller will make a play.

The 49ers have their issues when it comes to deep threats, but the red zone was also an area of inconsistency. They seemed to pick it up late, but a big bodied threat down close to the end zone could have some considerable value heading into 2012.

A couple of receivers to keep an eye on might be guys like North Carolina's Dwight Jones (South) and Texas A&M's Jeff Fuller (South). Both reportedly struggled quite a bit this week and were consistently showing up on Draft stock DOWN lists. A strong game won't necessarily get them out of that dog-house, but it could give us some ideas about game-performance versus practice performance.

Who or what position will you be looking out for during the game?

North Team
Head Coach: Leslie Frazier
Coaching Staff: Minnesota Vikings

South Team
Head Coach: Mike Shanahan
Coaching Staff: Washington Redskins