2025 NFL Draft: Five players to watch at the East-West Shrine Bowl

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

With the college football season now in the rearview mirror, draft season is fully upon us. 

The all-star circuits are a major part of that process as some of the top prospects will go head-to-head to try and move their names higher on NFL teams’ big boards. The first major one occurring is the East–West Shrine Bowl down in Frisco, Texas with practices beginning this Saturday.

Here are five of the biggest names to know in this year’s Shrine Bowl.

QB Shedeur Sanders, Colorado

The headliner of this year’s Shrine Bowl is undoubtedly Sanders, who’s currently battling Cam Ward to be the first quarterback selected in the 2025 NFL draft and potentially the No. 1 overall pick. Simply put, Sanders has been one of the nation’s best quarterbacks since he transferred to Colorado from Jackson State. His 91.4 passing grade since 2023 is fourth among FBS quarterbacks while his 49 big-time throws place fifth and his 1.6% turnover-worthy play rate is second. While his physical tools won’t wow you, his football intelligence will as he expertly reads and diagnoses coverages at a high level.

DI Kenneth Grant, Michigan

The only other projected first-round pick who’ll be participating in on-field workouts at the Shrine Bowl is Grant. While his teammate, Mason Graham, is pretty solidly the top defensive tackle in the draft, Grant is looking to solidify himself as No. 2 with a strong week in Texas. His 86.4 PFF grade since 2023 is 10th among FBS interior defenders, as he’s earned 80-plus grades both as a pass-rusher and as a run defender in that span. Grant has freakish movement ability at 6-foot-3, 339-pound size and will likely be selected within the first 25 picks in April.

WR Tre Harris, Ole Miss

Injuries kept Harris out of five games this past season and likely cost him a Biletnikoff Award as well. He finished the year with an absurd 5.15 yards per route run, the most by a Power Five receiver since PFF began charting college football in 2014. Harris has great size at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds and is dangerous after the catch. There are some serious question marks about his game though, specifically with his limited route tree and ability to consistently get open. Since 2023, Harris has been in just the 11th percentile of FBS receivers in terms of separation rate against single coverage. If he can quell some of those concerns in one-on-ones at the Shrine Bowl, he can all but lock up a spot in the second round of the draft.  

EDGE Bradyn Swinson, LSU

Swinson has steadily improved throughout his career at Oregon and LSU, leading to his best season yet in 2024. He earned a career-high 90.2 pass-rush grade as a fifth-year senior, placing sixth among FBS edge defenders with a 20.1% pressure rate and 10th with a 22% pass-rush win rate. Swinson has shown off advanced pass-rushing moves throughout his career that could give offensive linemen fits in one-on-one drills. He’s currently a projected third-round pick and will look to move up in what is a deep edge class.

CB Zy Alexander, LSU

Swinson isn’t the only LSU defender looking to make some money down in the Lonestar State. After a rough year with the Tigers in 2023 (59.7 coverage grade), Alexander bounced back in a major way this past season. The Southeastern Louisiana transfer earned an 81.8 coverage grade in 2024, sixth among SEC cornerbacks. Alexander has great length at 6-foot-2 that he uses to bother receivers both at the line of scrimmage and at the catch point. Alexander is a borderline Day 2 prospect and will try to solidify that status down in Frisco.