Category Archives: All Star Games

Are We Entering the Post-All-Star Era?

30 Friday Jan 2026

Posted by in All Star Games, NFL draft

≈ Leave a comment

Wednesday night, I drove home from the Senior Bowl. It’s about seven-and-a-half hours on the road alone, which gives you a lot of time to think. One of the things I considered was the plight of the modern college all-star game, especially the Big Two, the East-West Shrine Bowl and the Senior Bowl.

Unlike the other all-star games, these two have the distinction of attracting Day 1 and Day 2 draft prospects. The big question is, how much longer can we expect top-100 players to even take part in all-star games? Consider:

  • The national championship game featured two players who will be top-five picks (Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Miami’s Rueben Bain) along with three other players who might be Day 1 picks (Miami’s Francis Mauigoa and Akheem Mesidor in addition to Indiana’s Carter Smith). As you may know, the Hoosiers and Hurricanes each played 16 games. Sixteen! That’s almost a full NFL season. At some point, players need to take a break. What’s more, the teams that made it to the semis played 15 and the ones who got to the quarters played 14. That’s a lot of football for a lot of talented players who might say enough is enough.
  • The national championship game next year will be Jan. 25, 2027. For comparison, the Shrine Bowl was played on Jan. 27 this year and the Senior Bowl will be played Jan. 31. That pretty much takes the players from the top two teams out of consideration for the top two games.
  • As recently as 10 years ago, you’d see most NFL head coaches and GMs at the major all-star games. For a number of reasons, that’s just not the case anymore.
  • It’s a really popular take to call the NFL Combine the “underwear Olympics,” but the fact is that pro days and workouts matter. The best prospects in the draft can’t risk running or jumping poorly. That week spent playing another game may be better spent focusing on the 40.
  • In 2016, North Dakota State QB Carson Wentz used the Senior Bowl to vault into the conversation for the top pick, as I detail in my latest book. Almost a decade later, it’s probably true that another member of the Bison, OG Grey Zabel, went from a late Day 2 prospect to a first-rounder based on his play in Mobile. However, in the era of the transfer portal, the number of sub-FBS players in the top 100 is limited.
  • There’s one more critical reason that no one wants to talk about: more and more, what we call “college football” is really pro football. When the better players are making more than a million dollars per season, it’s hard to convince them to prove themselves (for no pay) in an all-star format. It’s human nature.

I think the lower-tier all-star games can still make a convincing argument to players. More often than not, they’re attracting prospects who are just fighting to make sure they play in the NFL. The problem there is that those names don’t sell tickets or create ratings, which makes it hard to recoup the investment (stadium rental, flights, hotels, jerseys) that is necessary.

This is why we might be entering the post-all-star game era. It’s been such a successful model for so long, and frankly, covering the ins and outs of the invitation process, the people running the games, and the games themselves have been a big part of ITL for more than two decades. For this and many other reasons, I hope I’m wrong, but I fear I’m not.

Rumblings and Buzz from a Busy Football Week

14 Friday Nov 2025

Posted by in Agents, All Star Games, NIL, Scouts

≈ Leave a comment

Man, it’s been a busy week, and there was a lot we didn’t have time to get into our Rep Rumblings (or give proper attention to). Here’s a look at some of this week’s developments in the business of college and pro football.

  • You don’t often see agents change firms after Halloween, but Evan Brennan has, moving from UA Sports to JL Sports. His arrival gives JL 10 NFLPA-certified contract advisors. Agency owner Joe Linta, who was 18th among all agents with 31 active NFL clients on our last count, gets a hard-working presence in the Northwest who continually turns up Day 3/UDFA types that beat the odds. Per NFLPA rolls, Brennan, who was certified in 2013, had 11 active clients as of this month.
  • Also getting a new address is Arlington, Va.-based Chitta Mallik, who’s taking his 16 years of experience to Jordan Sports Group, headed by newly certified contract advisor Miles Jordan. Jordan has already built a thriving NIL presence, and Mallik arrives to give his firm a veteran league presence. We’re told Mallik isn’t the only agent arriving from Dreampoint Sports; also advising Jordan Sports Group will be Tony Paige, who co-founded Dreampoint. Paige, a nine-year NFL playing veteran, has been in NFL player representation since 1994. Mallik and Paige were also previously with Vanguard Sports Group.
  • In an era where the costs of player representation are going up and up, it’s become commonplace for smaller agencies to develop affiliations. Some of them are highly informal, but others involve LLCs, contracts and specialized language. It’s a little more trouble, but sometimes it pays off, as it did for Premier Athlete Advisors LLC, which recently won a legal victory over its previous partner firm, Enter-Sports MGT LLC. Though the NFLPA continually pushes licensed contract advisors to settle their difference through its grievance process, time and again, agents complain that their rulings don’t resolve things. The people at Premier set up their venture with Enter-Sports as an agreement between LLCs, taking things outside the bounds of the Players Association. Enter-Sports is now on the hook for almost $38,000, per the story.
  • We try to interview a former NFL scout each week as part of our Catching Up feature in the Friday Wrap, and this week, it’s former Broncos, Chiefs and Vikings scout Roger Jackson (he also had a five-year playing career). Most scouts who retire from the job ride off into the sunset, playing golf and chasing grandkids. Not Roger, who instead saw a need for helping underprivileged kids in his hometown of Macon, Ga. He founded the Motivating Youth Foundation 18 years ago, and it’s made a difference in countless lives. To keep it going, instead of enjoying retirement, he knocks on doors. “I can raise money,” he said with a laugh this week. “I beg. And I’ll come back next week. ‘Thought you might have changed your mind.’ Until they say, ‘we gotta give this joker something, or he’s gonna come back next week,’ and I sure am.” Make sure to check out our interview with Roger in tomorrow’s Friday Wrap.
  • Our November Zoom session for ITL clients was Wednesday, and in it, we highlighted the density of all-star competition from Jan. 4-11. In the first week-and-a-half of the year, NFL teams will be tasked with covering the FCS Showcase in Nashville (Jan. 4-5); the Hula Bowl in Central Florida (Jan. 5-10); the Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 8) and Peach Bowl (Jan. 9) as part of the College Football Playoffs; and the College Gridiron Showcase and Dream Bowl, both in the Metroplex Jan. 9-11. It’s a dilemma for scouting staffs, and we discussed how teams are planning on covering things (or not covering them) in Tuesday’s post.

We’re just getting started. If you love the college and pro game, make sure to check out our newsletter, which goes out at 7:30 p.m. EST tomorrow. Register for it here.

Do All-Star Games Still Matter?

23 Thursday Oct 2025

Posted by in Agents, All Star Games, Scouts

≈ Leave a comment

This week, we started our annual all-star game Zoom series. Tuesday, I hosted, discussing all six major games this cycle and providing insights on each. There’s a lot you need to know, from how to get a player into a game to when to be there to what to expect when you arrive. Tonight, we host Jose Jefferson from the College Gridiron Showcase and Jim Collins from the Tropical Bowl, and each will go into detail on their respective events.

But is it all worth it? In the era of the 12-game regular season, in a time when most small-school “sleepers” have long since transferred to bigger schools, in a day when there’s more access to film than ever, do we still need postseason games? I say yes. Here’s why.

Rotational players: It’s true that more G5 and sub-FBS players are transferring “up” to P4 programs, but that doesn’t mean they’re getting the reps they need. Playing every other series or every other snap is not conducive to registering on NFL radar screens. All-star games give you exposure you need.

Interviews, etc.: North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick openly tells Patriots evaluators to stay away. Meanwhile, in our Friday Wrap newsletter, each week we have quotes from scouts talking about schools that limit access to practices, or who force scouts into classroom settings to ask questions about players that draw bland, safe answers. All-star settings are no-spin zones. Done correctly, a player can win over a scout just by having a sit-down with him.

Players from remote areas: The fact of the matter is that scouts do not visit all schools equally, or even all schools. No matter how many resources are devoted to finding hidden gems, there are still those who slip under the radar, especially if you play in the West/Northwest, the plains area, etc. Typically, you have fewer scouts in those areas, and often, they are less-experienced. It’s easy to overlook players. It’s also hard for a younger scout to really “stand on the table” for an unheralded player. But if that player shows out at an all-star game, he might move into “writeable” territory.

Scouts are there: I used to attend the Cactus Bowl in the early 2000s, an all-star game specifically for Division II players that was held in Kingsville, Texas, which is close to saying “we don’t want anyone to actually show up here” as is possible. I mean, no one accidentally shows up in Kingsville. Still, to my recollection, all 32 teams showed up and stuck around for a couple days. The point is, when you make it easy for an NFL team to evaluate players, they’ll usually take advantage of that. So even if it’s a small game, if scouts are sure there will be players there, they’ll probably roll in and watch. That means opportunity for the invitees.

If you’re a new agent and want to learn more about this critical part of the evaluation process, we can help. A lot. Give us a shot by signing up for Inside the League or registering for our free newsletter, the Friday Wrap.