• Fresno State's Jake Haener: He arguably had the best week of any quarterback at the Senior Bowl, showing off consistent accuracy and displaying a good handle on his offense.
• Shepherd's Tyson Bagent: Many scouts hadn't seen Bagent play before, and his arm talent stood out enough that he should be draftable come April.
• BYU's Jaren Hall: He didn't seem to throw with much confidence and struggled overall in the week of practices before not playing in the game.
Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins
The best part about the Senior Bowl is watching how prospects perform in new environments, and no position has that put to the test more than quarterback. These passers have often operated from similar schemes with similar coaching staffs for the past few seasons. So, when you drop them in a new place with new coaches, new gameplans and new receivers, you can really see how quickly they can adapt.
Here’s how a few of the 2023 quarterbacks fared during the Senior Bowl and the week of practices.
MAX DUGGAN, TCU
Duggan went only 4-for-9 passing for 26 yards in the Senior Bowl game itself. But during the three days of practice, he had one of the better performances, especially when it came to 11-on-11 scrimmages.
Duggan struggled some with accuracy and ball placement during the one-on-ones and individual drills, but when it came to those in-game environments, he showed a unique fearlessness among the other signal-callers. He was often the one to really attack deep down the field and over the middle between the defense. He finished the week with the top passing grade (80.5) after making six big-time throws and three turnover-worthy plays through the three days of practice. He again showcased the confidence that propelled TCU to the national championship this year.
JAKE HAENER, FRESNO STATE
Haener would likely get my vote for the quarterback who had the best week in Mobile. Though it didn’t feel like he attacked deep down the field in the same way Duggan did in practice, Haener was consistently accurate and seemed to have the best handle on his offense. That showed up in the game, as he finished 12-for-19 with 139 passing yards and a passing touchdown. He also had the highest passer rating (66.8) during the three practices. It was an impressive week for Haener, who certainly boosted his stock.
MALIK CUNNINGHAM, LOUISVILLE
Cunningham missed the first day of practice but was able to participate in the final two before the game. The dual-threat Cunningham did stand out with his ability to scramble from pressure during team scrimmage periods, but he also struggled with some turnover-worthy plays during the three days of practice, making a group-leading four. He also had some of the best throws of the week in practice and was responsible for the best pass in the actual game, a completion to tight end Payne Durham at the front corner of the end zone.
For the game, he went 3-for-5 with 49 passing yards to go along with 22 rushing yards on five carries with a touchdown. It was an up-and-down week for Cunningham, but he produced some nice highlights nonetheless.
TYSON BAGENT, SHEPHERD
Many eyes were on Bagent at the Senior Bowl, mainly because most of them hadn’t seen the Shepherd quarterback play before. In a group that was somewhat lacking in overall arm talent, Bagent did seem to stand out in that area, displaying juice on intermediate throws with good velocity on his passes overall.
He finished the practices with a 65.2 passing grade after making four big-time throws and just one turnover-worthy play. In the game, he went 17-for-22 with 138 passing yards. At 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, Bagent likely impressed enough to be a draftable player this April.
CLAYTON TUNE, HOUSTON
Tune finished the three Senior Bowl practices with a 73.7 passing grade. He ended the week of practice with five big-time throws, tied for the second most among the group. He also had a 60.9% adjusted completion percentage, which was the highest for Senior Bowl quarterbacks. In the game, he went 9-for-12 with 70 passing yards. Overall, it was a solid week for Tune, who had one of the better performances of the quarterbacks.
JAREN HALL, BYU
It was a tough week for Hall. He struggled early on with accuracy issues, and though it felt he did improve as the week went on, the baseline of performances still left much to be desired. Hall finished the three days of practice with a 65.4 passing grade and a 54.4% adjusted completion percentage — the latter of which is far lower than you want, but remember that practice accuracy is always much lower than in-game accuracy.
Hall also didn’t seem to throw with a ton of confidence, especially early in the week. He did make four big-time throws throughout the practices, but he did not play in the game itself.
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