This year's Senior Bowl class is headlined by an accomplished group of quarterbacks, including the starting signal-callers of the National Championship game -- Ohio State's Will Howard and Notre Dame's Riley Leonard.
Below is a snapshot of the quarterbacks that will take the field next week in Mobile, AL, in what will be their final game week before the 2025 NFL Draft in April.
Will Howard (6-4, 235), Ohio State
Howard, the starting quarterback for the National Champion Buckeyes, began his college career at Kansas State where he played four seasons. In his one season in Columbus, he led the Big Ten with 4,010 passing yards, 35 touchdowns and a 73% completion percentage.
"I'm going to have to feel how my body is feeling and go from there," Howard said on "The Pat McAfee Show" earlier this week about his on if he still plans to participate in the Senior Bowl. "In the process, I'm just looking forward to getting after it. I'm going out to train in LA with my guys at Excel Sports. I'm just excited to get out there and hopefully prove some people wrong throughout this process. I've felt like I've had that chip on my shoulder the whole time. I believe that I can be a first-round draft pick, I believe I can go in and lead an organization. I want to just show these teams that they can trust me, bring me in and be that guy."
Riley Leonard (6-4, 216), Notre Dame
In a career-high 16 games with the Fighting Irish after three years at Duke, Leonard set personal bests with 21 passing touchdowns, 269 completions and a 66.7% completion percentage. The Fairhope, AL, native, who grew up about 18 miles southeast of Mobile, also ran for 906 yards and 17 touchdowns.
"I feel confident once we get to gameday, he's going to wow people with what he can do running the football and the athleticism you see that on the field each and every week at Notre Dame," NFL Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. "The practice week for him I think is as big as anybody in the entire game. Can he consistently stack days as a passer? He's got a lot to gain there in Mobile. I can't wait to see him."
Dillon Gabriel (6-0, 200), Oregon
Gabriel is the second Ducks quarterback in as many years to compete in the Senior Bowl. Last year it was Bo Nix, the No. 12 overall pick who led the Broncos to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth as a rookie. Gabriel, who played three seasons at Central Florida UCF and two at Oklahoma before his final season at Oregon, led the Big 10 with 326 completions and 275.5 passing yards per game this season.
"There was a lot of snark out there about how old Bo Nix [24] was and how many starts he had," said Jim Nagy, who is the executive director of the Senior Bowl. "Well, look how all the starts are doing for him in the NFL. And Dillon Gabriel just broke his starts record in college football with 63 career starts he's coming into the NFL with. Rhythm passer, really accurate and he's been in three different locker rooms in three different parts of the country. We're talking UCF, Oklahoma and now out in Eugene, Oregon, so that's big from the leadership standpoint. He's been around a lot of different kinds of guys and he's been highly successful so we're really excited to get Dillon down here and hopefully he has the same type of week Bo Nix had a year ago."
Jalen Milroe (6-2, 225), Alabama
Milroe started for the Crimson Tide the last two seasons and totaled 5,678 passing yards, 39 touchdowns and 17 interceptions while completing 65% of his passes. The Katy, TX, native can make plays on the ground, too, and ran for a career-high 726 yards and 20 touchdowns this season. Milroe, a two-time captain, became the second Alabama player in program history to win the William V. Campbell Trophy, referred to as the Academic Heisman. He graduated cum laude in December 2023 with a 3.52 GPA and completed his mMaster's degree in sport management last month.
"We've seen Jalen dominate games as a dual-threat playmaker at Alabama," NFL Draft analyst Bucky Brooks said. "He's a rugged player, a guy who can really overwhelm defenses with his physicality and toughness as a runner. But he also has to show a level of consistency as a passer. He's done it at times. But we want to see a track record of him being able to string together completions. The week in Mobile will be big for him and his draft status."
Jaxson Dart (6-2, 225), Mississippi
Dart played one season at USC before his final three at Ole Miss where he leaves as the school's record holder with 10,617 passing yards, surpassing Eli Manning. Dart also holds the record for total offense (12,115), passing yards (10,617), passing efficiency (162.8), 300-yard passing games (15), rushing yards by a QB (1,498) and most wins by a starting quarterback (28). The 2025 Gator Bowl MVP threw for 404 yards and 4 touchdowns earlier this month in his final collegiate game.
"I think there is like a weird stigma around Ole Miss quarterbacks just not being super smart, not having a lot of experience playing in different systems and what not," he said. "I think Coach [Lane] Kiffin has done a great job in implementing so many different schemes into his offense. I feel like I've kind of done it all and I'm really excited to show the development and growth that he's really pushed me into. I think I'm a really smart football player. I can draw it up, I can do whatever you need. Really just excited to show my knowledge of all the things I've been taught."
