North Carolina’s Sam Howell, Liberty’s Malik Willis, Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder, Nevada’s Carson Strong and Western Kentucky’s Bailey Zappe will all compete in the Senior Bowl as quarterbacks.
Howell was seen by many as a Heisman Trophy candidate for a North Carolina team that could take home the ACC crown. Instead, the Tar Heels went 6-7 and struggled with consistency while their quarterback threw for career-lows in yards (3,056) and touchdowns (24) to go with a career-high nine interceptions.
As for Willis, he didn’t face the same level of competition at Liberty and struggled in a high-profile game against Ole Miss with zero touchdown passes and three interceptions.
The quarterbacks will have a chance to bolster their draft stock on Feb. 5 when the Senior Bowl game takes place in Mobile, Ala., at 2:30 p.m. ET.