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The Panini Senior Bowl on Tuesday revealed 130-plus players who have accepted invitations to participate in the 2026 installment of the annual all-star game.
Senior Bowl executive director Drew Fabianich joined NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks, Daniel Jeremiah and Rhett Lewis on the Move The Sticks Senior Bowl Roster Reveal show to unveil the participants.
Fabianich spent nearly two decades helping put together draft boards for the Dallas Cowboys, and he’s spent the past few years in college football doing essentially the same thing: identifying talent.
His new role with the Senior Bowl, putting together a roster of draft-eligible prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft, is really no different than what he’s done for years.
“It’s really not that much different,” Fabianich told me this week. “What we do is, we’ve got a positional vertical board, just like you would, round by round, for (an NFL team). The scouts did a great job.
“We feel really good about the process and the players who accepted (invitations). We’re pretty close to being full right now. I’m only waiting on about two or three guys.”
Practices run from Jan. 27-29 in Mobile, Alabama, at Hancock Whitney Stadium, home of South Alabama, with coverage beginning at 2 p.m. ET on NFL Network and NFL+ each day. The Senior Bowl game will be held on Saturday, Jan. 31 (2:30 p.m. ET on NFL Network and NFL+).
There will be changes between now and kickoff, but the rosters are largely set — and Fabianich can’t wait for his first time watching the events from the inside. He believes the talent level will remain as strong as it has in recent years, with the 2025 game producing 106 draft picks out of 257 total drafted (41% of all picks), including seven first-rounders and 50 selections in the first three rounds.
“This game sells itself, because this is the premier all-star game,” Fabianich said. “Heck, there are 28 general managers coming down here. There are 22 head coaches coming down here. So, I mean, that tells you something, right?”
Which 2026 prospects are most hyped? Who are the sleepers? And what about the quarterbacks? Here are three things to know about this year’s participants, along with the player roster as of Tuesday, Jan. 13.
1) Nussmeier, Pavia headline QBs
In what is viewed as a quarterback class with questions, the Senior Bowl has assembled an interesting mix of dual-threat and more traditional pocket passers.
Fabianich said he wants eight quarterbacks in Mobile, which has been more common in recent years, so that each can play roughly 15 offensive snaps (about one quarter of the game). Among the current commits, Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia is perhaps the most well-known name. The 2025 Heisman Trophy runner-up has been in the national spotlight since he sued the NCAA in late 2024 over counting junior-college years toward eligibility, and he’s made a name for himself with his daring play, too.
Pavia’s height — he admitted he’s a smidge under 5-foot-10 — will be a detriment, but his gutsy play deserves merit.
“His tape is pretty darned good,” Fabianich said. “Being a shorter quarterback, just like I was, I mean, it’s hard to see in the pocket. You’ve got to have anticipation. But he’s coming down here (to show) he’s got enough arm strength to match up with everybody else.”
Another Senior Bowl QB to watch is LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, who is the son of Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier (whom Fabianich worked with in Dallas). But following a 29-TD, 4,052-yard passing season in 2024, Nussmeier regressed in an injury-plagued senior season. Fabianich said Nussmeier is healthy and believes the Senior Bowl is the perfect place to rehab his draft stock.
“He’s healthy now, and I tell people this all the time: I can’t unsee what I saw last year,” Fabianich said. “If you see him do it once, you need to find out the whys of what happened. Well, (LSU) couldn’t run the ball, they couldn’t protect him, and he was hurt, right?
“I think he’s going to come down here and really blow it up.”
Illinois’ Luke Altmyer and Arkansas’ Taylen Green are two highly experienced, dual-threat quarterbacks with creativity, arm talent and athleticism. And don’t forget about the latest North Dakota State QB, the multi-tooled Cole Payton, who threw for 21 TDs and ran for 31 more despite starting only one season for the Bison.
Rounding out the group is Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson, who threw 59 TD passes in the past two seasons. Fabianich called him “one of the best pure passers in this entire group.”
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2) Deep with D-line talent
Without hesitation, Fabianich singled out the defensive end position as the game’s deepest. That mirrors the 2026 NFL Draft class at large, with the edge spot arguably the class’ best all-around position.
“Best spot, and it’s not even close,” Fabianich said.
Headlining the position are Texas Tech’s David Bailey, Clemson’s T.J. Parker, Missouri’s Zion Young, Alabama’s LT Overton and Miami’s Akheem Mesidor (who is playing in the national title game).
Fabianich singled out Parker as one to watch. Following a dominant 2024 season in which he racked up 19.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and six forced fumbles, Parker wasn’t quite as impactful in a disappointing season for the Tigers, despite a three-sack game against South Carolina.
“T.J. Parker couldn’t wait to sign up (for the Senior Bowl),” Fabianich said. “Really good kid. He said, ‘I gotta come. I didn’t have a very good year. I want to go.’ He’s only going to tear it up, man.”
Fabianich likes the mix of talents and body types at the position.
There are long, strong base ends such as Young, Penn State’s Dani Dennis-Sutton and Duke’s Vincent Anthony Jr. There are versatile edges such as Bailey, Parker and others. And there are the smaller, leaner rushers (and possible LB converts) such as Romello Height (Texas Tech), Keyron Crawford (Auburn) and Cian Slone (N.C. State).
“We have a number of guys (in that mold) who, at worst, they’re situational pass rushers,” Fabianich said, “but they’re the kinds of guys who, all of a sudden, they have 10 sacks and they’re in the Pro Bowl. I see a few of those in our game.”
3) Receivers ready for launch
There might not be many potential No. 1 wide receivers in the 20206 NFL Draft class at large. But there are a lot of talented complementary receivers, and Fabianich believes the Senior Bowl crop can showcase several of them.
“It’s a nice mix of Zs, a nice mix of Xs and slots — and we have some absolutely wicked slot receivers this year,” Fabianich said. “I think it’s just a really good group with some sleepers in it who I think are really going to blow up big time here.”
Fabianich singled out Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion as one of the leaders in the clubhouse, who boasts “strong physical traits, separation quicks and (is) great with the ball in his hands,” Fabianich said.
Want a speed guy? The Senior Bowl recently added Mississippi State’s Brenen Thompson, who could be one of the fastest players in college football. Fabianich thinks Thompson can run a 40-yard dash in the 4.25-second range.
Some of the top slot options include Missouri’s Kevin Coleman Jr. and SMU’s Romello Brinson, whom Fabianich thinks will surprise people in Mobile.
Ole Miss’ Harrison Wallace, Notre Dame’s Malachi Fields and Baylor’s Josh Cameron are more physically gifted players who also could gain some traction. Fabianich said Fields is “built like a Greek God” and he is mesmerized by Cameron’s ability to return punts in a nearly tight-end-sized frame.
Sleepers in the group include Georgia State’s Ted Hurst and Wisconsin’s Vinny Anthony II, whom Fabianich feels was held back by the Badgers’ QB play the past few years.
“Really excited for this group on the whole,” Fabianich said. “Think several are going to show out.”