Shrine Game, Battle for Florida Mark Start of Draft Season

Lennon Creer was MVP of the Shrine Game. Last night was a bizarre mixture of college basketball upsets and premature news of Joe Pa’s demise. But lost in the chaos were two college all-star games that marked the unofficial start of the NFL Draft season. The East-West Shrine Game was last night in Tampa at Tropicana Field, right in the Buccaneers’ own backyard. You can be sure that the Bucs were paying close attention to the game (and one of the coaches, Brad Childress). The Shrine game, in all honesty is kind of a b-list All-Star game, really c-list, because the top tier of players doesn’t want to risk injury playing in next weekend’s Senior Bowl. But it’s still an excellent opportunity to get a look at mid-to-late round picks, guys who may end up undrafted but are worth a look as a UDFA or even a few gems. Criticize Mark Dominik all you want but he has been excellent working the back-end of the roster and this is the type of game that I’m sure he...