Former Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron won’t be attending the college all-star game played each year in Alabama.
Officially, he’s focusing on other pre-draft activities. Unofficially, according to John Middlekauff of 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, McCarron believes he doesn’t need to go to Mobile.
Per Middlekauff, McCarron already thinks he’ll be taken in the top 20. As a result, playing in the Senior Bowl would be more likely to hurt his draft stock than help it -- especially if he emerges from the game with an injury.
Under that reasoning, McCarron doesn’t need to throw at the Scouting Combine, either. Plenty of top-tier quarterbacks choose to pass on the passing in Indianapolis, because they’re throwing to receivers with whom they have no familiarity.
The value of the Senior Bowl is debatable. The practice sessions have more value than the game, which several years ago produced an MVP named Pat White.