MOBILE, Ala. — Tennessee seniors Joshua Dobbs, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Cameron Sutton and Corey Vereen are among the 400 players named to the 2016-17 Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List, which was released on Tuesday.
“The release of our watch list signifies the opening kickoff for the Reese’s Senior Bowl,” said Reese’s Senior Bowl Executive Director Phil Savage. “We are looking forward to evaluating these prospects over the next several months in trying to find the best 110 players in America.”
“If a player is not on this list, it doesn’t mean they can’t play in our game,” said Reese’s Senior Bowl Scouting Coordinator Patrick Woo, who worked hand-in-hand with Savage, Reese’s Senior Bowl regional scouts and countless NFL scouts to form the list. “The players on our radar are not strictly limited to this list. This provides a starting point for us and NFL clubs. We look forward to finding the very best and bringing them to Mobile.”
Last year, 17 players who made the North/South rosters were not on the initial watch list released in the summer.
This year’s group includes 209 defensive players and 191 offensive players. Specialists were not included in this year’s watch list and will form their own list later this season.
The Southeastern Conference leads the way with 69 players on this year’s list, making up about 17 percent of the 400. The SEC is followed closely by the Big Ten’s 60 players. The Atlantic Coast Conference (56), Pac-12 (43), Big 12 (28) and FCS/D2 (41) are also well represented on the watch list.
By position, safeties (49), wide receivers (49) and cornerbacks (44) lead the way.
The 2017 Reese’s Senior Bowl week officially begins on Tuesday, Jan. 24, and concludes with the 68th game on Jan. 28 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. The practices will be televised live on ESPN and the game will feature a live broadcast on NFL Network at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Dobbs is one of UT’s four team captains and is on the preseason watch lists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the CFPA National Performer of the Year award, the Walter Camp Player of the Year award, the Maxwell Award, the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, the Manning Award and the Wuerffel Trophy. He started all 13 games for the Vols last season and is 14-5 in his last 19 starts. During that span, Tennessee has averaged 34.2 points and more than 424 yards of total offense per game. Last season, Dobbs threw for 2,291 yards and 15 touchdowns while also rushing for 671 yards — the most ever by a quarterback at Tennessee. He is one of just three SEC quarterbacks in the last 20 years to have 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in the same game — joining Johnny Manziel and Tim Tebow — having accomplished that feat twice over the past two seasons (against Georgia in 2015 and South Carolina in 2014).
Reeves-Maybin is on the watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Dick Butkus Award. He is one of the most consistent linebackers in the SEC and returns for his senior season after ranking seventh in the SEC in total tackles (105) and ninth in tackles per game (8.1) a year ago. Hailing from Clarksville, Tennessee, he has started in each of his last 26 games for Tennessee and was selected as a 2016 team captain by head coach Butch Jones at the DISH Orange & White Game in April. Reeves-Maybin led the Vols in both tackles and tackles-for-loss (14.0) in 2015, and turned heads when he racked up a career-best 21 tackles against Oklahoma in early September.
Sutton was named a CBS Sports 2016 Preseason All-American and he is on the watch lists for the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Jim Thorpe Award and the Paul Hornung Award. He has started all 38 games of his career, including 13 games in 2015 in which he posted 28 tackles, 3.0 TFLs, one interception, two pass break-ups and two forced fumbles. Sutton is tied for fourth in Tennessee history with 32 career passes defended. The Jonesboro, Georgia, native has also become a feared punt returner after leading the nation with 18.7 yards per return last season, earning AutoNation FWAA second-team All-American and Sporting News first-team All-American honors.
Vereen is coming off of a strong junior season in 2015. He tallied career highs with 39 tackles (27 solo), 3.5 sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss and eight quarterback hurries. He played in all 13 games last season, making seven starts at left defensive end, and thrived in the Vols’ final six games with 24 tackles and 8.0 TFLs during that stretch.
No. 9/10 Tennessee opens its 2016 season against Appalachian State on Sept. 1with kickoff at Neyland Stadium slated for 7:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network.