ASU, Arizona combine for 7 players on Senior Bowl watch list

Four ASU football players were named to the Senior Bowl watch list on Thursday.

Quarterback Manny Wilkins, defensive end Renell Wren, tight end Ceejhay French-Love and linebacker Jay Jay Wilson made the list, though Wilson was suspended indefinitely by ASU last week.

In 2017, Wilkins broke out as a second-year starter. His 3,270 passing yards was the fifth-most in a single season in ASU history, and his 12 career rushing touchdowns is the fourth-most for any Sun Devil quarterback. With three more, he would move into second place.

Wren, a redshirt senior, recorded a career-high 21 tackles last season and had an interception. He and Wilkins were named two of ASU’s captains, according to 247 Sports.

French-Love made seven starts as a tight end last season, but only had three receptions, though one was a 30-yard catch in ASU’s upset over then-No. 5 Washington and another was a touchdown.

With uncertainty at the position in 2018, the senior has a chance to step into the role.

Wilson’s immediate outlook is unclear, as he was suspended indefinitely by ASU last week.

Meanwhile, Arizona had three representatives: Cornerback Jace Whittaker and wide receivers Shun Brown and Shawn Poindexter.

Whittaker was named to Pro Football Focus‘ All-Pac 12 Second Team Defense and AP’s All-Pac-12 Second Team last season after recording 13 pass breakups and three interceptions, one of which was a touchdown.

Brown was a Pac-12 All-Conference honorable mention last season. He had 43 catches for 573 yards and eight total touchdowns, two of which were punt returns.

The 6-foot-5 Poindexter is trying to build off the end of 2017, where he recorded a total of seven receptions and 124 yards in his final two games. It was a strong finish to an uninspiring season in which he had only one reception in more games (six) than he did in games he didn’t (five).

The Senior Bowl, played in January, selects the top senior collegiate players from 14 different conferences including independents, FCS and Division II.

The two rosters of the bowl game will be made of 55 players per team.

Players not on the watch list are still eligible to be added to the watch list and make the final roster.

There were 51 Pac-12 players, the second-most on the list behind only the SEC (79).

Texas’ 13 representatives leads any individual school. Pac-12 universities Stanford, USC and Washington were all tied with three other schools for the third-most with eight.

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