Arizona Cardinals will also get a close look at unheralded prospects in the East-West Shrine Bowl

Four members of the Arizona Cardinals coaching staff will be working with some mid-to-high-end draft prospects at the Senior Bowl in February, but another will be heading to Frisco, Texas to get a close look at those invited to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl. Wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator Drew Terrell will be heading up the East Team’s offense, and it could give the Cards quite an advantage for the draft season. 

Being in charge of the East Team’s offense, Terrell will get an ultra-close look at several mid-to-lower-end prospects competing in the game and how they respond to different situations. While there are quite a few prospects competing who the Cardinals should take a closer look at regardless, Terrell now has a chance to unearth a few more gems the East-West Shrine Bowl brings every year. 

Arizona Cardinals getting a close look at prospects in East-West Shrine Bowl

The East-West Shrine Bowl doesn’t often bring top prospects to the table, but just last year, several playing in last year’s game enjoyed solid rookie campaigns. Kicker Jake Moody played in the game, and he ended up hearing his name called on Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft with the 99th overall pick. Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell also appeared in the game last year and wound up as a fourth-round pick this past season before starting 10 contests and throwing 12 touchdown passes. 

Blake Whiteheart is a name Arizona Cardinals fans may be familiar with, and he too made an appearance in the 2023 game, as well as fourth-round pick Jon Gaines II, plus sixth-round picks Kei’Trel Clark and Dante Stills. 

While the event doesn’t always bring the absolute hottest talent to the table, you can see just how much of an effect it had on the Cardinals in last season’s draft. So with someone like Drew Terrell heading down to Frisco this season, it’s safe to assume he will be highly recommending some prospects to general manager Monti Ossenfort as we dive deeper into the pre-draft process.