The 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl will be played Thursday night at the Ford Center inside The Star, the practice facility of the Dallas Cowboys. This past week, Steelers Depot had four staffers in Dr. Melanie Friedlander, Joe Clark, Tony Calderone and myself in Dallas to cover the practices and media sessions leading up to the 99th edition of the contest.
With the practices now completed and the game set to be played Thursday night, the four of us identified three players that Pittsburgh Steelers fans might want to pay close attention to throughout the contest. We’ll have a game thread posted later today for those of you would like to discuss the annual all-star game. The game starts at 8:30 p.m. ET and can be viewed on the NFL Network.
FRIEDLANDER’S SHRINE BOWL PLAYERS TO WATCH:
WR Cornelius Johnson (Michigan) – 6022 – 213 – (East #6)
While he wasn’t much of a factor in the national championship game, neither were his fellow receivers, as Michigan scored its 34 points on rushing touchdowns and field goals. In practice this week, Johnson has been a standout in this wide receiver group, He has a quick release, solid route running, and is able to create separation. When facing more physical DBs, he can hold his own early with hand fighting and downfield on contested catches. With a depleted receiver roster on his unit, Johnson should have a good opportunity to garner more notice and improve his draft stock.
EDGE Eyabi Okie-Anoma (Charlotte) – 6037 – 253 – (East #0)
A five-star recruit out of high school, Okie-Anoma’s name may not be very well known, partly due to his playing at five different schools in his college career. Most of those moves were made due to coaching changes, and the pass rusher will likely open some eyes in the Shrine Bowl. His dominant bull rush showcases his speed to power, and he is looking to prove his spin move and handwork can be effective against opposing linemen as well (fun fact: he is ambidextrous). He is excited to get after the quarterback with his teammate, fellow EDGE Mo Kamara (Colorado State). Look for Okie-Anoma to be a physical player despite this being an exhibition game.
RB Isaac Guerendo (Louisville) – 5116 – 220 – (East #23)
The physical running back has been under the radar only because he was third on the depth chart at Wisconsin before transferring. A move to Louisville for his final year gave him the opportunity he needed, and the result was 132 carries for 810 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. A true three-down back, Guerendo is a complete player, also able to catch out of the backfield and provide pass protection. Steelers fans may be reminded of a certain running back currently on Pittsburgh’s roster watching Guerendo’s play, which is marked by physical, downhill running through and over defenders.
CLARK’S SHRINE BOWL PLAYERS TO WATCH:
OG Mason McCormick (South Dakota State)— 6040 — 310 — (West No. 60)
A three-year captain at South Dakota State who excelled on and off the field in his six years at SDSU, McCormick was a standout all four days of practice at the Shrine Bowl. Boasting ideal size for the guard position, McCormick has really active hands and throws a good initial punch that has a tendency to stuns defenders. He almost never lost his 1v1 reps in drills and was a part of two FCS Championship teams at South Dakota State.
McCormick was probably the best offensive lineman in Frisco this week, and he’ll get a chance to excel in the game alongside his teammate, OT Garret Greenfield. He also received an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine, and similar to Shrine Bowl participant Juice Scruggs last season, McCormick could see his stock spike in a big way throughout the pre-draft process.
WR Josh Cephus (UTSA)— 6022 — 189 — (West No. 81)
With 313 receptions for 3,615 yards in five seasons at UTSA, Cephus produced at a high level in multiple seasons. He’s coming off a 2023 season where he had 89 receptions for 1,151 yards and 10 touchdowns, and Cephus flashed all week at the Shrine Bowl. He was able to separate well and was a fluid route runner with good game speed. He had over 800 receiving yards each of his final three seasons at UTSA and won the Frisco Bowl MVP in 2023.
Cephus has met with the Steelers twice, including once at the Hula Bowl. Given the team’s interest in him and his performance in practice, Cephus will be a player to watch. He excelled running intermediate routes in practice, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him take advantage of a few targets and pick up some chunk yardage tonight.
EDGE Xavier Thomas (Clemson)— 6016 — 244 — (East No. 3)
A top-five recruit in the class of 2018, Thomas was the most polished pass-rusher in Frisco. While his production (18 sacks in six seasons) doesn’t pop off the page, Thomas was a key member of Clemson’s defense, and his pedigree is intriguing. He routinely won reps in 1v1 and team drills and was an active participant and impressive in individual drills as well. He can win with speed and power while also boasting an impressive array of pass-rush moves.
Thomas is a guy who could be an instant-impact contributor in the NFL despite being a likely mid-round pick. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see him flash and make some plays tonight. It helps that he’s an older prospect and has played against a lot of high-level college competition, but Thomas really stood out among the crop of pass rushers and is going to be a lot of fun to watch.
CALDERONE’S SHRINE BOWL PLAYERS TO WATCH:
QB Devin Leary (Kentucky) — 6010 — 15 — (East No. 14)
Throughout practices, Leary showed that he has the strongest arm of any of the quarterbacks here. However, his accuracy, especially om short and medium throws, was suspect at times. He’s supposed to be the best quarterback in this game, and he needs to back it up.
OT Anim Dankwah (Howard) — 6072 — 362 — (West No. 77)
At 6072 and 362 pounds, Dankwah is easily the biggest offensive lineman at the Shrine Bowl and flashed some elite strength. However, he’s super raw and got beat by faster rushers in 1v1 drills. He’s going to look to prove that his shortcomings have been more due to the format of the drills than anything else.
CB Chigozie Anusiem (Colorado State) — 6006 — 200 — (East No. 20)
He’s gone under the radar with all of the good corner play at the Shrine Bowl, but he has good size at 6006 and 200 pounds and has looked solid in coverage. I think he stands to gain a lot from this game as he was overshadowed a bit at practice by the likes of Jarius Monroe and Qwan’tez Stiggers.
CARNEY’S SHRINE BOWL PLAYERS TO WATCH:
LB Dallas Gant (Toledo) — 6024 — 224 — (West No. 19)
Athletic, versatile linebackers are becoming all the rage in football today, and none fit that better coming out of the East-West Shrine Bowl practices than Toledo’s Dallas Gant. Gant has great size at 6024, 224 pounds and had a ton of production in college. Prior to landing at Toledo, Gant played in 36 games at Ohio State as a former four-star recruit. Once he transferred to Toledo for the 2022 season, Gant took off. He recorded 116 tackles in 2022, earning All-MAC first-team honors after returning to his home to Toledo, where his father, Jim, also played. After a breakout 2022 season, Gant was strong again in 2023, recording 116 tackles for the second straight season, earning All-MAC first-team honors.
He was constantly around the football at Toledo, and that showed up this week in Shrine Bowl practices. Gant moves incredibly well for his size and position. He has a smooth, quick backpedal in coverage and has loose hips to open and run with running backs, tight ends and receivers. He held his own in 1-on-1 drills and made some plays in coverage in team sessions too.
Gant was also a quick processor and triggered downhill quickly against the run. He should get quite a bit of play Thursday night. He’s a popular name here at the Shrine Bowl and really generated some buzz.
CB M.J. Devonshire (Pittsburgh) — 5111 — 179 — (West No. 12)
Few cornerbacks have looked better in Dallas over the last week than Pittsburgh’s M.J. Devonshire. A Pittsburgh native and Aliquippa product, Devonshire is so smooth at the position. He has quick, light feet that really stood out in 1-on-1 drills throughout the practice sessions. He’s sticky in coverage, plays through the hip pocket extremely well and was rarely out of position throughout the week.
The backpedal and change of direction from Devonshire are so fluid and explosive. He doesn’t have the biggest frame and could probably comfortably add five to 10 pounds to his lower body, especially his quads, but there is a lot to like with Devonshire. In two seasons at Pittsburgh after transferring from Kentucky, Devonshire made a ton of plays. He had eight interceptions with three pick-sixes for the Panthers, tying a program record, and also had a punt return for a touchdown in 2022.
He might not be the biggest guy, but he plays a physical style and loves to mix it up in press coverage. Great attitude and work ethic and really had a strong week. I expect him to make some plays in the game.
OT Caedan Wallace (Penn State) — 6043 — 322 — (East No. 74)
Since the first day of practice here in Dallas, I’ve had my eyes glued to Caedan Wallace. He has great size (6043, 322, 10 1/2 hands, 33 5/8 arms) and has a ton of experience coming out of Penn State. During his time with the Nittany Lions, Wallace started 40 games, appearing in 47 career games. Few right tackles in the 2024 NFL Draft have as much experience as Wallace.
That experience along with his athleticism showed up in a big way leading up to tonight’s game. Great feet for the position with an explosive lower half. Throughout the four days of practice, Wallace looked like the best athlete of the bunch, easily. He moves with grace and is fundamentally sound.
He even got some work at left tackle during the week. He had some issues there after spending so much time at right tackle in his career, but he was open to moving around all over the offensive line. That’s huge.
Entering the Shrine Bowl, he was getting a lot of Round Seven-priority free agent feedback from scouts, but he had a strong week in Dallas and could improve his stock with as good showing tonight.
