Larry English is going to the Senior Bowl

How much does the NFL like Northern Illinois senior defensive end Larry English? The 2004 Marmion Academy graduate already has accepted an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl on Jan. 24.

The Senior Bowl is the most prestigious postseason all-star game because it involves a week of workouts in Mobile, Ala., under the watchful eye of hundreds of NFL coaches, general managers, scouts and other decision-makers.

It's a good indicator that English, who set the NIU career records for sacks (31.5) and tackles for loss (66) despite playing with a cast on his broken thumb for the last 10 weeks, will be drafted within the first three or four rounds.

He becomes the fifth Huskie to play in the Senior Bowl, joining RB LeShon Johnson (1994), RT Ryan Diem (2001), RB Michael Turner (2004) and RB Garrett Wolfe (2006).

Johnson and Wolfe went in the third round of the draft, while Diem was picked in the fourth and Turner somehow lasted until the fifth round.

NIU still has never had a player drafted in the first two rounds. A great week at the Senior Bowl could make English the first.

LW