Eric Galko, the director of football operations and personnel for the East-West Shrine Bowl, has become accustomed to an annual question from scouts and media members alike. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy went from the 2022 Shrine Bowl to being the quarterback of a team that’s been to the playoffs three times, the conference title game twice, and the Super Bowl once in four years in the NFL. The last two years, at the hotel where the players and scouts meet, Purdy’s image has been plastered above the welcome doors.
People have wanted to know: who’s this year’s Purdy among the Shrine Bowl participants?
“It’s always an impossible question,” said Galko, who was hired in 2021 after previously working as the Director of Player Personnel with the XFL.
That’s why Galko laughed a little when he was asked a new question this year: who’s this year’s version of Jacory Croskey-Merritt?
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“I think [that’s] also a really hard question,” Galko said.
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He had an answer, though.
The Shrine Bowl unveiled its 127-player lineup for its annual college all-star game, which is scheduled for Jan. 27 at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco. Tickets for the game are starting at $26. The rosters for the East and West teams are filled with some of the best and most intriguing NFL draft prospects from across the country. Galko discussed that, some of his favorite prospects, the position with the most depth in the draft, and more.
How was the process this year to build your Shrine Bowl rosters and how do you think they turned out?
“I say this every year and I think it’s been true every single year: I think it’s our best roster yet, at least since I’ve been a part of the event … It’s really exciting to have more and more players see the value of what we’re doing, how we take care of players, and no doubt being at the Dallas Cowboys facility for practice and being in a great city like Frisco, Texas, makes it really appealing for these guys to choose this important part of the draft process. I think it’s our best roster yet. I think our roster kind of mimics the strengths and maybe the areas of opportunity at positions in the draft class. Our receiver room is great, our linebacker room is great for NFL teams, our defensive line groups are great, too. And at other positions where teams are thinking it’s a little more open-ended, we’ve got a lot of guys [that will perform] all week long.”
Jacory Croskey-Merritt was a relative unknown entering the Shrine Bowl last year. He had a breakout rookie season in Washington. Who’s this year’s player who will go from unknown at the Shrine Bowl to known by the time their rookie season ends?
“I’ve got someone — not a running back — who I think jumps out for a similar situation and that’s Chris Hilton Jr. of LSU at wide receiver. LSU probably has five receivers [in the draft] … that are probably going to be NFL draft picks. He just kind of got lost in the shuffle a little bit in the offensive turnover, and LSU obviously didn’t have the season they wanted because of injuries, but I think his talents weren’t highlighted this year at LSU that maybe he thought, and I thought, and NFL teams did too. Chris Hilton is a guy where you throw the stats aside — I think he had 10 catches this year — he’s an elite speed receiver. At the NFL Combine, if you told me the over-under was 4.30 for his 40-yard dash, I’m probably taking the under, and I’m pretty confident with that, too. I think over his college career he’s shown the kind of talent that he has, but just this year — like a Jacory Croskey-Merritt — he wasn’t able to show that he is a guy, despite maybe having limited production his last year at LSU and kind of being lost in the shuffle in a receiver room — if this guy is starting games as a rookie in the NFL, I wouldn’t be surprised either. An elite talent, an elite speed receiver that I think is going to use this draft process to remind NFL teams why we’re excited about him early in his career.”
What is the process of getting to this point with the Shrine Bowl roster? When does the roster building begin?
“It takes years for every single roster and that’s not cliche. Chris Hilton I’ve watched for 3-4 years. I’ve been on LSU’s campus multiple years and tracked him along and I got to know Chris a little bit as I’ve followed him over his college career. Jager Burton, our center from Kentucky, I met him two years ago at an offensive line camp when he was a junior, thinking, ‘That guy’s got some talent.’ Talked with him a little bit and kept in touch. Guys like Miller Moss, and Cade Klubnik, and Mark Gronowski at quarterback — I’ve known Mark for three years now and other guys for multiple years, too. Following these guys’ careers and not just looking at one season or trying to retroactively look back, I think we did a great job of taking notes on every single possible player every year so we can really track, not just growth of these guys, which is super important, but also find guys that maybe because of transfers or injuries or whatever may have gotten lost in the shuffle. I really view our job at the Shrine Bowl as to kind of set the table for NFL teams and not just really on what they’re seeing, but, ‘Hey, here are some guys you may have missed or glossed over or who got lost in the shuffle that we can help you evaluate like Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Chris Hilton. It’s a multi-year process. It’s more than 12 months a year. We’re looking at guys and I have a pretty good sense of 50-60 guys we would love to have at next year’s Shrine Bowl already because I follow these guys for years.
What positions might have a lot of depth at the Shrine Bowl and in this year’s NFL draft?
“I think this year, especially edge rusher, is going to be one of the strengths in this draft class. Every single one of our defensive linemen and linebackers is a first-wave NFL Combine guy, meaning a majority of NFL teams think these guys are draft picks. I think those positions are really strong this year. For us at edge rusher, we have guys like Malachi Lawrence at UCF, who maybe isn’t a household name yet, but you’ll start seeing him in earlier mock drafts pretty soon here. And then guys like Harold Perkins at LSU or guys like Jake Golday at Cincinnati, who are kind of linebackers who can do a lot of different things. And then guys defensive line guys like Darrell Jackson Jr. or Florida State and DeMonte Capehart at Clemson, those guys jump out as the well-known guys who are talented, but really those rooms for us, defensive tackle and edge rusher and linebackers, are extremely deep and talented across this draft class, especially on our roster.
Who are you really excited to compete and put on a show at the Shrine Bowl?
“I think one guy that jumps out — it’s hard because I don’t want to pick favorites of guys either, but I think a lot of NFL teams are really excited about some of the guys that are truly, truly position versatile. Harold Perkins of LSU jumps out. Immensely talented player. He’s played linebacker, he’s played some edge rusher for LSU. I think there are many NFL teams who wonder in a different defensive scheme could he have been a first round level talent? I think at the Shrine Bowl this year he’ll show NFL teams he can play linebacker, he can go in coverage, he can rush the passer. I think he still is that first round level, really special talent that jumps out there as well. And then guys like Eli Heidenreich at Navy who’s a running back-receiver hybrid. He’s there running back at Navy in an option offense, but game on the line against Army he’s there slot receiver catching a touchdown pass. He jumps out too. Cole Wisnewski at Texas Tech, who played linebacker at North Dakota State and played safety at Texas Tech. I think seeing these guys be truly versatile and jumping into different drills will be really, really fun for NFL teams to kind of watch these guys.”
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