The 2026 East-West Shrine Bowl kicks off its practices today. The game itself takes place on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. CST and will be broadcast live on the NFL Network. For the duration of its existence, it’s been known as one of the premier collegiate all-star games in football.
Eric Galko, the Director of Football Operations for the game, has done a great job bringing top collegiate prospects to the Shrine Bowl since he took over in 2021. Last year’s Shrine Bowl had nine players selected in the top 100
picks of the 2025 NFL Draft. Based off my own analysis, I expected that number to be surpassed in 2026.
I’ve made it a habit to watch every single player who participates in the Shrine Bowl in my preparations for each NFL Draft class. You’ll see many of the unsung heroes, key depth pieces, and mid-round breakout prospects in the game every year. I’m hardly the only draftnik to be doing this, so a few years ago, I decided to do something I hadn’t seen anybody do online: publish my ranking of every single Shrine Bowl participants.
As a Bears fan, you’ll often find Day 3 selections making their way from the Shrine Bowl. In last year’s class, both Zah Frazier and Luke Newman attended. Since Ryan Poles became the general manager in 2022, he’s drafted five alumni from the game, as well having signed as a few notable undrafted free agents like Jack Sanborn and Theo Benedet.
In this article, I’ll be ranking all 126 players who accepted invitations to the Shrine Bowl and were announced in the official roster reveal. In addition to that, I’ll do quick positional breakdowns on a few positions that stand out as needs for the Bears in the 2026 offseason.
Note: The East-West Shrine Bowl announced ten new participants the day before measurements and two days before the start of practice. Due to time restraints, I will not be able to get to them before practices kick off on Friday. I have an existing grade on one of these players and will indicate as such. I will only be ranking the players who were announced in the official roster reveal, though I will watch these players before the 2026 NFL Draft comes around. However, the last-minute additions are as follows:
- Caden Fordham, LB, NC State
- Michael Wortham, WR, Montana
- Kolbey Taylor, CB, Vanderbilt
- Lance Mason, TE, Wisconsin
- Caden Barnett, iOL, Wyoming
- Joe Cooper, OT, Slippery Rock
- Jadon Canady, CB, Oregon
- Nolan Rucci, OT, Penn State
- Aaron Hall, DT, Duke
- Micah Pettus, OT, Florida State (Round 6-7)
These are my breakdowns of a few notable positions of need for the Bears, followed by my ranking of all 126 players in the 2026 East-West Shrine Bowl.
Defensive tackles
When looking at my top 12 prospects in the 2026 East-West Shrine Bowl, you may notice that defensive tackle is the only position that has more than two representatives in that range. It’s a pretty deep class of defensive tackles, with a handful of Day 2 picks and many more Day 3 options with high rotational value.
High up the board, I feel extremely confident that Florida State’s Darrell Jackson Jr. will at least turn into a solid starter in the NFL. He’s a pro-ready run defender with freakish length, power, and sneaky good first-step acceleration. Additionally, there are two other senior defensive tackle prospects who have been on my draft radar for quite some time. Cincinnati’s Dontay Corleone is a squatty nose tackle with impressive speed for his size, and Clemson’s DeMonte Capehart is a polished run defender with the strength and spatial awareness needed to make plays up the middle.
A little further down the board, Gary Smith III from UCLA is a prime Andrew Billings-esque defender who’s short and stocky with a high run-defending IQ. Texas A&M also has an intriguing interior tandem in Albert Regis and Tyler Onyedim, the former being a technical run stopper and the latter showing impressive quickness off the snap. They both stand out as potential risers up my board as I watch additional games in the coming months.
Edge rushers
The group of edge rushers in this year’s Shrine Bowl won’t blow anyone away in terms of high-end talent; the Senior Bowl snagged most of the top talents at the position this year. That said, there’s plenty of depth options I like in early Day 3 who could develop into strong contributors in the right system.
UCF’s Malachi Lawrence is the star of the show in this group. He’s a lengthy, explosive edge rusher with quick hands who uses his length well on bull rushes and long-arm moves. I think he’s strictly a rotational pass rusher to start his NFL career as he looks to add weight and work on his pad level, but he’s a pro-ready defender on passing downs. Texas’ Ethan Burke doesn’t have the same athletic upside to me, but his anchor strength in run support and his interior versatility make him a fun watch. Likewise, USC’s Anthony Lucas has tremendous size and length with some of that same interior versatility on passing downs, though he’s only had three sacks in college.
There are some intriguing EDGE names further down the board, too. Bears fans may be interested in the story of George Gumbs Jr. from Florida: the Simeon alumnus from Chicago spent his first two years at Northern Illinois as a tight end, then switched to the edge in 2023 and eventually transferred to Florida in 2024. He’s a bit raw as a technician but brings serious athleticism and good gap awareness against the run. Keep an eye on Keyshawn James-Newby from New Mexico, too; he’s a smaller but flexible edge rusher who’s tallied 19.5 sacks between 2025 and his 2024 season for Idaho.
Linebackers
I’d argue there are two position groups in which the Shrine Bowl put together a strong group than the Senior Bowl, which is very tough to do. One of those positions is tight end, and the other is linebacker. As you’ll see in the board below, I have four linebackers in my top 17 prospects for the Shrine Bowl, and the first two are both ranked within my top 60 overall prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft.
Jake Golday is the star of the show for me. The Cincinnati standout brings a stellar combination of size, length, and athleticism that gives him seemingly limited range as a tackler. He’s a crafty blitzing defender, and as he continues to improve his instincts against the run, his tools will only continue to shine. LSU’s Harold Perkins Jr. was an early-round candidate in the 2025 draft before getting hurt, but he’s a Swiss Army knife with tremendous athleticism, a high motor in space, and the versatility to rush the passer off the edge and cover out of the slot.
There are a few 2026 draft linebackers at the Shrine Bowl I think have eventual starter potential further down the board, too. Taurean York from Texas A&M is undersized but gives me Nick Bolton-lite vibes with his toughness, instincts in between the tackles, and short-area quickness. Lander Barton out of Utah is a tools, 6’4” defender with a good combination of size and fluidity, making him a valuable coverage defender. I’d also keep an eye on Khalil “Red” Murdock from Buffalo; in his last two seasons, he’s had 298 tackles, 30 tackles for a loss, and seven sacks. He’s also the FBS’ all-time leader with 17 career forced fumbles.
