2024 Senior Bowl watch list reveal: Three things you need to know

The Reese's Senior Bowl released its watch list of 2024 NFL Draft hopefuls on Wednesday, consisting of 720 prospects from more than 100 college programs.

The watch list is significantly larger than its 2023 counterpart, which featured 485 prospects. One reason for this is that there are many more players eligible for the game, many of whom utilized an extra year of eligibility via an NCAA rule change that was made amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leading the way is Ole Miss, which features 20 players on this year's watch list. Right behind them are Tennessee, with 19 prospects, and Michigan, with 18 players on the preseason list.

Here are three things you need to know about this year's watch list for the annual all-star game, which will be held in Mobile, Alabama, on Feb. 3, 2024, and broadcast live on NFL Network (1 p.m. ET).

NOTE: The watch list does not include many third- or fourth-year juniors who could become eligible to play in the all-star game if they graduate by December 2023, according to the Senior Bowl.

1) Quarterbacks are a deeper group. A total of 48 QBs made this year's watch list. Oregon's Bo Nix and BYU's Kedon Slovis, who are on this year's list, both were invited to the 2023 game before going back to school for this season. (Slovis played at Pitt last season.)

"Yeah, it's a really deep list," said Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy. "There are going to be some hard cuts this year. I would say just based off the last five years, we go into the fall and realistically there are maybe 10 to 15 guys that have a chance (to play in the Senior Bowl) if they play well their senior year.

"This year, that number is probably over 20 -- probably closer to that 20 to 25 range. So numbers-wise, it's definitely up from