Tyren Montgomery: small school prospect turns heads at Senior Bowl

John Carroll University is a tiny Jesuit college located in the Cleveland suburbs. The University Heights, OH based institution has a football program that competes at the D-3 level, as they have a total enrollment of just 2,864 (graduate students + undergrads), as of 2024.

One of those 2,800+ is Tyren Montgomery, and he was the lead story at the Senior Bowl on Wednesday. Just about every year, we see a small school prospect, fly in from way under the radar, and make a name for himself in the run-up to the NFL Draft.

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Montgomery had the biggest standout catch of the early practice session on Wednesday, when he made this very athletic touchdown catch around the body of San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson:

Johnson, a solid prospect in his own right, was providing good coverage on that play, but Montgomery just plain beat him. According to NFL.com: “That play was emblematic of the athletic ability and competitiveness that has put Montgomery firmly on the radar for NFL scouts.”

Meanwhile CBS Sports said Montgomery “stole the show” on Wednesday, because he “had good footwork all day, especially off the snap to freeze defensive backs.”

Montgomery is 6’1″, 185 and a former LSU basketball walk-on. In between LSU and John Carroll, he spent two years at Nicholls. With all the hype and “pub” that he’s received the past two days (not to mention how he performed at the American Bowl), it’s fair to project him as a potential top 100 overall pick now. Montgomery might even impress his way to the point that he could slip into the tail end of day two.

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It’s worth mentioning that John Carroll, whose nickname is the Blue Streaks, also happens to be where Don Shula, the winningest all-time coach in NFL history, played his college ball. So despite its small size, it does have some giant football history.

This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: John Carroll’s Tyren Montgomery was the star of Senior Bowl Wednesday