FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Jake Haener made a quick stop at Fresno State Monday, only two days after his MVP performance at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.
“The NFL scouts come in, and they wanna see what you can handle mentally and physically, and I think one of the biggest challenges, was trying to learn a whole new playbook in a matter of three, four, five days,” said the former Fresno State quarterback Monday, about his week at the Senior Bowl. “I wanted to come in and be confident and do everything I could to execute at a high level, and just have an opportunity to show people what I can do.”
The results were impressive.
He earned positive reviews from media and players alike for his performances in the three practices in Mobile leading up to the game, as he was named the National Team’s Practice Quarterback of the Week by his peers.
He then led the National Team to a 27-10 win in Saturday’s Senior Bowl all-star game. as he finished 12-of-19 for with 139 yards passing, with one touchdown and no interceptions.
That kind of performance got him noticed by one of the most recognizable figures around college football.
“Being able to talk with Kirk Herbstreit,” said Haener. “Somebody that you look up to, and obviously knows a lot about quarterbacks and at different times, and just being able to hear from him personally, and then having him talk about things on twitter, and kind of just get your name out there, you know, it’s obviously great, and I work my tail off for it, and I’m glad people are finally starting to notice.”
Herbstreit is ESPN’s lead college football analyst, and tweeted after the Senior Bowl that Haener’s the early favorite to be this year’s Brock Purdy – a reference to the undersized and unheralded rookie quarterback out of Iowa State, who was taken with the last pick of the NFL Draft in 2022, and then led the San Francisco 49ers to within one game of this year’s Super Bowl.