2012 Senior Bowl: Cardinals Eyeing OL/LB Talent, Nick Foles, Juron Criner, & Gerell Robinson Looking To Shine

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By Ernie Pomin - Newsdesk contributor

The 2012 Senior Bowl is chock full of story lines for Arizona sports fans this year...

Jan 27, 2012 - Three of the state of Arizona's finest collegiate athletes will take the field in the 2012 Senior Bowl down in Mobile Alabama this Saturday, looking to make an impact on their draft day stock with a quality performance against the best college football players in the nation.

The Arizona Wildcats will have quarterback Nick Foles and wide receiver Juron Criner representing them this year on the South team, while Arizona State will have wide receiver Gerell Robinson as their lone representative for the Sun Devils on the North team. The South squad will be coached by Mike Shanahan and his Washington Redskins staff, while the North will be hed up by Leslie Frazier and his Minnesota Vikings crew.

Aside from the two NFL coaching staffs, over 800 NFL GM's, head coaches, assistant coaches, personnel directors, scouts and front office personnel will be in attendance for Senior Bowl week. All three of these guys could afford a bit of a bump on draft day, and highlighting some of their talents in front of NFL people is a great way to do that.

In terms of the Arizona Cardinals, who will likely be taking some offensive line/linebacker beef in their draft this year, make sure to keep an eye out for Ohio State's MIke Adams and Utah's Gary Bergstrom on the offensive line for the North team, and Florida State's Zebrie Sanders on the South. On the linebacker side of things, Texas LB Emmanuel Acho could be a nice fit alongside his brother Sam in Arizona, or even Nevada's James-Michael Johnson would make a nice addition as well. Keep an eye on them for the North squad throughout the game.

The South currently leads the all-time series 30-26, although from 1991-1993 did not have the North/South format. Florida State's Christian Ponder won MVP honors in 2011 after leading the South to a 24-10 victory, could it be Nick Foles or Gerell Robinson turn this season? We'll have to wait and see.

Don't really know how Arizona State makes it as a Northern squad, but it pits the two AZ schools against each other for one more game at least. Either way, lots of things to watch for for Arizona sports fans this year at the 2012 Senior Bowl.