TXST’s Kyle Hergel selected to 2023 Senior Bowl Watchlist

Texas State redshirt junior offensive lineman Kyle Hegel was named to the 2023 Senior Bowl Watch List heading into the 2022 football season.

The announcement was made by the Senior Bowl Wednesday, Aug. 24 during the Bobcats’ “mock week” prior to game preparation. The Senior Bowl is played annually and is made up of a select group of seniors and eligible graduating juniors from around college football. The game is played at Hancock Whitley Stadium in Mobile, Al., and hosts a plethora of NFL and professional football scouts.

Many players from smaller universities can make a name for themselves and jump up draft boards because of the game. In 2021 NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater offensive lineman Quinn Meinerz didn’t have a season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and significantly raised his draft stock after playing in the game. The Denver Broncos eventually drafted Meinerz with the 98th pick in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Meinerz started nine games for the Broncos in 2021.

Hergel has received recognition as one of the top group of five linemen by Pro Football Focus (PFF), Phil Steele’s college football magazine and Athlon Sports. PFF rated Hegel as the twentieth-best interior offensive lineman in the country heading into 2022.

Hergel started all 12 games at right guard for the maroon and gold in 2021, and only surrendered one sack over the course of 859 snaps. He was named an All-Sun Belt honorable mention last season and was selected as a team captain for the Bobcats in 2022 alongside fellow redshirt junior quarterback Layne Hatcher, redshirt graduate senior linebacker Sione Tupou and junior outside linebacker Jordan Revels.

The Bobcats haven’t had a player make an appearance in the Senior Bowl in over 30 years. Former Texas State offensive lineman Jeff Novak played in 1990, and former wide receiver and defensive back A.J. Johnson also played in the game in 1989.