Tyren Montgomery is Senior Bowl's most interesting NFL Draft prospect — from LSU basketball to D-III John Carroll

There isn't a more interesting NFL Draft prospect at the Senior Bowl this week than Tyren Montgomery.

Montgomery didn't even begin his college athletics career as a football player, and he did his recent shining on the gridiron at a Division III school

Now, he's trending toward being an on-the-rise NFL Draft pick.

Montgomery began his college life as a basketball walk-on at LSU.

When that didn't work out, he ended up playing football at Division III John Carroll in Cleveland, with a stop at Nicholls State in between.

Now, he's lighting up the Senior Bowl practices.

"If you are looking for the small-school standout of the Senior Bowl, it’s clearly been Montgomery," NFL.com's Lance Zierlein and Eric Edholm wrote this week. "He was a late addition to the Senior Bowl roster after impressing at the American Bowl last week. I can’t wait to dig into his tape after what I’ve seen over the last two days."

Montgomery first had to prove himself at the lower-tier American Bowl to even get his Senior Bowl invite, and now he's cooking defensive backs who have much better reputations than him.

"(Montgomery) has been hard to guard thanks to his agility and short-area burst," NFL.com's blurb wrote. "Montgomery had the highlight catch of the early practice with an acrobatic grab over the head of talented San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson on a one-on-one deep ball. That play was emblematic of the athletic ability and competitiveness that has put Montgomery firmly on the radar for NFL scouts."

In 2025, Montgomery had 119 catches for 1,528 yards and 15 touchdowns for the Blue Streaks.

The native of Woodlands, Texas has traveled  a different journey than most, but he's here now, and he's seizing the opportunity.

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