Pitt tackle Alex Bookser is the third Panthers senior to accept an invitation to play in the 2019 East-West Shrine Game.
A redshirt senior from Mt. Lebanon, Bookser will join running backs Darrin Hall and Qadree Ollison for the collegiate all-star game, which will be held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Jan. 19, 2019.
Bookser started 12 straight games to end the 2018 season after missing the season opener at Albany. He played almost all of the season at right tackle. In 2017, Bookser started 11 games, starting at right guard before moving out to right tackle by the end of the season. He started all 13 games at right guard in 2016 and was a fill-in starter and regular reserve at right tackle as a redshirt freshman in 2015.
He was named an honorable mention all-ACC player for the 2017 and 2018 seasons and to the all-ACC academic team for 2016 and 2017. Bookser was suspended for the 2017 season opener after an off-season arrest for DUI.
Bookser is generally projected to be a guard at the NFL level. He is rated as the No. 21 guard in the 2019 draft class by DraftScout.com.
The Shrine Game is one of the few opportunities for NFL scouts to evaluate college players in full pads and helmets after there collegiate season ends and is usually attended by scouts of each NFL team.
Pitt’s Darrin Hall, Qadree Ollison to Play in East-West Shrine Game
Pitt also had three players participate in the game in 2017: tackle Jaryd Jones-Smith, cornerback Avonte Maddox and wide receiver Jester Weah. Maddox went on to be drafted in the fourth round by the Philadelphia Eagles, while Jones-Smith and Weah went to the Houston Texans as undrafted free agents. Weah is still on Houston’s practice squad.
Senior fullback George Aston will be playing in the 2019 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.
Pitt Fullback George Aston to Play in NFLPA Collegiate Bowl
Interestingly all of them were PC recruits!
Except for Hall