Defensive lineman Marcus Harris and cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett started the 2023 season at Auburn on opposite ends of the prospect chart for the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

The Senior Bowl invited Pritchett to play in last year’s game, but he returned to the Tigers. Although a starter for Auburn in 2022, Harris didn’t have that kind of momentum entering the 2023 campaign.

But Pritchett and Harris are coming to the 75th annual all-star game, which will be contested in Mobile on Feb. 3.

“Marcus Harris is another guy who played his way into the game this year,” said Jim Nagy, the Senior Bowl’s executive director, on Monday. “Every time you put on the Auburn tape, he was kind of the one mainstay in that front seven. He just made a lot of plays and played really hard. It was hard not to notice him.”

Harris cited several reasons for his rise to Senior Bowl prospect.

“Just locking in on the little details and being consistent in every game,” Harris said on Monday. “This year, I was healthy the whole year. Last season, I had kind of like lingering injuries and had to wait until after the season to get healed, so just to have that full year. And then the defensive coordinator, coach (Ron) Roberts, the plan he had for the defense was amazing, so I loved playing for coach Roberts’ defense and everything just fell in place this year.”

Pritchett said he appreciated being extended another invitation to the Senior Bowl this season after deciding not to come in 2023.

“I decided to return to Auburn,” Pritchett said. “I wanted to do something special there. Coach (Hugh) Freeze and the defensive staff had a good plan for us, so I decided to stay.”

Nagy said Pritchett has two outstanding qualities that NFL scouts value.

“Nehemiah, in terms of being long and fast, is going to be one of the top corners in the draft when it comes to those two things,” Nagy said.

He’s also going to be joined by two other members of the Auburn secondary at the Senior Bowl, with cornerback D.J. James and safety Jaylin Simpson.

“It’s definitely going to be fun,” Pritchett said. “Those guys are out training right now, but it’ll definitely be good to get back with D.J. and Jaylin.”

Like Pritchett, James had an invitation to last year’s Senior Bowl but decided to return to Auburn for the 2023 season.

Nagy described James as “a feisty, good coverage player that can play inside and outside at the corner spot.”

Nagy expects the Senior Bowl to be the start of a rewarding spring for Simpson.

“A really cool player from a skill-set standpoint,” Nagy said. “Former corner who kind of had to move to safety out of necessity there, and that doesn’t always click. You can just take DBs and move them around. Corner’s a very different position from safety. Really it’s all about your vision and your sightlines and run support, and Jaylin’s got really good instincts back there at safety. He’s got some ballhawk to him.

“He’s going to test extremely well based off what their strength coach said, so I think the spring process is going to be really good to him. I think you’re going to see him in a lot of one-on-one stuff here, and being a former corner, he’s going to cover probably better than all the safeties in the game.”

Even though he didn’t come to the Senior Bowl last year, Pritchett has been to the game previously – with his father as a young fan growing up in Jackson, where Pritchett was an All-State player for the Aggies in high school.

“I’m definitely appreciative of the opportunity,” Pritchett said. “This has been a game I’ve been watching since I’ve been growing up. Me being from Jackson, Alabama, and Mobile is so close to home, I always watched. The greats that come through here always have a chance to improve their stock and compete against the best of the best.”

Harris also is a former Alabama prep standout at Park Crossing in Montgomery.

“If you’re a great college football player, everybody wants to play in this bowl game,” Harris said. “I feel like it’s a dream come true to have the opportunity to play in this game and having the opportunity to showcase my skills for NFL scouts. And like Nehemiah said, just being from the state of Alabama, like, how big of an honor this is because this is what everybody in the state of Alabama knows about and what everybody comes to and watches from the state.”

In his transition to the pros, Pritchett said he’s been leaning on an Auburn teammate who played in the Senior Bowl – Tennessee Titans cornerback Roger McCreary, a former Williamson High School standout.

“The Senior Bowl was definitely huge for him,” Pritchett said. “Roger, I’ve been talking to him a lot throughout this process, just trying to get a jump on what I need to work on and what I need to know before entering the Senior Bowl, before going to the (NFL Scouting) Combine, just giving me a jump on things like that.”

Harris also has an NFL example to follow. He played with Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Malik Cunningham at Park Crossing.

“That gave me confidence that I can do the same thing because I watched those guys prepare and go about their business,” Harris said about his NFL teammates. “… Just seeing those guys do it and seeing how determined they was to make it, they just gave me the idea that I could do the same thing.”

The four Auburn players will remain teammates at the Senior Bowl on the American squad.

The Reese’s Senior Bowl kicks off at noon CST Feb. 3 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile. Tickets remain available and can be purchased online.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.