MOBILE, Ala. —For the collection prospects gathered for the Senior Bowl every year, the five days of practices and meetings amount to a three-day job interview, with NFL scouts, general managers and head coaches watching their every move on and off the practice field. Players are judged harshly, without favoritism or much consideration. Perform poorly, either on the practice field or in the meeting room, and your draft stock can drop like a rock. But if there was anyone that could have been excused from being at his absolute best this week in Mobile, it was TCU wide receiver Jack Bech.
Bech, a 22-year-old senior from Lafayette, Louisiana, had been preparing for the Senior Bowl and the rest of the NFL Draft process ever since TCU's season ended. He suffered a knee sprain on Nov. 30 at Cincinnati that kept him out of the team's New Mexico Bowl win over Louisiana on Dec. 28, but Bech was working hard and determined to hit the ground running in the pre-draft process.
Then, on New Year's Day, his life was turned upside down. Bech's older brother Tiger, a former all-Ivy League player at Princeton, was among the 15 people killing during a domestic terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans , hours after crowds of people rang in the new year.
Tiger Bech, who had been working as a stockbroker since his playing career, was in New Orleans on vacation.
"He lived all his dreams, almost," Jack Bech said on Saturday . "The one had had at the top of this was to see me make it to the NFL. That drives me almost every day."
Jack Bech had already had a great week of practice at the Senior Bowl Tuesday through Thursday. In a week marred by questionable quarterback play all around, he was one of the few wide receivers to still find a way to stand out. He also impressed in interviews, tackling questions about his brother's passing and emphasizing his faith in God and desire to live up to his brother's legacy.
If the first three days in Mobile are a high-intensity job interview, the Senior Bowl itself is by comparison, just a frivolity. Most of the NFL executives have flown home. It's the last college football game any of those involved will play, and they usually have a bit of fun with. Both teams on Saturday called trick plays in the first half.
But then Bech turned his good week in Mobile into an unforgettable one. He was the best receiver in the game, as he had been all week, making five catches for 66 yards, including a 39-yard flea-flicker from Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart in the first half.
Late in the fourth quarter, Bech's American Team was trailing, 19-16 and driving. Kicking a field goal for a tie was never in consideration. Bech had two more catches from Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan as the orange-clad American Team drove down the field. A 9-yard pass from Henigan to Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter , combined with a defensive penalty, set the American Team up with a third and goal at the 2-yard line with seven seconds left.
Henigan took the snap, rolled right, and found — who else? Bech caught the pass in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown, the clock went to zeroes. His teammates — most of which he had just met that Tuesday — mobbed Bech in the end zone as he dropped to a knee in prayer.
Amid the celebration, Bech removed his jersey and his shoulder pads. He spoke with the assembled media shirtless, baring a pair of tattoos on his left chest dedicated to Tiger. One was dates of his brother's birth and death in Roman numbers. Tiger would have turned 28 the week of the Senior Bowl.
"I've got angel wings on me," Bech said. "I've got the greatest guardian angel of them all, right there, pulling me through what I've got. … "That was my best friend. He was my other half. These tattoos are right here, symbolizing that he was the other half of me."
At the Senior Bowl, Bech was given his brother's No. 7, and all players wore a No. 7 Princeton decal on the backs of their helmet. Bech said he felt the support from the entire community this week.
"Man, it's awesome," he said. "Shout out to Mr. Jim Nagy, he's really done so much for me and my family and all the things like that. With the decals, giving me seven, he's been so awesome. My and my family have definitely felt all the love and support from everyone around. It's really helped us try to make the most out of the situation, bringing people closer to God and just strengthening our faith."
TCU wide receiver Jack Bech and Arkansas wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa at Senior Bowl practice on Jan. 29, 2025. — Alan Saunders / Steelers Now
Bech didn't just impress with his unflappable nature and his receiving skills in Mobile, either. He proved himself a willing and blocker — and his physique looked closer to some of the Senior Bowl tight ends than most of the rest of a somewhat undersized group of receivers. Bech also attributed that to his brother.
"It's just the way I was made," he said. " I've always been physical, doing whatever I do. I attribute that to my brother and all his friends growing up. They were always beating me up and messing with me. Just trying to play football with them, out on the trampoline, I was always getting tossed off the trampoline. I think just growing up with a big brother who kind of made me like this, I think it's just always been in my blood to be physical."
Bech sees himself dealing with the loss of his brother during his pivotal process that may well define his future as just the latest test his older sibling had laid on him.
"I think it was just his last test to me," Bech said. "Like I said earlier, he roughed me up physically. He'd even mess with me mentally playing video games growing up. I think this was his last test to me. If I can get past this, anything that's thrown at me, it'll be nothing compared to this."
If this week was a test, Bech absolutely aced it.
The Pittsburgh Steelers haven't had a player like Bech in a little while. The last time they had a big, physical slot or Z receiver was Chase Claypool in 2022. JuJu Smith-Schuster is another player that fit that mold in recent Steelers history.
When it comes to Arthur Smith's offense, the closest thing he's had recently was Mack Hollins in Atlanta in 2023, but Hollins was used sparingly, finishing with just 343 snaps. He had played over 1,000 the previous season with Las Vegas and finished with 853 with Buffalo in 2024.
KhaDarel Hodge is another player about Bech's size, but he is more of an outside receiver, and was also little used by Smith in his two seasons with him in Atlanta. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine filled a role similar to that for Smith as a rookie for the Tennessee Titans in 2020.
The Steelers absolutely need lots of help at wide receiver — and head coach Mike Tomlin showed some personal interest in Bech this week — but given the lack of significant production of similar players in Smith's history, and the lack of flexibility we saw in 2024 when it comes to bending his scheme to the talents of his players, it's fair to question if Smith would get the most out of Bech.
Jack Bech, TCU Athletics
Jack Bech spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at in-state LSU before transferring to TCU in 2022. He was named a second-team All-Big 12 receiver in 2024.
| Year – Team |
GP |
GS |
Snaps |
Tgt |
Rec |
Yds |
TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 – TCU |
12 |
12 |
691 |
91 |
62 |
1,034 |
9 |
| 2023 – TCU |
8 |
0 |
181 |
19 |
12 |
146 |
0 |
| 2022 – LSU |
12 |
7 |
236 |
23 |
16 |
200 |
1 |
| 2021 – LSU |
13 |
7 |
419 |
67 |
43 |
489 |
3 |
Measured at the Senior Bowl:6-foot-1 1/4, 212 pounds, 8 7/8-inch hands, 31 3/8-inch arms, 75-inch wingspan.
Bech is projected as a fourth-round draft pick and is ranked No. 117 on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board, though that stock could climb quickly after a strong performance at the Senior Bowl.
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