Awards were handed out to the top performers at Senior Bowl practice:

The Senior Bowl is more than just a game.

It's a week-long job interview centered around individual and team practices where the top outgoing seniors in college football try to prove they can compete at the next level. With NFL scouts and general managers looking on, these prospects competed over the last three days in preparation for the main event on Saturday (2:30 p.m. ET, NFL Network) at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala.

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But first, the Senior Bowl had some awards to hand out.

The 2017 Practice Player of the Week honor went to tight end O.J. Howard from the University of Alabama. Checking in at 6-foot-6 and 249 pounds, Howard earned third-team All-American and second-team All-SEC honors in his final season with the Crimson Tide as an encore to being named the Offensive MVP of the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship.

"From beginning to end, I think he was clearly the most sensational, terrific player here in terms of the height, the weight, the speed, the athleticism, the way he caught the ball," said Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage, who spent two decades in NFL front offices. "And he worked extremely hard. … I think he absolutely [locked himself into the first round]."

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Last year, 87 of the 253 draft picks (34.4 percent) participated in the 2016 Senior Bowl, including three Giants: wide receiver Sterling Shepard, safety Darian Thompson, and tight end Jerell Adams. Shepard, an Oklahoma product, picked up the top wide receiver honor that went to Copper Kupp of Eastern Washington this year.

Here are the other practice awards that were given out during the annual "Players' Night" at the Senior Bowl: