GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Former LSU wide receiver Jack Bech could not have performed with a heavier heart at the Senior Bowl practices last week and in the game on Saturday in Mobile, Alabama. But he was floating on the outreached arms of his fallen, older brother Tiger.
Tiger Bech of Lafayette was Jack’s older brother and a former star wide receiver and kick returner at Princeton who would have turned 28 last Wednesday. But Tiger was one of 14 people killed on Bourbon Street after 3 a.m. on New Year’s morning one month ago when Islamic-inspired terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar rammed his truck through a pack of revelers on Bourbon Street celebrating New Year’s Eve. Jabbar injured 57 people in all, including two New Orleans policeman. After engaging in a gunfight with police, he was shot to death by police.
Jack’s and Tiger’s uncles are former LSU wide receivers Brett Bech (1992-94) and Blain Bech (2001-03) of Slidell. Their parents are LSU graduates Martin and Michelle Bech.
Incredible moment! Congratulations @Jackbech7! #7toheaven https://t.co/inkIocSCAm
— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) February 2, 2025
Jack Bech, like his brother before him, played at St. Thomas More in Lafayette. He signed with LSU in 2021 as a three-star prospect and led the team in receptions with 43 for 489 yards and three touchdowns as a true freshman in 13 games and seven starts.
As a sophomore in 2022, he didn’t play as much with 16 catches for 200 yards in 12 games and four starts. Bech transferred to TCU for the 2023 and ’24 seasons.
After playing in just eight games in 2023 due to injury and catching only 12 passes for 146 yards, Bech exploded in 2024 to lead TCU in receiving with 62 receptions for 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns. It was the fourth best receiving yardage season in TCU history – surpassed only by NFL Draft first round picks Josh Doctson with 1,327 in 2015, Quentin Johnston with 1,069 in 2022 and Jalen Reagor with 1,061 in 2018.
And Bech played like an early-round pick himself in the three Senior Bowl practices Tuesday-through-Thursday, displaying excellent route running, enough speed to stretch the field, an innate ability to high point the ball and sure handedness, wrote Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports. Bech dropped just one pass in 2024.
Wilson ranked Bech No. 3 out of 11 players he said popped at the Senior Bowl and added that he moved from a middle-round pick on day three of the April 24-26 draft to a day two selection, which means second or third round.
Bech looked like a second rounder for sure on game day as he took over. Or Tiger took over, as Jack Bech explained it. Bech led all receivers with six catches for 68 yards and caught a walk-off, 2-yard touchdown pass as time expired from Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan for a 22-19 win over the National team in front of a sold-out Hancock Whitney Stadium on the South Alabama campus.
7 seconds were on clock when American team lined up for final play that resulted in Jack Bech's walk-off TD. Jack was wearing his brother Tiger's #7 today. Storybook ending. Couldn't have scripted 2025 @seniorbowl any better. 🐅#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️ pic.twitter.com/u6v5jVGE4D
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) February 1, 2025
“Man, it’s simple,” Bech said on NFL Network immediately after the game following a heavy breath. “My brother has some wings on me. He gave it to me, and he let that all take place.”
Bech’s thick Cajun accent came through as the interview was played on the loudspeakers to the 24,450 fans at the stadium. Players stopped and listened as well.
“Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and Tiger – nothing else but them,” Bech, 22, said. “They’re the reason I did what I did today. I attribute it all to them. I’m just the physical person here doing it, but I attribute it all to them.”
Henigan also made a great play as he found Bech just across the end zone line at the last second just before getting sacked. Former LSU offensive guard Garrett Dellinger was not in on that play, but he ran in from the sidelines to congratulate Bech, his former teammate with the Tigers. Both signed in the 2021 LSU class along with defensive end Sai’vion Jones, who also played Saturday and made five tackles with two for loss and a half a sack.
Moments later, Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy awarded Bech with the Senior Bowl MVP award and hugged him.
“He’s truly the MVP of the week,” American team head coach/Cleveland Browns assistant head coach Bubba Ventrone said. “Not only did he perform at an extremely high level every day, he’s an incredible person. He’s tough. Whoever gets that kid is lucky, extremely lucky to get him on their team.”
That NFL team will get Jack and Tiger.
“It’s been surreal, just being able to come and take place in this game” Bech said. “It’s a goal you set for yourself. But if I had the option to come here and have the worst week ever, ruin my draft stock, but that means I could give my brother a hug right now, you know I would take that.”
Bech caught two passes for 12 yards before the TD in the game-winning drive of 85 yards in 12 plays over 2:32.
“Like I said, his (Tiger’s) wings were on my side,” Jack said. “Him and Jesus Christ are the reasons I was able to do all of this. All the big brother does in life is want to see his little brother succeed. He’s been my role model my whole life, the person I looked up to, the person I wanted to be. He was the best big brother I could ever ask for. My whole goal for the rest of my life is to live his legacy on.”
LSU’s MILES FRAZIER MISSED SENIOR BOWL WITH FOOD POISONING
Former LSU offensive guard/tackle Miles Frazier was expected to have a big day on Saturday at the Senior Bowl after an impressive week of practices that earned him the top offensive lineman award going into the game as voted by the defenders he was blocking.
But Frazier did not play Saturday after a case of food poisoning at an area restaurant, Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy told Tiger Rag on Sunday. Nagy also confirmed a previous Tiger Rag report that former LSU tight end Mason Taylor opted out of the game after drawing rave reviews at the practices during the week. Former LSU offensive tackle Emery Jones Jr. also did not play in the game due to an illness, Nagy said. Jones did take part in the week’s practices.
LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy accepted an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl after the 2024 season, but he was asked not to attend after his arrest for negligent homicide and hit-and-run in January for his role in a fatal accident near his hometown of Thibodaux.
ALABAMA’s JALEN MILROE DOES NOT SHINE
One of the biggest disappointments of Senior Bowl week was Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, who could now find himself not going until the third round or later after some projections had him as a first-round pick.
“Milroe wanted to come to Mobile and separate himself from the pack, showing his ability to throw accurately downfield and doing it on a consistent basis. And while the arm strength has never been in question, Milroe struggled with touch on intermediate throws,” wrote CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson.
Wilson listed Milroe as the No. 1 drop in the draft in his “Pop and Drop” review of Senior Bowl players. Milroe started the second half of the Senior Bowl and immediately scrambled for a 7-yard gain. But he then got sacked twice. On his next drive, he badly underthrew an open receiver amid very good pass protection.
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