The national champions will be well-represented at this year’s senior bowl.

Five Crimson Tide players have accepted invites for the 2016 Senior Bowl, which will be held in Mobile on Jan. 30.

DL Jarran Reed, RB Kenyan Drake, QB Jake Coker, DB Cyrus Jones and LB Reggie Ragland will all be there representing Alabama.

But that leaves one notable absence.

Ryan Kelly, a center who earned All-SEC and All-America honors for his work in the middle of the Crimson Tide offensive line during the 2015 season, has elected to decline his invite, according to AL.com’s Mark Inabinett.

Inabinett caught up with the event’s executive director Phil Savage on Wednesday, and he weighed in on the Alabama participants:

“We’re excited about the five Alabama players that are here,” said Phil Savage, the Senior Bowl’s executive director, on Wednesday. “Of course, Jake Coker, hometown — I’m really hopeful that people will embrace that idea. It’s rare to have a national-championship quarterback from Mobile in the Senior Bowl, so I hope people will take advantage of that.

“Kenyan Drake, it’s a big week for Kenyan. To me, he’s so versatile. He’s the Swiss Army knife of Alabama’s offense. I think that will bode well for his NFL future, because he can catch, he can run, he can block a little and he can also play on special teams.

“Reggie Ragland, he wants to play some outside linebacker here, so that’s going to be a big difference for him. He can rush the passer, and he understands that the guys who can blitz off the edge make more money than the ones that are stuck inside the box. So he’s going to do that.

“Jarran Reed has high (draft) grades. I hope people are excited about seeing him.

“And, of course, Cyrus Jones, he projects as a corner and a return man. I think all five players have an opportunity to present themselves.”

Savage also had this to say about Ryan Kelly:

“I think with Ryan, 15 games in the pivot is a lot of football,” Savage said. “He’s not the first, nor will he be the last, to decide not to play. I feel like with him he wanted to focus on his training for the (National Scouting) Combine, and that’s a whole different deal than playing football. He’s got a lot of tape out there.”

In total, Inabinett wrote there will be 23 SEC players at the event.