Bowl Game Previews: December 20th
Editor’s Note: This is a Dynasty Scouts exclusive article. Remember, our Dynasty Scouts section focuses on the stars of tomorrow, with a laser focus on High School recruits and College players who look to have the talent to be future assets in dynasty leagues and have value today in devy leagues. Dynasty Scouts articles are found in our Premium Content.
Bowl games start today and for many college players it will be their last competitive football game. I almost can’t fathom how quickly this college football season has flown by but it brings closer my favorite time of the year, draft season. The good news is we will get one more opportunity to be both the judge and jury of prospects. As you watch the bowl games, keep an eye on these skill position players for both your rookie and devy drafts.
December 20th Bowls
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Nevada vs Louisiana Lafayette
ESPN 11 a.m. EST
To kick off the bowl festivities, we have a game most won’t pay attention to with Nevada vs UL-Lafayette. However, the 2014 Sun Belt conference player of the year, Elijah McGuire will be a playmaking running back to watch. He was a 3 star prospect and is smaller at 5’11, 198 pounds. However, he has good speed and reminds me of a poor man’s Tevin Coleman with both his ability to score from anywhere on the field and his stiff hips.
Nevada’s senior Cody Fajardo is a very athletic quarterback who also leads Nevada in rushing yardage. He regressed as a senior, which hurt his NFL stock. Hasaan Henderson was a very promising sophomore wide receiver, but he hurt his neck and probably won’t play.
Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Utah State vs UTEP
ESPN 2:20 p.m. EST
[am4show have=’g1;’ guest_error=’sub_message’ user_error=’sub_message’ ]
I really like the way running back Aaron Jones from UTEP runs the football and hopefully he improves, as he’s only a sophomore. Standing at only 5’10, 185 pounds, he gets everything out of his ability and can be physical finishing runs.
One player to watch for Utah State is wide receiver Hunter Sharp. He has a lot of speed and makes big plays for the Aggies. He’s performed well in 2014 after transferring from junior college and is due for a rebound after slumping in the second half of the year.
Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl
Utah vs Colorado State
ABC 3:30 p.m. EST
If you can only watch one game on Saturday, let it be this one. This game will be action packed with potential assets for your fantasy football roster.
Senior quarterback Garrett Grayson has improved throughout his career, but took a big jump this year. He has thrown 32 touchdowns to only six interceptions while averaging a staggering 9.79 yards per attempt. His main target, Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins, is a likely top half of the NFL Draft type of selection. He is second in the NCAA in yardage behind only Amari Cooper, despite being only a sophomore. Higgins has a slight build, but has speed to burn and makes plays all over the field. He has surprisingly good vision in the open field and can take a wide receiver screen to the house.
Not that you would need another reason to watch the Rams offense, but do you remember Dee Hart? He was a 5 star recruit, but had a disappointing three year career at Alabama playing mostly on special teams. After transferring to Colorado State, he’s thrived running for over 1,200 yards at a pace of 6.7 per carry and 16 touchdowns. He has a small build, but his game is like Giovani Bernard.
Devontae Booker transferred to Utah this past spring and has had a huge season for the Utes. They’ve relied on him more the second half of the year and I’d expect more of the same. He has a solid build and is a well-rounded runner Travis Wilson is a huge quarterback at 6’7 and has performed well with 17 touchdowns and four interceptions on the season. I fully expect him to return for his senior season and he could definitely be an NFL prospect.
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Western Michigan vs Air Force
ESPN 5:45 p.m. EST
Prior to the season, I was very high on Western Michigan wide receiver Corey Davis and placed him in my top 25 devy receivers after only his freshman season. However, he has improved even more this season and is now going to be garnering national attention heading into next season. Davis possesses good size at 6’2, 205 pounds and athletic ability. He even has good blood lines as his brother, Titus Davis, is a senior for Central Michigan and Corey has surpassed him as a better prospect. He’s ninth in the NCAA in yardage and is averaging over 17 yards per reception.
Keep your eye on Freshman running back Jarvion Franklin, who had a great season rushing for over 1,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. He has good size at 6’1, 220 pounds and it definitely helps breaking tackles. Franklin has decent 4.5ish speed but also possesses surprisingly nice feet for a player his size.
It’s a shame that a foot injury has ended running back Jacobi Owens season for Air Force. He was having a very promising sophomore season rushing for over 1,000 yards at over fiveyards per carry. Air Force is a primarily rushing offense, so they will be employing a committee approach to replace Owens’ production.
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
South Alabama vs Bowling Green
ESPN 9:15 p.m. EST
This season hasn’t gone according to plan for Junior running back Travis Greene. After all he ran for almost 1,600 yards last season, Greene has only put up over 900 yards this season. He’s likely to only be a role player in the NFL because of his size at 5’10, 183 pounds. But he can definitely make plays, so be sure to keep an eye on him. It has been a huge freshman season for receiver Roger Lewis. If he has an average bowl game, Lewis will crack 1,000 yards on the season and shows very good potential. He has decent size at 6’1, 196 pounds and good speed to make big plays.
This is just the first installment of our bowl series to keep you prepared for prospects. Be sure to check in before the games each day to read the new articles.
[/am4show]
Nick can be found on Twitter at @_NickWhalen
- Dynasty Capsule: Chicago Bears - February 1, 2017
- Dynasty 101: Trading - September 5, 2016
- Summer Sleeper: Chicago Bears - August 19, 2016
