Bowl Game Observations: Part Eight

It’s that time of year when I turn my focus to the college bowl games to gain insight. I will do my best to find some draft eligible players that could improve your dynasty teams. This article intends to start conversations and encourage continued thought throughout the entire draft process. These are my observations based on the bowl games, unless otherwise indicated. There will be much more in-depth, thought-provoking discussions later in the offseason. I am listing these players alphabetically.

Blake Bortles, QB UCF
The quarterback is a big, athletic player who ended up hurting Baylor with his strong arm and feet.  The junior ran for over 90 yards and a touchdown, but don’t call him Manziel just yet.  He looked more like a skinnier Ben Roethlisberger running down the field. Bortles was fairly accurate and has a good sense of pressure.  The young signal caller had some difficulty reading coverages that resulted in one interception and a tipped ball caused another.  He settled down after that keeping his passes on the shorter side (within five to fifteen yards), while finding weaknesses in the defense to exploit.  Bortles steps up in the pocket, and sets his feet before he throws.  He likes to bootleg to one side of the field so it cuts his target area in half.  If he leaves college for the NFL, I will have him a touch above Manziel, but well behind Bridgewater.

Darqueze Dennard, CB MICH ST
He impressed me from the first snap of the Michigan-Michigan State game and did nothing to dissuade me in his bowl game.  Sure we don’t know how fast he is, but this physical corner makes his presence felt.  Dennard plays his receiver man to man, face to face at the line of scrimmage. He tackles the catch as he doesn’t let his man behind him and hits him hard immediately. There were a few times he gets his hands on the receiver past the initial five yards, but he disguises it well.  His run support can be a little sloppy as he missed the running back at the line of scrimmage and chased him down for a 20+ yard gain that could have gone for an 86 yard touchdown.  Dennard successfully blitzes from the edge getting a piece of the quarterback.  He is the best corner I have seen all year and will see plenty of action with the team that drafts him, so count him as a DB2 or CB1 in corner required leagues.

Tyler Gaffney, RB STAN
The young back has quick feet, bounces off first contact and can run to daylight in a hurry with his initial burst. He has a good center of gravity, uses phone booth quicks and catches the ball well.  His problem is that he lacks power, gets knocked around in pass protection and gets driven back in short yardage situations.  Gaffney almost got tackled for a safety when the Spartans run blitzed him.  The young back needs his offensive line to create a crease and if it’s not there, he isn’t going anywhere even if he breaks out a spin move.  He looks like a change of pace NFL back to me or perhaps a returner.

Storm Johnson, RB UCF
The young back had an impressive bowl game averaging over six yards a carry and scoring three touchdowns.  Johnson is a slasher with open hips who easily finds the cut back lane.  He has good downfield vision that he uses to set up his blockers while showing a good burst of speed.  Although he is a better inside runner, the back does some damage outside as well.  I like the way he swatted away some of the defenders to gain extra yards!  Ball security is a bit of a concern as he carried the pigskin away from his body and got it stripped away during the game.  Johnson runs a little high for my taste, but he could be a good NFL back.

Tevin Reese, WR BAY
If DeSean Jackson had a younger brother with braided hair, it could be Reese.  The receiver is overly skinny, but explosive much like D-Jax.  He gets good separation weaving in and out of breaks, while catching the ball in stride with soft, pillow-like hands.  His quarterback had some difficulties delivering the ball to him though.  Reese had a step on his defender in the back of the end zone that missed high.  On another play, the receiver tried to slow down as the pass was thrown short despite him having two steps on his coverage.  He was bullied down the field at times and shoved to the ground in the end zone by bigger corners.  Reese digs down low for passes and has decent hands, but will need to have space created for him to be successful in the NFL.  He will either be a slot receiver or a prolific returner.

Lache Seastrunk, RB BAY
This young back has good balance and downfield vision.  He uses his quick feet and strong powerful legs to bounce plays outside.  Seastrunk tries to play bigger than he is, but looks a bit lost in pass pro and takes a beating.  He was tackled with a nasty horse collar, but came back into the game a series later.  When he gets a crease, he can make the first guy miss with a sweet jump cut and explode downfield in a hurry.  Seastrunk is one of my favorite backs in this class, think Gio Bernard with less wiggle and little receiving experience (caught nine passes last season, none this season).

Shayne Skov, LB STAN
The backer had either an off game or he has a great press agent.  Skov looked a step slow, got caught up in the trash at the line of scrimmage and missed a lot of players trying to hit them high.  When he did make the tackle, it was at the ankles.  The linebacker does not step up and attack the blocker in the run game, so much so that he reminded me of a catcher’s mitt.  Skov, however, does not give up on the play as he trails behind to sneak in the tackle.  All was not lost when he created pressure as a pass rusher on delayed blitzes and stripped the ball out to set up the Spartans in the red zone to help seal their win against Stanford.  I doubt I draft Skov in any of my IDP leagues, but he remains an interesting player.

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