December 17th Bowl Game Scouting Guides

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New Mexico Lobos vs UTSA Roadrunners

New Mexico Prospects

#7 RB Teriyon Gipson

 

UTSA Prospects

#2 RB Jarveon Williams

 

While this game doesn’t have much for top prospects both teams offer quality backs that have a chance to be a late round picks or priority free agents. New Mexico will look to feature Gipson in their multiple option attack offense, while UTSA runs more of a traditional attack with Williams carrying the load. Without much star power this game isn’t going to get a lot of hype but both teams are fun to watch and should provide a good game to kick off the bowl season.


Royal Purple LV Bowl Final

Houston Cougars vs San Diego State Aztecs

Houston Prospects

#1 QB Greg Ward

#94 DT Cameron Malveaux

#81 OLB Tyus Bowser

#41 OLB Steven Taylor

 

San Diego State Prospects

#19 RB Donnel Pumphrey

#56 LG Nico Siragusa

#58 DE Alex Barett

#54 LB Calvin Munson

#23 CB Damontae Kazee

 

Year in and year out the Las Vegas Bowl always has good match ups and having two top Group of 5 teams battling it out will be the game of the day. While both teams have explosive playmakers on offense it’s both of these defenses that are loaded with prospects. Houston’s defense will look to contain the lightning quick Pumphrey and will need a big game out of linebackers Steven Taylor and Tyus Bowser. Taylor is the Cougars best defender and is at his best moving forward and attacking the ball either to create tackle for losses or to get sacks. When Houston has the ball pay special attention to cornerback Damontae Kazee who was the 2015 Mountain West defensive player of the year showing off his quickness to stay with receivers and the ball skills to make splash plays.


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Appalachian State Mountaineers vs Toledo Rockets

 

Appalachian State Prospects

#14 RB Marcus Cox

#75 C Parker Collins

#6 OLB Kennan Gilchrist

#3 FS Alex Gray

 

Toledo Prospects

#3 RB Kareem Hunt

#80 TE Michael Roberts

#74 LT Storm Norton

#91 DT Treyvon Hester

 

Much like the Las Vegas Bowl we are getting two top teams in their conference who have shown the ability to put on dramatic games could provide a must see bowl game. The player to watch in this game is Toledo RB Kareem Hunt who often gets lost in the shuffle within the depth of the 2017 running back class. Hunt is a patient runner but has the quickness to make you miss and then the acceleration to get to top speed within a couple of steps. It will be on the Mountaineer defense as a whole to slow Hunt down, but they were able to stand toe for toe with Tennessee, so this should be a good test for Hunt.


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UCF Knights vs Arkansas State Red Wolves

 

UCF Prospects

#10 CB Shaquill Griffin

#24 CB DJ Killings

#21 FS Dico Johnson

 

Arkansas State Prospects

#94 NT Waylon Roberson

#93 OLB Chris Odam

#55 LB Xavier Woodson-Luster

 

With both teams only bring in a couple of late round or undrafted free agent defensive prospects this game will will be a great opportunity to see their skills going against two creative offensive minds in Scott Frost and Bake Anderson who could both be moving on to bigger jobs in the next couple of years.  With all that said the best players in this game could be names to remember for the 2018 draft as UCF DE Shaquem Griffin and Arkansas State’s Ja’von Rolland-Jones are sack artists with 11 sacks each. This may not be a high scoring game, but it should be fun regardless.


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Southern Miss Golden Eagles vs Louisiana Lafayette Ragin Cajuns

Southern Miss Prospects

#9 QB Nick Mullens

#70 C Cameron Tom

#12 FS D’Nerius Antoine

 

Lafayette Prospects

#15 RB Elijah McGuire

 

This is not an overly exciting game as both Southern Miss and Lafayette are 6-6 from two lower conferences. It’s still football and there are some under the radar draft prospects that are worth checking out. Watching center prospects is not the most exciting thing to do, but Southern Miss Cameron Tom is one of the top centers in this class starting since his freshman season providing athleticism to the center position. On the other side of the field Ragin Cajun’s running back Elijah McGuire had a monster junior year showing explosiveness in the open field and was even getting some Kenneth Dixon type comparisons. But with an average senior year and his stock has taken a slight hit and a huge game won’t rise him up the draft boards it would at least would help.