Christmas Day is near and that means that College Football’s Bowl Season is in full swing. Each morning, we’ll cover the games that are happening later that day so you can key in one the most important players while watching each game.
Once again, this is the final shot for most draft prospects to put a good showing on tape in a meaningful day in their systems outside of the East-West Shrine Game, the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this February.
Poinsettia Bowl, Dec. 23 — Boise State (8-4) vs. Northern Illinois (8-5), 4:30 p.m. ESPN
The Huskies of Northern Illinois don’t have any NFL prospects of note to watch in this game, but the Broncos of Boise State have one standout prospect to watch in safety Darian Thompson.
When it’s all said and done Thompson might be the best safety to come out of this class as he’s very strong against the run, plays well in zone coverage in the back end and even showed he can move up and play man-to-man when asked.
He’s not a violent hitter, but he’s a sound tackler who has good technique in the backend and is a very reliable player for the Broncos.
Along with Thompson, watch out for defensive end Kamalei Correra, who has come on strong for the Broncos this season. He’s extremely versatile at 6’3”, 244 and is an excellent athlete who could shoot up draft boards after testing well this off-season.
GoDaddy Bowl, Dec. 23 — Georgia Southern (8-3) vs. Bowling Green (10-2), 8 p.m. ESPN
Expect a lot of points in this one.
Bowling Green, led by quarterback Matt Johnson, should be able to torch the horrendous Georgia Southern passing defense.
That bodes well for wide receiver Roger Lewis, who can burn teams deep. However, he has suspect hands (a 9.82 drop percentage) and seems to get easy catches due to the offensive system the Falcons deployed under previous head coach Dino Babers (who is off to Syracuse as the head man.)
For Georgia Southern, linebacker Antwoine Williams could be a Day Two draft pick. At 6’3”, 245, Williams is a good sideline-to-sideline linebacker that runs a 4.7 40. He’ll play in the East-West Shrine Game early next year.
