The NCAA College Football Playoff has absolutely spiced up the college postseason, but football fans shouldn’t forget all the other bowl games. Fans of NFL teams who are out of the playoff picture should pay attention, since some of these non-Playoff teams have a host of future NFL talent.
Here are five players to be on the lookout for in the non-Playoff bowls.
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Laremy Tunsil, LT, Ole Miss
You can see Tunsil in the Sugar Bowl this year on Jan. 1, against Oklahoma State. He missed the first seven games of the year with eligibility issues, and broke his leg in the Peach Bowl last year, and still is a shoo-in Top 5 pick. One scout had this to say to NFL.com’s Albert Breer about Tunsil.
"A top-10 pick, legit left tackle. And I think he's top five," the scout told Breer. "He's an elite athlete, can move in any direction, any way he wants. He's premier. Easy moving, quick, sudden, explosive, fast. All the athletic traits, he has them all."
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Josh Doctson, WR, TCU
Doctson is questionable for the Alamo Bowl, but if he wants to break into the first round he will gut it out. Doctson has been an absolute beast for the Horned Frogs, but Ole Miss WR Laquon Treadwell has all the buzz. Doctson’s caught for 1,000-plus receiving yards for two years in a row, and also posted double-digit touchdowns.
A big game in a major spotlight like a Jan. 2 bowl game will vault him into a first round that’s heavy on defensive talent.
Brandon Doughty, QB, Western Kentucky
This draft lacks star power, especially at QB. The consensus top QB is Cal’s Jared Goff, with Michigan State’s Connor Cook getting a little buzz. Few are paying attention to the Hilltoppers’ fifth-year senior, who has done nothing but chuck touchdown passes.
Doughty has ideal size (6’3, 220 pounds), back-to-back seasons of 45-plus touchdown passes, and a 2015 completion percentage up over 71 percent.
Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State
The Penn State QB’s numbers – 2,386 yards, 16 touchdowns, five interceptions – don’t scream first round pick. Neither do evaluators saying things like “I came away very unimpressed,” and “He might resemble Carson Palmer in stature, but in terms of how he plays, he reminds me of a better version of former Virginia Tech QB Logan Thomas.”
That said, Hackenberg has every physical tool in the book, and with no surefire QBs to choose from like Winston or Mariota last year, Hackenberg could be the next E.J. Manuel (in terms of surprising draft slot). He’ll face Georgia in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
Ezekiel Elliot, RB, Ohio State
You can catch Elliot, one of the most dominant players in college football, on Jan. 1 at the Fiesta Bowl. Elliot, a junior, has rushed for 18 and 19 touchdowns in the past two years, rushed for 1,600-yards-plus, and simply doesn’t need to be in college anymore. He can walk onto an NFL field and start.
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