With the national championship approaching, there were a handful of NFL draft prospects who helped or hurt their stock during their respective bowl games.
There is officially only one bowl game remaining, and it’ll be a thrilling matchup between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
NFL draft scouts were likely present at all 40 other bowl games, especially the ones that featured some of the biggest names in college football. For some players, their draft stock was boosted in a big way with some dominant bowl game performances, but others struggled or were injured and potentially cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
For those of you who weren’t able to catch all of the bowl games this year, let’s take a look at the prospects who were the biggest winners and losers during bowl season.
Winner: Budda Baker, S, Washington
The Washington Huskies may have lost to Alabama in the Peach Bowl, but that doesn’t mean that some of their players had bad games. In fact, some of Washington’s bigger names stood out in the loss, including safety Budda Baker.
Baker was all over the field for the Huskies, consistently making plays in coverage or against the run. He finished the Peach Bowl with six total tackles, a sack and a pass breakup, but his impact was felt beyond the box score.
Scouts have been concerned about Baker’s size at the safety position, coming in at just 5-foot-10 and 192 pounds. Despite his smaller than ideal frame, Baker showed the type of fearlessness and aggressiveness against Alabama that NFL teams are looking for in a safety prospect.
The star Huskies safety is instinctive and fast enough to cover the whole field while also being an aggressive tackler. While he had already solidified himself as a Day 2 prospect heading into the Playoff, this game against Alabama has convinced me that he’ll likely go early in the second round or possibly even sneak into the first.
Loser: John Ross, WR, Washington
This was supposed to be the game that Washington wide receiver John Ross proved himself enough to move ahead of the likes of Mike Williams and Corey Davis on NFL teams’ big boards. Instead, it was a game to forget for the talented Huskies star.
Ross, along with the entire Huskies offense, was held in check in the 24-7 Peach Bowl loss. In fact, Ross only caught five passes for 28 yards in the game while being completely shut down in the second half.
Still, that didn’t keep Ross from declaring for the NFL draft. He is still a first-round talent with exception footwork and explosiveness off of the line of scrimmage to make big plays. He doesn’t have the size of Williams or Davis, but Ross is definitely a more deadly prospect with the ball in his hands.
Ross definitely took a hit in the draft stock department, but given his impressive skill set, he should still have no problem finding his way into the first round. There are plenty of teams in need of an impact slot receiver, and that’s exactly what Ross brings to the table.
Winner: Solomon Thomas, EDGE, Stanford
This year’s class of edge rushers is one of the most competitive groups in the entire class. Guys like Myles Garrett out of Texas A&M and Tim Williams out of Alabama are all but guaranteed to be first-round picks, while others are trying to prove that they deserve that first-round grade.
Stanford’s Solomon Thomas has had a great season, but he had his best game of the year when it mattered most in the Sun Bowl against the North Carolina Tar Heels. In front of a national audience, Thomas made the UNC offensive line look silly, breaking into the backfield play after play, even coming up big in the final moments with this sack on a two-point conversion attempt.
There are going to be a handful teams who are going to fall in love with Thomas heading into late April. He’s a well-spoken guy who is humble off of the field and dominant on it. He’s explosive off of the snap, keeps his pad level low and has violent hands to disengage that are on par with Alabama’s Jonathan Allen.
Thomas was a borderline first-round pick before the Sun Bowl. Now, I’ll be shocked if he isn’t taken in the first day of the NFL draft.
Loser: Mitch Trubisky, QB, North Carolina
You’ve probably heard for a while now that this year’s class of quarterbacks is less than stellar. North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky was supposed to be the guy that stood out as the No. 1 QB prospect with a big game in the Sun Bowl. Instead, he’s now going to have to spend the next few months proving that he’s really worth a first-round pick.
It was a game to forget for Trubisky. Sure, he may have completed 23 of his 38 pass attempts for 280 yards and two touchdowns, but at the same time he also threw two really bad interceptions and had a few more bad throws.
Trubisky took a serious his with his draft stock because of this game. Over the past couple of months, Trubisky has started to get lazy with his platform, relying on throws off of his back foot rather than stepping into them.
At the same time, this is still Trubisky’s first season as a starter, and he still has a lot to learn as a quarterback. He’s still a more than capable prospect, and all it’s going to take is one team with a glaring need at quarterback to fall in love with him.
Winner: Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State
There are a ton of starting-caliber running back prospects in this year’s draft. LSU’s Leonard Fournette may be headlining the class of running backs, but Florida State’s Dalvin Cook may have possibly overtaken him after his performance in the Orange Bowl against Michigan.
Cook was as dominant as ever for the Seminoles in a thrilling 33-32 win over the Wolverines. The Florida State running back put up 145 yards and a touchdown on just 20 carries while adding another 62 receiving yards on just three catches.
The fact that Cook was able to look this dominant against one of the better defenses in college footballs says a lot about him as a pro prospect. He’s a home-run hitter with the vision and burst to find a hole and break away for a huge gain.
There’s a legitimate chance that Cook comes into the NFL and quickly becomes one of the best running backs in the league if he lands on the right team. Some NFL teams may already have Cook higher on their boards than Fournette given his durability and the fact that the LSU star is dealing with an ankle injury.
Regardless of which running back is taken first, Cook definitely proved to scouts everywhere that’s he’s one of the best overall prospects in the country.
Loser: Jake Butt, TE, Michigan
No one wants to see a player go down with a serious injury, regardless of what team they plan on. That’s what makes Michigan Wolverines tight end Jake Butt’s injury during the Orange Bowl so heartbreaking.
In the second quarter of Friday’s Orange Bowl game against Florida State, Butt went down with what looked like a serious injury. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, it was as bad as people feared, as Butt has reportedly torn his ACL.
This is a huge blow to Butt, who will likely not be ready for the start of the 2017 NFL regular season. That’s going to hurt his draft stock in a big way, especially in a tight end class that’s one of the best in some time. Butt was my No. 2-ranked tight end in the 2017 class, but now guys like Bucky Hodges and David Njoku will likely move ahead of him for most teams.
I’m not saying that Butt should have skipped the bowl game, especially since it was a game as big as the Orange Bowl. However, injuries like this are why I can’t blame guys like Leonard Fournette or Christian McCaffrey for skipping theirs. Hopefully Butt can make a full recovery and become an impact player at the next level.
Winner: Malik Hooker, S, Ohio State
After originally saying that he was planning on coming back to Ohio State, Buckeyes safety Malik Hooker officially declared for the NFL draft. Although the Buckeyes suffered an ugly 31-0 loss to the Clemson Tigers in the Fiesta Bowl, Hooker was able to solidify his draft status in the game.
Hooker showed off his strengths with a promising performance against the Tigers. He made a handful of good plays in this game, but his biggest contribution was on this impressive interception on a potential touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson to Hunter Renfrow.
That play showcases what makes Hooker the No. 2 safety in this draft class. He does a great job of reading opposing quarterbacks’ eyes and has the fluid hips and range to get in front of deep passes to make a play on the ball.
I’m a big fan of Hooker’s play as a free safety and think he could have a really successful career in the NFL if he can continue to work on being a more reliable open-field tackler. Teams in need of a safety in the first 15 or 20 picks will likely have Hooker pinned as one of the guys they’ll pull the trigger on if he’s available.
Loser: Jabrill Peppers, DB/LB, Michigan
It has been a rough stretch for Michigan star Jabrill Peppers from an NFL draft perspective. Despite being a Heisman Trophy finalist and an elite athlete, scouts continue to move Peppers down the board simply because they don’t know what position is going to be the best fit for him at the next level.
Peppers could have had a chance to prove the doubters wrong with a big game against Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Unfortunately, Peppers had injured his hamstring heading into the big game and was shut down just before kickoff.
It was a shocking headline just before the Orange Bowl began, and the Wolverines could have used their star player in such a hard-fought loss. Now scouts will continue to pick holes in Peppers’ game while prepares to recover and improve his draft stock by posting some solid numbers at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Peppers is an exceptional athlete with great instincts and the ability to make plays on defense, special teams or even offense. All it takes is one team to take a chance on Peppers, but as of right now his draft stock is continuing to fall. I still have him as a top-20 guy, but other scouts might be much lower on the talented Wolverines playmaker.
Winner: Jamal Adams, S, LSU
It’s hard to be a winner in bowl season when your draft stock was already so high, but LSU Tigers safety Jamal Adams was somehow able to do just that in the Citrus Bowl against the Louisville Cardinals.
I have been watching tape on Adams all season and have loved what I saw. Some scouts have even compared Adams to former Pittsburgh Steelers great Troy Polamalu. However, all of that film couldn’t prepare me for what I saw from Adams against the most dynamic college football quarterback in Lamar Jackson.
Adams and the Tigers did a great job of containing Jackson, holding him to just 33 rushing yards on 26 carries. I’ve been a fan of Adams making plays at the line of scrimmage, but we got a great look at just how explosive Adams can be on this play when he made a huge stop by outrunning the Heisman Trophy winner.
As the top safety in this draft class, Adams has made so many plays at LSU that he’s almost a lock to be a top-10 pick. Proving that he can keep up with even the most athletic playmakers could have helped him move into the top five of the draft.