NFL Draft: Five Bowl Games with the most NFL Talent

4. The Citrus Bowl: Louisville vs LSU (Dec. 31st)

The ironic part about the Citrus Bowl is despite featuring 17 prospects for the upcoming draft, the most talented players on the field won’t be draft eligible for another year. Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson and LSU defensive end Arden Key are special players and will be top prospects in 2018.

In addition, Leonard Fournette, the top running back in the 2017 class, will be sitting out the game to prepare for the draft. He’s a likely top-ten pick.

However, even with the top players in the game either sitting out or not eligible for the draft, both teams are still chalk full of pro talent.

Louisville

On the offensive side of the ball, Lamar Jackson is without a doubt the star of the show. However, wide receivers James Quick and Jamari Staples are also solid prospects. Staples has more intriguing measurables (6-4, 195), but Quick (6-1, 185) has been the more productive and reliable player. Both are Day 3 prospects.

Tight end Cole Hikutini could rise up draft boards if he works out well in the spring. He’s an athletic player with good size (6-5, 248), but his collegiate career has also been up and down.

Despite a short list of prospects on offense, the Cardinals have several intriguing players on defense to watch.

Devonte Fields is a polarizing prospect with a ton of talent and upside as a pass rusher, but off-the-field issues and inconsistent effort may cause him to slide to the fourth or fifth round.

Louisville’s next top prospect on defense is strong safety Josh Harvey-Clemons. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound defensive back has been an effective in-the-box player for the Cardinals defense. In his three seasons as a starter, Harvey-Clemons has been one of the team’s leading tacklers each year. He’s probably a mid-round prospect, but could get selected higher if a team as a specific role in mind for him on their defense.

Defensive tackle Deangelo Brown, linebacker Keith Kelsey, and cornerback Trumaine Washington should all be Day 3 prospects.

LSU

Even without Fournette, the Tigers have some intriguing prospects to watch on offense. Ethan Pocic is perhaps the top center in the 2017 class. Wide receivers Malachi Dupre and Travin Dural are talented mid-round prospects who often get overlooked.

Both Dupre (6-4, 195) and Dural (6-2, 207) have good size and athleticism. They’re also smooth route runners, but they get very few opportunities in LSU’s offense, which has really hindered their ability to showcase what they can do on the field.

LSU’s defense has NFL talent at every level. In addition to Arden Key, the defensive line features Davon Godchaux, an explosive interior player, and defensive end Lewis Neal. Neal has some raw ability, but he’s probably a late-rounder in the draft. On the other hand, Godchaux is a Day 2 prospect and should make a very good three-technique defensive tackle in the NFL.

The Tigers defense also has two very good linebacker prospects. Kendell Beckwith is a thumping 6-foot-3, 250-pound run stopper with some speed to make plays outside the tackle box. Unfortunately the bruising linebacker will be out with an ACL injury. Duke Riley is an athletic converted safety with good cover ability and could be under the spotlight with Beckwith sidelined.

Riley is more than likely an early Day 3 guy in the draft, but Beckwith could go as early as the second round if he shows this spring he’s made a good recovery from the injury.

Despite all the talent, the Tigers best defensive prospect is clearly strong safety Jamal Adams. He’s the best pure safety prospect in the draft. The hard-hitting defensive back is tremendous up in the box in run support, but he also has a nose for the ball in coverage. Adams is easily a top-20 prospect.

Cornerbacks Tre’Davious White and Ed Paris could also hear their name called this April. White is clearly the better of the two and could go as high as the second round. He remains one of the more underrated cornerback prospects of this draft class