With all of the New Year’s Six bowl games, there will be good teams and players. If players can get their teams to this level of college football, a few of them will be able to play on Sundays. Miami and Wisconsin both have a group of players who will get a chance to play in the NFL. Here are the top NFL Draft prospects in the 2017 Capital One Orange Bowl:
Wisconsin Badgers
Troy Fumagalli, TE
Fumagalli was the talk of the tight end class after making some amazing catches in last season’s Cotton Bowl. The senior has over 500 receiving yards in each of the last two seasons for Wisconsin, which is good production for a college tight end in a running system. This season he has 516 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
His size fits perfectly in with the NFL at 6’6″ and 248 pounds. He has tons of experience run blocking and has shown to be a good receiver. Fumagalli only has nine fingers, but has good hands.
Projected draft range: 1st round-3rd round
T.J. Edwards, LB
Edwards is just a junior and could return to school, but he has done a lot for the Badgers in his three seasons. He is a jack of all traits and has 248 total tackles, 26 tackles for loss, five sacks and seven interceptions in his career. This season he has 75 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, two sacks, four interceptions and seven interceptions.
He has decent size at 6’1″ and 244 pounds. With being projected to be selected in the mid rounds of the NFL draft, he may choose to go back to Madison for a year and try to become one of the top linebackers taken.
Projected draft range: 3rd round-5th round
Michael Dieter, OT
Dieter is also a junior, but has experience on multiple positions on the offensive line. He has made starts at tackle, guard and center, but this year has anchored the offensive line at left tackle this season. His versatility should be a good thing, as position changes are common for young offensive linemen in the NFL.
He has the size of a tackle at 6’6″ and 328 pounds, but could fit in anywhere on the offensive line. His athletic ability will be questioned, but if it isn’t good enough to play tackle, he can slide inside.
Projected draft range: 3rd round-5th round
Other notable Wisconsin prospects: G Beau Benzschawel (5th round-7th round), LB Jack Cichy (4th round-6th round), LB Garrett Dooley (4th round-6th round)
Miami Hurricanes
Chad Thomas, DE
Thomas has been through the good and the bad at Miami in his four seasons, but is now able to finish off his career in a big bowl game. He has 24 tackles for loss and nine sacks in his career. The pass rushing isn’t the greatest in the class, but he is a good run stopper for a defensive end.
At 6’6″ and 275 pounds he has excellent size for the NFL. The run stopping means something, but his lack of sacks might hold him back.
Projected draft range: 3rd round-5th round
Michael Jackson, CB
Jackson is a player who really put his name on the map this season. The junior is a first year starter for the Hurricanes, but has produced. He has 39 total tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, four interceptions and four passes defended this season for Miami.
He has above average size for a corner at 6’1″ and 200 pounds. Only having one year of production will make some teams weary, but he is a solid player.
Projected draft range: 3rd round-5th round
*Christopher Herndon will not play in this bowl game with a knee injury. Herndon’s draft range: 5th round-7th round
Other notable Miami prospects: C Nick Lindner (undrafted free agent), K Michael Badgley (undrafted free agent)
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