The Orange Bowl features two of the teams with the most NFL-ready talent in college football. Jim Harbaugh has the Michigan defense filled with prospects, while Florida State is always loaded with good players. Here are the best prospects from the Orange Bowl:
Michigan Wolverines
Jabrill Peppers, LB/CB/S
Projected Draft Range: Top 15
Peppers is the most versatile player in college football. He has played linebacker, corner back, safety, running back, quarterback, wide receiver and returner. Peppers is great at the fundamentals and has good speed. The only question with him is his ball skills, as he only has one interception in his college career. He is also a “tweener”, player without a true position, which may scare teams away.
Taco Charlton, DE
Projected Draft Range: First round-third round
Charlton is a great pass rusher with 8.5 sacks on the season. He has great size, at six feet six inches and 272, and athletic ability to go with it. Charlton isn’t the greatest at stopping the run, so he needs to show he can do that against Florida State.
Jake Butt, TE
Projected Draft Range: First round-third round
Butt has great size at six feet six inches tall and 250 pounds. He isn’t the fastest, but is a secure target. His average of 12 yards per catch is a testament to him getting open over the middle. His blocking is good for a tight end and should improve with time in the NFL. Teams will like him as a good, solid receiver.
Chris Wormley, DT
Projected Draft Range: First round-second round
If a team runs a 4-3 scheme and needs a defensive tackle, Wormley will fit right in. He has good size at six feet six inches and 302 pounds. Wormley is great at defending the run, but is also a decent pass rusher for a defensive tackle. He has six sacks on the season. His interior play makes the players around him better.
Florida State Seminoles
Dalvin Cook, RB
Projected Draft Range: First round-second round
Cook is a great speed back. He uses his vision to find the right hole, then uses his lightning speed to hit the hole hard and leave defenders in the dust. His moves are also good and he gets good tacklers to miss often. Cook is a good receiver out of the backfield making him a threat in many ways. He has been plagued by injuries, which he played through as a sophomore, which could hurt his stock.
Demarcus Walker, DE
Projected Draft Range: Second round-third round
Walker is one of the premier pass rushers in college football with 15 sacks. He uses his speed and strength to get by blockers. In the NFL he can probably play in just about any scheme. Walker needs to work on his run support as he doesn’t always show good gap integrity.
Roderick Johnson, OT
Projected Draft Range: Second round-third round
Johnson had the capability to be the first tackle to be selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. He didn’t have the best season pass-blocking so he will move down a lot of teams’ boards. Fortunately, Johnson is a great run blocker. He can play either tackle spot, increasing his value. His hands will be full, as he takes on a very tough Michigan defensive front.
You can ‘Like’ The Game Haus on Facebook and ‘Follow’ us on Twitter for more sports and eSports articles from other great TGH writers along with Joe!