A Shrine Bowl Player For Each Position

After watching the Shrine Bowl and researching the prospects that participated I came up with a favorite prospect at each position. If a player was slated for the Shrine Bowl but opted out, such as LB Edgerrin Cooper then they were not considered. However players that sat out due to injury such as Jordan Travis were considered. I list the players considered at each position.

I also took into consideration the player’s college career. One 15 minute appearance in the Shrine Bowl does not overtake a whole college career. Therefore you will see players that performed well in the game not selected.

Quarterbacks

QB Jordan Travis – Florida State

Not playing due to recovering from a a broken leg but hopefully the Giants talked with him.

Ncaa stats 5^th in active career leaders in passing yards per attempt with 8.49 yards. Travis is 19^th in active career leaders in passing efficiency with a 150.62 career efficiency. Also Travis is 10^th in active career leaders in total yards for players with 4,000 yards passing and 1000 yards rushing. Travis was second among top nine quarterbacks in the following career stats: rushing TDs per game (0.63), gain per rush (4.7 yards), points per game (3.92) and total TDs scored per game (0.653). Travis was third among the top nine quarterbacks in rushing yards per game (39.8).

Two of Travis’s best performances came when one of FSU’s top receivers, Johnny Wilson, missed both games due to injury. The Seminoles’ other star receiver, Keon Coleman, sat out against Pitt. Two other receivers on the depth chart, co-starter Destyn Hill and five-star freshman Hykeem Williams, couldn’t play at Wake Forest, while Lakewood High alumnus Deuce Spann was sidelined against the Panthers. Even with all those injuries, Travis responded with his two most prolific games of the season. He passed for a season-high 359 yards against the Demon Deacons, then broke that mark by throwing for 360 at Pitt. He accounted for six touchdowns to help No. 4 FSU remain perfect heading into Saturday’s rivalry game against Miami. His first six completions at Pitt went to six different receivers.

Season highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe5MM6fxu_8 . Could draft most of the team Jordan Travis, Trey Benson, Keon Coleman or Jared Verse. Travis finished fifth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.

Running Backs

Tyrone Tracy – Purdue

Converted wide receiver can rush, catch and block. Tracy had a rushing touchdown in 7 of his 11 games in 2023. in addition he had a kickoff return touchdown for 98 yards. Tracy was 13^th among draft eligible running backs in 20+ yard rushes per game and tops among 17 top back prospects looked at in 20+ yard rushes per attempt for both career and last year. Tracy was selected as the running back on the Shrine Bowl all East practice team voted by the coaches for their outstanding attitude, dedication, and leadership on and off the field. Here is a film report on him https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTak_xbnJZI .

Wide Receivers

Tejhaun Palmer – UAB

Big receiver that made Feldman’s 2023 freaks list. Palmer made the top 100 list at cfbstats.com in 2023 for receiving in average yards, TDs, yards/game and total yards. He was in the top ¼ for average with 18.26 yards. Palmer made the top 100 list in long receiving plays in 2023 for plays of 10+ and 20+ yards. In 2023 Palmer had 7 touchdown receptions with at least one from every 20 yard delineations of the field. A feat that in 2023 was only achieved by Brian Thomas and Troy Franklin out of the top ten receiver prospects as identified by Kiper. Palmer made honorable mention in the fastest players of college 2023 with one run of 21 mph. He has just one drop this season on 66 targets. The UAB quarterback was only given an honorable mention in bleacher reports top 25 quarterbacks of 2023.

Tight Ends

Tip Reiman – Illinois

a preferred walk-on at illinois. big te at 6’4 and 273. A Shrine Bowl East Team Practice player of the week. Low production in college. In his final year he had a 73% catch rate, 68% first downs/receptions and a 50% first downs to targets. Those are top percentages among the shrine bowl tes. Shrine bowl report was that he caught everything thrown to him. A good blocker.

Reiman measured in this week with 33 1/8-inch arms and 10 3/8-inch hands. Additionally, he was the fastest Shrine Bowl TE on the GPS (18.79 miles per hour). His speed and and ability to separate at his size were very noticeable, and his general movement skills are above-average. He could be better and more consistent at the catch point. But Reiman, who didn’t have a drop last season, is a very interesting pass catcher. He’s also a physical, willing blocker off the snap. – athletic report

Offensive Tackle

Matt Goncalves – Pittsburgh

was injured 3 games into the 2023 season with season ending injury. At the end of the 2022 season matt was ranked among the nation’s Top 50 Offensive Tackles by the college sports podcast and YouTube show Big Game Boomer at number 42. he also received All-ACC First Team honors from Pro Football Focus and had earned third-team All-ACC football honors from the conference. In 2020, Goncalves was named to the Football Writers Association of America’s Freshman All-America Freshman team.

According to PFF, in 2022 he didn’t allow a sack while allowing five quarterback hits and 12 quarterback hurries. In 165 snaps this season, he allowed just four pressures and three hurries.

Interior Offensive Line

Christian Mahogany – Boston College

Mahogany allowed no sacks and only seven pressures this season. At the Shrine bowl, Mahogany made the all-east Practice Team. From the Athletic Shrine Bowl report – the power he displayed at Boston College showed up over and over this week. When Mahogany wins with leverage at the point of attack, it’s mostly over for the defender. He has real-deal power and the ability to finish against just about anyone.

Linebacker

Darius Muasau – UCLA

Darius ranks 20^th among career active leaders in total tackles per game and 10^th in total solo tackles per game. Darius was selected to the Shrine Bowl West Team All Practice Team as voted by coaches for their outstanding attitude, dedication, and leadership on and off the field.

Per the Athletic – The best linebacker at the Shrine Bowl, Muasau (more than 50 combined starts between UCLA and Hawaii) led a stingy Bruins defense with 38 run stops last season. He showed great burst and fluidity in coverage this week and was the most physical in the group via run fits.

This from Chad Rueter’s Monday Shrine Bowl pracatice report. “Muasau was all over the field during the West team’s practice Monday, just as he was at Hawai’i and UCLA. He’s a leader in the middle, calling out plays and moving linemen so he could attack a gap in the run game. His drops into coverage were of good depth, and he quickly smothered running backs over the middle and heading to the flat. “

Edge

Mohamed Kamara – Colorado State

Kamara is eleventh in tackle for loss per game and fourth in sacks per game. Among active career leaders he is 7^th in Total Sacks Per Game, 13^th in Solo Tackles for Loss Per Game and 16^th in Tackles for Loss Per Game. He was the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. He’s been performing well at the Shrine Bowl practices. Though on the small size, Kamara makes up for it in his speed, motor and power. He may fit better as am OLB in the NFL. Blogging the Boys site: Compact and relentless are the first two words when you watch Kamara on tape. Basically this guy just lived in the opposition’s backfield.

Mohamed Kamara was a four year letterwinner at linebacker for Central High School in Newark, New Jersey and earned second team All-State from NJ.com as a senior, making 132 tackles, including 11 sacks and 6 forced fumbles.

Defensive Tackles

Jamree Kromah – James Madison

Jamree Kromah was seventh in tackles for loss per game and eleventh in sacks per game in 2023. James Madison was third in opponent yards per rush attempt allowed and opponent rushing firsts downs allowed per game.

At almost the midway point in the 2023 season this is the report from James Madison – After six weeks of the college football season, JMU’s defense continues to lead the country in four categories. The Dukes pace the nation in rush defense, yards per carry allowed, team tackles for loss and team sacks. JMU holds opponents to just 38.6 rushing yards per game and 1.35 per carry. The Dukes are also tops in the FBS with 4.6 sacks per game and 10.2 tackles for loss per outing.

JMU’s defensive line has wreaked havoc in the backfield all season, and three rank top 15 in the FBS in tackles for loss per game. Additionally the trio all rank inside the top 25 in sacks.

- Jalen Green is tied for the nation’s lead with 2.2 tackles for loss per game while ranking third with 1.3 sacks.

- Mikail Kamara is tied for fifth with 2.0 TFL per game and tied for 14th with 0.9 sacks per outing, while

- Jamree Kromah is tied for 14th with 1.5 TFL per game and tied for 23rd with 0.8 sacks per contest.

Cornerbacks

Jarius Monroe – Tulane

Monroe made the top 100 list in 2023 for passes defended per game at 29. He had 3 interceptions and 10 passes broken up. He averaged 1 defended pass per game. At the Shrine bowl Monroe made the All-West Practice Team for CB as voted by coaches for their outstanding attitude, dedication, and leadership on and off the field. The report was that he had a fantastic week standing out from day 1 showing his range, athleticism and versatility. He had a key interception in the game and won Defensive MVP in the West’s win.

Safety

Dadrion Taylor-Demerson – Texas Tech

Dadrion made ethe top 100 list in 2023 for interceptions per game at 35^th with 3 interceptions and passes defended per game at 45^th with 12 passes defended. At the Shrine Bowl he made the All-West Practice Team. Dadrion is ninth among active career leaders in interceptions with a career seven interceptions, sixteenth in passes defended with a career 13 defended and 22^nd in solo tackles with a career 107 solo tackles. Those career numbers are in just two years playing. Demerson was 22nd in NCAA rankings in fumble recoveries.

I like these prospects for day three or signed as UDFAs. Compared to the rest of the NFC East the Giants have not selected well in the draft on day three. Here is a list of day three draft selections from each team that played at least 2 seasons and started at least 5 games in the season. Only players that played in the 2020 decade of the NFL are shown. The count field shows the number of seasons that they started 5 or more games. The sum of the counts shows how bad the Giants fared compared to the division. Players that were in the East West Shrine Bowl are highlighted in yellow. They come out to 22% of the players listed here.

Here is the same criteria for UDFAS.