This begins a series of posts on players to watch in the up coming college football bowl games. It could be considered a “Bowl Preview with a dynasty twist”. Each post will cover a game and two to three prospects per team to keep an eye on for dynasty purposes.
Gildan New Mexico Bowl: Utah State vs. UTEP
Utah State
Utah State really only has two prospects to watch for the New Mexico, but only one of these players is playing. The player who is playing is junior wide receiver Hunter Sharp . The other is Chuckie Keeton, Utah State’s quarterback who tore his ACL early in the season.
Sharp is a junior college wide receiver who has performed well this season. He earned California Community College Athletic Association All-Pacific Division first-team honors in the as a sophomore at Antelope Valley College. He compiled 49 receptions for 657 yards with six touchdowns in this season. This season, Sharp has 63 receptions for 918 yards and seven touchdowns. Sharp has a dominator rating (% of team’s total yards) of .34. Similar scores of former prospects include Reggie Wayne, Emmanuel Sanders, Sammy Watkins, Stephen Hill, and Torrey Smith. Frame wise, Sharp has a build most similar to Wayne, but also is similar to Watkins and Smith. If Sharp does declare, he could possibly be a mid round to late round pick in the NFL draft, and a late round pick in rookie drafts.
Keeton is a more interesting case. In the preseason, Keeton was drawing some hype as a dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate. But, in the team’s third game of the year, he reinjured the knee that he had hurt the previous year (torn ACL, MCL). Keeton’s injury history could cause many teams to completly rule him out as a prospect. Keeton is still a dynamic quarterback, as he is one of only five QB’s in NCAA history to pass for over 5,000 yards and rush for over 1,000. The three “modern” QB’s to do this are Pat White (West Virginia), Denard Robinson (Michigan/Jacksonville Jaguars), and Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M/Browns). Keeton did this while only starting one full season. In this season, Keeton had 3,733 yards passing for 27 touchdowns agaisnt only nine interceptions. Keeton also rushed for 619 yards and eight touchdowns this season. Keeton has a QBR of 78 that season. All in all, Keeton is very similar to former Wyoming quarterback (and one of Cecil Lammey from Footballguy’s favorite players) Brett Smith. The two have similar frame’s and QBR’s, but Keeton was far more productive. If Keeton is fully healthy, expect him to latch on as a backup and potentially start a few games for a team that needs a quarterback. If nothing more, the kid has some awesome celebrations.
UTEP
While UTEP has no draft eligible players to keep an eye, remember the name Aaron Jones. The sophomore running back has been extremely productive in his first two seasons, carrying the ball 372 times for 2,044 yards (5.5 ypc) and 15 touchdowns. He has also developed as a threat in the passing game, amassing 27 recpetions for 284 yards and three touchdowns this season. While 17% of his team’s receiving yards may not seem like much, keep in mind that Jones is a running back, and this is only his second year of college football. He should continue to develop over the next few years, and he could be one of the next small school running back to contribute at the next level.
Final Thoughts
I like Utah State to roll through this game with ease. Expect to see Sharp torch the UTEP defense and for Utah State to jump out to a big lead early. While this may mean we may not get to see much of UTEP’s Aaron Jones as a runner, his receiving ability will be on full display for this game.
