The college football bowl season continued with a pair of underwhelming bowl games as Clemson blew away Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl before Alabama absolutely dominated Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl. The lopsided score lines probably had the majority of college football fans switching the channel before the games were even finished but the one upside is that the national championship game should be must-see television with the top two teams in the country meeting in Arizona. The playoff blowouts weren’t the only newsworthy stories from this past week. Here is a quick recap of some of the important news and notes from this past week in college football.
Prosise Headed To The NFL
Notre Dame’s redshirt junior running back C.J. Prosise made it official over the weekend when he announced his decision to forego his final college season and enter the 2016 NFL Draft. Prosise, who moved to the running back position from wide receiver last season, ran for 1,302 yards and 11 touchdowns while adding 26 catches for 308 yards and another score. Prosise is exactly the type of dual-threat that can make plays out of the backfield both running and catching the football, and will be interesting to see how early an NFL team decides to take a chance on him in the draft. Running backs have been viewed as a cheap commodity in the NFL, so it’s unlikely he is taken early in the first round. However, his versatility should still make him a first or second-round pick. The fact that he comes from Notre Dame will provide his resume with a good reference. Look for him to land with a team where he’s in the fight for starter’s carries next season.
Fuller Decides To Turn Pro
Prosise isn’t the only key player from the Notre Dame offense that will turn pro as junior wide receiver Will Fuller announced over the weekend via Twitter that he has made the decision to declare for the NFL Draft. The six-foot, 184-pound receiver finished this season with 62 catches for 1,258 yards and 14 touchdowns and while he had originally said that he planned to return for his senior year his position changed dramatically over the past couple of weeks. A big part of that change could have to do with the fact that he is currently ranked among the top-six or top-eight wide receivers on the majority of mock draft boards and he really has the chance to hit it big as a second or third round pick in 2016. He looks like he’s one of the more NFL-ready wide receivers, though, even though his grade isn’t that of a first-rounder.
Hackenberg Declares For The Draft
Penn State’s junior quarterback Christian Hackenberg will also skip his final season and make the jump to the NFL but unlike Prosise there is a lot more skepticism about whether or not he will succeed at the next level. Hackenberg was once considered an elite NFL quarterback prospect but his stock has dipped dramatically over the last two seasons. Hackenberg threw for a career-low 2,525 yards and 16 touchdowns compared to six interceptions along with a career-low 53.5 completion percentage but with the Nittany Lions set to install their third different offense in four years and Hackenberg actually showing signs of regression over the past couple of seasons it makes sense that he rolls the dice now and take his chances by entering the NFL Draft.
Lee Set To Make The Jump
Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa has the potential to be the first-overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft but he isn’t the only elite defensive player that will go early on. Star linebacker Darron Lee announced that he will forego his final two seasons for the Buckeyes in order to declare after registering 62 tackles this past season. Lee will join Bosa, quarterback Cardale Jones and running back Ezekiel Elliott among the notable Ohio State stars that will make the jump to the NFL and it will be interesting to see how high his draft stock can climb.
