The Hawaii Bowl between Fresno State and SMU is a game of some intrigue, especially from a New York Giants fan perspective because the most athletic defensive end in the entire country is playing in this game.
Who is playing: Fresno State Bulldogs vs. SMU Mustangs
When: Monday December 24th 8 P.M
Where: ESPN
This game does feature a couple of very interesting prospects. Fresno State has a very talented quarterback prospect whose name might sound familiar: Derek Carr.
Quarterback Derek Carr is the younger brother of former #1 overall pick David Carr. While Derek hasn’t had the same collegiate hype as his older brother, he is definitely a draftable prospect and oozes tangibles.
Carr is 6’3 210 pounds and has been very productive. This year he has thrown for a little over 3700 yards with 36 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, while completing 68 percent of his passes. He has a good arm, and mobility in the pocket. Carr, has announced, however that he will return for his senior season so it doesn’t appear he will become available for this draft, but he could change his mind.
Fresno State has another good player in safety Phillip Thomas who is widely regarded as a day two pick in the draftnik community. Thomas has a nice size/speed combination listed at 6’1 215 pounds. Thomas missed the entire season last year with a broken leg. Other than his nice size/speed combination Thomas is coveted for his instincts, leadership, and playmaking ability. Thomas was like Ed Reed this year picking off 8 passes and taking three of them back to the house. While the Giants have shown a penchant for drafting productive players at major BCS schools early in the draft, Thomas could pique their interest.
Two other low end draftable prospects for the Bulldogs are running back Robbie Rouse and LB Travis Brown.
For the Mustangs it’s all about defensive end Margus Hunt.
Margus Hunt is probably THE best athlete in college football, and that is not an exaggeration (just check out This link to see "The Freak List". Hunt is 6’8 280 pounds and has a 82 inch wingspan (which is ridiculous) can bench 225 30 times, and has a 36 inch vertical he also been clocked with a 4.74 40 yard dash (remember he weights 280 pounds. His coach predicted with training he could run in the 4.60 range). He was an aspiring Olympic track athlete who went to SMU (by way of Estonia) to train with Dave Wollman who has trained other Olympic athletes. Hunt has measureables you can’t teach and while he is extremely raw there will definitely be coaches who say I can mold him into a superstar. He could be drafted anywhere from the 1st round through the 4th round. The pre-draft process will be huge for Hunt more so than most players because his potential is greater than almost every player in the draft while his college production is ordinary.
SMU has two other potential late round prospects/ priority free agents in fullback Zach line and linebacker Ja’Gared Davis.
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