Tag: Mello Dotson

10 players for Packers fans to monitor on East roster during Shrine Bowl week

Ten players to watch from the East’s roster during East-West Shrine Bowl week.

The East-West Shrine Bowl practices start on Saturday with the game scheduled to take place on Thursday, January 30th at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Zach Tom, Edgerrin Cooper, Jon Runayn Jr, Samori Toure, Ka’Dar Hollman, James Looney and Hunter Bradley are all draft picks who played in the Shrine Bowl that Brian Gutekunst has selected.

Let’s take a look at 10 players from the East roster who could be potential targets for the Green Bay Packers during the 2025 NFL Draft.

With the Packers having assistant coaches in charge of the offensive line group and linebacker group for the East roster, there won’t be any linebackers or offensive linemen on this list.

Mello Dotson, CB, Kansas

Dotson plays the ball like a wide receiver and finished the past two seasons with four interceptions and 18 pass deflections. He shows good route recognition and has the reactionary quickness to disrupt the catch point.

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Fadil Diggs, Edge, Syracuse

Diggs looks like he was sent from central casting. He checks in at 6-5 and 260 pounds. A Texas A&M transfer, Diggs recorded 14 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and 42 pressures.

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Tyler Baron, Edge, Miami

A transfer from Tennessee, Baron recorded 11 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks during his lone season in Miami. Baron owns an NFL frame, standing at 6-5 and weighing in at 260 pounds. He has a good blend of speed and power.

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Warren Brinson, DT, Georgia

Brinson is stout run defender. He’s powerful at the point of attack and has the power to reset the line of scrimmage and stays balanced through contact.

O’Donnell Fortune, CB, South Carolina

Fortune is a feisty cornerback with plus ball skills, who recorded seven interceptions over the past three seasons for the Gamecocks. Fortune got the call up from the Hula Bowl to compete down in Texas this week.

Nick Nash, WR, San Jose State

A former quarterback, Nash looks like a natural at wide receiver. He finished this past season as the FBS leader in receptions (104), receiving yards (1,382) and receiving touchdowns (16).

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Jaydon Blue, RB, Texas

The Texas running back has home run speed and is shifty in space to make defenders whiff. According to Pro Football Focus, Blue finished this past season with 517 yards after contact and forced 37 missed tackles.

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Johnny Walker Jr, Edge, Missouri

The Missouri edge rusher finished this past season with 12.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. He takes strong angles to the quarterback and has physical hands.

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Nazir Stackhouse, DT, Georgia

Stackhouse is a brick house. The Georgia defensive tackle can be hard to uproot and eats up double teams for the Bulldogs. Stackhouse controls his gap and could be a potential replacement for TJ Slaton.

Mitchell Evans, TE, Notre Dame

Standing at 6-5, Evans looks the part. Over the past two seasons, the Notre Dame tight end has hauled in 72 receptions for 843 yards and four touchdowns.

7 potential Chargers draft targets on defense to watch at the East-West Shrine Bowl

The Chargers need to upgrade a few positions on the defensive side of the ball, so here are seven players that they could have on their radar.

Draft season kicks into high gear, with the East-West Shrine Bowl set to start this week. This event is the beginning of the pre-draft process for NFL teams as they continue their evaluations of prospects.

Here are seven defensive players to watch for the Chargers in Frisco, TX.

DL Kenneth Grant, Michigan

The Chargers need to upgrade the interior part of the defensive line, and they could do so as early as the first round with Grant, who is familiar with head coach Jim Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. A member of The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman’s Freak List, Grant offers the overall size, strength, explosiveness, and disruptiveness to wreak havoc in opposing backfields.

DL Jordan Phillips, Maryland

Another member of the Freak List, Phillips is a trench-bound nightmare for offensive centers and guards, possessing the power and heavy hands that enable him to knock blockers back and the anchor strength when defending the run, as he is not easily moved off the ball. At only 20 years of age, his best football is still ahead of him.

EDGE Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr., Virginia Tech

The future of Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack with the Chargers remains to be seen. But regardless of whether they’re back or not, the team needs to add more pass-rush juice to the positional room. Powell finished this season with 16 sacks (second-most in the nation) and three forced fumbles after 9.5 sacks and three fumbles in 2023. Despite being a little undersized at 6-foot-3 and 252 pounds, he is explosive off the snap with an excellent first step, great bend, and active hands.

EDGE Johnny Walker, Missouri

Walker was a standout for the Tigers this season, finishing the season with 42 quarterback pressures, 9.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles. Walker’s explosiveness off the ball is what stands out. He has good bend and flexibility, allowing him to get around tackles and to the quarterback. He has the makings of a solid designated pass rusher for the Chargers early in his career.

CB Zy Alexander, LSU

Asante Samuel Jr. and Kristian Fulton are both set to be free agents. Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still (who attended last year’s East-West Shrine Bowl) showed they could be starters, but the position room would benefit from depth behind them. At 6-foot-2 and 194 pounds, Alexander possesses great size and length, ball skills, long speed, and physicality in run support that is coveted at the position. During his college career, Alexander intercepted 13 passes.

CB Mello Dotson, Kansas

Kansas has two cornerbacks attending the Shrine Bowl, and it’s been Dotson’s teammate, Cobee Bryant, who’s earned more of the attention. But Dotson should not be slept on. Dotson is the first AP All-American defensive back from Kansas since Aqib Talib. An experienced player, Dotson started 46 games for the Jayhawks. A ballhawk in the secondary with great anticipatory instincts, he totaled 12 career interceptions, four of which were returned for touchdowns, and 25 passes defended.

S Shamari Simmons, Arizona State

The Chargers’ safety group was one of their strongest positions this past season. But with Elijah Molden slated to hit the free agency market and Alohi Gilman’s contract expiring at the end of next season, they could afford to add more playmakers on the back end. Simmons was the Sun Devils’ Nickel in 2024, but he has plenty of experience playing the deep parts of the field, too. Simmons can make plays all over with his FBI/instincts, twitch, and violent demeanor.

5 keys to an Oklahoma Sooners victory over Kansas

Can the Oklahoma Sooners extend their winning streak over Kansas on Saturday? Here are our five keys to the game.

On Saturday, No. 6 Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0) will take on Lance Leipold’s [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag] (5-2, 2-2) for the final time as Big 12 foes.

Oklahoma needs to play a much better game on Saturday than they did against the UCF Knights. They looked to be sleepwalking through the game at times and could have been more crisp on offense. The offensive line had its worst game of the season in pass protection, and until the fourth quarter, the Sooners couldn’t expose a lousy run defense.

Defensively, two busted plays defined the day, as both led to UCF touchdowns. Those plays aside, it was an excellent day for an Oklahoma defense that continues to show improvement.

Kansas will present another challenge for this revitalized Oklahoma defense. The Sooners D continues to make opposing offenses look outmatched at times. Aside from the occasional busts in coverages, this unit is much better than the one that Kansas saw in Norman last year when Kansas quarterback Jason Bean threw four touchdowns.

The Jayhawks have two solid running backs, Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr. They are as explosive as teams get and will provide Oklahoma with a challenge.

Ultimately, the Sooners still hold advantages at multiple spots. With their lackluster performance from UCF behind them, the Sooners should come out on fire.

The Jayhawks surely won’t go down without a fight, and Brent Venables will make sure the team knows that.

Kansas hasn’t beaten OU since 1997. The Sooners have won the last 18 matchups between the two sides. But what are the keys to Oklahoma closing out the 100-year series with a win? Here are this week’s keys to the game.