Scout's Eye - Cotton and Orange Bowl Preview

John B. Everett
Dec 31, 2025
7 min read

Happy New Year!

Eight teams remain alive in the hunt for the national title and several future NFL stars will undoubtedly be featured performers in the drama to come. Let’s take a look at some of the best draft-eligible prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft that will be playing in the Cotton and Orange Bowl games.

Cotton Bowl

Arlington, Texas

Wednesday, December 31. 7:30 pm ET / 4:30 pm PT

(10) Miami, Fl (11-2) v (2) Ohio State (12-1)

Miami, Fl – QB Carson Beck (SNS #5 QB), RB Mark Fletcher, WR CJ Daniels, OTs Francis Mauigoa (SNS #4 OT) and Markel Bell, EDGEs Rueben Bain (SNS #3 EDGE) and Akheem Mesidor, LBs Wesley Bissainthe (SNS #10 LB) and Mohamed Toure, CB Keionte Scott (SNS #5 CB), and Safety Jakobe Thomas.

Ohio State – WR Carnell Tate (SNS #2 WR), TE Max Klare (SNS #5 TE), IOL Tegra Tshabola and Carson Hinzman, EDGEs Caden Curry (SNS #6 EDGE) and Kenyatta Jackson, LBs Arvell Reese (SNS #4 LB) and Sonny Styles, CBs Jermaine Mathews (SNS #1 CB) and Davison Igbinosun, and Safety Caleb Downs (SNS #1 S).

The quarterfinals begin on New Year’s Eve in Arlington, Texas at the Cotton Bowl as the Hurricanes get their shot at the defending national champion Buckeyes. They will certainly need to score more than the 10 points they scored against Texas A&M to pull off the upset. QB Carson Beck needs to have a more impactful performance against OSU than the mediocre one he displayed against the Aggies last week – 14/20 / 70% / 103 yds / 1 TD. But Beck’s previous propensity to implode – 4 INTs thrown v Louisville and a critical INT thrown in OT in a loss to SMU – was absent in the first round as he operated a conservative offense that featured a bruising ground game and a stifling defense to a 10-3 victory in College Station. Beck has passed for nearly 3,200 yds and 26 TD passes this season, so he is capable of producing a lot more. And he likely will need to against the aggressive and stingy Buckeye defense to avoid becoming a one-dimensional offense. RB Mark Fletcher was the difference maker in the Hurricanes’ victory over the Aggies, rushing 17 times for 172 yds (10.1 YPC) and breaking off a couple long runs that broke the Aggies’ back in a battle between two dominating defenses. The junior has excellent size (6’2” / 225 lbs), runs with a powerful lean, and has fantastic contact balance to be a productive inside runner in the NFL. The 2026 NFL Draft looks loaded at RB so returning for his senior season is a real option, but if Fletcher declares, he looks like a fourth or fifth round draft pick in April. All-American CB Keionte Scott was feared lost for the season with a foot injury suffered against Syracuse on November 8 but returned for the Texas A&M game and his return proved to an impactful one. Scott recorded 2 sacks, 3 TFL, and 1 forced fumble against the Aggies and looks back to his form as the best slot CB in the nation. Scott will likely be lined up across from either Jeremiah Smith or Carnell Tate most of the evening and those matchups will be appointment viewing for scouts between now and the draft this April.

The Buckeyes enter the Cotton Bowl coming off their first loss of the season in the Big Ten Championship Game against Indiana and are set to face one of the most talent-laden teams in the nation in the Miami Hurricanes. Miami has an athletic group of defenders to shut down the run and OSU needs to be able to run the ball to maintain offensive balance. Center Carson Hinzman is an important component in establishing the inside run against Miami’s talented interior duo of seniors David Blay and Ahmad Moten. Hinzman, in his first year as full-time starter as the pivot for the Buckeyes’ attack, is athletic and offers the size NFL teams desire inside. The junior started the playoff run for OSU last year after Seth McLaughlin was lost for the season with an injury and he has the experience and technique to hold his own against both quickness and power in pass protection. Ohio State led the nation with the stingiest scoring defense in the nation, allowing only 8.2 ppg, and have one of the best pass rushing duos in the country. EDGEs Caden Curry and Kenyatta Jackson are both first-year starters, replacing JT Tuimoloau (Colts) and Jack Sawyer (Steelers), and have combined for 17.5 sacks and 27.5 TFL, through 13 games this season. And they may be better run defenders than pass rushers. Both have NFL-size for an EDGE with the athleticism to drop into coverage, the closing ability to pressure the QB, and the strength to be an asset in holding containment in the run game. Curry looks like a top 50 pick while Jackson looks like a fourth or fifth round selection in Pittsburgh in April.

Orange Bowl

Miami, Florida

Thursday, January 1, 2026. 12 noon ET / 9 am PT

(5) Oregon (12-1) v (4) Texas Tech (12-1)

Oregon – QB Dante Moore (SNS #3 QB), RB Noah Whittington, WR Malik Benson, TE Kenyon Sadiq (SNS #1 TE), OTs Isaiah World (SNS #3 OT) and Alex Harkey, IOL Emmanuel Pregnon (SNS #1 IOL), Iapani Laloulu, and Dave Luli, EDGEs Matayo Uiagalelei (SNS #2 EDGE) and Teitum Tuioti, IDL A’Mauri Washington (SNS #2 IDL) and Bear Alexander, LB Bryce Boettcher, and Safety Dillon Thieneman (SNS #3 S).

Texas Tech – QB Behren Morton, WRs Caleb Douglas (SNS #8 WR), Reggie Virgil, and Coy Eakin, TE Terrance Carter, OT Harold Sampson, IOL Will Jados, EDGEs David Bailey (SNS #1 EDGE) and Romello Height, IDL Lee Hunter and AJ Holmes, LB Jacob Rodriguez (SNS #2 LB), CB Brice Pollock (SNS #9 CB), and Safety Cole Wisnewski.

In perhaps the most intriguing game of the quarterfinal round, two teams that look like reflections of each other meet in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day. Oregon QB Dante Moore is coming off a great performance in the first-round playoff victory over James Madison, completing 19/27 (70.4%) / 313 yds / 4 TDs / 2 INTs in leading the Ducks to a 51-34 over the Dukes. Moore may be the most talented QB prospect potentially available in the 2026 NFL Draft and he is one of two QBs, along with Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who look like they could be the top pick next April. Moore lacks some desired experience with only 18 career starts but his arm, athleticism, and intelligence are all NFL-caliber. Moore has limited experience in crunch time and has a mixed record in pressure situations. New Year’s Day is an opportunity for the redshirt sophomore to face down one of the best and most balanced defenses in college football. Moore can make his case to be the number one pick in April with a strong finishing stretch in the playoffs. The Ducks have one of the most balanced and productive running games in the nation that runs four deep with quality RBs including, freshmen Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill, junior Jayden Limar, and senior Noah Whittington. Even though he only had 116 carries this season, Whittington has established a career-high with 798 yards rushing and 6 TDs while catching 17 passes for 88 yards and 1 TD. Whittington is built low to the ground and his low center of gravity gives him surprising power and contact balance to be a very effective runner between the tackles. Whittington may have had the run of the year earlier this season when he ran through, around, and by the Minnesota defense for a long TD run against the Golden Gophers. Whittington is peaking at the right time and should hear his name sometime on the third day of the draft. Safety Dillon Thieneman, a transfer from Purdue, has solidified the Ducks’ secondary this season and has the combination of ball skills, range, and tackling ability to be a first-round draft pick. The junior, a former Big Ten Freshman Defensive P.O.Y, has recorded 74 tackles / 2 INTs / 5 passes defensed / 1 sack / 2.5 TFL this season and will be responsible for ensuring the deep middle against Tech’s dangerous receiving corps.

The Red Raiders are proof that a well-executed player acquisition strategy, when combined with quality coaching, can bear immediate fruit in today’s NIL culture. Tech has as dangerous of a receiving corps as any school in the nation. TE Terrance Carter and WRs Coy Eakin, Caleb Douglas and Reggie Virgil are all potential top 125 prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft who create mismatches in space against frustrated LBs and safeties. Douglas (6’4” / 205 lbs) and Virgil (6’3” / 190 lbs) both have the size that NFL teams covet in starting WRs and both are garnering NFL interest from NFL teams at the top of the draft – both have received invitations to play in the Senior Bowl, the top postseason All-Star Game. The pair have combined for 99 receptions / 1,522 yds / 13 TDs so far this season. Both Douglas and Virgil combine size, athleticism, speed, and leaping ability to be developed into quality starting WRs in the NFL. Although EDGE David Bailey and LB Jacob Rodriguez get most of the draft acclaim on the Red Raiders’ defense, EDGE Romello Height has developed into a well-rounded DE in Tech’s even front. Height has put together his most complete season as a senior. The much-traveled Height, who has earned playing time at Auburn, USC, and Georgia Tech, and now starts on the EDGE in Lubbock, has recorded 33 total tackles / 9 sacks / 10.5 TFL / 2 forced fumbles this season and is a quality run defender as well as a dangerous pass rusher. Height and Bailey will be paired off against Oregon’s dynamic blocking OTs Isaiah World and Alex Harkey in what may be the subplot that determines the winner in Miami on Thursday afternoon.