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Big time players make big plays in big games. No single game on a schedule is better for a team even if it something as obscure as the Meinike Car Care Bowl or the Papajohns.com Bowl or something as prestigious as the Rose Bowl. Let’s take a look at a few NFL Draft prospects stepping up in big games during bowl season.

WR Damian Williams- USC

The stats weren’t huge for him this season due a little bit to the fact that he has a freshman starting at quarterback, but he’s the best pure route runner in college football and that could get him drafted in the first round. He picked the best time to have his best game of the season going for 189 yards on 12 receptions against Boston College in the Emerald Bowl. After already graduating from USC, he is expected to be a part of the 2010 NFL Draft class and has #1 receiver written all over him.

WR Emmanuel Sanders- SMU

Four good years of production, which has elevated every single season, has Sanders in pretty good position to be drafted in the 2010 NFL Draft from small school SMU. He’s not huge, but he has 3791 career receiving yards and 34 touchdowns and is also a good punt return. He could turn heads with a low 4.4 40s. He really stepped up in SMU’s bowl game win over Nevada with 7 receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown.

QB Dwight Dasher- Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

With a 54.9% completion percentage for a small school against small school Sunbelt competition, Dasher is already an elite quarterback prospect. However, with 1154 yards on a 5.2 average and 13 touchdowns on the ground, with another good season, he could be on team’s radars late in 2011 as a wildcat type prospect or possibly a wide receiver or even running back if bulks up. Unfortunately, there is no major data on his 40 time out there so I can’t give you that at the moment. Rushing for 201 yards in the New Orleans Bowl, most ever by a quarterback in a bowl game, will get you noticed. He had two scores on the ground and two through the air in a 42-32 victory. 

WR Freddie Barnes- Bowling Green

Barnes got 17 passes for 219 yards and 3 scores in the Humanitarian Bowl against Idaho to give him a Division I record 155 catches on the season, to go with 19 scores and 1770 yards, 2^nd in Division I this season. His 40 time is atrocious for his size and he only has 1 season with more than 1000 yards against small school competition, but he’s going to get drafted. You don’t set a Division I record and not get drafted. He’s probably looking at the 5^th round range right now.

WR Danario Alexander- Missouri

He’s an atrocious route runner, but he has amazing size at 6-5 and there’s no denying the 1781 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns he has this season, so he’s going to get a mid round selection, possibly even into the 2^nd round if a team that runs a spread offense likes him. His 138 yards and 1 touchdown in the Texas Bowl against Navy are pretty amazing, but even more amazing when you consider that those 138 yards were actually his 7^th highest total of his season. He had a ton of monster games this year.

RB Noel Devine- West Virginia

Devine averaged 6.1 YPC this season over a career high 241 carries and had 168 yards on 16 carries plus a rushing touchdown in the Gator Bowl against Florida State. He’s not very big, but he is fast and if he runs a sub 4.3 40, he could get drafted in the 3^rd round based on that alone. The NFL is moving to a place where speed is more and more coveted and Devine has plenty of speed. He’s also a decent pass catcher.

QB Tim Tebow- Florida

Those people not convinced that Tebow has a good arm only need to watch his game footage from the Sugar Bowl against Cincinnati. Tebow was spreading the ball all over the field and threw for 482 yards and 3 scores, with no picks, on 31 for 35 and made previously undefeated #3 Cincinnati look ridiculous in the Sugar Bowl. He also added 51 yards and a score on the ground in Florida’s 51-24 win. There’s no doubt in my mind that he will get drafted in the first round because so many people in high positions in the NFL love him, but he showed me for the first time this year that he might deserve to get drafted that high. He’s a project and probably only should be used situationally at first, but his mechanical problems are fixable and in the right offense, Tebow can dominate the NFL with his heart and hustle.

TE Aaron Hernandez- Florida

He was one of the most productive tight ends in Division I this season with 68 catches for 850 and 5 touchdowns and he had his 2^nd highest yards total of the season when it mattered most, in the Sugar Bowl where had had 111 yards and a score. He could also be the fastest tight end at the combine. The only question is, at 6-2 and change, does he have NFL tight end height or will be have to move to fullback. If he runs a sub 4.6 40 and measures up at higher than 6-3, he could go off the board as the 2^nd tight end which would put him in the early 2^nd round area. If he measures up short, he’ll find it tough to get drafted in the 3^rd round.

RB/WR Dexter McCluster- Mississippi

Speed thrills in the NFL and this kid has plenty of it though he’s not very big. McCluster got national attention when Mel Kiper Jr. praised him and then he got some more with 230 all purpose yards (185 rushing) and 2 scores in the International Bowl against Oklahoma State. He is versatile and has experience lining up at wide receiver, running back, and wildcat at Mississippi and is worth a 3^rd round pick in the NFL on upside alone. He could serve a role similar to Percy Harvin’s in Minnesota at the next level.

RB Andre Dixon- Connecticut

When Donald Brown took over the Connecticut ground game in 2008, Dixon only managed 9 carries and 2 receptions all year. However, with Brown gone, Dixon has taken off where he left off in 2007, when he made the All-Big East 2^nd team. Not counting 2008, Dixon is averaging about 897 yards and 8 touchdowns on the ground in 2 seasons at UConn and he also has 37 career receptions. Dixon has his 3^rd highest yards total, 126, in the Papajohns.com Bowl against South Carolina, and also scored a touchdown. However, despite nice measurables, 4.43-4.47 40 at 6-1 205, there isn’t a lot that Dixon has shown scouts to get him anymore than late round consideration.  My best guess is that he goes undrafted and gets signed to someone’s practice squad.

WR Blair White- Michigan State

He has all the athletic ability in the world and could run a sub 4.5 40 at 6-2 210, but really didn’t have a good statistical season until this year, his senior year, and even this year he has been inconsistent with 6 games of 4 or fewer catches. He finished the year strong with 6 catches for 111 yards and a score against Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl to give him 70 catches for 990 yards and 9 scores on the year, but I’d be surprised if he were drafted before the 5^th round. If there’s one thing that NFL scouts hate, its inconsistency and White’s career at Michigan State can be summed up with the word inconsistent.