2011 Bowl Games: 5 Draft Prospects Who Can Help Their Stock in Bowl Season

If we're being honest with each other, it's not easy to come up with excuses to be excited for college football's bowl season. There are simply too many bowls, and only one of them really means anything.

However, one reason to pay attention during bowl season is that it offers you one last chance to watch the hottest NFL draft prospects college football has to offer. This is the last time you're going to see most of them out on the gridiron, so you may as well soak it up.

Besides, plenty of prospects have something to play for. Even the best prospects will be looking to prove something—some of them need to prove something.

To give you an idea, here are five draft prospects who stand to benefit from strong performances during bowl season.

Vontaze Burfict, ILB, Arizona State

By talent alone, Vontaze Burfict is a top-10 draft pick. Shoot, he may even be top-five material. There just aren't many players like him.

That's a good thing, but it's also a bad thing. A big part of Burfict's game is his mean attitude. He tends to be a very violent player, and it's therefore no surprise that he tends to go a little too far. Think Ndamukong Suh, except maybe a little worse.

One game isn't going to dispel Burfict's reputation, but he can still help himself in the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas against Boise State. No matter what NFL people may think of Burfict's style, he's going to look pretty good if he's laying a few hits on Kellen Moore, one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in college football history.

Basically, Burfict just needs to be himself, albeit without doing anything overly stupid. If he can do that, he'll leave scouts and GMs a good performance to remember him by.

Quinton Coples, DE, North Carolina

Quinton Coples entered the season as a player who was projected to be a top-10 draft pick on draft day. But after the season he just had, Coples will be lucky if he manages to go in the first round.

Coples' problem has been one of inconsistency. He's been great here and there, but seemingly invisible at other times. He still has the talent and the tools to be a top-10 pick. What he needs to do is show that he has the drive to be a top-10 pick.

Coples and the Tar Heels will be taking on Missouri in the Independence Bowl, which will be played the day after Christmas. If Coples can find a way to take over and give James Franklin a few bruises to remember him by, chances are he's going to be glad he did.

I'm not entirely sure a standout performance would put Coples in the top 10. But at the very least, it would keep him in first-round territory.

Michael Floyd, WR, Notre Dame

By all accounts, Michael Floyd had an outstanding season in 2011. To boot, he has the talent and the tools to be a top-15 pick on draft day.

But alas, most experts don't have Floyd projected to go that high. The knock on Floyd is that he is trouble off the field, and that seems to be holding him back.

It's not going to be easy for Floyd to wipe away his off-field reputation, but a great performance against Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl can only help. It helps that everybody knows that Florida State is a very good defensive team.

If Floyd can duplicate his performance from last year's Sun Bowl against Miami (six catches, 108 yards, two TDs), he may be in for a well-deserved climb up the experts' big boards.

Landry Jones, QB, Oklahoma

A couple weeks ago, the plan was for Landry Jones to be the second quarterback selected in the draft after Stanford's Andrew Luck.

Now, it's looking more like Jones could be the third or fourth quarterback taken on draft day.

Jones has nobody but himself to blame for that. In his last three games, he's thrown five interceptions and zero touchdown passes. Not surprisingly, the Sooners lost two of them.

The key difference is that Jones has been forced to play without Ryan Broyles, who was lost for the season in early November with a torn ACL. Without him, Jones just hasn't been the same.

This is a perception that Jones needs to change in the Insight Bowl against Iowa. If he doesn't, you may see him start to slide on draft day.

Case Keenum, QB, Houston

When you evaluate Case Keenum's NFL draft stock, the numbers he's compiled during his career should be the last thing on your mind.

And that's a damn shame for Keenum, as he has set numerous NCAA records in his time at Houston. Take away the numbers, and the consensus is that he's a system quarterback with decent arm strength and decent accuracy—he won't sniff the first round.

However, I do think Keenum can convince NFL GMs that he would be a nice sleeper pick in the later rounds. A good way to do this would be to put up his usual video game numbers in the TicketCity Bowl against Penn State. The Nittany Lions play very good defense, so playing well against them will make Keenum look pretty good.