How do you parlay a New Year’s Day loss to Northwestern of all teams into a rise up draft boards? By keeping your team in the game with big plays on the defensive end. Despite Tuesday’s 34-20 loss in the Gator Bowl, the defensive back (seen here in a previous game) had a pair of interceptions and six tackles, including one for a loss. The junior, a year after a torn Achilles’ tendon ended his sophomore season after nine games, reportedly is gauging where he could be drafted should he declare. We’re guessing he may like what hears a little bit more now.
 

The junior entered camp No. 3 on the Cowboys’ depth chart. Guessing he’ll enter next season’s camp the starter after Tuesday’s performance. After starting Oklahoma State’s final four games of the regular season, Chelf capped off his breakout campaign with the Heart of Dallas Bowl MVP award. He threw only five incomplete passes in 22 attempts and amassed 197 yards and 3 TDs without an interception in beating Purdue 58-14 — and he did not even play in the fourth quarter. Chelf certainly will not enter next season with the same fanfare as guys like Johnny Manziel, but lack of fanfare did not seem to bother Oklahoma State’s QB last season, Brandon Weeden, a first-round pick of the Browns in 2012.
 

After taking over for Jim Harbaugh before last season, Shaw led the Cardinal to an 11-2 record, a Fiesta Bowl appearance and a No. 7 ranking in the final AP poll. But he had Andrew Luck under center. Surely he would crash back down to reality with Luck gone and Oregon and USC loaded this season, right? Well, both teams were undefeated when they faced Stanford in 2012. And both went home with their first loss. Now, after No. 6 Stanford’s 20-14 win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, the primary threat to a third season at Stanford for Shaw will be the NFL. But Shaw recently signed an extension with Stanford, primarily with the intent of keeping out of the NFL for one more season. Regardless, for now the 40-year-old will just soak in the win.

It’s no secret that the 2013 draft is not nearly as stacked at QB as in 2012. And with no Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III sitting atop the draft board, and with Heisman-winning QB Johnny Manziel not yet eligible for the NFL, the top of the QB class seems to be a rotating flavor of the day. And after Tuesday, why not put Murray at the top? The junior isn’t the biggest guy out there (6-feet-1, 210 pounds) and had to win a bowl game entering this season. But for anybody questioning his heart, he overcame two first-half interceptions during Tuesday’s Capital One Bowl to earn player of the game honors and lead the Bulldogs to the school’s third 12-win season. And for anybody wondering how well he could actually throw the ball, check out what he did in beating Nebraska 45-31 on New Year’s Day: 18-of-33 passing and school records in yards (427), TD passes (5) and longest TD pass (87 yards). We’re not sure anybody on the current Bills, Cardinals, Chiefs or Jags rosters could do that.
 

Sure, teammate Xavier Rhodes (a junior DB) announced he will go pro Tuesday night. And junior pass rusher Bjoern Werner is projected by most as a top-10 pick if he decides to go pro. But let’s look at the guy who was actually the star of the Orange Bowl. Already considered by many as the top-rated fullback prospect in the draft, Pryor did nothing to hurt that perception on Tuesday night. The 6-foot, 230-pound senior made the most of his five carries with a career-high 134 yards and two TDs. That included a career-long 60-yard run for a score and a 37-yarder to seal the Seminoles’ 31-10 win over Northern Illinois. For Pryor the questions shouldn’t be about whether he will get drafted but rather which team will draft him, and in what round? And considering the NFL in recent years has placed a greater emphasis on fullbacks who primarily block and rarely carry the ball, can Pryor bring us back to the glory days of Mike Alstott?
 

NFL fans and execs alike will have to salivate for another year-plus, because the most dominant pass rusher in the nation still has another season of college play to go before becoming eligible for the draft. But that doesn’t mean that he can’t deliver man-sized hits in the interim to keep us all anxious. On Tuesday, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year was actually quiet for much of the game, but then delivered a bone-crushing hit for the ages on Michigan RB Vincent Smith in the fourth quarter to force a fumble (which Clowney recovered) and set up a go-ahead TD in the Gamecocks’ 33-28 Outback Bowl victory. The hit even had veteran coach Steve Spurrier singing his star’s praises after the game.