East-West Shrine Bowl Prospects That Could Be of Interest to Giants

College all-star season is here, and first up is the East-West Shrine Bowl, of which the following five prospects could draw interest from the Giants.

College All-Star game season is here, and the East-West Shrine Bowl, a top-two All-Star game, is starting practice this Saturday, January 28, with the game being played on Thursday, February 2.

While the Shrine Bowl isn’t where the elite NFL draft prospects go, there’s a plethora of late-round talent that will contribute at the next level, which is where championship rosters are built.

Here is a list of five players worth watching for the Giants.

WR Zay Flowers, Boston College

It’s no secret that the Giants roster lacked reliable, consistent pass-catchers throughout. The receivers on the roster stepped up and exceeded expectations in 2022, but imagine if the team had NFL-starter quality receivers?

Enter Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers. Flowers is arguably the most talented player that’s going to be in Las Vegas for the Shrine Bowl. The potential first-round pick had a productive four-year career at Boston College, totaling 3,401 yards from scrimmage and 31 touchdowns on 257 touches.

Listed at 5-foot-10 and 172 pounds, Flowers’ size will likely keep him working as a Z-receiver or out of the slot, but few receivers in the 2023 NFL Draft offer the dynamic play-making ability that Flowers does.

Of the 1,077 receiving yards Flowers had this past season, 503 came after the catch. For those keeping score at home, that’s 46.7 percent of his receiving yards this year coming after the catch.

Drops are a concern for Flowers, but they appear to be more about focusing on making a play after the catch as opposed to just having bad hands. Neither of those is a good reason to have drop issues, but the former is much easier to correct.

LB Mohamoud Diabate, Utah

Diabate started his career as an edge rusher at Florida before transitioning to off-ball linebacker junior season. He transferred to Utah to finish his collegiate career. With two seasons under his belt as an off-ball linebacker, Diabate is still getting his feet wet at the position.

His coverage ability still leaves much to be desired, but there’s no concern about his potential. As an athlete that’s listed at 6-foot-4 and 222 pounds, Diabate has a high physical ceiling.

Mentally, Diabate struggles with diagnosing plays and reacting quickly, but if anything, that should improve dramatically with more playing time.

Under Wink Martindale, the Giants use off-ball linebackers as pass-rushers more than most teams. That leaves a perfect role for someone like Diabate to learn and grow in, where he could use his athletic ability and pass-rushing ability to his advantage as a blitzer while also having the skillset to occasionally come down to the line of scrimmage and be used like an edge rusher.

Diabate picked up a career-high in pressures, sacks, and run stops for a gain of three yards or less in his only season for the Utes.

Before the 2017 NFL Draft, when evaluating Jarrad Davis, the biggest strength noted was his first-step and pass-rush ability as an off-ball linebacker. Diabate should receive similar praise for his skillset.

If the Giants continue using off-ball linebackers as pass-rushers, they need to invest in players that can grow to be trustworthy in more expanded roles.

OL Spencer Anderson, Maryland

Spencer Anderson might not be the most technically-gifted offensive lineman, but he possesses two things that NFL teams cover: size and versatility. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds, Anderson has the ideal size for an NFL offensive lineman.

However, Anderson's versatility is the key to his game, as he has experience playing all five spots along the offensive line. In his career at Maryland, Anderson has played 30 snaps at left tackle, 42 snaps at left guard, 382 at center, 820 at right guard, and 1,097 snaps at right tackle.

While Anderson doesn’t necessarily excel at any one area of blocking, his hand placement is already at an NFL level to match a strong anchor in the passing game. A likely early Day 3 pick, Anderson is a player to take a swing on that will, at the very least, provide depth at all five positions.

S Trey Dean III, Florida

If you ask most Florida Gators fans about Trey Dean, the opinion won’t be positive. But that’s not indicative of his NFL potential. Boneheaded plays and miscommunications were a common theme in Dean’s game after he moved from cornerback to safety, but the physical skillset is there to be a quality NFL starter.

Dean is listed at 6-foot-3 and 207 pounds and looks every bit of it with a rock-solid frame and freakishly long arms. Athleticism and effort are two things nobody can deny from Dean, who’s faster than the huge majority of players his size and has a motor that runs hot all day.

For two years on the Locked On Gators podcast that I host, I’ve been calling for Dean to be used properly. How does a coaching staff do that? Let him be an attacking defender allowed him to line up against a tight end and completely erase him from the game.

As mentioned, mental lapses and miscommunications were far too common for Dean in Gainesville. Still, with a far more simplified and focused defensive scheme on the Giants (and an all-around better fit), Dean could be a quality Day 3 draft pick.

EDGE Titus Leo, Wagner

Most football fans probably didn’t even know that Wagner had a football team, or even exists for that matter, but it has one of the most promising Day 3 edge rushers around. Titus Leo is a former wide receiver that moved to cornerback and then edge rusher, and he’s found his stride there.

A raw athletic freak, Leo is promising as an NFL prospect that has the potential to be the next great pass-rushing steal. Technically, Leo still has a ton of work to do, but his ability to beat offensive tackles off the edge is second to none.

Production for Leo took a hit in 2022, mainly due to opposing offenses focusing on blocking him. Through two seasons as a full-time edge rusher, Leo registered 60 pressures, including ten sacks.

Few players have as much to win at the Shrine Bowl as Leo does, and he has almost nothing to lose while doing it. If Leo struggles, this is the first time against this level of competition consistently, and it was known he needed work anyway. If Leo thrives, then you’re looking at a quick riser who not only dominated low-level football but then showed up and beat NFL talent.

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