NFL Draft Watch: Bowl Season Mania Rolls On
All Access Football continues their exclusive bowl game prospect preview series with a look at names you need to know for the Alamo, Music City and Independence Bowls. Plus, all-star game updates.
AAF NFL Draft Watch Presented By Sports Management Worldwide Football Career Conference — February 26-27, 2026, Indianapolis, Indiana. Join SMWW, AAF and hundreds of football industry professionals at the NFL Scouting Combine. Featuring two days of networking and educational panels with special guest speakers Adam Schefter of ESPN, Brian Baldinger of NFL Network and many others. Only Two Days Left For Early Bird Discount — SAVE $150 Before January 1st.
AAF NFL DRAFT WATCH: BOWL SEASON MANIA ROLLS ON
Welcome to the December 30, 2026 edition of the All Access Football Draft Watch. As of this post, we are officially 114 days away until the 2026 NFL Draft.
In today’s post, our ‘Bowl Season Mania’ continues with a look at key players in the Valero Alamo Bowl, Liberty Music City Bowl and Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. On Wednesday, we will highlight the Las Vegas Bowl, plus take a look at the College Football Playoff New Year’s Eve Goodyear Cotton Bowl affair in the World Famous All Access Football Report.
On Thursday, AAF gets you primed for the College Football Playoff triple header, with everything you need to know when it comes to pro prospects on the draft radar. Then, we wrap up our bowl season coverage on Friday. We also have a tidal wave of new scouting reports coming to the database, courtesy of the NFL Draft Bible front office staff, who has been cranking around the clock!
The bowl season leads us into the all-star circuit and All Access Football will be on location across the nation, bringing you the risers, sliders and surprisers. We have the latest all-star roster additions for the Panini Senior Bowl and East West Shrine Bowl below. Be sure to keep it locked for our boots on the ground analysis from Mobile and Dallas.
Let’s dive into today’s draft feast …
SCOUTING THE LEAGUE: NFL SCOUTS, THE UNSUNG HEROES
Some of the unsung heroes of every NFL franchise are the pro scouts. With the long grind of the season, being in the building every day and working on getting next year’s roster right, Scouting The League host Rodrik David shines the spotlight on NFL evaluators.
ALL ACCESS FOOTBALL 2026 NFL DRAFT HEADQUARTERS
BIG BOARD: QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | OG | C | DT | ER | LB | CB | S
DRAFT WATCH: VALERO ALAMO BOWL
The Valero Alamo Bowl is scheduled for 9:00pm eastern time on Wednesday, December 30, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. While USC Quarterback Jayden Maiava is expected to play, he will be minus his top receiving targets in wide receiver Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane, along with tight end Lake McRaee. They are amongst the dozen or so Trojans who have opted out of the bowl game, including linebacker Eric Gentry and safety Kamari Ramsey on the defensive side. A few players such as cornerback DeCarlos Nicholson have opted-in for the matchup. The underlining story entering this contest surrounds USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who is rumored to depart Los Angeles for his alma mater Penn State, to serve in the same capacity. For TCU, quarterback Josh Hoover has announced that he is headed for the portal and will not play. The Horned Frogs will also be without leading wideout Jordan Dwyer due to injury.
More prospects from these two programs are detailed below.
