Which CFB players are skipping bowl games to prepare for 2024 NFL Draft?

When former running backs Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey skipped their bowl games for LSU and Stanford, respectively, in 2016, they likely didn’t know they were starting a trend.

Ever since, it’s become common practice for any high-profile draft hopeful to sit out the final game of their college careers with some opting to avoid the risk of possible injury, while others not wanting to gamble with a bad bowl-game performance hurting their draft stock.

Below is a list of the top college football players who have already announced they are skipping their respective bowls this year:

Quarterback: Caleb Williams, USC; Drake Maye, North Carolina; Sam Hartman, Notre Dame

Projected to be the top two QBs taken, Williams and Maye have nothing left to prove by playing in the Holiday or Mayo Bowls, respectively, and it’s simply not worth the risk of getting injured to show out one more time on a national stage. Hartman, on the other hand, is a projected Day 3 pick whose draft stock wouldn’t be affected one way or another by his performance in the Sun Bowl.

Wide receiver: Johnny Wilson, Florida State; Devontez Walker, North Carolina; Brenden Rice, USC

Wilson, Walker and Rice all had solid seasons this year, but none are projected to be a first-round selection. But with a deep WR class, Wilson and Rice could sneak up into Round 2. Walker, who was limited to just eight games due to NCAA eligibility issues, could be a late-Round 3 pick.

Tight end: Ben Sinnott, Kansas State

Sinnott’s last game as a Wildcat was a heck of a swan song. He caught 10 passes for 136 yards — both career highs — and a touchdown, capping off an impressive junior season that earned him third-team AP All-America and first-team All-Big 12 honors. Some believe Sinnott is the third-best TE in the draft behind Georgia’s Brock Bowers and Texas’ Ja'Tavion Sanders.

Offensive line: Joe Alt, Notre Dame; Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State; Tyler Guyton, Oklahoma; Jordan Morgan, Arizona

Alt and Fuaga are surefire first-rounders, so why risk getting hurt four months before the draft? With the growing need for teams to carry two or three players at each offensive line position, it makes sense for players like Morgan, who could be picked somewhere on Day 2, and Guyton, who could go early on Day 3, to skip their bowls and focus on doing whatever they can to up their draft stock between now and April.

Edge-rusher: Laiatu Latu, UCLA ; Chop Robinson, Penn State

Latu and Robinson are considered two of the top three edge-rushers in the class along with Alabama’s Dallas Turner. Latu has multiple seasons with double-digit sacks, and Robinson has accounted for 74 pressures and 52 hurries over the last two years. There’s nothing a scout can learn from a bowl game that they don’t already know about either player.

Linebacker: Edgerrin Cooper, Texas A&M

A first-team AP All-American this year, Cooper led the SEC with 17 tackles for loss, and he added eight sacks and two forced fumbles this year. Mel Kiper Jr.’s top-rated off-ball linebacker (think Bobby Wagner in Seattle), Cooper is projected to be a second-round pick, who could possibly sneak into Round 1 with a strong showing at his pro day and the NFL Combine.

Cornerback: Nate Wiggins, Clemson

Wiggins allowed a completion percentage of just 43.9 this year with 11 pass breakups and two interceptions, and he was one of 15 CBs to allow fewer than 40 yards after the catch. Projected to be a top-20 pick, Wiggins, who many consider to be one of the top two cornerbacks in the draft along with Alabama’s Kool Aid McKinstry, has nothing left to prove to NFL scouts.