Fans looking for a high-scoring bowl game need to block off their calendars for the Boca Raton Tuesday, Dec. 20.
Memphis and Western Kentucky averaged a combined 978 yards and 84.6 points per game this season. They combined to top 40 points 13 times and are rolling heading into the bowl season.
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Though the Boca Raton Bowl will be fill with offensive fireworks, you can also watch a handful of legitimate 2017 NFL Draft prospects, including a Hilltoppers' offensive lineman looking to enter first-round consideration.
| Rank | Player | Pos. | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forrest Lamp | OG | Western Kentucky |
| 2 | Taywan Taylor | WR | Western Kentucky |
| 3 | Anthony Wales | RB | Western Kentucky |
| 4 | Keith Brown | LB | Western Kentucky |
| 5 | Jake Elliott | K | Memphis |
In a game with an over/under of 79.5, it's only appropriate that the top 2017 NFL Draft prospects in the Boca Raton Bowl come on the offensive side of the ball, led by one of the best interior lineman in the draft, Western Kentucky's Forrest Lamp.
Though Lamp has earned All-American honors at left tackle, the 6-foot-4, 300-pound projects as a guard. He hasn't yielded a sack in the last 25 games, has only allowed three quarterback pressures in 2016 and was graded the top Group of Five guard by Pro Football Focus for the second straight year.
Lamp could flirt with first-day status if he has phenomenal pre-draft workouts. If not, early second-day is a safe bet.
Teammates Taywan Taylor and Anthony Wales should also hear their names called in April.
Taylor, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound receiver, is a good route-runner and improvises when the quarterback is under pressure as well as anyone in the nation. He caught 175 passes for 3,053 yards and 33 touchdowns over the last two seasons, and could be an early third-day pick is all goes well.
Wales, meanwhile, was one of only three FBS running backs to average 6.8 yards on more than 200 carries. He's not the biggest guy — 5-foot-10, 195 pounds — but doesn't shy away from contact, has breakaway speed and has become extremely patient behind the line of scrimmage. Look for a team to take a flyer on him in the late rounds and plop him on special teams.
Memphis' best chance to make it three straight years of at least one draft pick is veteran kicker Jake Elliott. He will likely battle Arizona State's Zane Gonzalez and Auburn's Daniel Carlson — if the junior Carlson leaves early — to be the first kicker off the board.
Elliott has converted 80 of 102 field goals and all 198 of his PATs, making him the program's all-time leading scorer with 438 points. His 198 consecutive made PATs is a school record, and his is 4-for-5 from 50 yards or longer over the last two seasons.
