The end of January is an exciting time of year for NFL scouts and fantasy players alike, as we get to see some of the top college prospects in the country compete in the Reese’s Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Bowl.
The Reese’s Senior Bowl generally features highly-touted prospects (those projected to go on Day 2 of the NFL Draft), while the East-West Shrine Bowl showcases some lesser-known prospects with NFL aspirations. For dynasty purposes, you can think of the Shrine Bowl as those dart throws in the fourth round of your rookie drafts. If you know your stuff and hit on a late-round rookie pick, your roster value can increase exponentially for virtually no cost.
Make sure to check out our biggest dynasty winners and losers from the Senior Bowl.
In recent years, we’ve seen guys like Rico Dowdle, Isiah Pacheco, Brock Purdy and Tyrone Tracy compete at the Shrine Bowl. Nearly every year, at least one prospect from this game becomes a major fantasy asset for our dynasty teams. Which players brought their A-game this year? Who failed to meet expectations? Let’s look at the biggest winners and losers from the 100th anniversary of the East-West Shrine Bowl.
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Shrine Bowl Winners & Losers
Shrine Bowl Winners
Jacory Croskey-Merritt (RB – Arizona)
Jacory Croskey-Merritt is one of the oldest prospects in this year’s draft class, turning 24 before the 2025 NFL Draft even begins. Croskey-Merritt played four seasons for Alabama State, but his breakout year didn’t happen until Year 5 after transferring to New Mexico State, where he rushed for nearly 1,200 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Croskey-Merritt transferred to Arizona for his sixth season, but eligibility issues kept him sidelined for all but one game. The NCAA claimed Croskey-Merritt had no more years of eligibility remaining, effectively ending his college career.
The all-but-forgotten running back out of Arizona put his name back on the map in the East-West Shrine Bowl, rushing for 97 yards and a pair of scores while averaging 8.8 yards per attempt (YPA). With the 2025 running back class being especially deep, I expect Croskey-Merritt to be somewhere between a sixth-round selection and an undrafted free agent (UDFA).
Croskey-Merritt measured in at 5-foot-11 and 206 pounds, which should be sufficient NFL size. He showed some nice contact balance and strength and surely raised his NFL stock with this big game. The plus side is we know he has some fresh legs heading to the NFL, as he was forced to sit out basically all year. I doubt you’ll even need to use a late-round rookie pick on him, as you may be able to add him from the waiver wire post-draft, which I would recommend.
Efton Chism III (WR – Eastern Washington)
Efton Chism has seen a meteoric rise in his NFL stock this past week, moving from the 693rd-ranked prospect up to number 212, according to the NFL Mock Draft Database. If Eastern Washington rings a bell, it’s probably because some guy named Cooper Kupp played there back in the day.
Chism’s 2024 production looks eerily similar to Kupp’s final season numbers. He finished the year with 146 targets, 120 receptions, 1,306 yards and 13 touchdowns. The fifth-year slot man earned a target rate of 39.5% and recorded 3.45 yards per route run in 2024, both truly elite marks.
Eastern Washington’s Efton Chism rounded out a nice week with a stellar @ShrineBowl game showing.
– 4 targets
– 4 catches
– 43 yards⬇️ this 20-yard pick up with a good chunk after the catch ????
— Oliver Hodgkinson (@ojhodgkinson) January 31, 2025
Chism was a central figure in the East-West Shrine Bowl, catching all four of his targets for 43 yards and seeing plenty of work as a kick and punt returner.
Efton is a physical, nuanced route runner with a complete route tree. He has the experience to make an immediate impact at the NFL level as a possession receiver. He feels like the perfect fourth-round dart throw in rookie drafts this year.
Shrine Bowl Losers
Caden Prieskorn (TE – Ole Miss)
Caden Prieskorn was having himself a nice week at the East-West Shrine Bowl leading up to the big game (as many tight ends were), but a poor outing on Thursday likely left a sour taste in the mouths of many NFL scouts. Prieskorn finished with one reception on two targets for five yards, fumbling on his only touch of the game.
Prieskorn has the size to hack it on Sundays, measuring 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds. However, he appears to lack the speed and athleticism to be a true receiving threat, severely capping his fantasy upside.
Throughout his five-year career, Prieskorn never really demanded a large target share. His best season came in 2022 at Memphis, posting 48 receptions and barely cracking 600 receiving yards. The Ole Miss prospect who was once being discussed as a possible Day 2 pick may go undrafted altogether this April.
Kaden Prather was another guy receiving some buzz in practice leading up to the East-West Shrine Bowl but failed to produce come game time. Prather finished the game with just one target on 14 routes, failing to create separation from cornerback Nohl Williams on a deep route as the pass was broken up.
I’ve seen Prather projected as a Day 2 wide receiver in several recent fantasy mock drafts and I don’t understand what these projections are based on. Prather is not an early-declare, never had a true breakout season for West Virginia or Maryland and doesn’t strike me as someone with any elite traits.
In his final two seasons at Maryland, Prather failed to hit a 20% target rate or 2.0 yards per route run. With all these red flags on Prather’s profile, I expect he’ll fall well into Day 3 of the NFL Draft. He’ll be someone I’m avoiding entirely in dynasty rookie drafts.
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