College football Playoffs: (6) Penn State vs. (7) Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl

The College Football Playoffs resume tonight with (6) Penn State playing (7) Notre Dame in the Capital One Orange Bowl. This is the first of two games that will decide the College Football Championship game on January 20th.

I’m not sure how many people saw Penn State and Notre Dame one step away from the Championship game. However, the second round of the playoffs unexpectedly saw every division winner lose. That leaves us with the teams that were good enough to avoid the bottom third of the seeding, but not quite good enough to get a bye week.

There will be NFL players all over each of the teams in tonight’s game, and it’s possible (even likely) that we’ll be watching future New York Giants on the field tonight and tomorrow. And since we do watch these games from a draft perspective as much as from a love of the game, let’s get to it.

Capital One Orange Bowl – (6) Penn State vs. (7) Notre Dame

ESPN – 7:30 p.m.

Penn State

We have to start by talking about quarterback Drew Allar. Allar has previously said that he intends to return to Penn State for the 2025 season. However, there are still those — both in the media and around NFL front offices — who believe that the word “intends” is doing a lot of heavy lifting. There’s a belief (or maybe hope) that a deep playoff run, or National Championship, as well as the lure of a potential Top 5 selection could lead to Allar declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft.

Allar has played spectacularly well from the end of Penn State’s season to now, and while I agreed with him returning to school, I can see how he would be a sought-after prospect. Allar is a developmental prospect at this point, and more of a traits-based prospect than a polished passer. He has prototypical size and arm strength, as well as good athleticism for that size. Allar might not be a “Lamar Jackson” type runner, but he moves well for a player listed at roughly 6-foot-5, 240 pounds. If Allar’s season eventually ends on a high note, recency bias as well as excitement regarding his tools could easily make him QB3, if not QB2.

Of course, he isn’t a polished passer yet, and he only has two seasons of work as a starter.

• Dani Dennis-Sutton (EDGE/DE)

Last time around we talked about Abdul Carter, the hyper-athletic off-ball linebacker turned edge defender. This game I want to talk about his bookend, Dani Dennis-Sutton. Sutton is living in Carter’s shadow and could be more of a mid-round option (barring a stellar draft process, which is always possible). He’s built like a classic 4-3 defensive end at 6-foot-5, 270 pounds with the length and strength to hold up against offensive tackles on the edge.

As things stand now, we don’t know what the Giants’ defensive scheme will look like in 2025 (or beyond), so we can’t confidently rule 4-3 DE’s out in favor of guys who can play more “multiple” roles.

Dennis-Sutton is a capable-enough pass rusher thanks to his play strength and hustle, but he’s at his best when defending the run. He’s a disciplined run defender and features a strong motor in pursuit. Given that the Giants’ run defense struggled through the first two thirds of the season, they may want to take a look at him if the value is right.

Notre Dame

We might as well stay on the defensive side of the ball. I’d love to talk about their top prospect, CB Benjamin Morrison, but he’s been out with injury for a while, as is DL Rylie Mills is out as well. But we’ll take the opportunity to look at a familiar name for Giants fans.

Howard Cross III is the son of former Giants tight end Howard Cross. The younger Cross returned to Notre Dame for his sixth year in 2024, and it seems like it was a good idea. He’s an undersized defender, listed at 6-foot-1, 288 pounds, but makes up for that with good quickness, a high motor, and solid play strength that takes advantage of his natural leverage. Cross III won’t be a high round draft pick, but he can be a productive role player in a variety of defenses. His size suggests that he could be limited to a 1-gap defense at the NFL level, and he could fall below some teams’ size thresholds.

Cross would likely be in direct competition with Elijah Chatman for the Giants, but drafting a second generating Giant would be a fun wrinkle for 2025.

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