The 2025 college football season is over, but all-star bowls will be occurring over the next few weeks. The most prominent of these bowls are the Hula Bowl, the American Bowl, the East-West Shrine Game, and the Senior Bowl. This post will focus on the American Bowl, which is a brand-new game this year.
These events are used primarily as camps with a game at the end. Invited players get officially measured and weighed upon checking in. Then, there are a few days of practice with NFL coaches. The practice time
for players is really at the heart of these events.
This is due to the time players and coaches can spend together honing their craft collaboratively. It gives players a chance to be evaluated by coaches who know the NFL game. What better way to understand where and how to improve than to hear it from the source? Receiving this feedback can give the players an edge as they head into their training for the NFL Combine or their respective Pro Day.
Finally, this gives players a chance to stand out. If a player was overshadowed on his team by other talented individuals, wasn’t featured in his offense, or, in the case of those in this article, played in a Group of 5 conference, they have the opportunity to open the eyes of the coaches with their play and jump onto the radar before draft time. While the combine and pro days are also good opportunities for this, the more chances coaches have to see one play and compete, the better position they put themselves in.
This year, five players from the Mountain West are participating in the American Bowl. Below, we will provide a brief description of each player and illustrate what kind of showing they need to improve their draft stock.
Note: Sometimes players are not on initial rosters and pop up during practices or the game. Due to this, some players may be on the roster but are not featured here. We relied on player or team accounts to announce their participation. They will be featured in the stock report following the game.
American Bowl Schedule:
Thursday, January 22, 2026
- 8:00 pm (Eastern time) The NFL Network
The Players:
DT Payton Zdroik (Air Force)
Zdroik has long been one of the best interior linemen in the Mountain West, and his college career has come to a close. He battled injuries at different times, most notably missing time in 2024. Still over his four years, he totaled 116 tackles, 29 for loss, and 14 sacks to go along with two forced fumbles. Production isn’t the issue for Payton, but he will need to show he can win matchups going up against the best in college football at the American Bowl. At 6’0” and 275 lbs, he is a bit undersized to play at the next level, so it will be interesting to see if he was able to put on some good weight since the end of the season.
OL Mason Randolph (Boise State)
A late announcement, Randolph will make his way down to Lakeland, Florida, for the first-ever American Bowl that will be played on January 22nd. During his time as a Bronco, he was a glue guy within the trenches and utilized in a bevy of ways, starting at left guard, right guard, and center. With 38 starts, he amassed a few statistical highlights throughout his time in Boise, including a 2022 season where Randolph managed to not allow a single sack as a freshman. 2024 was a season of individual disappointment as the Yorba Linda (CA) native suffered a long-term injury in the opening game against Georgia Southern. However, he did work his way back onto the field late in the year to champion Boise State to a Mountain West title and College Football Playoff appearance. In 2025, Randolph was 100 percent healthy, starting all 14 games and collecting All-Mountain West First Team honors. For a player like him, he needs to showcase his ability to be versatile in his responsibilities and exemplify how his tape against Mountain West defenses can translate beyond that level, working against P4 competition that is worthy of fellow draft consideration.
DB Al’zillion Hamilton (Fresno State)
Hamilton was named to the preseason Thorpe watch list as well as the Bednarik watch list. Hamilton was also selected second team All-MWC at the end of the 2025 season.
His 2025 season saw him come up with four interceptions, totaling eight for his career, and four passes defended, totaling 19 in his career.
Hamilton led Fresno State’s pass defense that ranked number one in the conference, allowing just 153.8 yards per game. That total was also number two in the country behind Ohio State. The pass defense also caused 20 interceptions on the season, once again leading the MWC, while finishing fifth in the country. That defense helped propel Fresno State to a 9-4 record, a win in the Arizona Bowl, and victories over Boise State, Oregon State, and rival San Jose State along the way.
Hamilton’s last collegiate game will be the American Bowl on January 22nd at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida.
K Kansei Matsuzawa (Hawaii)
Kansei Matsuzawa, nicknamed “The Tokyo Toe”, took college football by storm this past fall. Matsuzawa is Hawaii football’s first-ever consensus All-American, highlighting his stellar 2025 season. He was named first-team by the American Football Coaches Association, CBS Sports, the Associated Press, and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. Matsuzawa’s story from YouTube research to star kicker was one of the viral topics of the season, appearing on CNN, Associated Press News, among other major media outlets.
Matsuzawa nailed a game-winning field goal in the season opener against Stanford, and ended up going 25/26 on field goals, 37/37 on extra points, with his longest kick being 52 yards. He tied the NCAA record for consecutive made field goals, although stunningly missing the kick that would’ve broken the record against Wyoming.
In the American Bowl, the goal is clear for the Tokyo Toe: keep making those kicks. NFL kickers are seemingly blasting 60+ yard field goals with ease nowadays. Matsuzawa showing off some kicking distance would help his draft stock.
Christian Jones (San Diego State)
Jones has the size the NFL covets at a towering 6’8” and 330 lbs, which means he can withstand going up against NFL bodies snap after snap. He has solid footwork and lateral quickness, meaning he should be able to stay at one of the tackle spots with little issue. He has made starts at left tackle for the past two and a half years, meaning he is consistent and has a lot of reps under his belt. As always, the question for players at mid-major schools will be if he can showcase his skills against better competition. If he does, he has a chance to shoot up draft boards following the week of practices and the game.
Note: The weaknesses or questions describing each player below aren’t necessarily the views of the contributors or the site, but rather what could be questions or concerns NFL scouts, talent evaluators, or the media have about them, which are still worth discussing, as they can have ramifications.
