Shrine Bowl 2026: Underrated Players to Watch

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2026 Shrine Bowl, The League Winners

The 2026 rendition of the East-West Shrine Bowl brings explosive athletes, high character, and a pedigree of success to the forefront. It’s one of the biggest college football all-star games in the circuit, and a great way for potential prospects to get direct contact with NFL scouts, teams, and agents. Yet outside of the major names attending the event, there are plenty of unheralded players worth keeping an eye on. We’ll dive into that, and much more in this breakdown.

Shrine Bowl 2026: Underrated Players

With so much talent at the event, it’s hard to break this article down to just a handful of players. Yet that is the attempt, and it’s worth mentioning that there are far more players worth naming – but time is of the essence.

Joe Fagnano, QB – UConn Huskies

Fans may have disagreed with Joe Fagnano sitting out of the 2026 Fenway Bowl, but there’s bigger things on the horizon for the UConn quarterback. This season, Fagnano put up an absurd 28:1 touchdown to interception ratio while compiling 3462 yards through the air. His 78.2 adjusted completion percentage ranked 12th among quarterbacks in 2025 (min. 250 attempts). Meanwhile, despite having the eighth-lowest time to throw (2.50 seconds), he had the 30th-lowest pressure-to-sack ratio out of 118 participants.

In short, Fagnano continued his impressive trajectory after taking the starting job from Nick Evers last year. And, he will look to continue to make impressive strides as he moves forward with the draft process.

Pat Coogan, IOL – Indiana Hoosiers

Playing on a championship team makes it hard to be considered underrated, but Pat Coogan has quietly put together one of the more impressive performances of the year. During the playoffs, Coogan allowed just three total pressures playing against some of the best fronts in college football. And as a center, he has an important role of helping set protections and making sure the offensive line knows what they need to do pre and post-snap.

Coogan has great vision for the position, and high football IQ. He doesn’t just latch on to a block, he knows when to engage, and how to do so to be the most effective for his team.

After starting his career at LG with Notre Dame, Coogan made the switch to center the following year and continued with the Hoosiers. He’s only given up two sacks in his collegiate career, and is a great pass-protector at the center position. Against a unique blend of pass-rushers expected to be at the 2026 Shrine Bowl, how Coogan performs at the event could drastically improve his draft stock.

Chris Hilton, WR – LSU

To be honest, Chris Hilton has had an underwhelming collegiate career – at least from a statistical standpoint. He’s never surpassed 250 receiving yards in his career. Nor has he had over 25 targets go his way throughout a season. Yet despite that, he’s found a way on to the 2026 Shrine Bowl roster – and there’s a reason why.

Hilton has shown extreme high-level route-running. He’s been toasting corners at both the Hula Bowl and the American Bowl, and will look to continue doing so at the Shrine Bowl. The receiver understands how to attack stems. He also knows how to use his leverage to make contested catches. More importantly, he’s able to get open. Hilton isn’t a jump-ball merchant. Instead, it’s his route-running prowess that gets the job done. It helps that he is also one of the fastest players in the entirety of college football.

Landon Robinson, DL – Navy Midshipmen

Despite being just 6-feet tall, Landon Robinson is a menace on the interior defensive line. He led all IDL players in sacks this season (8), while missing just 8.8-percent of his tackles. Robinson also led in defensive stops (37), which literally accounted for all of his tackles this season. He’s played 714 snaps this season, showcasing durability and performance that is second-to-none. In short, Robinson is a high-effort player who gets results.

What Robinson lacks in height, he makes up for in strength and speed. He consistently beats offensive lineman in the leverage game, which is important in the trenches. He also has the strength, agility, and quickness to make plays in the backfield consistently.

Playing for a military academy, star players in today’s age of football are usually hard to come by. That’s because those players aren’t eligible to receive massive NIL deals, and the programs can’t get involved in the transfer portal. To find someone of Robinson’s caliber defying the odds in numerous ways is truly impressive. And, don’t get it twisted – Robinson is not a one-hit wonder. He’s performed at excellent levels since arriving with the Midshipmen, even in limited snaps. And against great competition at the Shrine Bowl, it’ll be interesting to see if he can continue his impressive results.

Keyshawn James-Newby, EDGE – New Mexico

Playing in a non-autonomy conference, great players consistently get overlooked. That seems to be the case for Keyshawn James-Newby, who exploded with the Lobos in 2025.

A star on the New Mexico defense, KJN was once an FCS All-American before becoming a key cog for the Lobos. In 2025, he posted 10 sacks while having the third-most pressures amongst edge rushers (74) on the season. He was given the fourth-highest pass-rushing grade by PFF (93.0), and played with effort in the run game as well. James-Newby’s 33 run stops were tied for 23 amongst all edge rushers. And, his three forced fumbles show he has a knack for knocking the ball out.


At the 2026 Shrine Bowl, look for KJN to show his less-than-impressive tackling numbers were an anomaly on what was otherwise a terrific season.

Marcus Allen, CB – North Carolina Tar Heels

Despite playing on some underwhelming UNC teams, cornerback Marcus Allen is a player worth watching at the 2026 Shrine Bowl.

PFF doesn’t do any favors with their grades on the cornerback, but best believe, Allen has a knack for making plays. The Tar Heel has eight total defensive touchdowns in his collegiate career. He’s also put together two seasons of at least seven pass breakups. Allen’s career reception percentage against is just 59.7, despite being targeted 50+ times in three of four seasons.

At 6-foot-2, Allen has good size for an outside cornerback in the NFL. And, while he can be off-balance at times, he shows good head movement and mirroring on receiver routes. At times, Allen can give up “easy” wins to receivers on short routes. While he’ll have to clean that up to impress on the next level, the 2026 Shrine Bowl is the place to do just that.

However, the cornerback shows great patience and doesn’t bite on double moves. While he adds play-strength entering the NFL, he will only get better at hand-fighting and being physical with his opponents. Being a primarily press corner, his physicality in the run-game and ability to defend against the pass could make him a hot commodity if he shows out at this event.

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