Thomas, Babicz among 4 Bison football players headed to all-star games for NFL Draft eligible prospects

FARGO — North Dakota State defensive end Brayden Thomas is headed to the East-West Shrine Bowl college football all-star game, which is slated for Feb. 3 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Thomas joins Bison offensive lineman Cordell Volson, who also accepted an invite to the East-West Shrine Bowl, which is set to start at 7 p.m. CST and televised on NFL Network.

NDSU tight end Josh Babicz is slated to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, which is scheduled for 5 p.m. CST at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif., and televised on NFL Network.

Bison wide receiver Christian Watson earlier accepted his invitation to the Reese's Senior Bowl, which is Feb. 5 in Mobile, Ala. That game is set to start at 1:30 p.m. CST and televised on NFL Network. Watson accepted his Senior Bowl invite prior to the NCAA Division I FCS national title game, which was played in Frisco, Texas.

Thomas, from Bismarck, had a strong final season with the Bison, finishing with a team-high nine sacks on a defense that allowed 11.1 points per game. The 6-foot-6, 255-pound Babicz had 12 catches for 254 yards and four touchdowns in his final season with NDSU. Babicz had a 35-yard TD catch in NDSU's 38-10 victory against Montana State for the FCS national championship in early January.

The 6-foot-7, 313-pound Volson played in 65 games during his Bison career. The 6-foot-5, 208-pound Watson finished his career with 105 catches for 2,140 yards and 14 TDs over four seasons. Watson averaged 20.4 yards per catch during his Bison career.