Name: Tyree Wilson Position: Edge rusher School: Texas Tech Height: 6’6″ Weight: 275 lbs Games watched: vs. NC State (2022), vs. Baylor (2022), vs. Kansas State (2022), vs. Texas (2022), vs. Mississippi State (’21 Liberty Bowl), vs. Oklahoma (2021)
I had not watched much of Texas Tech this year for one reason or another. Tyree Wilson’s name was one that I heard a lot and saw popping in mock drafts. I assumed he was going to be some twitchy edge rusher with gobs of untapped potential. I was very wrong. Put on the tape and you will see a polished run defender with great power and very solid production. Wilson posted 7 sacks in each of the past two seasons along with 27.5 tackles for loss combined.
That production earned him 1st team All-Big 12 and 2nd team AP All-American honors this season and a spot at the 2023 Senior Bowl, where he figures to be one of the top prospects participating. His imposing 6’6″ frame with long arms and good football IQ will definitely draw the attention of NFL scouts. The Texas A&M transfer made the most of his time at Lubbock and has turned a lot of heads with his play.
Pros
Wilson is an incredibly powerful defender. He has an excellent bull rush that collapses the pocket and allows him to be very active against the run. His eye discipline is impressive. You will rarely see Wilson get fooled when put into conflict. He routinely reads his keys and handles his assignment. His length is apparent and can bother opposing linemen when they try to stymie his pass rush moves. Those long arms allow him to make contact with quarterbacks while rushing, disrupting plays even if he can’t get home. Texas Tech moved Wilson all over the defensive line and he made his mark no matter where he was lined up. I think he would be capable of playing anywhere from a 3-4 outside linebacker to a 4-3 defensive tackle. I like him best as a 5-tech end in four man fronts, but he has versatility.
Cons
Most of Wilson’s game is predicated on being stronger and longer than his opponents. He has decent wiggle and burst, but it is far from elite. In watching his film, you rarely see him bend and turn the corner as a pass rusher. His impact is primarily felt overpowering linemen rather than overwhelming them with speed and agility. Wilson is a solid tackler, but is guilty of failing to wrap up on occasion. His change of direction ability leaves a bit to be desired. Wilson should not be used in coverage either.
Synopsis
I don’t know if Wilson will ever become a dominant pass rusher at the next level. He lacks the elite burst and speed to consistently get home against NFL talent. However, his length, power and awareness make him an excellent run defender who can still bring value on passing downs.
Ideal scheme fit: 5-technique defensive end
Grade: 89
Follow the Aftermath via email to get every article delivered right to your inbox. Enter your email in the text box to subscribe. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out our podcast Draft Season Never Ends, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Name: Jalen Carter Position: Defensive lineman School: Georgia Height: 6’3″ Weight: 300 lbs Games watched: vs. Kentucky (2021), vs. Clemson (2021), vs. Oregon (2022), vs. Tennessee (2022), vs. Alabama (SEC Championship ’21), vs. LSU (SEC Championship ’22)
If you want just a quick snapshot on just how good Jalen Carter really is, he might be the best player from the 2021 Georgia defense. That defense included Travon Walker, Devonte Wyatt, Jordan Davis, Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean, Lewis Cine, Channing Tindall and Quay Walker, among others. He was 2nd team All-SEC despite only playing in a rotational role. Carter got the chance to truly shine in his junior season, wrecking opposing game plans and terrorizing quarterbacks all season long.
His 2022 numbers are far from eye-popping, with three sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss and a pair of forced fumbles, but if you put on his tape, you will be blown away by his speed, ferocity and athleticism. His efforts did not go unnoticed either, netting him AP 1st team All-American and 1st team All-SEC honors. He dominated the trenches and has the potential to be an All-Pro level player at the next level.
Pros
Carter has an incredible get off for a player his size. He throws his weight around well and his play strength is astounding. He routinely knocked opposing linemen on their backside in both run and pass sets. He has a fantastic rip move to disengage from blockers, allowing him to penetrate the backfield quickly. Carter will be very effective in pass rush stunts at the next level as well with his ability to eat up double teams and draw additional attention. He can line up pretty much anywhere along the defensive line, with Georgia deploying him as a nose tackle and a standup edge rusher in the same game. If Carter does not get home, he has a knack for getting his hands into passing lanes to disrupt throws.
Cons
There are a handful of weak points in Carter’s game, but they are few and far between. He has a tendency to lose his balance as a pass rusher, ending up knocked way off his line or on the ground from time to time. It almost seems to be a byproduct of how fast he plays. There is the occasional snap where he gets moved off the ball in the run game. As I noted before, his production leaves a little bit to be desired as well, posting just six sacks over the past two seasons. I’ve seen some recent reports that Carter has some character issues. I’m not privy to that type of information at all, but it is something worth noting as we move through the pre draft process.
Synopsis
Carter is a menace and the highest graded player I have so far in this draft class. He is a three-down option with plenty of stamina to stay on the field all three plays. He competed against the best of the best in the SEC and should be a force in the NFL. Look for him to have a Quinnen Williams or Chris Jones type impact on a defense.
NFL Draft Daily looks at top stories, historical trends, player performances and more all through the lens of the NFL Draft. After all, there are only 129 until the 2023 NFL Draft.
Entering the transfer portal is the thing to do these days in college football. Over 1,600 players had entered the portal as of this past Thursday. That staggering number could climb even higher as bowl games wrap up over the next month. The portal will not close until January 18.
What this means is that upwards of one thousand college football players will be looking for new homes, stepping into new programs, learning new systems and working with new coaches. If that sounds anything like NFL free agency, that is essentially because it is. Players are allowed to pick new schools if they are unhappy (maybe they want more NIL money). However, the programs need to be interested as well. It’s basically college free agency.
USC Head Coach Lincoln Riley quickly rebuilt his program through the transfer portal in his first season. (Wikimedia Commons)
It sounds great in theory, but there are plenty of cautionary tales for why the transfer portal does not always work out how players want. Not every player who enters the portal is going to land with a Power 5 program. There are going to be tons of players disappointed by the options they have available to them.
However, there could be a huge benefit down the line for NFL teams with players switching schools. For evaluators, it is an opportunity to see prospects in different systems, which helps answer questions about scheme fit at the next level. For example, if you have a corner that plays in a mostly man-to-man defense before transferring to a school whose defensive coordinator favors zone concepts, you now have way more information on that player than you would have had they stayed at the first school. You can evaluate how they fare in both schemes and better identify both strengths and weaknesses in their game.
There is also something to be said for small school or even non D-1 school players getting the chance to prove themselves against better competition. Jared Verse is the perfect example. Verse dominated at the University of Albany, which competes at the FCS level. We’ve seen several FCS stars in recent years work their way through the draft ranks and wind up as early draft picks, such as Trey Lance, Trevor Penning and Jeremy Chinn.
Unfortunately, those players are often few and far between, facing questions about the level of competition and their ability to make the jump to the NFL level. Verse erased any of those concerns after transferring to Florida State in 2022. He dominated the ACC, racking up 7.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss. Under the previous system, we likely would have seen Verse transfer and sit out a year, or wait until he completed his degree before moving as a graduate transfer. Instead, Verse is getting genuine first-round draft buzz for 2023. There will likely be several more to join the ranks of the FCS to FBS to NFL draft pipeline. Washington State’s Cam Ward (formerly at Incarnate Word) and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders (previously with Jackson State) figure to be two high-profile quarterback recruits in 2024 who began their collegiate career playing in the FCS.
Even for players who started out at the FBS level, the portal offers a second chance and a chance to rebuid their draft stock. I wrote about how D.J. Uiagalelei needs to go through that process right now, and how he could follow in the footsteps of Bo Nix (who announced he is returning for another year at Oregon) and Spencer Rattler. Nix in particular is a great example of a player who struggled to find his footing at his first school before really turning it around during his second stop.
Daniels is back in the transfer portal after one season with West Virginia. (TigerNet.com)
On the flip side, the portal helps weed out players who maybe don’t quite make the cut that might have previously been drafted based on potential because coaches believed they could “fix” the player. Former highly-touted quarterbacks like Kedon Slovis and J.T. Daniels stand out here. Both arrived in college football with a ton of fanfare and showed flashes at USC. However, neither managed to prove that the Trojans and the former coaching staff were really the problem, struggling with injuries and consistency in subsequent stops. Daniels is now searching for his fourth college team. Slovis is seeking his third. Neither seems to have legitimate draft hopes at this point due in large part because there is no mystery left surrounding them. No coach can look and believe that he has the perfect system to unlock either of these players after seeing both struggle to take hold in multiple schemes at this point. Hopes of a change of scenery will only get you so far.
For as flawed and maligned as the transfer portal might be at this stage, there could be a ton of good that comes out of it when it comes to evaluating players. Scouting is all about gathering information on prospects, and the more you have, the more likely you are to get the evaluation right. It will never be an exact science, but there is a chance we start to see fewer players fall through the cracks and more players given a second chance because they were able to turn things around at a different school. College football is a rapidly changing landscape, and I think there is plenty to be excited about.
Follow the Aftermath via email to get every article delivered right to your inbox. Enter your email in the text box to subscribe. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out our podcast Draft Season Never Ends, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
NFL Draft Daily looks at top stories, historical trends, player performances and more all through the lens of the NFL Draft.
What a wild offseason this is shaping up to be in college football. Over 1,000 FBS players entered the transfer portal on December 5th when it opened. One of the most notable names seen on that list is now former Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei. The former five-star recruit improved on a rocky 2021 season, throwing for 2,521 yards while completing nearly 62 percent of his passes for 22 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He added 545 yards and 7 scores on the ground as well. Despite the clear improvement from the year before, where he tossed more interceptions than touchdowns, he ended up being benched several times down the stretch for the Tigers.
Uiagalelei threw for 22 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in the 2022 season. (TigerNet.com)
Uiagalelei is far from the first big-time recruit to fall flat. Expectations were sky high for him following Trevor Lawrence’s tenure in Death Valley. Uiagalelei flashed potential and even dazzled at times for Clemson. His 2020 start in place of Lawrence and his incredible performance against Wake Forest this year come to mind.
However, there is no question this is Cade Klubnik’s team now and Uiagalelei will look to start fresh elsewhere. While fans are undoubtedly curious where he will land and its impact on the upcoming college football season, I am more interested in what this means for his NFL future.
It might be a bit hard to see exactly how a player who lost their starting job to a true freshman, despite the coaching staff giving him every chance to keep hold of his role, winds up being an NFL draft pick. I get it. If Uiagalelei were to enter the draft right now, it is hard to imagine he would be anything more than an undrafted free agent. Maybe a team would be willing to take a flier on him in the seventh round given his measurables and pedigree as a five-star recruit.
However, in the modern era of the transfer portal, it is becoming more common to see players rehab their draft stock after landing in a new home. Uiagalelei’s situation immediately makes me think of a pair of fourth-year quarterbacks who have an NFL draft decision to make in the coming weeks: Bo Nix and Spencer Rattler.
Both were highly recruited and seemed poised for superstardom at the NFL level. Unfortunately, Nix struggled with consistency at Auburn, ultimately deciding to leave for a change of scenery at Oregon. Rattler lost his starting job at Oklahoma to the uber-talented Caleb Williams, who won the Heisman trophy on Saturday, now playing for Lincoln Riley at USC. Entering this season, no draft analyst would reasonably tell you that Nix and Rattler had clear paths to the NFL. After both put together strong years at new programs, Nix more so than Rattler, the possibility of reaching the league is once again attainable. Rattler probably needs one more year at South Carolina to really solidify that he has what it takes, but Nix could legitimately be a Day 2 selection for a team looking to add depth at quarterback.
Let’s start with Nix. He had a career completion percentage of 59.4 at Auburn, averaged 6.9 yards per attempt and accumulated 39 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in three years as the starter. At Oregon, Nix completed 71.5 percent of his passes for a career high 3,388 passing yards to go along with 42 total touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. He showcased his immense growth as a passer and his talents as a rusher, racking up 504 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground. At this point, I think Nix will likely be one of the seven or eight passers selected in the 2023 draft, but we will have to see if he definitely leaves and, if so, how he fares in the pre draft process, which could include the Senior Bowl and the scouting combine.
For Rattler, he seemed poised to be the next great NFL quarterback after a stellar 2020 campaign. He threw for over 3,000 yards and amassed 28 touchdowns through the air with just 7 interceptions. Then he lost his job in 2021 to the aforementioned Williams and ended up at South Carolina. I will admit that I was ready to right off Rattler after a rocky start to his career in Columbia, but after leading the Gamecocks to seven wins in their final nine games, including impressive performances against Tennessee and Clemson to end the season, he is at least back on the radar. I think Rattler needs one more year to prove he can consistently play at a high level. He had some great games this year, but still tossed 11 interceptions, including four multi-interception outings.
I highlight both Rattler and Nix to point out that a change of scenery might be exactly what Uiagalelei needs. It worked great for Nix, who faced the same exact questions almost exactly one year ago. Landing at a school like UCLA, Purdue or hell, even Oregon, if Nix enters the draft.
The other example Nix set that Uiagalelei should follow would be working with a quarterback guru like Jordan Palmer. Nix spent the offseason working with Exos, putting in the work to improve his footwork, technique and accuracy. It paid major dividends this year and I think it is important that Uiagalelei does the same. Watching him play, he has a ton of arm talent, great size, impressive athleticism. However, his footwork is all over the place. His accuracy suffers big time as a result. Spending time with a quarterback specialist to fine tune those attributes will go a long way. He has already shown that he is willing to put in the offseason work as well, dropping 15 pounds heading into this season, which allowed him to move a lot better in the pocket and be more productive running the ball.
Uiagalelei’s future still very much seems like it will be in the NFL. He will have two years to prove he can progress as a passer and improve the technical side of his game. He is a 6’4″, 235-pound prospect with tons of experience playing in a Power 5 conference. He will undoubtedly land at another Power 5 school and be in position to start again.
Follow the Aftermath via email to get every article delivered right to your inbox. Enter your email in the text box to subscribe. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out our podcast Draft Season Never Ends, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Each week, I like to highlight a few of the draft-eligible players I am most excited to watch this weekend. Sure, I am looking forward to seeing Drew Sanders against Alabama and what happens if Will Levis can take care of the ball against Ole Miss, but those guys are already getting first-round buzz.
What about the under-the-radar guys? Perhaps that is a bit of a misnomer. In fact, it was! I finally have a new name for the players I am highlighting in this column. Many of these players fans of college football have likely heard of. However, these are not the guys you will likely see in a first-round mock draft at this point and still have a lot to prove. So rather than talk about the biggest prospect in the draft, let’s discuss some players with something to prove.
Unfortunately, like every week, some of the games we want to watch are going to be at the same time, so break out the tablet or set your DVR if you want to watch all of the amazing action from this weekend.
If you missed out on Week 4 and want to get caught up on some stock watch for draft prospects, I wrote about my takeaways here.
Spencer Sanders, QB, Oklahoma State Year: 5th-year senior Opponent: at #16 Baylor (Saturday at 3:30 pm ET on FOX) Sanders has definitely made a name for himself with his play to this point, but this is still a very deep quarterback class and he is nowhere near the conversation at the top of the draft. At least not yet. If Sanders has any hopes of pushing his stock into first-round territory, he needs to perform against Baylor. In three matchups against the Bears defense since Dave Aranda took over in Waco, Sanders has thrown nine interceptions. Seven of them came in two games last season. If he continues to struggle against Baylor’s defense, typically one of the best in the Big 12, it raises questions about how he will fare at the next level. This is a huge opportunity for Sanders to prove that he is making strides as a passer and deserves some NFL buzz.
Noah Daniels, CB, TCU Year: 6th-year senior Opponent: vs. #18 Oklahoma (Saturday at noon ET on ABC) Daniels is a name that people have probably heard before, but I would argue he is one of the toughest evaluations in this entire draft. He is incredibly talented and plays like a top 50 player. Unfortunately, Saturday against Oklahoma will also be Daniels’ 12th game since 2018. He missed all of 2019 due to injury and was limited to a combined eight games over the past two seasons. Facing an Oklahoma offense that boasts one of the most potent passing attacks in the nation would only make it harder for scouts to ignore his apparent ability in favor of his injury history. Daniels needs to stay on the field and show he is capable of dominating the competition.
Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA Year: 4th-year senior Opponent: vs. #15 Washington (Friday at 10:30 pm ET on ESPN) How can a former five-star running back possibly be under the radar? I finally found a new name for these players I want to highlight. Charbonnet is a familiar name to many who have followed Big Ten or Pac-12 football over the past five years. He transferred to UCLA from Michigan before the 2021 season and has excelled with the Bruins. UCLA is one of the quietest 4-0 teams in the country and now Carbonnet will look to stamp their credentials, and his own, against a Washington defense allowing just 89 yards per game and 2.6 yards per carry. This Huskies defense has only surrendered two rushing touchdowns through four games. If Charbonnet can perform against that stacked defensive front, he is going to be in the conversation for RB2 in this draft class, which is wide open behind Bijan Robinson.
Jacoby Windmon, EDGE, Michigan State Year: 4th-year senior Opponent: vs. Maryland (Saturday at 3:30 pm ET on FS1) Talk about a coming out party. Entering the season, Windmon was a relatively unknown transfer from UNLV whose career-high in sacks to that point stood at 6.5 in a season. Fast forward to now, Windmon is drawing buzz everywhere, currently leading the nation in sacks with 5.5 quarterback takedowns through just four games. This is not a game that most would circle as a must-watch this weekend, but Windmon will get the opportunity to face Maryland offensive tackle Jaelyn Duncan. Duncan definitely did not impress against Michigan, but he is widely regarded as a top 50 prospect and one of the five best offensive tackles in this draft class. I haven’t seen Windmon get a ton of love yet nationally. If he turns in another stellar performance, this time against an NFL-caliber tackle, his name will be flying up big boards everywhere.
D.J. Uiagalelei, QB, Clemson Year: 3rd-year junior Opponent: vs. #10 NC State (Saturday at 7:30 pm ET on ABC) As if you needed another reason to watch this top-10 showdown in the ACC. Uiagalelei has had one of the most interesting careers in recent memory. Thought to be the successor to Trevor Lawrence, he dazzled in his one start against Notre Dame in 2020. Instead of picking up where he left off, Uiagalelei had a terrible year in 2021, throwing more interceptions than touchdowns. At the beginning of the season, there were fans and analysts alike questioning whether or not freshman phenom Cade Klubnik deserved to start instead. Uiagaleli has quieted that chatter so far with 10 touchdown passes and just one interception so far this season. Suddenly, it feels like he might be a post-hype sleeper. His physical gifts are off the charts, but he still needs to improve his mechanics and show he can perform consistently. No better opportunity to prove himself than against an NC State defense allowing just 4.9 yards per attempt passing this year, the fourth-best mark in the country. This is a massive test for the true junior quarterback.
Follow the Aftermath via email to get every article delivered right to your inbox. Enter your email in the text box to subscribe. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out our weekly podcast Draft Season Never Ends with new episodes every Friday, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
The Aftermath 