NCAAF

2023 NFL Draft Stock Watch: Blake Corum soaring, plus a pair of tight ends impress

Chris McGlynn Draft, Football, NCAAF , , , , , , , , ,

September is coming to an end, which means stock watch is about to enter its second month. We already have four weeks (five if you count Week 0) to start to formulate the draft assessment for players all over college football. There have been quite a few surprises, some pleasant, others much more unfortunate, when it comes to the expectations we had entering the year versus the performances we’ve seen so far. Players like Drew Sanders and Devon Achane have unquestionably made themselves some money, while guys like Tyler Van Dyke and Kayshon Boutte have raised more questions than answers with their play to this point.

I find myself a bit behind on film from this past weekend, which is unfortunate, because it was another thrilling slate of games. Here is my watch list so far from the weekend:
Virginia at Syracuse
Maryland at Michigan
Arkansas vs. Texas A&M
Clemson at Wake Forest
Middle Tennessee State at Miami
Wisconsin at Ohio State

I still have several more that I want to watch, including Florida-Tennessee, Baylor-Iowa State, Texas-Texas Tech and Oregon-Washington State.

Each week, I am going to write this column to highlight which players I think boosted their draft stocks and which players are trending in the wrong direction. Not every player that I liked is going to get a shoutout and not every player that I was underwhelmed by will be mentioned. I am also limiting this to draft-eligible players for 2023. So while Brock Bowers continues to look like a Heisman candidate, he won’t be on this list.

Without further ado, here is my stock up and stock down after Week 4. If you missed last week’s entry, you can find it here.

Stock Up

Davis Allen, TE, Clemson
4th-year senior
Week 4 stat line: 4 receptions, 36 yards, 2 TDs
A name to learn, Allen had a big game against Wake Forest. His stats won’t jump off the page, but he is a well-rounded player and a clear threat in the red zone. He reeled in the game-winning touchdown in double overtime by essentially boxing out the safety on a well-thrown ball from DJ Uiagalelei. He has great size at 6’6″ and 250 pounds and moves well for that build. I definitely want to watch him a bit more before I start making any predictions about where I think he might be drafted, but he impressed me in a high-pressure situation.

Cade Stover, TE, Ohio State
4th-year senior
Week 4 stat line: 4 receptions, 51 yards, 2 TDs
After years of lackluster tight ends classes, it seems like we could be in store for a pretty decent one. Stover is going to be a big part of that. He has seen his role in the Buckeyes’ offense increase significantly this year with Jeremy Ruckert now in the NFL. His stats might not blow anyone away, but he is fluid a runner in open space and a polished route runner. However, his biggest impact unquestionably came as a run blocker. He opened a ton of holes for Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson. Stover bullied Nate Herbig for much of the night when Ohio State put it on the ground. This was the first time he really got on my radar. I’m excited to watch more of him.

Blake Corum, RB, Michigan
3rd-year junior
Week 4 stat line: 30 carries, 243 yards, 2 TDs
These are Derrick Henry type numbers! Unfortunately, Corum is about five inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter than the Titans running back. That being said, it sure looks like Corum has the chops to be a contributor at the next level. He does a great job keeping his legs moving after first contact and his agility makes him tough to corral. I would love to see him get more involved in the passing game as a receiver. He only has two receptions for 11 yards this season. He could certainly be a change-of-pace or a short-yardage back in the pros, but his value will be significantly undercut without better production in the passing game.

Stock Down

Tyler Van Dyke, QB, Miami
3rd-year sophomore
Week 3 stat line: 16/32, 138 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs,
I promise this will be the last time I put Van Dyke here. It was impossible to leave him out though after getting benched in a wildly disappointing loss to Middle Tennessee State. There is no question that he is struggling to acclimate to this new coaching staff and new offensive system. However, his struggles culminated with him being benched in the second half of the game. It is hard to find much silver lining in that. Van Dyke has looked inaccurate and unsure all season long. Two early interceptions all but doomed this performance before it ever really got started. Mario Cristobal has not committed to Van Dyke as the team’s starting quarterback for this week. Might be time to start thinking about some potential landing spots for when Van Dyke inevitably enters the portal.

Jaelyn Duncan, OT, Maryland
5th-year senior
Week 4 stat line: Not great
I’ve been hearing some hype about Duncan in recent weeks. This was easily his biggest test, going up against a stout Michigan defense. As a run blocker, he more than held his own, opening up some really nice holes. Unfortunately, he had a disastrous day in pass protection. Duncan got called for an early hold and had a few other plays that could have been penalized. He struggles with speed and power rushers, giving up a few sacks and at least five pressures by my count. His hand placement and footwork were sporadic. It led to a lot of running around from Taulia Tagovailoa. I still believe Duncan has a lot of upside, given his build and clear athleticism, but he looked a lot more like a Day 2 project than a first-round caliber tackle on Saturday.

Brennan Armstrong, QB, Virginia
5th-year senior
Week 4 stat line: 19/38, 138 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 11 carries, 29 yards, lost fumble
I will admit, I was not a huge fan of Armstrong’s game heading into the 2022 season. I don’t love his throwing motion and he posted double digit interceptions for the second year in a row in 2021. Friday night once again highlighted why I do not believe Armstrong has an NFL future. He did not go through his progressions on a number of occasions, deciding where he was going to go with the ball pre snap. He missed open receivers and turned the ball over twice. I know he is learning a new offense, but there are some issues that seem to be independent of the scheme. I was hoping he would be able to flash enough potential to entice me, but as of now, I have a UDFA grade on Armstrong.

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Five under-the-radar 2023 NFL Draft prospects to watch in Week 4

Chris McGlynn Draft, Football, NCAAF , , , , , , ,

Better late than never? That’s what I’m going with here. Much of my film study is done after the fact anyway, so hopefully everyone can still find this useful!

If you missed out on Week 3 and want to get caught up on some stock watch for draft prospects, I wrote about my takeaways here.

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.

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 C.J. Stroud against Wisconsin and Anthony Richardson visiting Rocky Top, but you know about those guys already.

What about the under-the-radar guys? Perhaps that is a bit of a misnomer. 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. So rather than just tell people to watch the games they already know to turn on, let’s take a look at some players who might not be household names yet, but could very well be Top 100 players at the end of the season.

Nate Herbig, LB, Wisconsin
Year: 3rd-year junior
Opponent: at #3 Ohio State (Saturday at 7:30 ET pm on ABC)
This should be one of the best prospect matchups of the weekend. Herbig has been one of the most productive pass rushers in college football so far this season. He has four sacks through the Badgers’ first three games. Saturday night will see him go up against Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones. Johnson is already drawing early first-round buzz while Jones looks more like a Day 2 prospect at this point. Either way, it will be a huge test for Herbig. A nationally televised game in primetime is an excellent stage for the junior edge rusher to prove himself.

Mike Sainristil, CB, Michigan
Year: 4th-year junior
Opponent: vs. Maryland (Saturday at 12 pm ET on FOX)
This obviously is not the biggest name on the Michigan roster, but Sainristil is one of the most intriguing prospects. He is in his first season at defensive back since converting from wide receiver. The Wolverines use him in a nickel corner role, similar to how they deployed Daxton Hill a year ago. Hill was a lot more polished and explosive than Sainristil, but that does not mean that the junior cannot be a difference maker. He will likely spend another season at Michigan to continue to learn the position, but facing a Maryland offense capable of throwing it all over the yard will be a big test for him.

Cameron Ward, QB, Washington State
Year: 3rd-year sophomore
Opponent: vs. #15 Oregon (Saturday at 4 pm ET on FOX)
Ward is in the spotlight again. I highlighted him as a prospect to watch heading into Week 2 against Wisconsin. He led Washington State to a win in a hostile environment. Now he will get a chance to take on a very talented defense. Oregon has bounced back since its dud against Georgia, steamrolling BYU a week ago. If Ward can show up against this Ducks defense, it will only be a matter of time before we start seeing him in the first round of mock drafts. He is a young, exciting prospect who is continuing to impress scouts.

Rejzohn Wright, CB, Oregon State
Year: 5th-year senior
Opponent: vs. #7 USC (Saturday at 9:30 pm ET on Pac-12 Network)
All eyes in this one will likely be on Caleb Williams, Jordan Addison and USC. The attention is well deserved. The Trojans look like a national contender for the first time in years. All of that sets up Wright with a huge stage to prove himself. He is a long, experienced corner looking to join his brother, Cowboys corner Nashon, in the NFL. If he can hold and at least limit Addison and this passing offense, it will not go unnoticed. He is a former JuCo transfer who featured on Last Chance U. He looks like he will be the latest one to make the jump to the pros.

Anton Harrison, OT, Oklahoma
Year: 3rd-year junior
Opponent: at #6 Oklahoma (Saturday at 8 pm ET on FOX)
Another great offensive tackle versus pass rusher matchup will be on full display in Norman on Saturday night. Harrison is a big body who is quickly becoming a veteran starting tackle. This will be his 16th career start, but he featured a decent amount in his true freshman season as well. He will face a talented pass rusher in Felix Anudike-Uzomah from Kansas State. His stock is through the roof right now, with many having the junior pass rusher in the top 15 or top 10 of mock drafts. If Harrison can slow him down and keep Heisman candidate Dillon Gabriel clean, he will see his stock rise very quickly.

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2023 NFL Draft Stock Watch: Tyler Van Dyke struggles again in Week 3

Chris McGlynn Draft, Football, NCAAF , , , , , , , , , ,

After two frantic weeks to open the season, Week 3 offered fewer fireworks, but plenty of great prospect matchups. We got a few intriguing non-conference games, which sets the stage for conference play on the horizon. While the AP poll likely won’t change as much, many players saw their draft stock move significantly.

I had a chance to watch a bunch of games over the weekend and there were a bunch of players who really impressed me and several others who fell short of the mark. I won’t pretend I watched every game, but here is my watch list so far from the weekend:
Miami at Texas A&M
Purdue at Syracuse
BYU at Oregon
Penn State at Auburn
Mississippi State at LSU
Georgia at South Carolina
Colorado at Minnesota

I still have several more that I want to watch, including Ohio State-Toledo, USC-Fresno State, Texas-UTSA, SMU-Maryland and Utah-San Diego State.

Each week, I am going to write this column to highlight which players I think boosted their draft stocks and which players are trending in the wrong direction. Not every player that I liked is going to get a shoutout and not every player that I was underwhelmed by will be mentioned. I am also limiting this to draft-eligible players for 2023. So while Brock Bowers and Caleb Williams definitely impressed, they won’t be featured here.

Without further ado, here is my stock up and stock down after Week 3. If you missed last week’s entry, you can find it here.

Stock Up

Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon
3rd-year sophomore
Week 3 stat line: 2 tackles, 2 pass breakups
I was pretty down on Gonzalez after watching him against Georgia, but he really impressed me against BYU. By my count, he was targeted four times, allowing just one catch for about 15 yards. He can line up on either side of the field and routinely won at the point of attack. It thrived in press man situations on Saturday, but looked comfortable dropping into zone as well. He closes well and uses his hands to disrupt receivers at the catch point, which led to a pair of pass breakups against the Cougars. At some point, I want to go back to his film at Colorado to really see how he has developed, but this was a really strong performance that makes me believe he has top 50 potential.

Mohamed Ibrahim, RB, Minnesota
6th-year senior
Week 3 stat line: 23 carries, 202 yards, 3 touchdowns
I have been waiting to promote Ibrahim for years. He popped on my radar back in 2019 in the Outback Bowl, where he ran over a talented Auburn defense. He dominated in 2020, but opted to return to school for his senior season. Unfortunately, his 2021 season did not last even three quarters. He gashed Ohio State for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but suffered a season-ending injury. Ibrahim once again flashed his ability against Colorado this weekend, posting his fourth career 200-yard game. From a scouting perspective, he is way to old to be an elite prospect, especially as a running back. He also does not have much receiving production. I view him as a late Day 3 flier for a team that needs a short yardage back, but I am just happy to see him back on the field.

Ainais Smith, WR, Texas A&M
4th-year senior
Week 3 stat line: 4 receptions, 74 yards
At first glance, Smith’s stat line might not seem overly impressive. However, it is important to add a little bit of context. New Texas A&M quarterback Max Johnson managed just 140 yards passing, which means that Smith accounted for over half of A&M’s receiving yards. He is a talented slot receiver who is very difficult to bring down in the open field. I would like to see him continue to improve as a route runner or see Texas A&M use him in some different ways. Getting the ball into his hands in space is a good way to create chunk plays.

Adisa Isaac, EDGE, Penn State
4th-year junior
Week 3 stat line: 3 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 quarterback pressures
Isaac is draft eligible this season, but it seems like he might be a prospect for the 2024 cycle. Still, it was nice to see him step up in a big way against Auburn. Isaac missed the entire 2021 season due to injury, so this is his first time really getting a chance to be a major contributor. He regularly pushed the pocket and found ways to be disruptive in the backfield. He still seems very raw from a pass rushing perspective, but there is enough physical talent apparent that I think he has room to grow in that department. I could have picked several players from this Penn State front seven given how much they dominated Auburn, but I thought Isaac really stood out.

Stock Down

Tyler Van Dyke, QB, Miami
3rd-year sophomore
Week 3 stat line: 21/41, 217 yards, 5 carries, 14 yards
For a second straight week, Van Dyke appears on this side of the list. For a player that I had going in the top 10 of preseason mock drafts, he has fallen well short of expectations. He missed receivers all night long and never looked comfortable against Texas A&M’s defense. He did not get a ton of help from his supporting cast, but this was still disappointing. There is still a long season ahead, but I have a tough time seeing Van Dyke as a first-round prospect at this stage.

Garrett Williams, CB, Syracuse
4th-year sophomore
Week 3 stat line: 10 tackles, 2 pass deflections
It was a tough test, but one that Williams did not pass on Saturday. He matched up with Purdue’s Charlie Jones regularly in the contest. He racked up 11 catches for 188 yards and a touchdown. Williams was not responsible for all of that allowed production, but he did very little to limit Jones. It was not a terrible outing, with a few pass breakups and double-digit tackles. However, Williams was bordering on Round 1 territory and it seems like he might need to prove himself a bit more to really warrant that type of hype.

Ameer Speed, CB, Michigan State
6th-year senior
Week 3 stat line: 3 tackles
It was a rough day for the entire Michigan State secondary, but Speed in particular disappointed me. The Georgia transfer got burned early and often. He surrendered a number of big plays, and got beat on several more that were overthrown. Expectations for Speed at Michigan State were high given his experience playing in the SEC. In the Spartans’ first big test of the season, he fell well short of the mark. As a sixth-year senior, he needs to prove he is NFL ready. There will be very little runway for a 23 or 24-year-old prospect.

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.

Five under-the-radar 2023 NFL Draft prospects to watch in Week 3

Chris McGlynn Draft, Football, NCAAF , , , , , , ,

Week 1 featured a ton of wild finishes. Week 2 followed with three top 10 teams going down. Who knows what Week 3 is going to have in store, especially with some great clashes between 2023 NFL draft prospects on the docket.

If you missed out on Week 2 and want to get caught up on some stock watch for draft prospects, I wrote about my takeaways here.

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.

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 C.J. Stroud against a Toledo team he struggled with in 2021 and Tyler Van Dyke against a really talented Texas A&M defense, but those are the types of prospects most people already know to watch anyway.

What about the under-the-radar guys? Perhaps that is a bit of a misnomer. 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. So rather than just tell people to watch the games they already know to turn on, let’s take a look at some players who might not be household names yet, but could very well be Top 100 players at the end of the season.

Aidan O’Connell, QB, Purdue
Year: 6th-year senior
Opponent: at Syracuse (Saturday at 12 pm ET on ESPN2)
One of the more seasoned passers in this class, O’Connell is, like many others, taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility thanks to COVID. The former walk-on has pushed himself into the NFL conversation in a deep quarterback class. He put up big numbers to open the season against Penn State, but completed just north of 50 percent of his passes. He torched Indiana State a week ago, but now he needs to show he can be more efficient against Power 5 competition. Syracuse’s defense made life miserable for Malik Cunningham already this season. This is a sneaky good chance for O’Connell to prove himself.

Blake Freeland, OT, BYU
Year: 4th-year junior
Opponent: at #25 Oregon (Saturday at 3:30 pm on FOX)
There are few offensive linemen in this draft class who are as experienced as Freeland. He took over at right tackle in 2019 as a true freshman and started the final seven games of the year. He worked his way over to the left side by 2021 and started all 13 games. Saturday will be the 31st start of his collegiate career. He is massive at 6’8″ and has a track and field background. That combination of size and athleticism is enticing. He should get a good test from an Oregon defense loaded with NFL talent. I’m hoping he will get a good number of snaps against Brandon Dolrus. That should be a really fun matchup to watch.

Tank Bigsby, RB, Auburn
Year: 3rd-year junior
Opponent: vs. #24 Penn State (Saturday at 3:30 pm ET on CBS)
Meet the latest Auburn running back to catch the attention of NFL scouts. Bigsby is an incredibly elusive runner who is a menace in the open field. His change of direction is impressive. He has put up solid numbers so far, but he will get a big step up in competition this weekend when Penn State comes to visit. The Nittany Lions have a much tougher defense than Mercer or San Jose State. This is the type of game where he will need to stand out and show he can be a threat on the ground and in the passing game. Penn State has held opponents to just 80 yards per game rushing so far.

Akheem Mesidor, DL, Miami
Year: 3rd-year sophomore
Opponent: at #24 Texas A&M (Saturday at 9 pm ET on ESPN)
I am cheating a little bit with this one. Most mock drafts you read will not have Mesidor as a first-round prospect. Mine do though. I put on Mesidor’s tape over the summer. I was actually watching Oklahoma vs. West Virginia (Mesidor transferred to Miami this year) to check out the Sooners’ offensive line. Mesidor ended up being the guy I was watching more than anyone else by the end of the game. With the Hurricanes, he got his season off to a great start against Bethune Cookman, with a sack and a batted pass at the line that led to a pick-six. He missed last week’s game against Southern Miss, but now he is back and ready for the huge stage that will come with playing Texas A&M. My guess is he will be on everyone’s radar by Sunday morning.

Jake Haener, QB, Fresno State
Year: 5th-year senior
Opponent: at #7 USC (Saturday at 10:30 pm on FOX)
This is shaping up to be a really interesting quarterback class. One of the players still looking to crash the party is Haener. He started his career at Washington before transferring to Fresno State in 2019. He hasn’t lit the world on fire so far this year, but his completion percentage has taken a big jump so far this season, up to 74.7 from 67.1 from a year ago. After facing Cal Poly and Oregon State to open the season, USC will be a much bigger test. The Trojans defense is far from elite, but a nationally televised game against a top-10 opponent is the perfect stage for Haener to prove himself. He needs a big performance to prove to scouts that he is ready to be an NFL quarterback. He will be 24-years-old by the time the 2023 NFL draft rolls around, so he will not have as much leeway as some younger prospects.

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.

2023 NFL Draft Stock Watch: Rough week for top quarterbacks

Chris McGlynn Draft, Football, NCAAF , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Just when we thought we couldn’t top Week 1’s action, Week 2 saw three top-10 teams go down! It was a wild weekend overall, but not a great one for many of the top quarterbacks in this class. Bryce Young had a lackluster performance, thanks in large part to a rough day from his offensive line and his receivers. More on them in a bit.

I had a chance to watch a bunch of games over the weekend and there were a bunch of players who really impressed me and several others who fell short of the mark. I won’t pretend I watched every game, but here was my watch list so far from the weekend:
Alabama at Texas
Kentucky at Florida
Baylor at BYU
South Carolina at Arkansas
USC at Stanford
Syracuse at UConn
Tennessee at Pittsburgh
Southern Miss at Miami

I still have several more that I want to watch, including App State-Texas A&M, Washington State-Wisconsin and Marshall-Notre Dame.

Each week, I am going to write this column to highlight which players I think boosted their draft stocks and which players are trending in the wrong direction. Not every player that I liked is going to get a shoutout and not every player that I was underwhelmed by will be mentioned. I am also limiting this to draft-eligible players for 2023. So while Raheim Sanders and Chase Roberts really caught my eye this week, they will not be on the list.

Without further ado, here is my stock up and stock down after Week 2. If you missed last week’s entry, you can find it here.

Stock Up

Drew Sanders, LB, Arkansas
3rd-year junior
Week 2 stat line: 11 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 pass deflection
Sanders was everywhere in Week 2! He dominated South Carolina, flying to the football and showing up in pass coverage as well. This was just an all around impressive performance. The Alabama transfer looked like a complete player, rushing the passer, stuffing the run and making an impact in coverage. He does still overrun some plays, but he has real sideline-to-sideline ability. I knew his name already, but I will be keeping a much closer eye on Sanders moving forward.

Jordan Addison, WR, USC
3rd-year junior
Week 2 stat line: 7 receptions, 172 yards, 2 TDs
Addison was already largely considered to be a first-round talent, but wow this was quite a performance. He took basically whatever he wanted against a solid Stanford defense. His versatility to take the top off the defense or operate as more of a possession receiver is impressive and invaluable. It certainly helps that he has caught passes in his career from Kenny Pickett and Caleb Williams, but I think the fact that he is having success in two different systems only boosts his value. He is going to have to learn another offense when he reaches the NFL. With quiet starts to the season for both Kayshon Boutte and Jaxson Smith-Njigba, it seems like Addison is closing the gap in the race to be WR1.

Anthony Cook, S, Texas
5th-year senior
Week 2 stat line: 9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
There are a lot of players I could highlight on this Texas defense for the performance they put on against Alabama. I am focusing on Cook though. He made a number of key stops, including the fourth-down run that ‘Bama failed to convert that led to Texas’ go-ahead field goal. He showed he can be a solid open-field tackler as well, crashing down on swing passes out of the backfield and screens. I will say, I need to watch more of him in coverage to figure out if he is simply a box safety or if he has a bit more depth to his skill set. Overall, impressive performance against a talented opposition.

Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame
3rd-year junior
Week 2 stat line: 8 receptions, 103 yards, 1 TD
How much higher can Mayer’s stock really go? I’ve only had a chance to watch some highlights from this game so far, but Mayer’s performance is wildly impressive to me. In a game where Notre Dame only managed 221 yards passing, Mayer accounted for nearly half of them. He is a well-rounded prospect who has a legitimate chance of being drafted in the top 20 of this upcoming draft. We will have to see if Mayer’s target share or production is impacted by Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner’s season-ending injury, but I have a feeling Drew Pyne will probably still look to Mayer plenty.

Stock Down

Tyler Van Dyke, QB, Miami
3rd-year sophomore
Week 2 stat line: 21/30, 263 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
The stat line for Van Dyke might not look too bad at first glance. However, it was a bit of a sloppy performance for the Miami quarterback against low level competition. The Canes offense struggled pretty much the entire first half. They finally got into a rhythm once they took the ball out of Van Dyke’s hands and started running it. Van Dyke missed on a few throws and simply looked a big off target for most of the game. It would be a bit more understandable if this type of performance came against Clemson or Florida State, but this was a bit underwhelming.

Emil Ekiyor Jr., G, Alabama
5th-year senior
Week 2 stat line: still not sure what to put here
It was not a great week for the Alabama offense. Bryce Young was consistently running for his life and Texas’ defensive line was living in the ‘Bama backfield. One of the biggest culprits was Ekiyor, who had a decent amount of draft hype entering the season. He routinely got pushed back into Young’s lap and the running game was nonexistent. Ekiyor simply looked overmatched and missed a number of blocks. He is lucky he has a mobile quarterback to bail him out. Most of Alabama’s line falls into that category.

Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida
3rd-year sophomore
Week 2 stat line: 14/35, 143 yards, 2 INTs, 6 carries, 4 yards
These first two weeks of the season perfectly encapsulate Richardson as a prospect. His upside is through the roof with incredible arm strength and electric open-field ability. He is also wildly inconsistent throwing the ball downfield and struggles to put touch on his passes. Week 1 showcased the good. Week 2 featured all of the bad. Kentucky forced Richardson to beat them with his arm and he could not do it. Two bad interceptions, including the go-ahead pick-six for the Wildcats, sunk the Gators. Richardson mixed in a few special throws, but they were few and far between. I am eager to watch his development as the season rolls on, but this was a major bump in the road.

Jerome Carvin, G, Tennessee
5th-year senior
Week 2 stat line: We really need some stats for offensive linemen
Another interior lineman who struggled in Week 2, Tennessee’s Carvin had a rough day in Pittsburgh. Hendon Hooker was forced to move off his spot quite a bit because of the constant pressure from the Panthers defensive line. He was sacked three times, but it really could have been more. Carvin really struggled in pass protection and had an uneven day as a run blocker. The Vols lacked efficiency on the ground in general, managing just 2.7 yards per attempt.

Spencer Rattler, QB, South Carolina
4th-year junior
Week 2 stat line: 24/39, 376 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 12 carries, -23 yards
Maybe this is a bit harsh for Rattler to end up here. He did throw for the sixth-most yards of any FBS quarterback this week, but much of it came with Arkansas playing prevent defense with a sizable lead. Rattler spent much of the game running for his life as the Razorbacks’ defense got after him early and often. While that does not all fall on Rattler, his limited mobility made matters worse. He missed downfield throws on a number of occasions and was lucky he only threw one interception in this game. These are the types of games where he needed to show up and play at a high level. He needed to prove himself against SEC competition. So far, he is falling short of that mark.

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.