2022 NFL Draft notes: How NCAA football prospects fared in first week of College games
9/5/2021 - Who stood out this week?
College Football’s First Weekend
I already posted some thoughts about the first weekend. Here are more.
Cincinnati: QB Desmond Ridder dominated the first half against Miami (OH), going 14-of-16 for 229 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, and four carries for 37 yards with 1 TD. Ridder is certainly one of the QBs getting first round consideration who I felt more strongly about than Sam Howell or Spencer Rattler. But it’s only one half of one game against Miami (OH), so we’ll see.
Ridder finished 20-of-25, 295 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT, 1 rush TD. Arm:
Oregon: DE Kayvon Thibodeaux had a sack in the first half of Oregon’s first game, but was later seen in a walking boot. He doesn’t seem too badly injured.
Clemson: Not a good start for QB DJ Uiagalelei: 19 of 37, 178 yards, 1 INT, 14 carries for -22 yards. Clemson lost 10-3 to Georgia. WR Justyn Ross held to 26 yards on four catches.
Kent State: QB Dustin Crum, 12-of-26 for 89 yards, 2 INT in 41-1 loss to Texas A&M. No surprise in the score. Crum has some sleeper potential but nothing helpful in this game.
Coastal Carolina: I’ll always talk about Grayson McCall. To the point of even ignoring his teammates: receiver Jaivon Heiligh had six catches for 133 yards and 1 TD. TE Isaiah Likely, a potential top-5 TE in the draft, had five catches for 64 yards.
Utah: LB Devin Lloyd had 12 tackles, 1 INT, 1 sack, 1 TFL, and is considered to be one of Utah’s top draft prospects. This came against Weber State however. Nick Ford is seen as one of the better OL prospects in the country.
Ohio State: There will be a lot of 2022 NFL Draft prospects when we talk about a team like Ohio State. They opened the season vs Minnesota this week. WR Chris Olave could be the top WR in the country, and he had four catches for 117 yards and 2 TD. WR Garrett Wilson, a potential first round pick, had five catches for 80 yards and 1 TD. RB Miyan Williams had nine carries for 125 yards with a long of 71:
Ohio State: RB Miyan Williams was “only” a 3-star recruit for Ohio State in 2020 and he had 10 carries for 64 yards as a true freshman last year. RB Master Teague III, a former 4-star recruit who was expected to be the lead back, had just six carries for 29 yards. DT Haskell Garrett, one of the top DT in the next draft class, scored a touchdown off of a DE Zach Harrison strip sack. Harrison was looked at as the heir apparent to Chase Young in 2020 and this could be his year.
Minnesota: RB Mohamed Ibrahim had 30 carries for 163 yards and 2 TD. QB Tanner Morgan (14 of 25, 205 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) has one of those “all-american QB names” but his recruiting picture feels somewhat surprising:
Arizona State: QB Jayden Daniels went 10-of-12, 132 yards, with six carries for 40 yards. LB Darien Butler had two interceptions.
Wisconsin: RB Chez Mellusi, a former 4-star recruit who transferred to the Badgers from Clemson, had 31 carries for 121 yards and 1 TD against Penn State. TE Jake Ferguson had nine catches for 52 yards in the 16-10 loss. LB Jack Sanborn, another 2022 NFL Draft prospect, had five tackles, 1 sack, and 1 TFL.
Penn State: The top prospect for Penn State is OT Rasheed Walker. And WR Jahan Dotson, as I think I mentioned earlier, had five catches for 102 yards and 1 TD. ILB Ellis Brooks, the most sure-handed tackler on the team, had 11 tackles and 1 sack. S Joey Porter, Jr., the son of Joey Porter, had six tackles and 1 PD. S Jaquan Brisker, an even better draft prospect, had an interception.
Oklahoma: I covered Spencer Rattler’s struggles against Tulane in the last post. RB Kennedy Brooks had 14 carries for 87 yards and 1 TD. WR Marvin Mims had five catches for 117 yards.
Miami: QB D’Eriq King struggled against a much more understandable opponent on Saturday: Alabama. King threw 2 INT, lost a fumble, and averaged only 5.7 yards per attempt in the 44-13 loss. S Bubba Bolden, a potential first rounder, had five tackles, 1 PD, and shared in a TFL. Miami had 10 TFL in the game.
Alabama: We know that this school will be giving us plenty to talk about for the 2022 NFL Draft. QB Bryce Young has to face the same questions that Tua and Mac Jones had to face leading into the draft, which is whether or not the numbers are “real.” Young went 27-of-38 for 344 yards with 4 TD in the win. WR Jameson Williams led the team with 126 yards on four catches with 1 TD. WR John Metchie III, a potential first rounder, had six catches for 76 yards and 1 TD. Cameron Latu, a former OLB recruit who transitioned to TE only last season (getting into zero games), made his debut at the position on Saturday against Miami; Latu caught two touchdowns in his first game as a tight end because even Alabama’s recruiting failures have potential to become day one picks.
Alabama: Four players had a sack: Will Anderson Jr, Christian Harris, Phidarian Mathis, Christopher Allen. Meanwhile, Jaylen Moody and Malachi Moore each had an interception.
Indiana: QB Michael Penix, Jr., a favorite of many, including me, went 14-of-31 for 156 yards, 0 TD and 3 INT in a 34-6 loss to Iowa. Bad. At least Indiana has a player named Ty Fryfogle, and Fryfogle had five catches for 84 yards.
Iowa: CB Riley Moss had two interceptions off of Penix that he returned for a touchdown in the first half. Moss was a former 2-star recruit in 2018, worked his way up to being a starter, and just won a national player of the week award. RB Tyler Goodson had 19 carries for 99 yards and 1 TD.
Iowa State: QB Brock Purdy didn’t blow away Northern Iowa this week, but he went 21-of-26 for 199 yards and rushed nine times for 58 yards in a 16-10 win. Purdy has some supporters out there for the 2022 NFL Draft. RB Breece Hall has greater odds of being a high draft pick than Purdy but Hall only had 69 yards on 23 carries with 1 TD this week.
Texas: QB Hudson Card was a 4-star recruit in 2020 and the redshirt freshman made his debut on Saturday. He won’t be in the 2022 NFL Draft but Card went 14-of-21, 224 yards, 2 TD/0 INT in a 38-18 win over Louisiana. WR Jordan Whittington had seven catches for 113 yards and 1 TD. RB Bijan Robinson, the top-ranked RB in the nation in 2020, had 20 carries for 103 yards and four catches for 73 yards, scoring two touchdowns. LB DeMarvion Overshown, a top linebacker prospect, had 13 tackles and shared in a sack.
Louisiana: The Ragin’ Cajuns were a top-25 team going into Saturday’s opener. QB Levi Lewis (“the left-handed Kyler Murray”) went 28-of-40 for 282 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. But was sacked four times.
USC: QB Kedon Slovis had a strong opening start, going 24-of-36 for 256 yards with 2 TD against San Jose State. WR Drake London, a potential day two pick, had 12 catches for 137 yards. S Greg Johnson had a pick-six. Edge Drake Jackson had an interception.
Florida: QB Emory Jones went 17-of-27, 113 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, with 10 carries for 74 yards. RB Anthony Richardson had seven carries for 160 yards and RB Malik Davis had 14 carries for 104 yards in the 35-14 win over Florida Atlantic. DE Zachary Carter had three sacks and he is considered a fringe first round prospect. LB Ventrell Miller and CB Kaiir Elam are also seen as potential first rounders.
Georgia: Bad night for offense in Georgia’s 10-3 win over Clemson, a meeting of top-five teams. QB JT Daniels went 22-of-30 for 135 yards with an INT. RB Zamir White had 13 carries for 74 yards. LB Nakobe Dean, a 5-star recruit in the 2019 class, had two sacks; Dean will be an early draft pick if he continues nights like this one. Five other players on Georgia had one sack on Saturday. CB Christopher Smith had a 74-yard pick-six.
Clemson: Gone are the days of Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence. In are the days of QB DJ Uiagalelei, who went 19-of-37 for 178 yards, 1 INT, and -22 yards lost on the ground because he was sacked seven times. Clemson had 23 carries for 2 yards against Georgia. WR Joseph Ngata had six catches for 110 yards; WR Justyn Ross had four catches for 26. LB Baylon Spector (sounds like the title of a guy who goes around to farms inspecting hay) had an interception. CB Andrew Booth, DT Tyler Davis, TE Braden Galloway, and CB Sheridan Jones are considered some of the Tigers top 2022 NFL Draft prospects.
Texas A&M: The Aggies had a 41-10 win over Kent State and RB Isaiah Spiller (maybe the top back in the 2022 draft) had 17 carries for 113 yards. That’s not as many as teammate Devon Achane, who had 12 carries for 124 yards and 2 TD. CB Leon O’Neal Jr had two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. DT DeMarvin Leal, perhaps the top DT in the draft, helped pave the way. OL Kenyon Green has a potential first round grade too.
Washington: Rough night for the Huskies, who lost 13-7 to Montana. QB Dylan Morris threw three interceptions and averaged 4.9 yards per throw. He was sacked three times and lost 24 yards on the ground too. UW has a lot of NFL Draft prospects though. TE Cade Otton had eight catches for 82 yards. CB Kyler Gordon had seven tackles, 1 TFL. CB Trent McDuffie had two PD.
UCLA: Chip Kelly has the Bruins off to one of the hottest starts in the country, beating LSU 38-27 on Saturday night to improve to 2-0. QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson went 9-of-16 for 260 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, with 13 carries for 5 yards. RB Zach Charbonnet had 11 carries for 117 yards and 1 TD. RB Brittain Brown had 17 carries for 96 yards and 1 TD. TE Greg Dulcich had three catches for 117 yards and 1 TD. DB Quentin Lake had 2 PD. LB Caleb Johnson had an INT.
LSU: Last year, LSU split reps at QB between freshman Max Johnson, redshirt junior Myles Brennan, and freshman T.J. Finley. Well, Finley transferred to Auburn and Brennan broke his arm while preparing for a fishing trip last month. In his 2021 debut, QB Max Johnson started against UCLA and went 26-of-46 for 330 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT and 11 carries for 16 yards. WR Kayshon Boutte, arguably the top receiver recruit of 2020, had nine catches for 148 yards and 3 TD. S Derek Stingley, a potential top-three pick in 2022, had one TFL. LSU’s offensive line has at least three notable NFL prospects.
Those were all the happenings I saw from top-25 teams leading into Sunday. Here’s what happened outside of the top-25.
Boston College: QB Phil Jurkovec went 16-of-24 for 303 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, and five carries for 61 yards; Jurkovec remains alive for the first round. WR Zay Flowers had seven catches for 135 yards and 1 TD. Jahmin Muse had a pick-six.
Kentucky: QB Will Levis went 18-of-26, 367 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT against UL-Monroe. My friend Justin once ate an entire banana, peel and all, and it was one of the funniest things I’ve witnessed. I guess Will Levis does that too.
Levis was a transfer from Penn State and four touchdowns is more than he had during his first three years in college combined. He’s got the size: 6’3, 222 lbs.
Kentucky: RB Chris Rodriguez had 19 carries for 125 yards, 1 TD. WR Josh Ali (extra year of eligibility) had five catches for 136 yards and 1 TD, WR Wan’Dale Robinson (transfer from Nebraska) had five catches for 125 yards and 2 TD. OT Darian Kinnard is seen as a 2022 prospect. LB Josh Weaver had two sacks.
Michigan: QB Cade McNamara went 9-of-11 for 136 yards, 2 TD against Western Michigan in a 47-14 win. RB Blake Corum had 14 carries for 111 yards, 1 TD and 1 receiving TD. WR Ronnie Bell had a 76-yard TD but this one that didn’t count was considered the play of the day:
Rutgers: OLB Olakunle Fatukasi had three sacks, 1 TFL, and seven tackles against Temple.
Holy Cross: QB Matthew Sluka went 9-of-16 for 123 yards, 2 TD, and 14 carries for 112 yards and 1 TD in 38-28 win over UConn. Sluka was a surprise freshman breakout star for Holy Cross during a truncated “2020” season.
Stanford: QB Tanner McKee was considered one of the top-four recruits at his position in 2018, just behind Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields, and he could have gone to nearly any school in the country. Including Alabama. A cancer survivor, McKee chose Stanford but went on a two-year mission in Brazil that would delay the start of his college career until 2020. McKee returned to the shortened 2020 season and then “lost” the starting gig this year to Jack West, but with the intention to play both quarterbacks. Head coach David Shaw might not split time anymore….McKee went 15-of-18 for 118 yards with 1 TD in a 24-7 loss to Kansas State; West went 8-of-12 for 76 yards and 2 INT. CB Kyu Blu Kelly (son of former NFL DB Brian Kelly) had an interception.
Kansas State: RB Deuce Vaughn with 13 carries for 124 yards, 1 TD.
Army: LB Andre Carter II had three sacks. He’s not the son of Andre Carter of NFL notoriety.
Nebraska: QB Adrian Martinez went 17-of-23 for 254 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, eight carries for 33 yards and 2 TD in 52-7 win over Fordham. WR Samori Toure had eight catches for 133 yards. S Deontai Williams had two INT.
Arkansas: RB Trelon Smith had 22 carries for 102 yards, 1 TD against Rice.
Maryland: QB Taulia Tagovailoa went 26/36 for 332 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT against West Virginia. RB Tayon Fleet-Davis had 18 carries for 123 yards. It’s not unusual for Maryland RBs to put up crazy-good numbers. WR Dontay Demus Jr had six catches for 133 yards, 1 TD. Sophomore WR Rakim Jarrett had six catches for 122 yards, 1 TD. OL Jaelyn Duncan could be a first rounder. DB Nick Cross had an INT and could get drafted.
Mississippi State: Sophomore QB Will Rogers went 39/47 for 370 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT in 35-34 win over Louisiana Tech. He threw the game-winner with under 4 minutes left:
OT Charles Cross could be the top offensive lineman in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Missouri: RB Tyler Badie had 25 carries for 203 yards, 1 TD, 40 rec yards, 1 TD vs Central Michigan. Badie is 5’8, 194 lbs, and he barely rushed for more than 200 yards all of last season, but he’s a senior and that’s a good game. LB Blaze Alldredge had 3.5 sacks. We’ll see how these players do vs better competition.
Pitt: QB Kenny Pickett, some people like him for the draft too, went 27-of-37 for 272 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, and 39 rush yards. Senior LB John Petrishen had 2 sacks; Petrishan has barely played and had zero sacks in his first four years.
Liberty: We know that QB Malik Willis can mostly only play against poor competition. This week, that was Campbell. Willis went 15/23, 217 yards, 1 TD/0 INT, and a rushing TD.
Georgia Southern: RB Logan Wright had 26 carries for 178 yards, 1 TD.
Auburn: It was a joke against Akron, winning 60-10. QB Bo Nix went 20/22 for 275 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT. My list of QBs who could make noise for the 2022 NFL Draft right now is … long. It’s very long. No standouts (EXCEPT GRAYSON MCCALL) and it’s long. Bo Nix is on it. RB Tank Bigsby had 119 yards and 2 TD on 13 carries; RB Jarquez Hunter had 110 yards and 1 TD on 9 carries. On Akron’s side, despite a 50-point loss, Zips QB DJ Irons went 13-of-13 for 129 yards, 1 TD.
South Carolina: A 46-0 win over Eastern Illinois. QB Zeb Noland went 13/22 for 121 yards, 4 TD/0 INT. RB ZaQuandre White had 128 yards and 1 TD on 12 carries.
Syracuse: RB Sean Tucker had 25 carries for 181 yards, 1 TD.
Purdue: WR David Bell, a definite first round potential guy, had eight catches for 134 yards in a 30-21 win over Oregon State. WR Payne Durham had seven catches for 12 0yards and 2 TD. QB Jack Plummer has NO relation to Jake Plummer, but his younger brother Will Plummer is a QB at Arizona. Plummer went 29/41, 313 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT vs Oregon State. DE George Karlaftis, a potential top-10 pick, had 2 PD on Saturday.
Texas Tech: QB Tyler Shough went 17/24 for 231 yards, 1 TD/0 INT, 1 rush TD vs Houston. Sophomore RB Tahj Brooks had 134 yards and 2 TD on only 15 carries. WR Erik Ezukanma had seven catches for 179 yards.
Okay, this is so long already, I need to RAPID FIRE:
Baylor RB Trestan Ebner: 20/120
Baylor RB Abram Smith: 19/118/2
Memphis RB Brandon Thomas: 16/147/1
Memphis RB Rodrigues Clark: 9/84/1
Memphis WR Javon Ivory: 5/106
SMU QB Tanner Mordecai: 24/30, 317 yards, 7 TD/ 0 INT vs Abilene Christian
Mordecai transferred to SMU from Oklahoma. Former 4-star recruit.
Arkansas State QB Layne Hatcher: 12/12, 150 yards, 4 TD
I wrote about Hatcher as a potential sleeper, former Alabama commit
Arkansas State WR Corey Rucker: 9/138/3 TD
North Texas RB DeAndre Torrey: 25/244/3 TD
Torrey, a senior, rushed for 15 TD as a freshman in 2018.
Northern Illinois RB Harrison Waylee: 27/144/1
S Alabama WR Jalen Tolbert: 5/168
Nevada QB Carson Strong: 22/39, 312y, 2 TD, 1 INT
Strong could be the first QB drafted in 2022
Cal QB Chase Garbers: 25/38, 177y, 1 TD, 1 INT
Arizona QB Gunner Cruz: 34/45, 336y, 1 TD, 1 INT vs BYU
Arizona WR Stanley Berryhill III: 12/102
BYU WR Neil Pau’u: 8/126/2
BYU RB Tyler Allgeier: 17/94/1
BYU C James Empey is seen as an NFL prospect
San Diego State RB Greg Bell: 21/161/1
I skipped some players, overlooked some for sure, and generally just tried to FINISH this eventually. This is going to be a learning process for me. Hopefully you’ve learned something from my process this weekend!
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Kenneth