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F10Y CFB Player to Watch; AT Perry, Wake Forest

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Welcome back to our weekly Player to Watch space here at Full 10 Yards, this week I am digging into one of the more exciting wide receivers in college football, AT Perry of Wake Forest.

However, before moving on to discuss Perry, I would like to address that with Blake Corum’s 133 yards and a touchdown against Iowa last week, it’s a win for this particular writer as we take one back from the kiss of death that we seem to be putting on the players covered. 

Enough of my small victories, I have a Biletnikoff semi-finalist wide receiver to dig into! 

Let’s kick off in the usual manner; let’s talk about who Perry is…

Atorian “AT” Perry is a 6’5, 205lb receiver out of Lake Worth Florida, coming out of high school he was a three star recruit. Perry was a tri-sport high school athlete, turning out of the school’s basketball and track teams, even winning the county long jump championship, alongside his ventures for the football programme.

On the football field, Perry was a captain for the Lake Worth Cobras, as a wide receiver and defensive back. He caught touchdowns, he led his team to a 10-0 record in his Junior season and he also has athletic bloodlines from a Mother who ran track at Arizona State. However, the offers from Power-5 schools were not forthcoming.

Lost in the sea of footballing talent that in the state of Florida, Perry wasn’t blessed with offers from big schools. Prior to enrolling at Wake Forest, the only Power-5 offer he had on the table from Iowa State, a world away from Florida and the South as a whole. Perry was originally slated to attend the University of Alabama-Birmingham and be a Blazer, before de-committing and signing on with the Demon Deacons and heading for Winston-Salem.

Now the only thing that is blazing, are his routes and catches.

And with that, let’s head to the film…

In this initial clip, I want to show you a whole host of positives that I see often throughout Perry’s tape.

Let’s go to the Florida State game from 2021, what I want to show you here is that Perry can be a deep threat with good straight line speed, I want to show you great ball tracking ability and also a little bit of a nuanced release off the line of scrimmage.

From the beginning of the play then… we can see that the corner guarding him is every aligned ever-so-slightly to the outside, so Perry’s initial step jabs to the outside and the corner widens out to mirror his movement – Just what Perry wanted. This allowed him to gobble up that 2 yard cushion and push downfield, and by the time Sam Hartman is throwing, Perry is two yards beyond his man. All he had to do is ensure that he caught the football and it’s 6 points, and it duly was.

I feel like the corner was expecting help over the top, hence why he didn’t attempt to jam Perry at the line. The safety gained no depth to provide any help over the top, so this is either poor execution or a bad play design, as it allowed Wake Forest’s best receiver easy access to the deep portion of the field and an easy score. 

Next up and sticking with the Florida State game – Another great release but this time we are seeing separation in the intermediate portion of the field.

Again, we see Perry use his feet well and manipulate a defender with his release. He jabs outside to get the defender to open his hips just a touch, as he knows that he wants to get inside to run his dig (or basic) route.

Another super impressive aspect of this play is that he can work through contact throughout his route, leaning into his man and that despite being 6’5, he can sink his hips and make a sharp cut on his route. This cut gives him the separation that he needs to make the catch unchallenged over the middle of the field.

You will also see on the endzone view on the All-22 here that he can make a solid catch with his hands extended away from his body. This is the sort of chain-moving grab over the middle that makes bigger receivers such a comfort blanket for quarterbacks.

Here’s more evidence of his ability to manipulate defenders with his work off the line… This one was against Army last year in the red zone.

The ball doesn’t come his way here but I love the way he creates space inside by chopping his feet and stuttering at the line. The play wasn’t designed to go to him looking at his body language around the time of the throw (I feel he was in place to create a rub for his team mate) but had Perry known the ball was coming his way on a slightly different play, that’s a touchdown in the middle of the endzone.

However, and there’s always a however in these articles, one thing that I have seen a number of through three games (Florida State, Army, Clemson all 2021), is drops.

Concentration drops and not having hands in the proper technique, more often than not over the short and intermediate areas.

This is a money down; 3rd down with the score tied at 21. It’s a first down if he catches it too and you can see the disappointment in his body language as soon as he sees that one go through his hands. In the NFL, a tipped ball like that can be a turnover. Perry has to tighten up this aspect of his game. 

Last clip here and it’s something I would love to see more of from Perry but this one shows that he’s got it in his locker and that run-after-catch ability.

This one from the Clemson game last year. Backup QB, Michael Kern is in the game for Sam Hartman here and because of that I love that Perry runs the curl route here and works his way back to the QB, showing him his number and giving him a big target to throw at.

I’ve talked about releases already, but this is another great example – Guarded by Andrew Booth Jr., now of the Minnesota Vikings, he immediately threatens deep and gets Booth on his heels and into recovery mode. Perry sells his route superbly and it means that he gains separation by using the defender’s momentum against him as he turns back towards the QB to make the catch. 

The safety misses the tackle due to Perry being able to turn quickly inside and now there’s nothing but green grass ahead of him and he takes advantage with a huge gain after the catch. Had it not been for the incredible recovery speed of safety, Andrew Mukuba (#1), Perry would have scored. 

We can see that Perry is Sam Hartman’s best friend on the football field, so how will these two link up this weekend against Army?

First off, now that I have shown you a taster of the film from this kinda-kooky, slow mesh offense, I want to give a shout out to my guy Simon Carroll over at The Touchdown who wrote up a fantastic piece on the Wake Forest slow mesh offense – Which you can read HERE. So if you want to know more about the bigger picture, hop over to that piece once you’re done here. Here is a clip of it working perfectly against Army last year…

Defenders get caught with their eyes in the backfield waiting to see which way the mesh goes and it’s a game of who blinks first. All the while, receivers like Perry are tearing down the field past DBs and calling for the deep shots! When it works, it’s fantastic.

Last year, in the game against Army, Perry had 6 catches for 146 yards and a score. So considering that he was gaining over 24 yards a grab last year, it’ll be interesting to see how Army game plans for a player who hurt them so much last year.

I feel like Army has two defenses – Either allow Andre Carter to absolutely tee off on every snap from his EDGE position and pray that he sacks Sam Hartman enough times to slow the play down. Or double cover Perry with safety help over the top at all times with the corner who’s guarding Perry playing a tight trail technique behind to dare Hartman to hit the tough throw, or beat them by using the other receivers almost exclusively.

If not, due to the talent differential, I’d expect Perry to carve up the Golden Knight’s defense once again. 

Can we expect to see Perry playing on Sundays?

I would be shocked if we didn’t see Perry drafted within the first couple of rounds of the NFL Draft.

I think he possesses a typical X-receiver’s frame, with his height and speed to make catches that is not too dissimilar to someone like Mike Williams, although the evidence of spectacular body control isn’t on film and is what makes someone like Williams special. He can run routes off the vertical stem and at 6’5, he’s always going to be someone who will be a threat in the red zone with jump balls and ability to box out smaller defenders.

Perry is a player who teams value because the height and speed combination that he possesses are unteachable gifts. He can access the deep portion of the field and create space for his team mates underneath. We’ve seen in the clips above that every team he faces respects the fact that he can run by them and score from anywhere, and that isn’t going to change in the NFL.

One prominent podcaster and scout had him as WR1 in summer scouting.

So to conclude…

Perry is a big-bodied X receiver with the skillset that NFL teams crave, however, he has to clean up his technique and I would also love to see him diversify his route tree as well.

Perry only works vertically, which whilst that plays to his strengths, it limits his effectiveness and can mean that he’s taken out of the game with bracket coverages.

I feel like there’s enough agility to work in some double moves and enough physicality to give him some slants over the middle – With a 6’5 body and long arms, there’s no corner in the league with the length to stop him cashing in on easy money in the short areas, if he can smarten up his hands in clutch moments.

I feel like Perry has all the ingredients to be a player who can be successful in the NFL from day one. He has a good understanding of releases, and manipulating defenders, but he’s not a master of these things. He can be successful immediately by doing the things he does now, but he has a ceiling when he masters certain skills. I feel that he absolutely could be moulded into a more rounded receiver who can be effective at all three levels and in the red zone. 

He’ll continue to hone his craft and be super productive for Wake Forest and continue to forge his path to the NFL and he’s not only a player to watch this week but also for the rest of the year.  

By Lee Wakefield – Follow Lee on Twitter @wakefield90

Read the rest of the Player to Watch articles here.

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F10Y CFB – Week 5 Scouting Notes, Clemson vs. NC State

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This was the game of the week for me, well on paper at least, as the two top dogs in the ACC, both top ten ranked, duked it out in a night game. The reality was that Clemson should have won by more than the ten points they did, and are now favourites to sweep conference play and get a good shot at the College Football Play-off.

We’ll start the notes with the winning Tigers…

Clemson

I got a decent look at Clemson last week against Wake Forest, and the offense in that game looked so much better than it did for much of last season. This game was a bit of a mixed bag, but this was also the best defense that the Tigers had faced so far this season, so a regression from last week’s big output was expected.

Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei looked a different beast last week against the Demon Deacons throwing for 371 yards and five touchdowns, but he was back to a more conservative game plan against the Wolfpack, where the emphasis was on ball control rather than splash plays.

He did go deep a couple of times but he overthrew both passes and his overall accuracy is still a bit of a worry for me. Clemson have used him more to run the ball this year, and he does a nice job of getting what he can on the ground, but as a pure passer there are still many questions for me that need answering.

Obviously he is playing much better than last year, but I think he’s quite a way down the quarterback draft list still, although with that size and arm strength there will be plenty of intrigue if he does throw his name into the 2023 draft. 

Clemson have churned out some exceptional wide receivers over the last decade, but this current bunch are not living up to that standard. The Tigers have instead turned to a more run based attack, utilising the tight ends in the passing game, and they have a guy who may make it to the next level.

Davis Allen is a big target (6’6 250) with decent hands who looked good last week snaring two touchdowns and was a valuable outlet for his quarterback in this game too.

He has functional strength as a blocker, but he certainly won’t wow anyone in that department, although he does enough to survive. If Allen tests well he should certainly find himself in that mid day three range, and should make an NFL roster. 

Defensively, Clemson have three stud players, all of whom could be first round picks, but one of them Defensive Tackle Bryan Bresee was out of this game, so all eyes were on the other two…

I really like EDGE Myles Murphy – Who was highly rated in our summer scouting series.

He is bigger than most of the EDGE’s in this potential draft class, so he doesn’t possess the bend and dip of those smaller guys, but he does win with strength and quick hands consistently. This was an odd game for him, as statistically he had 1.5 sacks and a couple of pressures, but he was nullified for stretches of the game which doesn’t happen very often.

There was one pressure he went straight through the left tackle with power, and although not the level of athlete of some of the top guys, he can still win around the edge on the outside shoulder of the tackles. He is the same size (6’5 275) as last year’s number one pick Travon Walker but won’t test as well as he did, but he should be a first round lock, and possibly as high as the top ten.

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There is plenty of hype surrounding linebacker Trenton Simpson, but I’m not quite as high on him as the consensus seems to be.

There is no doubting his athletic ability as he glides around the field effortlessly, but for me there seems to be questions with instincts and that’s a concern for someone in the middle of the defense.

He has moved into a more traditional off-ball Linebacker position this season, as he was more out in the slot in 2021, so perhaps that explains some instinctual issues, but this will be his NFL position, so he needs to look better than this for the rest of the season to maintain first round status.

The old position Simpson moved from has been taken by true sophomore Barrett Carter, and this game was very much a coming out party for him. He has all the athletic ability that Simpson does, and although he doesn’t have the same size, he is a fearless player who understands his role perfectly. We could be talking about Carter in the same way we did about Simpson next season when he’ll be draft eligible.

NC State

This Wolfpack offense struggled to move the ball against Clemson, especially in the second half, as the offensive line couldn’t control the line of scrimmage. I like quarterback Devin Leary, but this game showcased his limitations.

When he has time, as he did in the first half, he can move this offense down the field nicely. What he has trouble with is coming off script and producing under pressure, which is how the second half went. I’m not sure there’s a lot of upside to him, but you can see him carving out a nice NFL career in a back-up capacity.

Leary’s most reliable target, wide receiver Thayer Thomas certainly appears to have an NFL future. Everyone needs one of these crafty slot receivers that can always get open and have safe hands, and Thomas is an excellent example of one. Not the biggest or the fastest, but he drops virtually nothing and is a consistent chain-mover. Call him a poor man’s Hunter Renfrow, who has an outside chance of going late in the draft.

Defensively NC State were very impressive at times, despite giving up 30 points. The three man defensive line has a thankless task at times, just occupying spaces and eating blockers, but these guys are excellent at doing it.

I’ve been a big defensive tackle Cory Durden fan for a long time, even back to his Florida State days he stood out to me. Now he is used exclusively as a nose tackle in their odd front, so he sees plenty of double teams and has to fight on every snap to keep lineman off him and keep in on the play.

Durden has a great get off and arm over move, which when timed right will split the double teams and get him into the backfield. His role will never offer him the chance to be statistically productive, but his value can’t be overlooked, and some NFL odd front teams should spend a day three pick on him for sure. 

The benefactors of the big guys up front are the linebackers, who can exploit the chaos and make the plays.

NC State has three good ones, all of whom could end up being drafted, but for me the highlight performer from this group against Clemson was Isaiah Moore.

He is a fifth year player who really burst onto the scene as a Freshman in 2018, but has never really kicked on. Injuries have played their part, and he missed half of last season with one, so he needed a good final year to get him back on the NFL radar, and this game tape should do that.

In this game, Moore was always around the ball and quick to react to plays developing in front of him. He is a good form tackler who wraps up nicely making sure the ball carrier gets down. Now I doubt he’ll test that well, and with the injury history to consider too he’ll be a late round pick at best, but these types of guys are always hanging around on NFL rosters.

I do love a hard hitting, play making safety, and Tanner Ingle certainly fits that bill. He flies around the field hitting anything that moves and will sacrifice his body to get in on a tackle. He is undersized for this role (5’10 185) and you’d expect that his body wouldn’t hold up in this role in the NFL, but I’m not backing against this guy as he has a bit of Tyrann Mathieu about him, and he turned out alright didn’t he?

By Keith Lucken – Follow Keith on Twitter @lordlucken

Catch the rest of Keith’s scouting notes HERE.

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2022 CFB: Is Drake Maye a Heisman Candidate?

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Johnny “Money” Manziel, Jameis Winston, Drake Maye. These are the names we see when looking at freshmen who have won the Heisman Trophy.

After five weeks of the college football season, the Heisman race is shaping up to be a good one. Front runners C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young have come out firing on all cylinders this season. Yet after an injury to his throwing arm, Bryce Young’s odds have decreased a bit. Players like Caleb Williams and Hendon Hooker are looking to keep this a close one, but do not count out UNC quarterback Drake Maye. 

Maye, the redshirt freshman who transferred from Alabama, is on pace for a record setting season with the Tar Heels. As it stands today, the quarterback has 22 total touchdowns on the year, currently leading all of college football. He has shown plenty of success in the pocket this season and flashes plenty of ability to escape and create issues on the ground. Making him a nightmare to game plan against. 

After five games in 2022, Maye ranks sixth in passing yards and has an impressive 69.7% completion percentage. The Tar Heel freshman has only thrown a single interception all season, and has only turned the ball over two other times on the ground, proving he has the ability to hold onto the ball.

So why should he be in the Heisman conversation? 

Maye has led this UNC team to a 4-1 record so far, and has done so with a far from elite defense. This is the same defensive unit that allowed App St. to score 61 points against them. So unlike Stroud and Young, Maye is producing results without a huge performance from his colleagues on the other side of the ball. Having to air it out just to keep this team afloat, quite literally carrying the offense on his back. The quarterback has been the teams leading rusher already twice this season and is second on the team in rushing yards with 255. 

There is always a lot of talk about a “Heisman Moment” and Drake Maye has had an assortment of clutch throws that could fall into this, with his most impressive coming from the shootout with App St. Before the half Maye threaded the needle on a 15 yard dime to sophomore tight end Bryson Nesbit to give UNC the lead before half. While down 45-26 against Notre Dame, Maye kept the team alive on a 4th and 21 when he hit wide receiver Antoine Green for an 80 yard touchdown. A ball which he released as getting hit, making the play all the more impressive. 

If Maye is to pull off this impressive feat, it would make him the youngest Heisman winner ever, surpassing Lamar Jackson who currently holds the record at 19 years and 337 days. Maye just turned 19 on August 30th of this year. This would also make him just the third freshman to ever win the prestigious award. North Carolina has found a young star who could terrorize the ACC for years to come, let us hope this career is not wasted by Mack Brown and his sloppy defenses in the same vein as his predecessor, “Heisman Howell.” 

By Will Lane – @TheWillieLane

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2022 CFB: Week 5 – Winners and Losers

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Who made this week’s Winner & Losers column (aka. The ‘Kansas & Losers’ column)… find out below.

Winners

UCLA

Let’s put some respect on UCLA’s name. At 5-0 with a couple of very eligible wins under their belt, the Bruins are looking good. The college football world had been aflame with praise for Washington in recent weeks, but the 40-32 scoreline makes this game seem closer than it was.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson is one of the great mysteries of the CFB world, he profiles as a very good QB but over the last few seasons he has been largely inconsistent. Now, midway through his fifth year with UCLA, are we seeing a player that could be jumping NFL draft boards? Through five games DTR has completed 74.3% of his passes for 11 touchdowns, with just one interception blotting the copy book.

The addition of Jake Bobo from Duke in the offseason appears to be paying dividends, with the 6’5” outside receiver putting up a huge six catch, 142 yards and two touchdown day on Friday evening. Combined with the ever-dangerous Zach Charbonnet, the Bruins have a nice one-two punch at receiver and running back.

Back to back games against Utah and Oregon might bring Chip Kelly’s men back to earth with a bang, but for now the programme has a feel good factor on the field.

Ole Miss

Ole Miss are another team who moved to 5-0 with a win on Saturday, taking down Kentucky in order to do so. Despite all the offensive talent scattered across both rosters, the Rebels defense were largely to thank for the win.

Maurice Crum and D.J Durkin act as co-defensive coordinators in Oxford, and their approach proved effective, with Ole Miss putting up nine tackles for a loss, three sacks and multiple fumble recoveries. AJ Finley (S) and Austin Keys (LB) were at the heart of everything, as Will Levis came under scrutiny at QB for Kentucky.

Offensively, Jaxson Dart’s stat line won’t be setting off too much excitement amongst the Rebels’ fan base, but he’s slowly adjusting to life under Lane Kiffin. Games against Vanderbilt and Auburn should allow Kiffin and his team to extend their winning streak, before a more difficult section of the schedule hits.

TCU & Max Duggan

It’s been a tough ride for Max Duggan as TCU’s starting quarterback. Along with the inconsistent performances has come a lot of scrutiny, and even a trip to the bench to start the 2022 season.

However, the fourth year signal caller is now stamping his authority on the starting job and an offense which has been purring away nicely to start the season. Against a solid Oklahoma side, Duggan put up video game numbers – 302 yards passing, three passing scores and 116 yards rushing plus a further two touchdowns on the ground. Impressive.

It’s clear that Duggan is thriving in his role as the offensive leader for the Horned Frogs, he looks calm in the pocket and is more than willing to share the ball around to any target that can get half a step on the defender covering him. Draft scouts would probably like to see Quentin Johnson padding the stat sheet in wins like this, but the future Sunday player did draw multiple pass interference calls in the first half.

An exciting matchup against 5-0 Kansas awaits TCU next week.

Losers

Virginia

After so much preseason hype around the weapons at their disposal, Virginia are really failing to live up to expectations so far in 2022. On Saturday they dropped to 2-3 with a defeat to a resurgent Duke who completely bullied the Cavaliers on the ground.

Brennan Armstrong had got the ‘dark horse’ label from some analysts ahead of the 2023 draft, but at present he’s struggling to stay upright behind an offensive line that is porous, to put it politely. The pressure Armstrong is facing is impacting his ability to find standout targets, Dontayvion Wicks and Keytaon Thompson – the latter being the only real bright spot for the Cavaliers so far this season.

As the rest of the ACC, including Duke, look to progress, Virginia seem to be going backwards. Tony Elliot was appointed as the new Head Coach this offseason, and he absolutely deserves some time to turn things around, but this season is already looking like a right off for the Cavaliers.

Wisconsin

24 carries of the football for the Badgers, two yards rushing in total. That stat says it all about Wisconsin’s performance against Illinois on Saturday as Bret Bielema enjoyed every minute of his team’s win against his former team.

Graham Mertz was sacked five times and threw two interceptions, as Wisconsin struggled to get anything going offensively. Braelon Allen has been incredibly efficient against stacked boxes all season long, but even he couldn’t get the ball moving against a resolute Fighting Illini defense.

On the flip side, the Badgers defense looked slow and struggled against the dynamic running style of Chase Brown. They also struggled to stop QB, Tommy Devito, punching the ball into the end zone three times in what was one of the most humbling defeats Wisconsin have suffered at home in recent years. 

Ohio State’s Punter

This might be a British thing, although judging by Twitter’s reaction it probably isn’t. You’re up by 30 points against a clearly inferior team, it’s fourth down in your own half – just punt the ball away. It’s a nice respectful thing to do. 

Instead, Jesse Mirco decided his time had come and he broke away for a 22 yard run. Only to be slammed to the floor as he ran out of bounds, cue some excellent handbags from the Buckeyes bench. We’re not condoning late hits at the Full10Yards, but…

By Andy Moore @ajmoore21

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F10Y CFB Player to Watch: Blake Corum, Michigan

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It’s that time again! It’s time to sit down and check in on one of the more interesting players and match ups for this weekend’s college football schedule in our Player to Watch space.

However, it hasn’t gone unnoticed that this column appears to have somewhat of a touch of bad luck that follows the players covered – You can read the rest here – With none having a particularly great outing game after being written up.

Big Blue fans will hope that a similar effect isn’t felt by their star running back in this weekend’s game against Iowa… Although, how do you better 243 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns? Anyway, let’s get into Blake Corum…

So who is this power cube of a running back?

Blake Corum is on quite the tear to start this season as Michigan have stormed to a 4-0 start and to #4 in the AP Top 25 (although more importantly to the same position in the UK & Ireland CFB Media Rankings). Corum has scored at least one touchdown in each of the four games, he has had a 5 touchdown game against UConn and followed this with the aforementioned 243 yard game against Maryland last weekend! So it’s safe to say that he’s having quite the season so far!

Last year he was part of an absolutely deadly duo with Hassan Haskins in the Wolverines backfield with the pair combining for over 2,400 all-purpose yards. These guys powered Michigan as they won the Big Ten Championship, ended the season ranked #3 in the country, losing in the college football playoff semi-final to eventual champions Georgia and best of all, beat Ohio State. 

I’ve got to say I was very interested to see how Corum would fare without Haskins, but he seems to be shouldering the load and thriving as the main man this season! Whether he succumbs to the previously discussed Player to Watch Kiss of Death remains to be seen.

Into the background before we get some film study in then; Corum stands at 5’8 and packs a dense 210 lbs on to his frame – We really are talking about a wrecking ball of a runner here. Corum grew up in Marshall Virginia before heading to St. Frances Academy in Baltimore for High School where he accumulated over 40 touchdowns across his Junior and Senior seasons, which earned him a 4-star rating across all major recruiting sites. 

Since arriving on campus in Ann Arbor, Corum has worked his way up the depth chart to make it into his current role; in his Freshman season he mainly saw action as a returner, returning five kicks and one punt, with small action as the third running back in rotation. Although he showed his potential by scoring twice in 31 total touches. Then came the breakout Sophomore season where he and Haskins dominated pretty much everyone they faced.

Let’s see how he does his damage…

Corum is a squatty back who can do damage between the tackles. He has a jittery, one-cut style and good vision, which is fantastic when combined with his burst and lateral quickness when needed to create yardage.

Check out how he makes the first man miss with a cut to the outside before a little shake’n’bake leaves another Northwestern defender’s ankles in shambles for a nice gain that leaves Michigan on the verge of a score.

Which brings me on to Blake’s next strength – The guy is a finisher from short yardage.

This is the very next play in the game against Northwestern. He doesn’t get stopped from that distance, as you can see in the above tweet thread vs. UConn. 

Let’s talk about an aspect where Blake is underused – Pass catching. With only 31 catches to date, there isn’t a huge sample size for this but I feel from what I did see, Corum has nice, soft hands and he can take in ones like this that require him to make a catch on the move. Back to the Northwestern game;

There’s no run after catch here, which I feel he can easily get in different circumstances, but I have included this one as I felt it was one that could easily have been dropped. He’s backpedalling, with defenders approaching at pace.

Generally speaking, I see a lot of evidence of Blake being a safe checkdown option with the ability to catch the ball with hands extended away from his body, before turning and accelerating upfield for a decent gain. Easy money for JJ McCarthy and Michigan.

This is an area that will also intrigue NFL teams and make them wonder about his ceiling in his area, because it does feel like there’s untapped potential here.

 This next clip is one I absolutely love, which is from the Michigan State game from last year. Michigan schemes up a lovely run off the left side of their line here, Corum shows outstanding patience to wait for the blockers to open things up and he’s able to burst through the gap. This is a long-developing run play with both tight ends making their way across the formation, as well as the center getting involved. Some running backs would get jittery and get dancing feet in the backfield on plays like this, but not Blake.

It’s not a huge gain but just shows his maturity as a runner.

I’ve also seen multiple instances of Corum being willing and able to do the dirty work as a running back. Corum is willing to chip as he releases out of the backfield, he’s willing to stay in as a pass protector when needed too, and he’s more than a speed bump in those situations. Corum will also get after it as a blocker downfield too when the ball doesn’t go to him and he puts in the effort when doing so.

Add this to his value as a returner, (although as the clear RB1 Michigan hasn’t asked him to return through four games this year) and we have a player whose stock has a good floor level. 

However, as is tradition here in the Player to Watch film segment, we can’t finish off before giving one area of weakness and for Corum aside from his size profile, it’s his long speed. 

In short areas he’s great and he has the burst to make a short gain into a long one but over long distances he’s just not a burner.

We can see this in this return against Western Michigan last season. It’s a superb play and sets Michigan up with fantastic field position, but I feel like a real speedster takes his to the house.

A positive within a play I’m using a negative though – The contact balance is brilliant. Corum’s low center of gravity and thick lower half means he’s very difficult to bring down on first contact.

On to this weekend!

This week against Iowa sees Corum face a stingy defense with a couple of big linebackers…

Iowa’s record stands at 3-1 for the season so far, which on the face of it, seems pretty good. However, anyone who has been paying attention to college football will have noticed that the Iowa offense has become somewhat of a meme with their lack of scoring punch. Although, back-to-back 27 point outputs (albeit against Nevada and Rutgers) may stem the tidal wave of tweets somewhat.

On the flip side, the Hawkeyes defense is performing at a high level, having given up just 20 total points all season. Ok, the opponents have been South Dakota State, Iowa State, Nevada and Rutgers but still, this defense has always been a good units that has almost always performed to a level that is more than the sum of its parts in under Kirk Ferentz and DC, Phil Parker.

The unit is anchored by linebackers, Jestin Jacobs and star man, Jack Campbell, who was ranked very highly by myself and Keith in our Summer Scouting podcast. Jacobs measures up at 6’4 and Campbell at 6’5, unusual given their positions, so it will really feel like a David and Goliath(s) game when Corum gets to the second level. Campbell in particular is a tackling machine with good tackle radius and stopping power. He’s not the most athletic when moving side-to-side, but I know he’ll have been devouring Corum film in the lead up to this game and will be ready.

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I really feel like this one-on-one is key – If Campbell can stop Corum from getting going, it’ll go a long way to stopping the cogs in the Michigan machine from turning, and give Iowa a chance to stay in the game and maybe steal it. The Wolverines may have put up 200 points so far this season but this is Big Ten football now, and Kinnick Stadium is never an easy place to play.

So should you be looking forward to seeing Corum on Sundays?

Corum will get drafted, there’s no doubt in my mind about that.

He has been very productive, he’s got some interesting traits as we discussed earlier, as well as some special teams value. He has also played at a high level for a blue blood programme, in a time of success for the programme. However, just how high will he be drafted?

I feel like Corum’s size puts limitations on his draft ceiling – There just aren’t too many 5’8 running backs who are hugely successful in the league right now and of course, running back is a hugely devalued position in today’s NFL, especially when it comes to the draft.

His old buddy Hassan Haskins was picked up with the 131st Pick (fourth round) by the Tennessee Titans, and I think that could be a similar point in which Corum has his name called on day 3 of the draft next April.

Yes, it sounds sort of disrespectful to say that his super-productive college player will go on day 3, but that’s the reality of having this profile, at this position. Every season there is a running back who is productive in the NFL, that 90% of fans of his team won’t have heard of before he started scoring touchdowns on Sundays. Think of someone like Elijah Mitchell at the 49ers, he was drafted in the 6th round and has 1,100 scrimmage yards last year! However that is sadly the reality of it, especially when he doesn’t have that breakaway speed. He’s a short-term, short yardage battering ram, the kind of back that an NFL team will draft, run into the ground whilst on his rookie contract and then discard, in all likelihood.

Sad, but true. 

To Conclude… 

Corum is a super-fun player to watch and he will be fondly remembered in Ann Arbor and by Michigan fans for a long while. However, there’s a part of me which feels that he could blend into relative obscurity in the NFL, whilst having a respectable career for a decent number of years.

The sort of player who makes me think, fun college player but just fine in the NFL. 

So let’s enjoy his dominance whilst he’s still playing on Saturdays! Corum is worth a watch almost alone for a Michigan team who will be pushing all the way for that 4th playoff spot this year and another visit to the CFB playoff.

By Lee Wakefield – Follow Lee on Twitter, @Wakefield90

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Week 4 Scouting Notes, Tennessee Vs. Florida

Tennessee vs Florida

There were some big games on the week four slate, but the SEC east match up between the Volunteers and Gators seemed to be the best on paper, and it certainly didn’t disappoint, with Tennessee hanging on in the end to beat Florida 38-33. I’d seen the Gators already this season in their loss to Kentucky in week 2, but this was my first proper look at the Volunteers, and it’s clear both teams have plenty of draftable players amongst them.

We’ll start the round-up with the victorious Vols…

Tennessee

The Tennessee offense has come a long way in the 17 games Quarterback Hendon Hooker has been in control of it. Hooker was the games MVP, passing for 349 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 112 and another score. The stats are impressive but it’s the poise and decision making that really stand out with him, he seems to be in total control and understands this offense perfectly.

There were plenty of busted coverages which led to some big chunk easy throws, but the most impressive throw was a deep sideline pass just before half-time, putting it in a place only his receiver could make the catch, showing nice arm strength and accuracy. Hooker has always been talented; he just spent three years at Virginia Tech in an offense that never let him display his passing ability. Now his skills are on full show for everyone to see, and with a wide open QB3 race, why can’t Hooker be that guy, and ultimately a first round pick?

Star wide receiver Cedric Tillman was out with an injury so Tennessee needed others to step up, and three receivers did, each showing a different skill set. Whilst Jalin Hyatt and Ramel Keyton both proved reliable targets, it was receiver Bru McCoy who stood out.

McCoy has had quite a journey so far in his college career, going back and forth between USC and Texas before ending up in Tennessee for the start of this season. McCoy was ranked as a five star, number 9 overall player in the 2019 recruiting class, but he only saw 210 snaps in his USC career due to a variety of reasons.

Flashforward to now, through four games as a Volunteer he has played 244 snaps and has found a role as a complimentary weapon in this high powered offense. He had a couple of clutch big plays against Florida, showing nice hands and power after the catch, and the talent is very clear to see. He will be draft eligible, but with Tillman off to the NFL after the season, it might be wiser to stay and build on this promising break-out year. 

Defensively the Vols played well against a dynamic quarterback, with the front seven really standing out. The cream of the crop for me was defensive tackle Omari Thomas.

He is very easy to spot in the middle as he’s so big (6’4 320lbs) but he moves so much better than someone of that size. Thomas has a powerful get off and was causing disruption all night, especially against the run. He’s not a stat filler, and his role doesn’t really allow him to produce, but he can force plays off design and change running game plans, and that is still a very valuable commodity to have in the NFL.

Late in the game, he made a big play, possibly the game clinching play, when he forced a fumble on an Anthony Richardson run deep in Tennessee territory, preserving their 10 point lead.

Thomas was a high end four star recruit (ranked 91 overall by 247 sports), but hasn’t really lived up to that billing yet, so let’s hope this is the start of some more dominant performances and he can get his name back on the NFL radar.

Edge Byron Young is on the smaller side for the position (6’3 245) but he has great speed and dip to scare the best college offensive tackles. He had two quarterback hits and five hurries in this game, so always around the action just never getting in on a sack. Young impressed me last year, which was his first season at Tennessee after spending time in the JUCO ranks, and he has carried it on so far this year too. Size and age (he is aged 24 already) will make him less appealing to the NFL, but that pass rush win rate is too impressive, especially in the SEC, to ignore completely. 

Florida

Quarterback Anthony Richardson needed a bounce back game after two bad performances against Kentucky and South Florida, and he provided it here. This is what we wanted to see from him, poised, dynamic and with plenty of big plays thrown in too. Yes, he had the costly, aforementioned fumble, but he was the reason Florida stayed in the game until the end.

Richardson put up 453 yards and two touchdowns through the air, and an extra 62 yards on the ground and two more scores. Big numbers indeed, and the stats didn’t lie here. He looked every part a high draft pick, but he’ll need to keep this level of play up and not revert to the horrible inconsistencies that plagued him in the previous two games.

He is someone that in all honesty should probably go back next year and get more experience, but that size and arm strength will have NFL teams licking their lips, and the lure may be too great to leave. A lot can happen over the next ten weeks or so, but it was good to see Richardson play at such a high level again.

Wide receiver Justin Shorter was the main beneficiary of his quarterbacks big day, reeling in seven catches for 155 yards. Shorter is a big target at 6’4 223lbs, and he uses his body well to protect the catch zone. He helped his quarterback out when he was in trouble, consistently finding space in zones to provide a target for him. He is someone that has flattered to deceive for me in the past, but if Richardson keeps up his level of play, then Shorter will have more opportunities like this to show off the skills that made him a five star recruit coming out of High School.

Florida’s defense struggled to contain Tennessee, particularly as the game wore on. I thought linebacker Ventrell Miller and safety Rashad Torrence did well, but I’ll highlight a couple of highly rated guys who disappointed here.

EDGE Brenton Cox seems to have been around forever and is someone I’ve seen plenty of times, and generally I’m a fan of, but he does have the odd negative game like this. He couldn’t muster much of a pass rush against either Tennessee offensive tackle and wasn’t a factor against the run either. He can be somewhat one dimensional as a pass rusher and there didn’t seem to be a plan B for him, which considering the amount of experience he has is slightly worrying. He has been held sackless after four games so far this season, so he needs to get back on track soon or they’ll be production questions to answer come draft time.

Right now there is a lot of hype for defensive tackle Gervon Dexter, but I’m remaining slightly more cautious than most about him. I wrote about him last season after he blew up against Alabama, but what followed was inconsistent play for the rest of the season when I saw him. Well, the same is happening again this season, as he dominated against Kentucky in week two, but was downright average here against the Vols. Dexter can be such a frustrating watch as he has all the size and traits you want, it just appears that the light isn’t always on when he plays. He reminds me physically, and style wise, of Javon Kinlaw, who suffered the same inconsistencies in college, but he ended up going 14th overall in the 2020 draft. Dexter could easily go that high if he comes out, but Kinlaw is a great example of someone who still, after three seasons in the league, still hasn’t put it all together, and wasn’t worth the lofty selection.

We can’t end on a negative, so I’ll quickly mention redshirt freshman EDGE Justus Boone, who is someone with a very bright future. He absolutely looks the part at 6’4 260, and really flashed against the run in his limited role. He handled the Offensive Tackles much better than the previously mentioned Cox, and was winning with strength and effort, which is a good sign for a youngster. He was active in the game I saw earlier against Kentucky too, so this is someone I’m tucking away ready to explore in more depth next year, when he’ll be draft eligible. 

By Keith Lucken – Follow Keith on Twitter @lordlucken

Find the rest of Keith’s scouting notes HERE

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2022 CFB: Week 4 – Winners & Losers

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Kansas made their first appearance in our ‘winners’ column several weeks ago, but we may soon have to insert a standalone section just for the Jayhawks after they moved to 4-0 at the weekend.

As it is we’ve gone for three new winners, with a familiar team appearing in the ‘losers’ this week.

Winners – @Ajmoore21

Tennessee

When the news of Cedric Tillman’s absence was announced prior to kick off, there’s no doubt some Tennessee fans gulped and hoped for the best. The veteran receiver is key to the Vols offense and so to have him unavailable was a big blow.

Those fans needn’t have worried. Hendon Hooker showed why he’s beginning to garner some real draft buzz with a dominant performance in the 38-33 rivalry win against Florida. Not only did he look after the ball, Hooker also steamrolled the Gators on the ground.

Alongside their QB, Bru McCoy and Jabari Small both stepped up and delivered key plays when the moment needed it. The offense consistently got into Gator territory but a mixture of fumbles, failures to convert on fourth down and missed field goals made the game look much closer than it really was by the close of play. 

The win moved the Vols to 4-0 on the season, and they’re looking right in the mix in the SEC East.

Jaydn Ott

The Cal Bears have got off to a pretty decent start to the season by their recent standards. Through the first four weeks of the year they stand at 3-1, and they enjoyed a strong win against Arizona on Saturday.

At the heart of that victory was freshman running back, Jaydn Ott. It takes a special calibre of player to put up 274 yards rushing and three TDs in just your fourth collegiate game. But the most impressive thing is that Ott has been the starter since week one, and the coaching staff had no qualms about making that decision.

The Chino native is a brute with the ball in his hands, lowering the shoulder and welcoming contact. He’s also got an impressive turn of speed and takes good downfield angles to avoid onrushing defensive backs.

With 463 yards and four scores so far this year, it’s looking like Ott will be a 1000 yard rusher in his first year of collegiate ball. If that is the case, expect the draft buzz to begin and the scrutiny that comes with that to intensify.

Ohio State

It’s easy to include the Buckeyes in here whenever they put up a big score, but they’re such an impressive offensive team that they do regularly warrant inclusion. This week the potency of CJ Stroud and team took down a Wisconsin defense that is known to be difficult to breakdown, and they did it pretty easily.

Stroud only completed 17 passes on the day, but five of those went for touchdowns as Emeka Egbuka, Julian Fleming and Cade Stover all got on the box score. Instead it was the ground game that really paved the way for victory in this one, with both TreyVeon Henderson and Miyan Williams surpassing 100 yards rushing. 

The defense only forced one turnover in the game, a 30 yard interception by Tanner McCalister, but with an offense that is as dominant as Ohio State’s does the other side of the ball need to do anything other than play hard and limit the opposition?

Losers – @Wakefield90 

Miami

Is there any other place to start?

Mario Cristobal and his ranked Miami Hurricanes side, welcoming a Middle Tennessee side to Hard Rock Stadium off the back of a tough loss in a close one with Texas A&M last week, what a great bounceback opportunity. Right..? This one is absolutely ripe for the popular Anakin and Padme meme…

Miami wouldn’t be atop of our losers’ column had the *checks notes* Blue Raiders not run out winners, and by two scores too!

Middle Tennessee racked up 507 total yards on their way to 45 points, they won the turnover battle and even won in despite being even worse than Miami on 3rd down, and the Hurricanes converted on 35% of their third down attempts.

It started off poorly for Miami as Tyler Van Dyke, last week’s Player to Watch, threw an interception on a play from his own 10 yard line. Miami were let off, only giving up a field goal on the following MTU possession.

However, later on in the first quarter a rather more unlucky interception was thrown, again deep in Miami’s own territory, but this time, Sophomore defensive lineman, Zaylin Wood returned it to the house for a big man touchdown. This gave MTU a 10-0 lead with 5 minutes played in the contest.

Despite this, I would have imagined that fans would have reasonably expected Miami to overcome the deficit against a far inferior opponent, but Middle Tennessee kept the Hurricanes at arm’s length throughout the rest of the contest to claim a famous victory.

Chance Nolan

I am usually not a big fan of putting individuals in the losers’ section but given the Oregon State quarterback threw four interceptions in a 14-17 loss to everyone’s least favourite Pac-12 team, I sort of have no choice.

Let me start by saying this; the Beavs are good, no longer the bottom dwellers of the conference, Jonathan Smith has Oregon State playing tough, hard-nosed football sans any real star power on either side of the ball.

They reduced USC’s galaxy of stars offense to something very ordinary, beatable and pedestrian looking. Travis Dye, former Oregon Duck, was the star man – not Caleb Williams or any of the billion incredibly talented wide receivers, although the winning TD throw to Jordan Addison was an absolute Dime. The Trojans were limited to 50% on third down, and Oregon State shackled them to less than 5 yard per play. They just couldn’t take advantage of the situation being so close because they kept throwing the ball to white jerseys, instead of orange ones.

It was all there for Oregon State to claim another victory over USC, in what will likely be the final visit to Corvallis for a long time, but it wasn’t to be.

Nolan was bad. This bad…

USC didn’t actually score any points off the turnovers, but had Oregon State just kept the scoreboard ticking over, there wouldn’t have been time and/or opportunities for USC to come back into the game and win it.

Oregon State were leading late in the fourth but with the door ajar, Williams and Addison linked up for the aforementioned winner. Even so, Nolan threw his fourth and final pick in the final drive with around 40 seconds remaining. The sort of situation –  two timeouts and 55 yards to the opposing end zone, or 30 something for a comfy(ish) field goal – That if you pull it off you make it to the other half of this article. But no, USC marches on.

Cayden Bridges

I am usually not a big fan of putting individuals in the losers’ section but given the Missouri running back fumbled a potentially game-winning touchdown, into the end zone, in a 14-17 loss, I sort of have no choice.

This one was not a good game, so I guess the losers could be anyone who watched this one too. 

The teams exchanged a combined 12 straight punts in the second half. A second half that remained completely scoreless.

The score was 14-14 with each team scoring two unanswered touchdowns in a quarter; Auburn in the first quarter before Mizzou had a couple in the second, before the disasterclass began in the second half. Missouri missed a 26-yard kick that would have won them the game and saved Bridges from this column.

There’s not a tonne to say about this game, because it was so bad, so I will just leave you with the clip for those who haven’t already seen it… because if a picture says 1,000 words, how many does a short video say?

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F10Y CFB Player to Watch – Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State

Welcome in once again to our Player of the Week space. This week I am heading back to the well of my favourite position in football and talking about an edge defender. This week I’m running the rule over s true breakout pass rusher, who may seem a little off the beaten track right now but come draft time, I think Felix Anudike-Uzomah will be appearing in a lot of top 50 lists, or even first round mock drafts.

Full disclosure, and perhaps a little teaser for later in the season, this week I really was tossing up between writing about Felix and another Big XII edge, Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson – Let me know if you would like to see that one in the next few weeks!

So Kansas State has a new star man… on defense!

It’s been a while since Kansas State has had a potential defensive star on their hands.

The Wildcats have had a couple of second round offensive linemen in recent times, Dalton Risner, Cody Whitehair… As well as Tyler Lockett, who has blossomed into a ln important player for the Seahawks, but again, he was a day two selection.

Felix Anudike-Uzomah could buck that trend and be the first Wildcat to be drafted in the first round since Josh Freeman in 2009, and the first defensive player taken on the first day of the draft since Terrence Newman in 2005.

So yeah, it’s been a minute. 

Anudike-Uzomah is a 6’4 Junior who tips the scales at 255lbs, so he is on the lighter side for an edge defender, especially considering that K-State typically lines up in a 3-3-5 base defense (more of his role and alignment later).

As I’ve alluded to, Kansas State isn’t a hotbed of talent who sends players to the NFL on a regular basis – Although, offensive lineman Cooper Beebe is highly thought of, especially by our guys who scouted him in summer. They have also Deuce Vaughn, who may carve himself out a spot in the league despite being very, very small by NFL standards.

This also speaks to Felix’s time before rocking up in Manhattan. He was a 3-star recruit from Lee’s Summit High School, in suburban Kansas City, and despite a steady stream of tackles for loss as a Junior and Senior in high school and earning district honors from the Missouri media and coaches association, the offers did not roll in. According to 24/7 Sports, Felix committed to North Dakota State in September 2019 and in December of the same year, he had de-committed and signed up with Kansas State.

And those were his only two offers. There are also no mention of offers on any other site that I usually cross reference information on either, including his K-State bio.

It is said that everyone develops at different rates on the football field and Kansas State must be ecstatic that they managed to get a local kid whose talent would usually be snapped up by a more illustrious football programme.

Felix saw action in his True Freshman season, playing a handful of games and rotating into the defensive line, although, in limited action he still managed one sack.

However, it was in 2021, as a Sophomore where he truly took flight! 12 games, 14.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and an even more incredible six forced fumbles. Everything just clicked for him and now he’s making splash plays and has become a game wrecker!

No signs of him being a one season wonder either, this season through three games, 9 tackles, 3.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks and another forced fumble. With seven forced fumbles, he is actually only three shy of the Kansas State school record.

Incredible.

So where did this homegrown diamond come from? Let’s look at how he plays…

As usual, I’ll start with the first thing that jumped off the screen when I was going over the film – Felix burst and he’s also a very willing worker. Given that Kansas State is sometimes only rushes three and this means that Felix spends a lot of time lined up as a 4i, and therefore the offensive line has a natural double team on him. 

This isn’t the prettiest sack of his career so far but I feel like it really shows that he can work for his rewards and it does reward him. He’s lined up in the 4i here and has the agility and wherewithal to defeat the chop block and then chase down Spencer Sanders for a sack.

A lot of his positives that I’ve listed on his evaluation are linked to his physical gifts. In addition to the quickness and motor that I mentioned above, it’s his ability to turn the corner and flatten the arc whilst in contact with the lineman.

Felix was absolutely dominant in this game vs. TCU – four sacks and two forced fumbles. I am not sure if someone could turn a corner more here as he performs a 180 on this play to take down the QB.

Lined up on the nearside of the defensive line (#91), he beats the tackle around the edge – And he was a little slow off the mark (more of that next) – and then is able to tightly turn and take the passer down from behind.

Would I like to see further refinement? Of course! There are instances such as this one below, where I would love to see more development with his understanding of the game and offenses. I’ve slowed this clip down just before the snap so that you can see just how late he gets off the ball here, especially in comparison to his fellow defensive linemen.

Just as in the second clip, he needs to learn how to time the snap better and get off the ball a fraction quicker. The battle between offensive and defensive linemen is all about racing to landmarks and beating each other by fractions of a second. It’s encouraging that he’s having success in spite of this flaw. 

So back to positives, I’m really encouraged by the breakout in production that he’s had in general. The caveat is that it is in the Big XII and therefore he’s maybe not seeing the greatest level of competition.

Although, wanting to remain positive; he knows how to win reps, and has done so with frequency over the past season and a bit and he has the unteachable stuff. He’s got the god-given attributes that some players simply don’t have bestowed on them.

Lastly, and I’ll discuss the importance of this more further down the page, but I love his nose for the ball… check this forced fumble out.

Super valuable play here near the goal line and he has shown a knack for this kind of thing. Felix (lined up on the far side of the defensive line) gets depth and drives his lineman (#55) back, but he’s also aware of the QB and as the quarterback tries to scramble, he’s able to make the tackle and force the ball loose. 

With that in mind, how is this going to translate into the NFL?

Anudike-Uzomah could be drafted in the league today and cause issues for lower-level tackles just due to pure speed and physical gifts. I absolutely loved Azeez Ojulari a couple of draft cycles back, who was all speed and needed refinement in the same sort of manner and he had a very successful rookie year, registering 8 sacks. 

Azeez is quicker than Felix, but Felix’s nose for forced fumbles gives him a real edge and another layer to his game that gives me confidence that he’ll be a success in the league.

Defense in 2022 is all about turnovers, getting another possession for your offense. Forced fumbles are a great way to get turnovers!

As a Chargers fan, I heard a veteran player like Joey Bosa say that he wanted to add strip sacks to his game a couple of years back and last season in 2021, he had seven in 16 games. That’s huge for a defense to have that many opportunities to get the ball back, and Felix already has this kind of killer instinct in his game.

This week’s match up is an interesting one…

Kansas State heads to Norman, Oklahoma, off the back of a jarring loss to Tulane with the hopes of getting back on track.

Off course, heading to the home of the conference heavyweights is never going to be an easy task. Brent Venables has made a solid start to life as the Sooners’ Head Coach and they have recorded three resounding victories so far this season.

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel has the mobility to make the defensive line’s day very frustrating – He has to be accounted for as a runner and can slip out of what is seemingly a negative play until he slips away and runs for a big gain.

However, before Gabriel, Felix has got star left tackle, Anton Harrison to deal with. Harrison is one of the better thought of tackles in the 2023 draft class – Again, you can hear our pod here on offensive line for fuller analysis.

If Felix and the Kansas State coaches look at moving him around, Wanya Morris, Oklahoma’s right tackle, is no slouch either, so I’ve no doubt that this will be a test for Felix in the early hours of Sunday morning (UK time).

So to conclude…

Felix Anudike-Uzomah is an intriguing prospect with big upside and a couple of flaws and aspects of his game that need more work.

I don’t feel like the ways in which K-State aligns him uses him to his full potential. I don’t feel like he has the size profile to play as a down lineman in an odd front. He’s not the sort of build that we would typically see from a team line the Patriots in the league, who have had lines for 280-290lbs defensive linemen who have little in the way of juice but are super disciplined and are powerful against the run, Felix isn’t a guy like that, and he’s being put in those spots. 

We haven’t seen him stand up as a pass rusher as of yet and I would be really interested to see him deployed in a way that gets him more one-on-one match ups with tackles from either a wider alignment or even front as a more traditional 5 or even 7-tech defensive end.  

His stance is nice and low, he’s got the physical tools and he obviously knows how to win and be productive, so rushing from wider with his hand in the dirt, would put him in a more advantageous position.

Landing spot is going to be so important but I feel like this is a player who can put up numbers and be a game wrecker in the NFL.

Follow Lee on Twitter @Wakefield90

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2022 CFB: Week 4 Game Previews

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The most comprehensive weekly preview outside of the US!

West Virginia @ Virginia Tech

Friday 23rd September – 12.30am (UK) – Blacksburg, Virginia

Preview: This weekend’s action gets underway on Thursday night with an in-state rivalry game between West Virginia and Virginia Tech. The two teams met in 2021, with the Mountaineers running out 27-21 victors.

It’s been a fairly disappointing season for both teams so far. Virginia Tech dropped their week one game to Old Dominion, but they have bounced back with wins over Boston College and Wolford. On the flip side, WVU lost their opening two games to Kansas and Pitt, but in week three the offense blew Towson out of the water.

Dante Stills has been excellent at the heart of the West Virginia defensive line despite their early struggles. However, he needs some help if the Mountaineers are to win on Saturday. Although they’re ranked as the 41st defense so far in 2022, WVU have already shipped 14 touchdowns to opposition offenses – and Neal Brown has been clear that needs to improve. The offense has largely started to click under the guidance of JT Daniels, mainly thanks to the outstanding play of wide receiver, Bryce Ford-Wheaton.

Ford-Wheaton won’t be the only standout receiver on the field in this matchup. Temple transfer Jaden Blue has jumped up the depth chart after a strong performance at the weekend – he possesses great short yardage burst and a strong pair of hands, and will likely be drafted at the end of the season. Alongside him, Nick Gallo is one of the highest rated tight ends in the ACC, both in the run game and as a passing threat – he’ll be a handful for Jasir Cox, the transfer corner that has so far lined up in the slot for the Mountaineers. 

Key Matchup: Dante Stills (DL, WVU) vs VT Interior Defensive Line – Stills is a wrecking ball, disruptive in both the run and passing games and is versatile to boot. Grant Wells has looked a bit shaky as the Hokies starting QB through three games, and it’ll be up to Kaden Moore, Johnny Jordan and Jesse Hansen to keep him on his feet come Thursday. Look for Stills to identify the best matchup for his skills and exploit it all game long.

Game Line: West Virginia 2 point favourites at the time of writing.

Virginia @ Syracuse

Saturday 24th September – 12am (UK) – Syracuse, New York

Preview: Did anyone have Syracuse as the surprise package coming out of the ACC this year? Through three games they’ve played some exciting football on offense and been very solid on defense – especially in week one against Louisville.

Garrett Shrader was always going to be a playmaker for the Orange, but opposition coordinators probably didn’t anticipate how difficult he could be to shut down. Against Purdue, Shrader threw for three touchdowns but completed less than half of his passes – with the pass game stunted he took over on the ground instead, putting up a team leading 83 yards on 17 carries. He’ll be a nightmare to handle for a Virginia defense that has looked pretty static through the first three weeks of the season.

If Virginia are to make this one interesting, they’ll be relying on their talented receivers and Brennan Armstrong cranking into life. Armstrong has struggled to get standout receiver Dontayvion Wicks involved so far this year, but last weekend saw Keytaon Thompson get up and running with more than 100 yards receiving. The first three weeks have been disappointing in general for the Cavaliers, despite two wins they’ve been unconvincing and they certainly haven’t lived up to the potential they teased in 2021.

Key Matchup: Keytaon Thompson (WR, VIR) vs Garrett Williams (CB, SYR) – Williams is one of the highest rated defensive backs in the country, his silky smooth play has seen him mock drafted everywhere from the third round all the way to the top ten overall picks ahead of the 2023 draft. In Keytaon Thompson he’ll come up against a wrecking ball of a wide receiver who loves to create yardage with the ball in his hands. This one will be fascinating to watch from the first snap.

Game Line: Syracuse 9 point favourite at the time of writing.

Baylor @ Iowa State

Saturday 24th September – 5pm (UK) – Ames, Iowa

Preview: Onto Saturday’s action and there’s a lot to like about the 5pm games. Baylor’s trip to Ames should provide a good test for two quarterbacks that are enjoying their first full year as the main man on campus. Hunter Dekkers has hit the ground running for Iowa State after two years as Brock Purdy’s backup. The lefty has formed quite the relationship with standout receiver, Xavier Hutchinson, who will have his eyes set on the NFL at the end of the season. Interestingly, there’s been a committee approach at running back for the Hawkeyes, following the departure of Breece Hall.

Baylor’s defense has been their strong point so far in 2022, and given Dave Aranda’s past that is probably no surprise. The Bears rank 26th in total defense, with towering lineman Siaki Ika at the heart of everything. Ika is a natural leader who personifies the grit that Aranda’s defense plays with, along with TJ Franklin. They’re clearly rubbing off on Brooks Miller, who looked incredibly effective at linebacker in the blowout of Texas State last week. 

Blake Shapen has had an up and down start to life as the Bears’ starting QB. The main blip came down the stretch against BYU in the overtime defeat. Shapen got a bit loose with his mechanics and sailed a number of passes. This game is the chance for him to redeem himself against a strong opponent.

Key Matchup: Xavier Hutchinson (WR, ISU) vs Mark Milton (CB, BAY) – This is a simple case of WR1 vs CB1 – both are very good players and the winner of this matchup will likely tip the scales in the favour of his team.

Game Line: Iowa State 2.5 point favourite at the time of writing.

Clemson @ Wake Forest

Saturday 24th September – 5pm (UK) – Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Preview: Clemson have so far avoided significant scrutiny in 2022. Their no nonsense defense and above average offense are just too much for the majority of teams in college football. DJ Uiagalelei has clearly taken a step at QB for the Tigers, whether that is a significant step still remains very much in question. However, with the talent the Tigers have on defense, the offense very rarely needs to take over a game. Any of Bryan Bresee, Tyler Davis, Myles Murphy and Trenton Simpson could be high draft picks in 2023 and they stand out on tape every week.

With Sam Hartman back in action, Wake Forest are always a threat. However, they’ve not looked at their dominant best over the past fortnight. Against Liberty, the defense struggled to stop an offense that is going through a transitional phase, and the run game was literally non-existent – leaving them 97th in the nation through three weeks. When the Demon Deacons are playing lesser opponents, Hartman alone can drag them through – but against a powerhouse like Clemson it’s going to be a huge struggle.

Key Matchup: Clemson Defensive Line vs Wake Forest Offensive Line – Hartman is Wake’s only chance of getting something from this game, but he’ll be useless if he spends the game running for his life. The Wake offensive line therefore needs to dig in and do what it can in the face of Bresee and co.

Game Line: Clemson 7 point favourite at the time of writing.

Oregon @ Washington State

Saturday 24th September – 9pm (UK) – Pullman, Washington

Preview: There was a hell of a lot of hype around Cameron Ward during the summer, and last week against Colorado State the world saw exactly why. But, there had been some very good moments throughout the first two weeks as well – he threw the game winning score to beat Wisconsin to name one. Ward is clearly the star of the Cougars’ programme already and Jake Dikert should be praised for convincing him to join them.

Outside of Ward, Ron Stone Jr is the player to watch for Washington State as he comes off the edge to put consistent pressure on opposition gun slingers. Last season’s 11.5 sacks put him on the map, and he’ll relish the opportunity of going up against Oregon’s solid offensive line.

The Ducks proved that the week one loss to Georgia was well removed from their collective memory last week, as they cruised past BYU. Bo Nix was efficient, including a very nice touchdown throw to Terrance Ferguson. However, he was aided by the running back tandem of Mar’Keise Irving and Naoh Whittington whose productivity allowed the play action game to materialise.

Key Matchup: Oregon Defensive Line vs Cameron Ward (QB, WSU) – The Ducks did well to contain Jaren Hall last week, forcing him to throw a lot more than he wanted to. However, Ward is happy to sit back and pick apart a defense from the pocket. Oregon’s defense will therefore need to get to him for more than the solitary sack they picked up last week.

Game Line: Oregon 6.5 point favourite at the time of writing.

Stanford @ Washington

Sunday 25th September – 3.30am (UK) – Seattle, Washington

Preview: Washington has been great so far in 2022. The Huskies announced themselves to the nation with a statement win over Michigan State in week three, ahead of the first PAC-12 matchup of the year. The biggest surprise has been Michael Penix at QB, but the all round play of Kalen DeBoer’s team has been excellent. Ja’Lynn Polk had 114 yards receiving in three games last season, this year he’s more than doubled that and caught four touchdowns. It’s the same across the board for the Hokies, with raised performances and maturation showing across the roster.

Stanford are a difficult beast to fathom. There’s no doubt that there is a lot of talent on the Cardinal roster, but their fanbase must wish that they put it all together a bit more consistently. With Tanner McKee receiving a lot of preseason draft hype, attention slightly shifted away from elite corner, Kyu Blu Kelly. USC largely stayed away from Kelly in the Cardinal’s loss to the Trojans, but with Penix feeling confident he may be tempted to throw at the future Sunday player.

It’s highly likely that this one will still be ticking over when some in the UK are waking up, but it’ll be well worth hitting rewind and watching it on the start as the hype around Washington is beginning to pick up a lot of steam. 

Key Matchup: Stanford pass rush vs Washington Offensive Line – Washington have only given up two sacks so far this season, that is presumably why Penix looks so confident when compared to his pre-transfer tape. There’s no reason why that can’t continue this week, the Huskies have a strong offensive line and they should be a bit too much for Stanford’s pass rush.

Game Line: Washington 13.5 point favourite at the time of writing.

By Andy Moore – @ajmoore21

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2022 CFB: Will Rogers – Is the Hype, just Hype?

Has Will Rogers reached his peak or is there more to come?

Prior to this weekend’s schedule, there was a fair amountl of buzz about Will Rogers at Mississippi State. He had started the season well and was making things happen, with a 78% pass completion, 752 yards and 9 passing touchdowns.

My general interest has been the ACC quarterbacks in these first few weeks, however Will Rogers is someone who has also turned my head.

Are we looking at a quarterback who has come out of nowhere to be a real force in the SEC? Or was the hype just that, and he was going to come crashing back down to Earth?

Unfortunately for all viewers, apart from LSU of course, Rogers hit a bit of a brick wall at the weekend. It was his least effective performance of the season, and he just struggled to get going.

So, what was the cause? And how was he so effective in the first two games of the season? 

Walking Over Memphis

Week 1 saw a standout performance from Will Rogers. He threw five touchdown passes for 452 yards in a convincing win over Memphis, with a pass completion of 77%, he was locked on and was dominating the game.

Everything that Rogers did against Memphis was simple, yet effective. He received the ball from the snap and was quickly releasing the ball to the nearest open receiver. He looked comfortable targeting the running back coming out of the backfield but was equally effective looking at receivers further down field. His longest reception was just 35 yards, but he was quick with everything he did and didn’t hang around in the pocket for too long.

The slight hiccup he had against Memphis was his interception. Although this was minor in a game that he dominated, the way he turned the ball over was slightly disappointing – He was quick from the snap, but the slight misread on the pass allowed the ball to get picked off by the defender for an easy interception. It didn’t make too much of a difference to the score, or the way he played, but something that would need to be highlighted due to the nature of his game. 

As simple as it sounds, Rogers targeted the nearest opening receiver and built-up significant yardage by having receivers that are willing to create space for themselves and make good yardage after the catch. The game plan worked perfectly for Mississippi State and they ran out comfortable winners.

Dominant in Arizona

Despite falling behind to Arizona in Week 2, Mississippi State showed determination and grit to turn the deficit around before going ahead and dominating the game.

After a slow start from Rogers, he started to turn it on towards the end of the first quarter, sticking to the game plan of Week 1 and finding the nearest open receiver and releasing the ball quickly; it was all quick game. His first touchdown pass of the day to Caleb Ducking was quick, effective and showed remarkable accuracy to put it perfectly over the defender’s head and into the arms of the receiver.

Despite being 6 for 7 heading into the second quarter, an uncharacteristic hesitation saw Rogers throw his only interception of the game. His lack of open options saw him hesitate with his throw before being slightly inaccurate and throwing to the defender – This was a similar problem to Week 1 and his interception against Memphis. Although it was his only mistake, there were similar characteristics to his interception the week before.

Another thing that stood out from Week 1 to Week 2 was his conversion within the 10 yard line of the endzone. He made five thrown attempts across two weeks, all with similar outcomes. They were mainly batted away by the defenders, but none of them really looked like making an impact on the score.

He was effective, however, in turning the game in the favour of Mississippi State. He threw 302 yards, 4 passing touchdowns and had a pass completion of 79%. Rogers dominated more in the second half of the game, throwing three touchdowns and allowing Mississippi State to run away with the game. His effectiveness in the short passing game, and quickly moving the ball allowed for this to happen, and Arizona struggled where they looked so effective in the first half. 

Bayou Hangover

With the domination of Memphis and Arizona in the first two weeks of the season, alongside some good stat numbers for Rogers, there seemed to be a bit of hype over what he could achieve in Tiger Stadium, Louisiana. LSU had looked shaky against Florida State in Week 1, before a big win in Week 2, so anything could have happened in their Week 3 contest.

All eyes were on an intriguing battle between Rogers and Jayden Daniels. Daniels had started off the season well, picking up 114 rushing yards in Week 1, as well as 209 passing yards and a decent 73% pass completion. He followed this up with three passing touchdowns, in a 10 of 11, 137 yard dominating performance against Southern University. 

These two quarterbacks couldn’t be any more different. Daniels is an agile, mobile quarterback who could easily pick up 100 rushing yards in a game, whilst Rogers is more of a pocket quarterback who will target quick passes and work his way down the field 8 10 yards at a time.

LSU’s game plan was evident from the beginning – Limit Rogers’ options in the short pass game and try to make him look longer.

This was clear on a few occasions, especially in short yardage situations. There was a line of defenders around the down marker so limited space for the Bulldogs’ offense to work which caused Rogers to look deeper into the backfield for a play or rely on a virtually non-existent running game. 

The Tiger’s tactics led to four sacks and the quick passing game wasn’t allowed to get going. That time spent in the pocket limited the options and the Mississippi offense looked far less threatening when this was the case. 

The latter stages of the game had a different feel about it. Rogers was allowed a bit more space to make his quick passes, however the accuracy on passes dramatically decreased. A couple of easy passes in their first drive were missed after LSU went a touchdown up in the fourth and to top off a miserable time in Death Valley, an interception when looking further down the field summed up his evening perfectly.

This was a tough performance against an LSU defense that was expecting the way he played.

So was the hype, just hype?

This is a difficult one to determine. The first opposition he had that adjusted their gameplan to stop him from doing what he does best, he struggled to really make a real impact on the game. However, he was hugely impressive in the first couple of weeks of the season and that can’t go unnoticed.

A game at home to Bowling Green is exactly what he needs after this performance and there is an opportunity to go back to what he does best but may also help him adapt as a quarterback to work both the short passing game and the longer passing game. If he can do this as the season progresses, then he will become a much bigger threat in tough games. He isn’t the most agile, as shown by his rushing stats, so he will rely on his offensive line to provide protection when he’s in the pocket, but he has shown his ability to get out of tight spaces and still make decent plays.

Will Rogers may not be a standout quarterback compared to others that I have covered, but there’s a level of potential there that’s intriguing.

The Bowling Green game will be a nice way to bounce back after that LSU defeat, but tough games against Texas A&M, Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama to follow will really test his ability as a quarterback.

We could see remarkably improved performances in those games but my gut feeling is that he will struggle to build on the momentum gained in the first two weeks of the season.

By Jake Tweedie – Follow Jake on Twitter @AccukAnalysis1