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Week 1 Scouting Notes – Ohio State vs. Notre Dame

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This was the biggest match up of the week 1 slate, and from a scouting perspective this game was loaded with high end prospects. Both teams struggled with early season rustiness but Ohio State put together a strong second half to see off the Irish 21-10. I’ve got a few notes for all of you on how all the top players did and throw in a couple of guys who surprised me too. We’ll start with the victorious Buckeyes…

Ohio State

All eyes were on potential number 1 overall pick Quarterback C.J Stroud and star Wide Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (both of whom made our Preseason All-Conference team), but unfortunately we lost Smith-Njigba early in the first quarter to a hamstring problem. He did come back later in the half but clearly wasn’t right and was left on the sidelines after that.

The initial report is he’ll miss a couple of weeks, which isn’t a disaster for him, especially as those games will be against Arkansas State and Toledo.

Stroud had a difficult first half, with Notre Dame containing him well and then losing his top target, you could see him becoming frustrated. He was totally different in the second half and looked much more like his usual self, taking control of the offense and improvising when needed. This was a big early test for him and he showed he could cope with in-game adjustments and dealing with adversity well. 

With Smith-Njigba out Ohio State needed some pass catchers to step up and two did in Wide Recievers Marvin Harrison Jr. and  Emeka Egbuka. Harrison looks tall and lengthy and made a couple of nice key catches when needed. Obviously the pedigree is there with his Dad (former Colts legend, Marvin Harrison Sr.) being a Hall of Famer so there will be a lot of expectation on his shoulders going forward, but this was a nice start for him.

Egbuka was Stroud’s top target in the game and he looked very comfortable in that role. He wasn’t used to stretch the field, as they had him running shallow routes and picking up boundary work, but he looked smooth in space and displayed some nice safe hands. These two will become the focal point of the passing attack whilst JSN is out, and it appears to be in pretty good hands, pun intended…

The Offensive Line wasn’t very good last year, although they received plenty of hype. This year’s version seemed to have some question marks, but on the first showing of the season, against a top ten quality team, they came through with flying colours. I’m really high on Offensive Tackle Paris Johnson Jr. who has moved over from guard to take the coveted left tackle position and he had a nice debut there. He did get beat on the outside a couple of times in pass protection, but considering the level of opponent and the new position switch, he handled himself very well and this will be the benchmark he’s set for the rest of the year. Right tackle Dawand Jones graded as the best Lineman for me on the day. Jones is absolutely massive (6’8, 350lbs) but plays with much better agility than you’d expect for someone that size. This was a big test and he was dominant, particularly in pass protection, which again for a man that huge is a big arrow upwards. He has the ability to be an Orlando Brown type and that’s pretty high praise.

I also have offensive guard Matthew Jones graded highly on last year’s games watched and he enjoyed a good start to the season here too. An under the radar guy now, but if this offensive line gels like I think they can, he will move up boards.

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Defensively, Ohio State had Notre Dame’s number, all bar one big pass play in the first quarter. There were plenty of stand out performances on all three levels of the defense but we’ll start with Safety Ronnie Hickman. Hickman spends most of his time in the box and is a very aggressive run filler, flying downhill to hit runners. For all his aggressiveness he is a sound tackler too, which isn’t a thing you always see. He has good size, quick feet and this is his second year as a starter. He graded pretty well for me last year, so he is definitely on my radar now.

Linebacker Tommy Eichenberg really impressed me with his violent style of play. He was consistently around the ball and like Hickman is a fantastic tackler. He only started four games last year and didn’t grade great for me, but this is an impressive start and I’ll certainly be keeping my eye on him going forward.

His partner in crime in the middle of the defense is former running back turned Linebacker Steele Chambers. He looks super athletic, which is not surprising given his previous position, and you’d expect him to get better and better with the more reps he gets in his new role. He will be an intriguing player if he does declare for the 2023 NFL Draft.

Defensive Tackle Michael Hall, who is not draft eligible, had some real standout flashes here. He was quick off the snap, had strong hands and showed some nice ability to work in space. They lined him up all along the defensive line and he had success wherever he went. One for the future for sure, but certainly a name worth noting.

Notre Dame

I’m sure the offensive game plan for the Irish was to grind the clock and keep that explosive Ohio State offense off the field, which to a certain extent they did, but it didn’t make for exciting viewing. The star attraction for Notre Dame offensively is Tight End Michael Mayer, who most consider TE1 and a first round lock. This game certainly won’t go down as one to show scouts as he was largely ineffective, only showcasing his great hands on one catch that he plucked out of the air. Even on that play he ended up fumbling and was lucky the ball bounced straight back to him. Ohio State stuck cornerback Cameron Brown on him all game, and this really limited his effectiveness as a receiver, and will surely be copied by other teams they face going forward. How he deals with this kind of attention will be interesting to see as the season goes on.

Notre Dame defensively in the first half were excellent, never allowing Stroud time to settle and limiting his off script plays. The second half was a different story though and the Irish were exposed, particularly at cornerback, where one guy really struggled.

I was quite high on Cornerback Cam Hart going into this season but he had a bit of a shocker here. He is a big corner at 6’3, 200lbs and whilst the size is impressive he looked very clunky in transitions and really struggled locating the ball when he did get in position. He gave up a touchdown and had a pass interference call against him, and he was targeted often by the Buckeyes who had obviously singled him out as a weak link. This game will hurt him, but he has size and length you can’t teach, which means he’ll still be highly regarded in the NFL world.

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The biggest name for the Irish defensively is EDGE Isaiah Foskey. Notre Dame used him all over the place last year, which was frustrating for the evaluation process as we didn’t get to see him all the time in what will be his NFL position. Off of what we saw in this game, it looks like the Irish have ditched that plan and are exclusively using him as a pure EDGE. Now while that’s good for us, it wasn’t so good for Foskey, who struggled to have any type of influence on the game and was limited to just one pressure. The two offensive tackles from Ohio State that he went up against could both be top 50 players come draft time, so this isn’t doom and gloom yet, but we need a good bounce back game or two, as this will be a talented EDGE group come draft time, and he needs to keep his name in that first or second tier of guys.

Safety Brandon Joseph came over from Northwestern as a high level transfer, albeit coming off a disappointing Sophomore campaign with the Wildcats. He had a good solid debut here looking strong in the tackle, which was a weakness on last year’s tape, and limiting the effectiveness of the big plays over the middle, which is a staple of the Buckeyes offense. The one play he wasn’t roaming the backend they blitzed him, and Stroud threw right behind him, exploiting the single coverage he left behind for a Touchdown. Not his fault at all, just a good demonstration of C.J Stroud’s understanding of the game. 

By Keith Lucken, follow Kieth on Twittter @LordLucken

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Post Mortem Route : Tigers fall to FSU, 23-24

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A heartbreaking blocked extra point probably isn’t the way Brian Kelly envisioned losing his first game at LSU. Credit where credit is due though, Florida State played an amazing game led by their star QB and an amazing haul of transfers who showed out in a big way in a big game. 

Jordan Travis is the Florida man:

In the words of Andy Moore (@AJMoore21 on Twitter) “I told you so”.

I was sceptical of Jordan Travis coming into this game, even with my apprehension regarding LSU’s somewhat shaky secondary, he proved me wrong though and put the rest of college football on notice with an incredible performance that should have the rest of the ACC worried.

With that said the stat line of 260 yards and 2 touchdowns doesn’t really show how good he was all night. With LSU’s elite defensive front coming after him on every play Travis kept cool making plays with his arms and legs. He found Ontaria Wilson in the endzone twice, once with a beautiful flea flicker that left the LSU defence with their hands in their pockets and again when Wilson hauled in a one handed grab for one of the most impressive catches of the week.

Johnny Wilson and Myach Pittman also made their presence felt; seemingly unguardable for a majority of the contest and to round off the Seminoles attack, running back Treshaun Ward was also harder to bring down than Derrick Henry as he went up against one of the best defensive lines in college football. 

Florida State’s defence was also solid, not allowing LSU to get into a rhythm until late with Albany transfer Jarred Verse blowing past the LSU offensive line on almost every play. Verse racked up two sacks, three tackles and enough pressure to suffocate any signal caller out there.

Tatum Bethune and Renardo Green seemed to be everywhere as well, wrapping up LSU players left, right and centre ensuring finding the endzone was almost impossible for the Tigers.

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The All-American underachiever, Kayshon Boutte:

With 2 catches for 20 yards Kayshon Boutte very much disappointed last night especially as he’s the best receiver in college football (in my humble opinion). Boutte looked bothered and lethargic all night but is poised for a big bounceback as the Tigers face southern next week, probably just needed to shake the cobwebs off. 

Jayden Daniel’s looked shaky early behind a bad line, bad snaps and some bad reads. He managed to bounce back as the game progressed becoming the second LSU QB to pass for 200+ yards and rush for 100+ yards in a single game. Daniels found Jaray Jenksins twice for the end zone while hitting Mason Taylor, Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik Nabers as he moved down field. Nabers suffered the wrath of the LSU fan base this morning as his 2 dropped punts allowed FSU to get two scoring opportunities inside the 10 one of which was turned into points.

The LSU defence went exactly as expected, a shaky secondary exploited by a star QB when they should’ve been picking up slack from the offensive line that lost Maason Smith early to an injury and Ali Gaye to one of the most reckless plays I’ve seen from a player in a while. Despite his early trip to the medical tent BJ Ojulari looked solid all game with freshman Harold Perkins getting stuck in early and Senior safety Jay Ward showing his understanding of the defence and leadership skills as he helped control the defence from the secondary early on trying to pick up the slack left by his corners throughout the game. 

Oh and LSU’s kicker struggled, punter looked good though…

A disappointing outing for the new look Tigers but an absolutely stellar performance from FSU, a team I will very much look forward to seeing in the coming weeks. An ACC championship should be their goal now.

For more follow me on YouTube and twitter @KieranHorneCFB

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CFB 2022: Week 1 – Winners & Losers

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Well, that was an explosive week of action. From 120+ point games, to huge upsets and standout individual performances, week one didn’t disappoint.

The best thing about the NFL season starting after the college football season is that we get a weekend of non-stop action, five days straight and at the time of writing it hasn’t even finished yet.

As always there are three winners and three losers, however there could have been a lot more this weekend. So on the winners side, shout outs go to Old Dominion, Caleb Williams/Jordan Addision and Cam Ward amongst others.

Winners – Andy – @Ajmoore21 

Spencer Sanders, QB, Oklahoma State

The performance of a quarterback will, like it or not, nearly always impact the result of a team – everyone that watches football knows that. Well, Spencer Sanders is one of the most frustrating quarterbacks in college football. One week he’s firing on all cylinders, the next he’s turning the ball over and costing his team.

Maybe that is set to change in 2022. Sanders dragged his team to victory on Thursday night, setting a career high in passing yards and accounting for six of the Cowboys’ eight touchdowns. WIth 406 yards and four passing scores, Sanders was imposing through the air, but that shouldn’t take away from how improved he looked outside of the pocket. There was a clear sense that his awareness had improved, with the alarm in his head triggering on time and getting him away from the defender in order to make a play.

Clearly there’s a lot of belief in OSU and Sanders this season, they wouldn’t have been ranked 12th in the preseason poll if that wasn’t the case. But after Central Michigan put up 44 points on the OSU defense, it would be reasonable to question whether it’s going to have to be the Texas native that propels his team to success in a soon-to-transform Big12. 

Georgia Bulldogs

The Georgia Bulldogs weren’t disrespected after their National Championship win, but it seems those that doubted whether they’d be the same dominant team in 2022 did at least do them a disservice.

In a game that was previewed by many as a battle of two respective football powerhouses, it certainly felt over after the first quarter. Georgia’s defense was dominant from the off, even with their former Defensive Coordinator standing on the opposite touchline, they never looked in any danger of being mismatched. Bo Nix was shaky, even by his standards, but that was mainly because of the work of the Bulldogs’ secondary, covering the Ducks’ receivers like a blanket all game long.

Stetson Bennett has had more than his fair share of doubters, but if anyone still thinks he lacks the quality to win at this level, it was the passing game which impressed most in this one. Bennett passed for 368 yards and two scores before being hooked with the scoreline out of reach. If anyone thought that Kirby Smart’s men wouldn’t be in the mix come the end of the season then they should have been forced to change their opinion after this performance.  

Jacoby Windmon, LB, Michigan State

If Bennett and Georgia were dominant as a whole, then Jacoby Windmon gets the award for dominant performance by an individual. The Michigan State linebacker put up four sacks, a forced fumble and seven total tackles in the Spartans’ win over Western Michigan.

The most impressive element of Windmon’s night was that he put on such a huge show on his debut. After transferring from UNLV in the offseason, the former three-star recruit did everything he could to impress Mel Tucker, earning a starting spot in the process. The faith Tucker showed in him evidently paid off for him big time, as his explosive play made him a one man wrecking ball in the Broncos’ backfield.

At 6’2” and 229lb, Windmon is in that ideal linebacker category, sizewise. However, it was his speed and ability to anticipate the move of the lineman opposite that ensured he had so much success on Saturday night. Draft scouts and opposing Big10 Offensive Coordinators will surely have been put on high alert after week one. 

Losers – Lee – @Wakefield90 

The Pac-12

Even though we have all but drawn a line under week 1 of the college football season, we can pretty much rule out the Pac-12’s involvement in the college football playoff for another year.

The conference faces an uphill battle each year with the way that the conference and its teams are viewed in the eyes of the playoff committee, as well as the majority of the college football community. Add that to the absolute bludgeoning the conference took in the offseason, with the imminent departures of USC and UCLA and the losses for Utah and Oregon this weekend really are compounding the misery out west.

Considering that the Utes and Ducks lost to SEC opposition, these results only take another step towards strengthening the grip that the SEC has grabbing a second playoff team this year.

Utah put up a fight, and only lost by virtue of a last minute, end zone interception so perhaps all isn’t lost and there’s still USC who have opened up the season 1-0 with their defeat of Rice, but let’s face it. It’s over. 

Big Ten Officials and UCLA Attendances

Staying with the theme of the summer and keeping the favour from above of the Pac-12 falling into deeper and deeper decline, let’s talk about buyer’s remorse.

As much as USC and UCLA are big brands, are they going to bring everything they can to the table… What I am talking about in particular is attendance and atmosphere.

I understand that the Big Ten wants the big schools to enhance its portfolio of name brands, but when fans turn on their TV, surely they want to see fans packing the stands and making a tonne of noise to support their teams?

Look at it. I guess it was only Bowling Green but when I think of the Big Ten fans, I think of Penn State white outs, I think of Wisconsin’s fans going crazy to Jump Around, I think of Iowa’s players and fans waving to the nearby children’s hospital and The Big House, holding more fans than any stadium can in the Western hemisphere. Does this look fit what the Big Ten is trying to achieve?

Steven here summed up Pac-12 thoughts quite nicely, I think.

Devin Leary and NC State

I’ve got to admit, I don’t love this one and perhaps I only feel like Leary is a loser this week because of preseason expectations on him and the Wolfpack. It also doesn’t help their case when we consider that there was very little in the way of upsets in week 1.

NC State entered the season ranked #13 and Leary, one of the better draft eligible passers, was there to lead them, and as we have come to expect, ranked teams serve themselves up a nice, easy game in week 1.

The majority of these ranked teams dispatched their smaller foes with ease; #12 Oklahoma State, #10 Baylor, #14 USC, #16 Miami all had routine wins and ran up the scoreline.

Not NC State though. They faltered against an East Carolina side who stuck around and defended doggedly, with no bigger example than on this fourth down.

So why am I pinning this mainly on Leary? 

Well, if we look at the numbers first; a 51% completion percentage with a touchdown and an interception, against this level of competition just doesn’t look great.

Next, drawing a bank in the second half completely in terms of points, just allowed East Carolina to stick around and make life a little hairy. It’s just not what is expected for a thirteenth ranked team and a high-quality passer, so for falling short of expectations Leary and the Wolfpack find themselves in the losers column this week.

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Takeaways from Week 1; Tar Heels Overcome Mountaineers As Teams Share 124 Points In A Thriller

College football is back in full force, it is just week 1 and we already have an early contender for game of the year. Entering today, Appalachian State was the favorite against the Tar Heels who came into Boone with an already battered roster. Wide Receiver Josh Downs was seen on the sideline before the game in street clothes, making it clear that he would not be suiting up today. Fans would soon learn that would not be enough to slow down this North Carolina offense as they then went on to score 63 points, but this is just the tip of the iceberg for what happened today in Boone. 

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Early on it was clear as day that this North Carolina defense was left behind in Chapel Hill. Falling to a quick 21-7 deficit, it seemed as if Appalachian State came prepared. That lead would be short lived as the Tar Heels would then go on to put up 34 points unanswered and it seemed like that would be all she wrote for today. Not quite, the Mountaineers would begin to bring themselves back into and would end up scoring a whopping 40 points in the fourth quarter alone. It seemed as if they had UNC right where they wanted them as they decided to go for two against a pitiful defense. It would go as a failed attempt which would put the game at 56-55 in favor of the Tar Heels. Then what happens next is potentially the most boneheaded moment of the whole game in which Bryson Nesbit returns the onside kick for six, leaving time on the clock and leaving the door open for the ‘Neers to tie it back up. Chase Brice would then lead another quick drive in under thirty seconds and put them in a position to tie up the game once more and potentially send it to overtime. Another failed two point attempt to call game in Boone, but not after what would be a wild sequence of events. 

So what is there to learn from what felt like a game that may last an eternity?

After endless scoring and many moments that would leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about the sport. For starters, this North Carolina team has a lot of questions on the defensive side of the ball. Gene Chizik, who had coached under Brown in Texas, might be having some growing pains to get reacclimated to the coaching position. Chizik who hasn’t coached since 2016 has been given the task to turn around an abysmal North Carolina defense, and so far it is proving to not be an easy one. Allowing 61 points to a non Power-5 team is just not a great feat and should be a concern for North Carolina fans everywhere. Another take away that should be concerning for this defensive unit is the fact that they did not have a stop on third down until after the halfway point in the second quarter. That secondary has some major questions as well, which is a huge let down since that is a position the North Carolina has really hit the hardest with many talented names at the position. Though their lead cornerback Tony Grimes did not take the field today after dealing with an injury that he had suffered early in their first game against Florida A&M. Let’s hit on some bright spots though, for both sides.

Drake Maye showed out in his second start for North Carolina, showing off his ability to stand in the pocket and make some tough throws. Throughout the game he stood in a collapsing pocket and made some excellent throws, while also showing off his mobility and scoring his first rushing touchdown of his career. To celebrate he found former UNC quarterback Sam Howell, who dealt with a similar situation as Drake Maye all last season having no defense and no offensive line to help.

Maye finished the day with 352 passing yards with a 70% completion percentage and 5 total TDs.

Now onto Appalachian State, who might have lost the game but are the real winners for today. A name who deserves some love is running back Nate Noel who punched in not one, but two touchdowns on the ground today and showed out for 116 yards on 14 carries. He easily was the best running back out there today and made a big-time play early on when he took a run up the middle and broke free for a 52 yard touchdown giving Appalachian State an early 7-0 lead. 

Finally, all eyes were on Drake Maye, the redshirt freshman who transferred from Alabama not too long ago and has seemed to take the ACC by storm. Let’s not forget to tip the cap to Chase Brice, who had a game full of ups and downs, but at the end of the day tore up this Tar Heel secondary. The Mountaineers quarterback threw for 363 yards, 6 TDs, and finished the day with a 69% completion percentage. The quarterback also had 35 yards on the ground, but came up short on the scramble to tie the game in the final seconds. At the end of the day it was an excellent quarterback battle that took place in Boone and will be one that fans can’t help but look back and smile about later on into the year. College football is back and boy does it feel good. 

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College Football Player to Watch; Isaiah Foskey, Notre Dame

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Welcome to the week 1 edition of a weekly feature here at the Full 10 Yards CFB where I will be putting one draft eligible player under the microscope each week. I’ll be giving you a player to watch for in the upcoming round of college football and a host of reasons why you need to get some eyeballs on them.

This week I’ve got Isaiah Foskey in my sights, the defensive end from the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish. Very apt for a number of reasons. Firstly, I’ll never shy away from giving love to the edge rushers! Next, Georgia vs. Oregon aside, the Irish against the Ohio State Buckeyes is the game of the week and lastly, well… and this is tenuous, Ireland has just done itself proud with their hosting of Nebraska and Northwestern this past weekend, so anything Ireland is kind of in vogue.

First up, who is Isaiah Foskey?

Foskey arrived on campus in South Bend as a 4-star prospect who was a tight end/defensive end hybrid out of Concord, California. He stood at 6’4 and tipped the scales at 235lbs, right now, Notre Dame lists Foskey as 6’5 and 265lbs and he is well and truly a high-level defensive end.

Production wise, Foskey’s numbers have grown year-in, year-out at Notre Dame in almost every sense. He’s become more important to the team, he’s started more games, and his tackles for loss, sacks and forced fumbles have grown exponentially. Last year in his Junior season, Foskey registered 9.5 TFLs, 10 sacks and 6 forced fumbles, so we are looking at a player who is a star for this unit and can provide the Irish with splash plays.

As we covered on our Summer Scouting Podcast on Defensive Line and Edge Defenders – which you can listen to here via our LinkTree – I have Foskey slated as my number 3 ranked edge rusher moving into the season.

So, we can see that he puts up numbers – So how does he do it?

I’ve got a couple of plays cued up below but before showing you what he does, I’ll say that Foskey is a nuanced pass rusher, who has a nice balance between speed and power rushes and he’s a dynamic player who jumps off the screen. So there should be no problem keeping your eyes on #7 when he’s lining up on Saturday. 

Foskey lines up in a position known as the VYPER position in Notre Dame’s defense, which is the stand-up edge defender/linebacker hybrid. So as much as his preferred position is stood up at the line of scrimmage on the end of the three down linemen, it’s not uncommon to see Foskey on the second level of the defense dropping into coverage alongside the other linebackers.

Let’s start here with a demonstration of Foskey’s power and independent hand usage which comes from the USC game from last year…

Isaiah Foskey, Long Arm Sack vs. USC 2021

Foskey is the nearside of the screen (yellow arrow) aligned at wide-9 for the Irish, he starts with a little stutter-step and then jabs in the long arm, with his inside-arm. The independent hand usage can be seen from the second, endzone angle – As the tackle tries to engage, Foskey swipes his hand away with his off-hand, whilst driving him back with the long arm. Foskey then shows a nice amount of power and dips his shoulder momentarily to establish more leverage and walk the tackle back. The cherry on top is that he continues to keep his off-hand free and uses it to get the strip sack. 

Isaiah Foskey Finishes the Game with a Sack vs. USC 2021

Next up I’ve got a demonstration of pure effort and motor. The QB gets himself in trouble here, and that helps, but Foskey has his initial rush stopped, but he comes back, again showing good understanding of leverage and shows his power to unbalance the tackle (#70) before wrapping up the QB and the game.

Ok last one, this one is from the Cincinnati game from last year and I want to show you how Foskey can also be trusted in the run game…

Foskey Shows his Run Defense vs. Cincinnati 2021

Foskey lines up at his favoured wide-9 alignment, but the left guard and tackle double-team inside leaving Foskey isolated, with the right guard (#51) pulling in his direction. Foskey shows his stoutness and takes him on before dispatching him to the side, as the running back (Jerome Ford, now of the Cleveland Browns) gets into his vicinity and he, alongside a team mate, is able to stuff the run for no gain. I also love that Foskey almost drives the runner out of the frame.

Alongside these kinds of plays, I have seen a lot of evidence of Foskey’s athleticism, including his range to cover all the way to the sideline, both when he lines up as a linebacker and in backside pursuit. I also feel like Foskey shows great play recognition in the run game and can deconstruct blocks and flow to the ball with ease. However, to me, his best work comes when he lines up as a traditional pass rusher and he’s allowed to be a QB hunter.

Alongside all of this, it’s the potential match up which could make Foskey an even more mouth watering watch…

In particular, I will be looking at Foskey when he’s lining up against Ohio State’s new left tackle, Paris Johnson Jr. Johnson spent last year playing at right guard and is now flipping over to left tackle as Thayer Munford’s replacement.

This should be an adjustment for Johnson, albeit, he is rated highly by draftniks and fans alike. Johnson, like Foskey is a good athlete and he does have long arms which he could use to nullify Foskey, since one weakness of Foskey is his lack of natural and anatomical length. However, given the playmaking ability, the nuance in his game and ability to mix up his plan of attack, Foskey could catch Johnson cold before he gets into his stride at his new position.

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So to conclude…

Foskey has all the tools at his disposal to cause Paris Johnson Jr., or indeed any of the other Ohio State lineman some issues this weekend. This is the #2 team in the country hosting the #5 team so there are going to be a tonne of matchups all over the field but I do believe that this not only involves a pair of talented, draft eligible players, but it could be a match up that the game could hinge on. If Foskey and his colleagues in the front seven can disrupt CJ Stroud, then Ohio State could be on the end of another early season humbling, just as they suffered vs. Oregon last year in week 2. 

Check back each and every Friday as I will be dropping these Player to Watch articles each week to set you up for your weekend of watching college football, and don’t forget to stick around for all of the other great work that will be rolling throughout the season from all of our guys. Isn’t it just great to have football back?!

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Week 0 Scouting Notes – Nebraska vs. Northwestern

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Here we are, back for another year of scouting notes from the world of college football.

Week 0 didn’t throw up too much in excitable match ups, but there was clearly one game that had some decent prospects to look at, and that was the Cornhuskers and Wildcats going at it over in Dublin, Ireland.

The game itself had a little bit of everything, and certainly was a better watch than I was expecting. It did throw out a few impressive performances from some guys who were on my radar already, and a few who weren’t, so let’s get to them…

Nebraska

Not a great deal to get excited about Offensively for the Cornhuskers. QB Casey Thompson is an exciting college player, but I don’t see high NFL traits with him. The off script plays with him are exciting, but unfortunately we have accuracy issues and some questionable decision making too. WR Trey Palmer, who is a transfer over from LSU, had some nice flashes but had a bad drop too. He looks like he could be productive in this offense as I think they’ll try and use him more as a gadget guy than a pure receiver, and if he can clean the drops up he may open some scouts eyes. 

TE Travis Vokolek was a factor in the passing game (5 Catches) but he struggled run blocking, often getting rag dolled by the Northwestern front seven. There’s no denying his nice athletic profile, but we’ll need to see him do better in the run game before we get too excited about him.

JUCO transfer RB Anthony Grant had an impressive debut. He ran hard and with authority, grinding out the tough yards but also broke a couple of nice gains too. Scored 2 TD’s on the ground and looks like he’ll become the feature back for Nebraska going forward.

The Offensive Line was terrible, but OC Trent Hixson held his own more often than not. He was the solid piece whilst everything else was crumbling around him and he looks like a nice replacement for round two draft pick Cam Jurgens. I had some good grades on him back in 2019 when he started at guard but he has barely played the last couple of years. Now he has a chance to put himself on the NFL radar, although he’ll hope for more help from his fellow lineman than he got in this game to get noticed.

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Defensively for the Cornhuskers there were a couple of guys who flashed and both are transfers from other power five schools. CB Tommi Hill really impressed me. He has great size, length and fluid movements and was a former 4-Star recruit who was at Arizona State last year. Only a true Sophomore, so this is a name for the 2024 draft cycle at the earliest, but if you liked Cam Taylor-Britt last year for the Cornhuskers, then this guy has the potential to be better than that.

EDGE Ochaun Mathis spent the last four years at TCU with mixed results, but always flashed some top end traits. He was good here, consistently setting a good edge against the run and flashed some nice pass rush moves. Hopefully he’ll get a full season of top tape, as he has the size and athleticism of a top-100 player, he just needs to find consistency.

Lastly for the Cornhuskers was a guy who only played 20 snaps in the game and has just 183 total snaps in 4 seasons, but he looks like someone who definitely has next level ability. DT Stephon Wynn Jr. was a 4-star recruit who spent his previous seasons stuck behind many future NFL draft picks at Alabama. He’s not listed as a starter for Nebraska, but if he can replicate the disruption he caused in 20 snaps in this game, then a bigger role in this defense should be his, as he looked every part of a well coached former top recruit. He’s certainly one for the late round notebook.

Northwestern

The most surprising thing about the Wildcats’ shock win was just how efficient their Offense looked. They aren’t noted as a team to usually tune into when they have the ball, but perhaps 2022 will see scouts take a good look at some of these guys, especially as they have a pre-season first round calibre offensive tackle on their roster.

Let’s start though with the QB Ryan Hilinski. He flashed as a Freshman at South Carolina in 2019 but ended up transferring to Northwestern before the 2021 season. He was a part time starter last year with very average grades but in this game we saw a lot of improvement and control. I don’t think he’s going to wow anyone with arm strength or athleticism, but what he did do was lead his team efficiently and take good care of the football. He’s a former 4-star recruit, with a tragic family backstory, so he’s someone who is easy to root for.

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There were 2-star offensive performances for the Wildcats, and we’ll start with that highly rated Lineman. OT Peter Skoronski was my OT3 going into the year, and although this appears to be a lesser offensive line class in general, he would still grade as a round 1-2 player for me right now. He is one of the most technically sound tackles in the nation, with good balance, strength and athleticism and all of those traits were on display here. Now he wasn’t up against great Nebraska EDGE’s but he took care of what was in front of him and that’s all you can ask. He was excellent in the run game, getting great push off the snap and creating lanes which their running backs exploited. The only issues he had was with exposing his chest in pass protection and getting shunted back quickly. This only happened a few times but it was also noticeable on his 2021 tape too, and because he has shorter arms he has trouble recovering. There are many experts who think he should move inside to guard at the next level, and you can see why they think that, but I’d at least give him a chance to prove himself at tackle first, as he’s too good not to get that opportunity for me.

RBs Evan Hull and Cam Porter had impressive games, with both sharing the workload almost evenly. Hull was the better player, with his powerful running style and nice hands out of the backfield. Porter is more explosive and has bigger play ability but also loses yardage too and had a bad fumble in this game as well. They will be a great one-two punch though going through the season and both have some NFL appeal to them. 

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The Wildcat defense got off to a pretty sloppy start, but once the new season nerves had gone they took over this game, and it was behind a stellar second half performance that the game was won. There were numerous stand out’s but we’ll start with my MVP of the game, and that is EDGE Adetomiwa Adebawore. He has graded well for me over the last couple of years and that carried on in this game. He looks longer than his listed 6’2 which probably means he has long arms and he certainly knows how to use them. He was constantly clearing his chest of offensive linemen with his strength and length and he was a constant menace for the Nebraska offensive tackles. They shifted him inside on third downs and he got to embarrass the interior guys too, so he has nice versatility which is vital in today’s NFL. Now he’ll face better Lineman than this going forward, but this is the benchmark he has set and if he can maintain it for the season we should be looking at round 3-4 draft range.

Northwestern had corner, Greg Newsome go in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft and the buzz is they have another possible first rounder in CB Cameron Mitchell. There’s quite a few similarities between the pair of them, but I think Mitchell is behind Newsome and needs a really good year to get that first round talk going. Now when he was in press man coverage he was fantastic. He was strong at the snap, fluid in transitions and never allowed any separation for receivers. He had a late Interception whilst in great coverage illustrating this. The problems seem to arise when in off man or zone looks, as he seemed to struggle to process quickly the route concepts that were happening. He is also a bit disinterested in playing the run and that will annoy some teams. Obviously the NFL loves a great man corner, and this is where he excels, so he will be valuable come draft time, but I hope we can get a more all round polished corner by then to elevate his stock further. I do love an aggressive safety who isn’t a total liability in coverage and

Northwestern have the perfect example of one in S Coco Azema. This guy wants to take your head off at every opportunity but this does lead to the odd missed tackle here and there. He has nice coverage ability, particularly if it’s all in front of him, as he closes quickly to compete at the catch point or at worst wrap up tackles for minimal gains. He is one of those fiery leaders that every team needs and he’s a guy I’ll keep my eye on for the rest of the season. 

By Keith Lucken – Follow Keith on Twitter @lordlucken

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WEEK 0 – CFB WINNERS AND LOSERS

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College football is back, and so is our weekly look at who the biggest winners and losers of the weekend’s action were.

WINNERS

Ryan Hilinski

In a battle between two transfer QBs, many would have favoured Nebraska’s Casey Thompson to be the more impressive prospect against Northwestern’s Ryan Hilinski. For long periods of the first half that may have been the correct opinion as Thompson spread the ball around early and often.

However, it was Hilinski who ended up driving his team to their first win of the season with some consistent and accurate play. The backstory of the former South Carolina signal caller is beset with challenges. In the year prior to his collegiate career he was dealt a devastating blow as his older brother took his own life. Despite this, Hilinski was named the starter for his freshman season with the Gamecocks, before losing that role the following season.

Now, with less perceived pressure outside of the SEC and a season under his belt in Evanston, the California native has every chance of succeeding with the Wildcats.

Chase Brown

The University of Illinois doesn’t produce a lot of NFL talent, since 2019 only five players have been drafted after plying their trade at Memorial Stadium. Chase Brown is looking to buck the trend and become the next player on that list with a huge season for the Fighting Illini.

After one game it is certainly looking good for him. Against an average Wyoming side, Brown put up 151 yards and two scores on the ground, adding 16 yards and a touchdown through the air. It certainly looks like Brett Bielma will turn to Brown to be the difference maker after using him in a job-share role last season. 

Games against Indiana and Virginia will give the Canadian the chance to showcase his talent against higher quality opposition over the next two weeks. 

FSU’s RB Room

With the exception of the Nebraska-Northwestern game, the week 0 slate didn’t really throw up many close games. What it did offer was some of the better teams the chance to give their depth players some snaps.

FSU have always produced good players in the rushing department and with Jashaun Corbin leaving for the NFL, the starting gig appeared up for grabs. Mike Norvell will be presented with a good problem going into next weekend’s matchup with LSU as three Noles’ backs went for more than 100 yards on Saturday.

Treshaun Ward got the start, turning 14 carries into 127 yards and two scores, with power back Trey Benson and Lawrence Toafili each topping reaching triple figures and adding a score apiece. It may only have been Duquesne, but there’s some positive signs for the Seminoles ahead of their visit to New Orleans.

LOSERS

Scott Frost

Saturday’s defeat means that Nebrasksa have now lost 21 games by less than one score under Scott Frost. It’s hard not to feel a bit sorry for Frost given how different the outlook would be for him if even ten of those games had gone the other way.

However, that sympathy falls away given the proud boast that the Nebraska coaching staff had worked their offensive line so hard that they were vomiting multiple times a day. Maybe, given the outcome of Saturday’s game, Frost and his coaching staff should work on both their decision making and the mentality of their team. 

After starting the second half strongly, Frost opted to go for an onside kick to keep the ball in Casey Thompson’s hands. The plan failed, Northwestern got the ball back and from there the momentum stayed with Ryan Hilinski and co. 

Mike DiLiello

This one was not so much for the all round performance, but unfortunately for Mike DiLiello he became the first player to go viral this season. The Austin Peay QB threw a bad interception and proceeded to give his all to track down the Western Kentucky CB. Sadly it got worse for DiLiello as he stumbled and fell down in stages as the CB jogged in for the score.

Wyoming’s Passing Offense

It could be considered unfair to single out Wyoming for criticism, but given the small slate of games their offense is the third ‘loser’ this week. The Cowboys have produced some considerable talent over the years, including arguably the best QB in the NFL at present, Josh Allen.

However, it was a sorry showing for Craig Bohl’s men on Saturday as they managed just 30 yards through the air in the 38-6 defeat to Illinois. Utah State transfer, Andrew Peasley, got his first start in Wyoming colours, but it was a sorry performance as he averaged 1.5 yards per attempt with just five completions on 20 throws going for 30 yards. He’ll look to bounce back against Tulsa next week.

By Andy Moore – @ajmoore21

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2022 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON – PRESEASON TAKES Part 2

Welcome back to part two of our preseason takes article! Part 1 where we focused more on the team-based takes is here and today we are focusing on player and coach takes for the coming college football season, let’s get into it!

Ok guys, so with the team takes in the bank, let’s move on to talking about some of the individuals who will be lighting up the season in a few short weeks time. Let’s start with Quarterbacks – Quite simply, Bryce Young or CJ Stroud?

Andy – Both incredibly talented, but I like Stroud. He’s had a lot of pressure on him at Ohio State, given the depth of their QB room and the weapons at his disposal, but he dealt with that excellently last year. Young has obviously had similar pressures, but the arc that Stroud’s career has taken so far, from a three-star QB, to winning the Elite 11 MVP award, boosting his rating and going on to be the starting QB for the Buckeyes is just impressive. 

Raj – Too close to call, so much so you may as call the choices 1a and 1b. However my slight bias is towards Stroud, on the basis of the progression from the start of last season to how he ended the season was phenomenal. I expect a continuation of that progression, showing this season even greater poise and accuracy in the pocket. 

Kieran –  As a well known hater of both teams I think this will be the most objective answer you’ll ever get out of me. Personally? CJ Stroud. There’s not a lot separating the two in my mind but watching CJ pass is something different. He has that something special. His ball placement, poise and swagger are truly a sight to behold.

Keith –  Both of these guys have special skills, but I like Stroud a touch more right now. I think he has a higher ceiling than Young, but both should put up big numbers again this season. There’s every chance they meet each other in the National Championship game, and that would be the perfect way to settle the argument on who is best!

Will – There is something to love about both of these guys, they are very talented. I have flip flopped what feels like on the daily on who I believe is better, but as time has gone on I have grown to love Bryce Young more. He has the NFL ready arm, he can stretch the field and put the ball anywhere you want him to. His deep ball is one thing that gives him the edge over Stroud, plus his sneaky ability to make plays with his legs. I’d say the only thing really favouring Stroud his footwork, I believe his ability to roll out and still make the play down field is a thing of beauty, but it is not something that Young cannot replicate with time. 

Lee – I’ve always been a Bryce Young guy. I think he captured by imagination back at the beginning of last year. I love the poise that he plays with, the ball placement and accuracy is ungodly and he can make a play with his legs to get him out of trouble, although he does keep his eye downfield. Young plays with experience that belies his years and experience, and he’s a joy to watch. 

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So moving on from the guys throwing the passes to the guys who are catching those passes – Who is the wide receiver that you’re looking forward to watching the most this season? This doesn’t necessarily need to be the best guy, just the receiver you’re looking forward to the most.

Andy – I’ll stay at home in the ACC and say Dontayvion Wicks, the standout receiver in a loaded Virginia Cavalier pass catching room. Wicks emerged from nowhere last year, teaming up with Brennan Armstrong for 1203 yards and 9 TDs. There will definitely be more eyes on him this year, but the skill set he possesses will make him a handful for the ACC’s best CBs before he heads to the NFL.

Raj – The Longhorns are going to be a team everyone will be watching this year, and for me especially to see the development of Xavier Worthy. I firmly believe this kid is on the pathway to becoming one of the next bonafide superstar wide receivers and I’m excited to see his progression in his sophomore year. 

Kieran – I think we all know the answer. It’s the new number 7 on the block at WRU, Kayshon Boutte. He’s just second to none. A perfect blend of physical and finesse. He can moss people or he can blend guys on double moves or send them packing with silky smooth route running. Just a fantastic receiver who really deserves the number 7 jersey.

Keith –  I’ll go a bit left field and say Rakim Jarrett of Maryland. This Terps Offense has a chance to be really exciting this year, and Jarrett will be the focal point. Jarrett was a rare 5 star get for Maryland, as he chose to stay close to home, and he has flashed big time ability in his first two years there. With how this offense goes I expect both Jarrett and fellow receiver Dontay Demus Jr. to put up some big numbers this year, and both should be top 100 guys come draft time.

Will – Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a name that has left my mouth probably more than any other player in college football so far in the past year. Surprisingly isn’t the fastest, which makes him rely more on technique. It will be very interesting to see how he fairs against being pressed up more since he mostly worked in motion and out of the slot while he was paired up with two first round receivers. He is a talented route runner with very nice footwork which allows him to exceed on all levels of the field.

Lee – As a guy with his eyes out west, I am really looking forward to seeing Jordan Addison in the USC offense. I am looking forward to the USC offense and the USC project as a whole but will Addison be worth all of the fuss and furore that surrounded his transfer from Pittsburgh to USC? We will see. He’s a super dynamic receiver who led college football in yards last year and helped to make Kenny Pickett a first round QB… It should be dynamite with Riley calling the plays and a guy as talented as Caleb Williams throwing him the ball.

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Enough of offense for a moment, give us a defensive player who you’ll have eyes on all year?

Andy – With Derwin James just getting handed a monster contract by the Chargers, I’ll highlight the next man off the FSU production line. Jammie Robinson is quick, aggressive and has a nose for the ball that James and Jalen Ramsey would be proud of. Mike Norvell is slowly bringing some energy back to the Seminoles and Robinson is going to be at the heart of that in 2022.

Raj – Will Anderson May be the best defensive player in college football however for my money Jalen Carter is very close behind. With all the talent on the Georgia defense last year, Carter still stood out as the top guy and I hope he has the chance to shine once more as the beacon and cornerstone of the defense. 

Kieran –  I think the go to here for me is Felix

Anudike-Uzomah. Maybe underrated when compared to the Will Anderson’s or BJ Ojulari’s of the world but still a great edge prospect with all the talent in the world despite being part of a seriously underwhelming KSU team. He excels at almost everything he does on the field and I can’t wait to see more of him.

Keith –  The 2021 Georgia defensive line had three first round draft picks on it, including the number one overall selection, yet the best player on that line will be back in 2022….

Defensive tackle Jalen Carter is just a special animal, combining almost perfectly the best parts from his fellow DTs from last year in Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt. He is so quick, strong, disruptive and has the best pass rush ability of any returning interior defensive lineman in the country. He will now become the main man in that Georgia front seven, and if he can carry on improving he will be a top 10 lock come next April.

Will – I love my corners, so how can I not talk about Eli Ricks. The only real concern is his speed, but everything else checks out. He has the height and length of a starting cornerback and the ability to make any quarterback pay who takes the chance to throw his way. While teammate Will Anderson is the talk of the town, Ricks will look to make a name for himself in new threads this season and will definitely make an impact on the Crimson Tide’s defense. He is the perfect zone corner.

Lee – We are going to talk about Will Anderson an awful lot throughout the season, and I will do a little bit later on, especially as someone who loves pass rushers, but I’ll try to anticipate that and not be repetitive and go in a different direction and mention Kelee Ringo, the corner for Georgia. I mentioned during our summer scouting podcast episode on corners that Ringo gave me Jalen Ramsey vibes, which is super-high praise so I’ll be looking for him to prove me right!

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Next, let’s check in on the coaches – There have been some big appointments over the offseason, LSU, Oklahoma, Florida and USC in particular have made some high-profile hires in Brian Kelly, Brent Venables, Billy Napier and of course, Lincoln Riley… Of these four, whose team has the best season?

Andy – After our earlier predictions I’ll stick to Brent Venables and Oklahoma here. Venables has got arguably the ‘easiest’ conference, an experienced QB and enough acumen to solidify the Sooners’ defense. Lincoln Riley and the Trojans may be there or thereabouts come the end of the season, but it’s about time Oklahoma had the success that their talent teases.

Raj – Riley gives USC back their X factor and with Caleb Williams under center, I believe he will be the best of the new head coaches. Of all the new head coaches, he is most proven from the lot and I fully expect him to take the Trojans to the PAC 12 title and be in the mix for a National Championship

Kieran –   After a rather tenuous start to his LSU career I think Brian Kelly has separated himself from the pack. Known for doing a little with a lot at Notre Dame he now has the resources of a proper athletic institution behind him and he’s not only got the number 5 recruiting class in the nation but he’s a built an insane quarterback room, continues to develop the weapons in the WR room and has got our defence looking the best it’s looked since 2019. His southern accent is a little silly but he has free reign on that if he wins games this year.

Keith –  I was shocked when Lincoln Riley bolted to USC, it seemed from the outside that it was all about money and that usually never ends well. However, from what we hear in Trojan land, Riley is making USC very relevant, very quickly. He abused the transfer portal to land himself players he was familiar with and could trust, and then added some cream on top with possibly the best WR in college football too. I think he’ll get the best out of what he inherited (which is still full of 4 and 5 stars) and make them PAC 12 contenders right away.

Will – Brent Venables has got a good season ahead of him. Hard to not bring up how brilliant he is defensively when you bring up his name. The staff he has supporting him will help lead Oklahoma to what I believe is a very successful year. While everybody in the Big XII Zigged the Sooners decided to Zag by trying to assemble a defense that is sure to give these offenses some fits.

Lee – I like Brent Venables in Oklahoma. I think he’s proven at Clemson that he’s one of the brightest defensive minds in the college football ranks and with that I think he has a chance to really push the Big XII in a way that those teams aren’t used to being pushed. The way down there is usually to fight fire with fire but Venables might have some ideas about that! I think he and the Sooners will push Baylor all the way and the outlook will look good moving forward. 

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Ok, let’s get back on to players to wrap up here… Who will be the Heisman Trophy winner?

Andy – I’ve just finished my ACC predictions for the season and I couldn’t stop putting Miami down as a W every week – even against Clemson. The reason for that is Tyler Van Dyke. Mario Cristobal landed a pretty nice job with the Canes, but Van Dyke’s presence makes it even tastier. He’s got all the tools to be a big time player in the NFL and sadly (from an FSU standpoint) I think he’s going to dominate the ACC this season.

Raj – Have to go with my guy, the best player in college football, and for whom I knew last season that once he got on the field, he was a genuine superstar. That guy is TreVeyon Henderson and I haven’t seen a running back that good since Christian McCaffery at Stanford. The guy has it all and a lot of talk will be about Bijan Robinson, however I think Henderson could put some monster numbers this season to be considered a Heisman candidate. 

Kieran – In my eyes it’s going to be a three way toss up between, Will Anderson, CJ Stroud and Bijan Robinson. All three guys are just exceptional players and I think we might see one of the tightest races for the trophy in a long time. As much as he’s a rival it would be nice to see Will Anderson claim the first defensive Heisman since Charles Woodson though. 

Keith – If the Heisman Trophy really was for the best player in college football, then Will Anderson would have won it last year. Unfortunately, it seems to go to the best skill player in college football instead, and most of the time it’s a Quarterback. Now if Will Anderson has a similar year this year he can’t be ignored again surely…. but I’ll say that Texas do pull up a few trees this season and Bijan Robinson goes off for 2000+ yards and looks like the second coming of Ricky Williams and wins it. 

Will – Bryce Young is my Heisman Trophy winner for this season, but the Heisman race will be really close I believe. Teammate Will Anderson is a name that would not surprise me at all to see brought up, and if Texas does what many believe they do, then give me Bijan Robinson as well. But Bryce Young is my winner.

Lee – If my prior prediction of Alabama taking the National Championship over Ohio State comes true, I can’t see too far past Bryce Young here. It’ll have the story, which I think is vital to the Heisman, and he’ll also have the hardware, especially if the Tide take the SEC Championship as well as the Natty. 

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And in the truest sense of the award, will your winner, be the best player in college football? If not, who will be?

Andy – I’ll continue the Oklahoma love and go for Dillon Gabriel. The Heisman Trophy is pretty boring when it comes to wildcards winning it and I’ve backed the Sooners to make the CFB playoffs, so it makes sense that their QB would be in the running. Gabriel has been excellent at UCF, and with the help of a new coaching staff he should finesse a few things.

Raj – I think Tre’Veyon Henderson will be the best player in college football but Will Anderson will run him close. The guy is a monster when it comes to getting after the QB, to the extent he may be unblockable. Utter domination is the mantra of his game and I expect that to continue this year. 

Kieran – Despite many projections for Will Anderson being the best in college football this year I think we will see Stetson Bennett make a huge difference at West Virginia and emerge as a top QB after a year with the Mountaineers. He’s got the maturity and IQ to be a really good signal caller even if he isn’t a flashy athlete like some of the other guys under centre this year.

Keith – I think Will Anderson will be the best player in 2022, as he was in 2021. However, I also think new USC quaterback Caleb Williams will go berserk and put up computer game numbers in the PAC 12, and solidify himself as QB1 for the 2024 draft class.

Will – Will Anderson is just unblockable, he finished the 2021 campaign as college football’s most dominant player. The best player in the best system is a hard combination to beat, especially when in that system he gets to be on the attack at all times. He will constantly be terrorizing your favorite quarterback every Saturday, so just be ready for that.

Lee – Well, defenders never win the Heisman do they? But Will Anderson is the best player in college football right now. The level of play that we’ve seen at such a young age, at a programme and for a coach that demands 100%, 100% of the time is outrageous. I wrote him up here as part of our “Introducing…” series earlier this summer.

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And finally – Give me the number 1 overall pick for the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City?

Andy – CJ Stroud to the Giants. It’ll be a QB heavy draft, so I do question if a player like Will Anderson will be more valuable with the first pick. But if there’s a team in a position to take their pick of Stroud, Young and whoever emerges from the wider pack, that GM will be salivating at the talent he has to choose from.

Raj –  Will Anderson to the New York Jets. Zac Wilson is too busy with his outside of work commitments and rehabbing from his injury so the Jets may give him one more year in 2023, thus the Jets then taking advantage of getting Anderson with the 1st Overall pick. 

Kieran – The Giants either go ahead and select Will Anderson or CJ Stroud. You can’t build a franchise around Danny Dimes but nepotism is a hell of a drug in the NFL. Either way this draft cycle is going to be a ton of fun and absolutely nuts. 

Keith – I really hope a non QB needy team sits at the top of the draft so they can take Will Anderson, but unlike last year, we have a couple of QB’s who will have teams clambering to move up and get them. So, I fully expect either C.J Stroud or Bryce Young to be the top selection, but which one will depend on what that specific team values the most. I have a feeling Bryce Young’s size will become a thing (especially if he comes in under 200lbs), so I’ll say C.J Stroud will go first overall, to the Seattle Seahawks.

Will – It all depends on who has that first overall pick in 2022, which I just so happen to predict being the Chicago Bears. The Bears practically setup Quarterback Justin Fields for failure out the jump, that rookie campaign was hard to watch simply because you just had nothing around him. Blow it all up, I am sure somebody will want to give Fields a chance, maybe he will be the next QB sent to Carolina you never know. With all that being said, Bryce Young will be and should be your first overall pick. 

Lee – As much as I really want a pass rusher to go number 1 overall for the second year in a row, and as much as I feel like Will Anderson is the best player in college football, QB value takes over far too much at the top of the draft, so I have to pick a passer, coupling that with the fact that I think the Atlanta Falcons will be picking first and will need a QB.

Bryce Young will have the size debate that’ll follow him around in the pre-draft cycle and that could put some teams off. So I’m going to plump for CJ Stroud at number 1 to the Falcons, with Bryce Young not too far behind at some point in the top 5. 

Ok and that’s a wrap for our preseason takes! Thanks to all the guys for their input for this and we can think of this as the start of our in-season content for the coming college football season! So keep your eyes on the website and our Twitter pages over the coming weeks and months. 

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Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference Team

Welcome to the final instalment of our Power-5 All-Conference series! We have loved putting these articles together and making our picks, we hope that your appetite is sufficiently whetted for some football.

We will end things with the Pac-12 conference selections here with our man, Lee Wakefield making the picks. However, if you want to go back and have a look at the previous four articles in this series, check out the college section of the site here and have a browse. Don’t forget to let us know what you think and have your say in the Twitter comments!

Here come the picks:

Here is how Lee has justified the selections that he’s made;

We all know that the Pac-12 is firmly positioned as the fifth of the Power 5 conferences, however, I do feel like this team could mix it with the best in college football. Cam Rising will be a name on the lips of a lot of people come January and is about as talented of a passer that Utah have had, since Alex Smith almost 20 years ago.

The skill positions are packed with production and a good mixture of size profiles, with Rome Odunze and Benjamin Yurosek providing the size/speed profiles, with a pair of receivers who are both under 6′ (probably), who combined for over 3,000 yards last year in Jordan Addison and Jacob Cowling – Although both were outside of the conference last year with Addison in the ACC with Pittsburgh and Cowling in Conference-USA with UTEP.

Zach Charbonnet rounds out the weapons and he was an absolute revelation last year at UCLA, and he’ll be looking to build upon this over the next season.

The offensive line has a lot of talent too, with the headliner being USC’s Andrew Vorhees, who could be a first round pick when April rolls around. Outside of Vorhees, Washington Tackle, Jaxson Kirkland has a lot to prove over the next few months, but he has the talent to get it done, although he could probably benefit from an extra 10-15lbs of weight being put on. LaDarius Henderson will be a draft riser whereas Myles Hinton and Alex Forsyth are very solid and join a number of their team mates on my All-Conference team.

Defensively, I feel like there’s star power at every level with Korey Foreman, Noah Sewell and Clark Phillips.

Foreman is the former #2 recruit in the 2021 class – He has athletic abilities that are off the charts and is already in possession of an NFL edge rushers’ frame – He only registered 2.5 sacks as a Freshman but he is set up to have a more prominent role moving into 2022.

Noah Sewell is one of the better players in the conference as a whole and should be the heartbeat of the Ducks’ defense this coming year. A player who can do it all, he’s going to accumulate the tackles, shut down run plays in his sleep and if Oregon uses him to his full potential, he could be used as a weapon in the blitz games too. Sewell, much like his older Brother, should be a first round pick when he declares for the NFL Draft.

Finally in this rundown of the defensive stars, Clark Phillips is a top-5 corner prospect and will be a playmaker for a Utes team who I have down as the conference champion – I think he will be an elite nickel defender in the NFL but whilst I he playing in Salt Lake City he’ll be an outside corner and a problem for quarterbacks throughout the conference.

Elsewhere on defense, don’t forget my other edge defender, Zion Tupuola-Fetui, ZTF has recovered from an achilles tear but he returned before the end of last year and he’ll be another player looking to kick on and show his full potential in 2022.

Thanks for reading this, we hope you enjoyed this and the rest of the series! Check back later today, as we are dropping part 2 of our writer’s preseason takes! Part 1 can be found here.

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Big XII Preseason All-Conference Team

Welcome in to our penultimate preseason all-conference team selection! So far in this mini series we have dropped the SEC, the Big Ten and the ACC – All of which you can see here.

This time we welcome our guy Kieran Patterson to the scene, as he bestows his Big XII team upon you all. He has even left out LSU players entirely.

Here are Kieran’s picks:

And here are Kieran’s thoughts on his selections:

The offensive talent on display in the Big 12 is going to be fun to watch this year. Starting with Oklahoma State signal caller Spencer Sanders who will be looking to build on a solid season last year as he not only looks towards the draft but looks to take OK State to the promised land, the playoffs. Sanders is a solid QB with the right tools to take the cowboys far this season…but can they beat Texas to finally make a run?

The best runningback in college football currently is Longhorns, Bijan Robinson. With the ability to stop on a dime and cut in whatever direction he chooses, Texas will look to him and speedy wideout Xavier Worthy to help their freshman QB this season.

TCU aren’t the only school in Texas with a top wideout though as receiver Quintin Johnson is another pass catcher looking to make a statement for his school this season. Iowa State have a Xavier of their own catching passes too as wide out Xavier Hutchinson is looking to give the cyclones the edge as they make another push at the playoffs.


The offensive line talent on display in the Big XI might be some of the best in college football this year with Baylor tackle Conor Galvin and Baylor guard Jacob Gall being particular standouts alongside OK State’s Hunter Woodard and West Virginia’s Doug Nester rounding out the interior. Cooper Beebe is the lone Kansas State wildcat on this list but they are still a team to watch.

Starting on defence we have KSU edge Felix Anudike-Uzomah and ISU edge Will MacDonald IV who will be harassing opposing quarterbacks all season with some of the best pass rushing in college football. WVU’s Dante Stills will be drawing double teams on the interior as will Baylor’s Siaki Ika whose violent playstyle is bound to draw extra attention every time protection is set.

Another Baylor Bear, Dillon Doyle will be patrolling the middle of the field and looking to seal gaps as a premier linebacker for his team this year. DeMarvion Overshown will likely fill a similar role for the longhorns as their defence will need to pick up slack as their freshman QB gets settled.

In the secondary TCU product Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson will be looking to use his long frame to knock out ball after ball. KSU’s Julius Brents will use his elite athletic ability and tackling to make sure he is an island for the wildcats. The lone Jayhawk on this list is Kenny Logan, an athletic safety who is looking to have a breakout season as Kansas try to prove they’re not limited to the basketball court when it comes to athletics. The 2nd safety is Jayson Taylor II who will be looked at by the cowboys as an enforcer and team leader who will likely be one of the team’s best and most productive players.

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow we have the fifth and final conference, the Pac-12 and of course, that means Lee is back to give you those picks. As well as rounding off this series, we will have part 2 of our writer’s preseason questions dropping. If you would like to refresh your memories for part 1, get that right here!