We’re now four weeks into the college football season and we’re starting to get a clearer picture of what this class is (and isn’t).
I wanted to run through a few thoughts today…
Finally, reality is hitting with the quarterbacks
Todd McShay admitted on Saturday that the 2027 group is overrated. Other draft media pundits, who spent all summer telling everyone this would be a legendary class of quarterbacks, are similarly facing up to reality.
I don’t currently have a single quarterback graded firmly in round one. Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss has the top ranking based on his performances so far — but that doesn’t necessarily mean he should be viewed as a clear top-10 (or even first round) pick. He has shown an ability to throw with anticipation, accuracy and timing. He has a decent arm. He’s incredibly elusive and can create magical plays. He best compares to Russell Wilson — yet Wilson was such a rare commodity, it will be difficult to determine exactly the range where Chambliss deserves to be placed. Luckily we have a lot more games to see before needing to make any conclusion.
Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestermaker, whilst throwing five interceptions in four games, is delivering a range of highly impressive passes that warrant attention. Currently, he should be second to Chambliss on the list.
Look at this throw against West Virginia. This is almost effortless from Mestermaker — with very little base, he delivers a perfect throw in a crowded pocket 50-yards downfield and hits Wyatt Young in stride, almost like it was a hand-off:
I’m willing to accept the high number of turnovers so far because Mestermaker is not an experienced starter. Depending on how this season plays out, he should consider staying at Oklahoma State for another season to continue his development. Yet there is clear natural throwing talent here, not to mention major athletic upside.
Here are some other throws from the West Virginia game:
He also had a 75-yard run against Oregon:
Despite my initial scepticism based on his North Texas tape, Mestermaker has a chance to make it. He will be an interesting one to follow in the coming weeks.
Saturday’s disgraceful hit by USC’s Desman Stephens on Oregon’s Dante Moore could, sadly, have lasting ramifications. An MRI scan came back negative but we’ll need to see how such a horrifying scene from Saturday’s game impacts Moore.
When he has been on the field, I still think he reminds me a little bit too much of Josh Freeman. He has the size and an arm but there’s very little ‘wow’ factor with his play, he is not a mad improviser and features very much within his system. He was poor against Oklahoma State — and although I find it hard to hold this against Moore personally, we should at least acknowledge that his backup, Dylan Raiola, similarly played a very efficient and productive brand of football within this offense. They didn’t miss a beat without him.
Darien Mensah is a neat and tidy player benefitting from the brilliance of Malachi Toney and a paper-thin schedule so far for Miami. For me, he remains the same mid-round talent everyone broadly considered him to be when he was at Duke a year ago. Toney is an exceptional talent and destined to be a top-five pick next year. Without Toney in the second half against Wake Forest, Mensah toiled. I wouldn’t consider him to be a high pick — and we’ve seen how recent Miami quarterbacks have elevated their stock beyond their means (see: Cam Ward).
Nico Iamaleava has not really had to push himself at UCLA, who are winning without their quarterback putting up big numbers. He is still a very naturally gifted player but it is difficult to watch him currently and feel like he warrants buzz as an early draft pick.
I wouldn’t expect CJ Carr to turn pro after two seasons starting at Notre Dame, unless they go on an epic playoff run, he excels and wishes to strike while the iron’s hot. Sam Leavitt can’t stay healthy, continues to turn the ball over and doesn’t look like a future NFL starter in my opinion. LaNorris Sellers is virtually undraftable at this stage, despite his physical talent, based on the way he is playing and has played over the last 12 months. His best choice would be to stay in school next year, try a change of scenery (probably Miami) and hope to rebuild his stock.
And then there’s Arch Manning. Finally the penny has dropped. As we’ve been saying for what feels like an eternity — if his name was Arch Smith, we wouldn’t be talking about him as an attractive NFL prospect. He continues to be hesitant and inaccurate, he badly lacks composure in the pocket, he makes some horrendous throws that lead to turnovers or near turnovers and we are seriously overestimating his athletic upside as a compensatory factor.
Let’s be clear — he’s a good athlete. He does not possess ‘elite’ tools. The way some people carry on you’d think we were watching Wyoming Josh Allen. Manning is not close to that level of physical upside — and this assumption that composure, timing and accuracy will emerge in time due to having two famous uncles and a grandfather means very little. Through one-and-a-bit seasons as the starter in Texas, he does not look like a future NFL starter. He’s not a first round pick, let alone a high first round pick.
Without major improvement, Manning should continue to earn a fortune playing college football — working to improve his game. I don’t think he will declare.
So that’s really it. Hardly the super-class of quarterbacks many were projecting as early as a fortnight ago.
The idea that bad NFL teams picking at the top of round one would squander the opportunity to draft an outstanding talent like Jeremiah Smith or Leonard Moore in preference of tapping into this quarterback group is insane.
Once again the media, so desperate for quarterback headlines, have hyped up a class and have let down their audience. How many times does this have to happen? Pick a ‘big name’ draft pundit. They virtually all had Manning in their top-five. It’s not good enough.
The good news about the 2027 draft
This is a very interesting class overall. We don’t need to force the quarterbacks into the narrative to create entertainment. We’re good.
I have tentative first or fringe first round grades on 26 players currently. I don’t even have some of the more hyped up players included within that list (eg, Cam Coleman, Trevor Goosby, Yhonzae Pierre — more on them later).
I also haven’t watched every player and there’s still time for new names to emerge or for others to improve their stock.
This is a massive difference to the last draft. It has the makings of a deep class with top-end talent in round one.
The receivers lead the way
Everyone knows about Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and frankly, he should be the #1 overall pick in 2027 and it shouldn’t even be a debate. Stop over-drafting quarterbacks for the sake of it and take the second coming of Julio Jones instead.
Behind Smith, there are a cluster of really talented alternatives.
Alabama’s Ryan Coleman-Williams remains a legit first round talent and, for me at least, WR2. I appreciate people will point to his drops — and I accept it’s a problem that needs rectifying. However, there simply aren’t many players like him on Planet Earth.
He is so incredibly dynamic, sudden and electrifying. Speed, quickness and agility wins in the NFL and RCW is just on a different level. You can see on the field his reported +23mph GPS speed, a 44-inch vertical and 11-2 broad. I genuinely believe he has the talent to be one of the NFL’s best playmakers.
There’s a great example from the weekend against South Carolina. Watch the video below. Initially, he shows a quick move to avoid any kind of contact with the LOS defender (who I don’t believe it trying to jam him — but if he was, RCW looks quick enough to beat it). In no time at all he’s in a position to occupy the safety’s attention. He perfectly pulls off a stutter-step then explodes towards the end zone. He’s open, he catches the football and it’s a 35-yard score:
Look at the quickness, look at the sharpness in how he operates (the initial move, the fake, the acceleration). This is stuff you can’t teach. Think of the top speed receivers in the league over the last decade — they share these kind of qualities.
There has been some improvement on the drops in the last three games (zero recorded). It’s still a concern to acknowledge, embrace and know it could be an issue at the next level. His catching technique needs a lot of work. Yet we’re talking about a player who would be a top-10 lock without this issue. I’m willing to spend a whole summer working on his one technical problem to unlock the unbelievable talent on offer. You don’t often get a chance to draft someone this good.
Ryan Coleman-Williams is rare. I am prepared to take a chance on rare. And this isn’t the over-used ‘rare qualities’ that loads of players get labelled with. I’m talking about a level of talent and upside that is only a notch below Jeremiah Smith and Malachi Toney within college football. If he falls due to the drops, I think good teams should be ready to roll the dice.
For what it’s worth, he is constantly praised for his maturity and he’s a team captain at Alabama.
I would also consider Ole Miss’ Deuce Alexander someone of great interest. Again, you can’t teach remarkable speed. His ability to explode off the snap and challenge defensive backs is not typical. If you sit deep in zone he will drive on his man and is a constant threat on the double-move, breaking back to the QB to accept the often offered deep cushion or he’ll simply run by you. He’s so sudden and quick he’s extremely difficult to cover over the middle and good luck covering him in man. He’s too fast. He can sell the deep route and break back inside with such quickness, he often leaves defenders in constant stress.
Look at this double-move against Florida:
For me, his speed/suddenness is good enough to call special and I think he warrants a lot more attention than he’s getting.
Indiana’s Charlie Becker and Oregon’s Evan Stewart also carry major intrigue. Becker has such a complete game — and while he doesn’t quite have the dynamism of Coleman-Williams and Alexander, he just does everything at a high level. Stewart, is another explosive athlete — a speed receiver who has returned this season and looks back to his best.
I think Rutgers’ KJ Duff, Arizona State’s Reed Harris, Florida State’s Duce Robinson, Texas’ Cam Coleman and Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Young are capable of getting into the mix — depending on how the rest of the year and testing plays out. Of the group, Coleman is the one who has flattered to deceive the most relative to his consensus draft stock. He clearly has some natural talent — I’m just not sure he has the special qualities.
This is a deep, talented class of receivers. It’s exciting.
Who looks like they could be a top-10 pick?
Aside from Jeremiah Smith and Leonard Moore — who should be #1 and #2 off the board if we take away the endless desperate need to overdraft quarterbacks — there are a few others making their case.
Texas pass rusher Colin Simmons had six sacks against Tennessee and is tailor made to be a top-end, high-quality NFL pass rusher. He has all of the tools required to make it big at the next level. Meanwhile, South Carolina’s Dylan Stewart is widely viewed as a prototype for the position — long, strong, quick. He is a factory made NFL EDGE.
Stewart’s stock has taken a knock this week after he was suspended indefinitely by the Gamecocks for a petulant display against Alabama. He was slow coming off the field at times, angering his Head Coach. He refused to be subbed out of the game at one point. On another, he was heading to the bench and had to be ushered back to the sideline by a coach. Then he punched an Alabama player.
I spoke to a well-placed source recently who suggested that there’s a view some share that he’s not the sharpest tool in the box. Evidence for this is stuff like his ridiculous ‘machine gun’ celebration as he stood over Jaxson Dart, which you can see in the video below along with the issues from Saturday:
As of right now, I wouldn’t expect this to have much impact on Stewart’s stock. To me this feels a lot like a maturity issue, perhaps mixed in with some entitlement as a player who has been talked about as a future high pick since leaving High School. I would imagine he’s also very well paid.
There simply aren’t many players with his talent and physique. So unless this situation escalates, I would imagine teams will eventually dig deep into his personality, he will work overtime to repair his image and he will still be taken very early. We’ll see.
Simmons, meanwhile, provoked his mother to apologise on social media after a bizarre urinating celebration after one of his sacks against Tennessee. Goodness knows what he was thinking — but it provoked a penalty flag and he too may have some maturing to do. Even so — both have to be considered as likely top-10 picks alongside Smith and Moore.
Georgia linebacker Chris Cole is going to be a top-10 pick. I am absolutely certain of that. There are simply not many players capable of doing what he can do on a football field. His closing speed has to be seen to be believed — he gallops like a race horse. He could set records for his position in the forty at the combine. He can cover 1v1, carry the seam, drop immediately to eliminate throwing lanes. He only missed four tackles in 2025 (although he missed two against Oklahoma at the weekend, his first misses of the season). His pursuit skills are reminiscent of an Apex Predator chasing down its prey. When he reaches the point of contact, if you’re square on, he won’t take any prisoners.
His interviews are also very impressive — he is a charming individual and speaks very well. I am completely sure the NFL will see him as a can’t-miss prospect.
Rest assured John Schneider will have been very impressed, given he reportedly attended the Oklahoma vs Georgia game in person.
Ole Miss defensive tackle Will Echoles might’ve struggled, along with everyone else, to get an angle on the Florida Gators’ running attack on Saturday. Despite that, he has all of the characteristics of a highly draftable interior defender.
Kewan Lacy (RB, Ole Miss), Jadan Baugh (RB, Florida) and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asu (LB, Notre Dame) can all make a case to be among the ten-or-so most talented draft-eligible players for 2027 — yet positional value could work against them. All three are exceptional talents.
Who else is standing out?
Oregon tight end Jamari Johnson looks every bit as good as LSU’s Trey’Dez Green. Both are excellent talents as receivers. Johnson needs to play consistently for the rest of the season to secure a high, likely legit first round grade. Against USC at the weekend he was absolutely phenomenal. He hurdled defenders, pulled off a miraculous one-handed grab, busted seams galore and was virtually uncoverable.
He’s capable of making people miss in the open field and accelerating away from defenders — this is not typical for a tight end. He’s such a threat in the long red zone. He consistently creates separation against defensive backs and he even has YAC potential. He looks like a special athlete and even his blocking looks decent at times.
If you want to watch what was virtually a perfect game by a college football player, go and watch his tape from Saturday.
Green needs to return from his knee injury and at least show some improvement as an in-line blocker. However, he is also an extremely rare physical talent (6-7, 240lbs). Both could easily end up being top-20 picks.
Mississippi State cornerback Kelley Jones is one of the most underrated players in college football. He has immense size but isn’t stiff with it. Typically when you’re 6-4 and pushing 200lbs at cornerback, you’re going to see some hip-stiffness or a lack of an ability to transition with speed and smoothness. Here’s some of his snaps from Saturday against Missouri:
I had Jones as a fringe first rounder for 2026 and was surprised he didn’t declare. He’s playing even better this season — and you can see he’s loving his football at the moment. Of all the players on that upstart Mississippi State team, he’s the one bouncing around after big moments and appearing fired up.
Alabama’s Zabien Brown is also showing genuine signs of first round potential, whilst Clemson’s Ashton Hampton and Georgia’s Ellis Robinson IV can certainly get into the mix if they continue to play the way they have in the first month of the season. I’ve watched three games of all three so far and came away impressed. At safety, Georgia’s KJ Bolden and California’s Kingston Lopa have been standouts. Both have good size and Lopa in particular has been a playmaking machine.
LSU’s Jordan Seaton is currently the only offensive tackle I’ve watched with clear first round traits and/or the ability to remain on the left hand side. His ability to kick-slide with ease, compete with top-end athleticism and look like a legit NFL blind-side blocker have him in the first round mix if he can play with greater consistency and develop an edge. I think Iowa duo Kade Pieper and Trevor Lauck can both be top-40 players, although Pieper might end up converting from right guard to center and Lauck from left tackle to guard.
Miami’s Justin Scott has a lot of potential and British-born Emmanuel Oyebadejo has sensational physical potential. Both players just need to make more splash plays over the coming weeks.
Players who look like they could emerge as solid NFL starters
Alabama’s Yhonzae Pierre and Ohio State’s Kenyatta Jackson both look the part. They are big EDGE defenders with Demarcus Lawrence-style builds. Either could interest the Seahawks to fill the void when Lawrence retires at the end of the season. However — they need to show they are in Lawrence’s range for testing (1.63 10-yard split).
On tape, neither player is a dynamic, twitched up pass-rusher. They don’t have the great ankle flexion to bend-and-straighten at a top-end level. Neither do they possess exceptional quickness and burst off the snap. However, they will do a very solid, dependable job at OLB or EDGE defending the run, with the ability to provide some pressure from a starting position outside. They might be solid not spectacular — but there’s a value in that.
I don’t currently view Pittsburgh’s Ryan Baer, Texas’ Trevor Goosby or USC’s Elijah Paige as first round offensive tackle prospects — but all can come into the league, even if it’s at right tackle rather than the critical blind-side position, and possibly become capable starters. Indiana’s Carter Smith and Ohio State’s Austin Siereveld look like very capable guard converts (Siereveld shifted to guard this year — but moved to right tackle recently due to injuries).
Mark Fletcher at Miami and LJ Martin at Boise State are both very interesting potential day-two starters at running back, while I think people are sleeping on Ohio State safety Earl Little Jr.
I’m eager to see more from Virginia Tech tight end Luke Reynolds.
LSU’s dynamic speed-rusher Princewill Umanmielen is showing the potential to act in a rotational role as a likely day-two prospect, while Alabama’s Devan Thompkins has flashed a few times — certainly enough to make him intriguing. Will Heldt (EDGE, Clemson) is productive, long and has talent — but I’m finding it hard to determine what his actual upside is. Testing will help.
Who are the overrated players?
Most of the quarterback class, for starters.
A’mauri Washington (DT, Oregon) is a great athlete for his size but he’s not much of a football player. There’s a lot of mediocre or bad tape to go with the occasional splash play. I’m not sure we’re seeing much more than mid-round qualities from a number of talked-up defensive linemen (Clev Lubin, John Henry Daley, Matayo Uiagalelei, Damon Wilson, Bear Alexander, Ahman Moten Jr, Quincy Rhodes Jr).
