Howard Cross (DT, Notre Dame)
This is the third time I’ve watched Notre Dame and on each occasion Cross has impressed me far more than some of the other big name DT’s eligible for 2024. I was put off a little by his size (6-1, 288lbs) but it’s time to get over that and talk about his talent.
Cross has everything you look for in a disruptive interior force. He possesses great quickness to gain position with his first step and he bursts beyond sluggish blockers. He asks questions every single snap. I’ve not seen anyone better at shedding blocks to create pressure within this class.
It’s not just about quickness and athleticism either. Cross is a warrior with his hands and he can play with great base, anchoring on contact then disengaging. It’s no exaggeration to say he’s a nightmare to defend. He’s relentless in his playing style, not giving his opponent a minute’s peace. If it’s not a great get-off to simply burst through an opening, he’s battling and fighting to the whistle or driving blockers into the pocket.
His lack of size, as with a lot of shorter linemen, helps with leverage. He also keeps his legs moving so everything is a forward motion. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a DT give this much effort down after down and he does it with a high number of snaps too (more on that in a moment). I don’t know how he’ll measure for length but there’s hardly any evidence of him getting washed out. He actually initiates contact well and drives through it — rather than exposing his chest and being driven out of position.
Further to this, he can bench-press blockers and keep himself clean with his eyes in the backfield to read the play and react. There’s very clear tape where he controls the block on contact and you can see his eyes in the backfield, waiting to determine his next move.
Double teams can get after him which isn’t a surprise at 6-1 and 288lbs but the fact Duke at the weekend had to resort to that speaks volumes. He’s always on the move trying to find answers when he doesn’t get the initial win and he plays to the whistle.
As an athlete, Cross looks like he has great agility. I think he’s a very interesting, potentially exciting player. He will need to test through the roof to be a high pick at his size but I wouldn’t rule out a great short shuttle or explosive traits.
Cross’ pass rush win percentage of 18.2% leads college football among players who’ve played +50% of snaps. This is important because while other interior rushers have a higher win rate, they’re playing fewer snaps. Cross and Illinois’ Jer’Zhan Newton (17.5%) are both in the top-three for pressure percentage among players playing +50% of the defensive snaps.
Other big names who are excelling are playing less. The following are all playing between 20-49% of the defensive snaps:
T’Vondre Sweat — 23.5%
Rylie Mills 22.6%
Byron Murphy — 17.9%
Michael Hall Jr — 15%
Tyler Davis 13.8%
Kris Jenkins 12.7%
McKinley Jackson — 9.5%
It’s something to consider. Cross and Newton are winning at a high rate while playing a lot of football.
Size and length has always been important for the Seahawks up front so this might be an issue projecting Cross to Seattle. However, as we saw again this year, they’re all-in on attitude, effort, grit, leadership and physicality. That is Cross, even with a smaller frame.
I’ll also say that re-watching the Duke vs Notre Dame game just convinced me even more that Riley Leonard has so much potential. It’s good to hear his injury is a high ankle sprain and nothing more serious because it looked ugly.
I want to keep stressing the point that it’s a lot easier for a quarterback to play in an prolific spread system where they’re hardly sacked and they get easy reads throwing to talented receivers. The quarterbacks who face a lot of pressure, play in variable systems and complete difficult passes into tighter windows — they are easier to project to the next level.
Leonard, as I said at the weekend, was far from perfect against Notre Dame. However, he put his team on his back in the second half and dragged them from a 10-point deficit to a winning position. He ran with skill and athleticism and he completed big plays in critical, high-pressure situations. That type of game against a tough opponent, playing without your left tackle, can show a lot more than a player sitting in a nice, clean pocket spraying bombs around the field to the tune of 400 yards and five easy touchdowns.
Tyler Guyton (T, Oklahoma)
Increasingly we’re seeing athletic, very capable right tackles starting in college. Darnell Wright was an example this year and Abraham Lucas the previous year. Guyton has a great opportunity to be another high pick as a productive right-sided blocker.
He’s light on his feet but heavy in the way he controls blocks. He handled 1v1’s in space against Iowa State and Cincinnati but also showed he’s very capable of driving people off the line. He can get out on the move in space with ease so pulling is no problem and he can be effective on screens at the next level.
Guyton has very easy footwork and agility to get into position then drop the anchor. He’s a very impressive right tackle with top-45 potential. I’m looking forward to watching him against Texas.
Ray Davis (RB, Kentucky)
Wow. Physical, elusive, forceful. He had a prolific performance against a mediocre Florida team and I can’t wait to watch more.
Davis shifts his weight to change direction with ease. He was slippery and evasive when he needed to be and he was putting his head down and getting the tough yards too. This was one of the best individual running back performances I’ve seen in a long time. Every time he was on the field instead of one of the other runners, the difference was noticeable. He was the Kentucky offense.
It wasn’t just about brute force and breakaway speed either. His patience to let blocks develop and then the decisiveness to exploit opportunities was so impressive. Once he’d taken advantage of his blocking, time and time again he would make at least one defender miss to get even more yardage or he’d run through contact.
Davis even had a couple of really good pass-pro reps.
The Kentucky O-line played its part and Will Levis will be wishing he could’ve played behind this line for returning OC Liam Coen. However, Davis is a genuine benefactor of Kentucky upgrading both their line and their offensive coordinator and he looked like a NFL runner in this game. He destroyed Florida. He embarrassed them.
I can’t imagine the Seahawks will be spending another high pick on a running back but I guess it’s worth noting that Kentucky are back to running an offense inspired by Sean McVay.
Maason Smith (DT, LSU)
I keep seeing Smith being projected in round one and I just don’t see it. I know he’s coming off an injury but he just looks too rigid and almost a little bit clumsy. There are definite flashes where he executes a nice swim to break into the backfield but more often than not he’s a non-factor.
At the moment I’ve got he and team mate Mekhi Wingo slated for early day three as potential rotational rushers. I reserve the right to adjust those grades down the line but it was just so easy for Ole Miss on offense on Saturday. We’re not seeing enough impact up front from the LSU D-line and they just look ‘OK’.
I think McKinley Jackson, Byron Murphy, Howard Cross, Tyleik Williams, Michael Hall Jr, Jer’Zhan Newton and T’Vondre Sweat have shown far more early round potential.
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