I’m opening this post so people can follow along today’s college football schedule — but I also wanted to share some notes.
The Northwestern vs Indiana game was particularly competitive and interesting and a couple of draft eligible players really stood out.
I’m eager to watch more of Indiana running back Lee Beebe Jr. He has ideal size (5-10, 215lbs) with a thick, sturdy frame. He showed an ability to get skinny through the smallest of holes in the O-line to sneak through and explode to the second level. He uses a wide gait to scamper away from tackles and stretch out runs. He was quick into the hole with no hesitation to capitalise on opportunities. He showed good contact balance, enough speed to make big runs and a shiftiness 1v1 to produce some elusiveness and make people miss. There’s a lot to like here and I want to watch more.
I was also impressed with Northwestern receiver Griffin Wilde. I’ve gone back and tracked a few of his games this morning. He’s not going to be a high pick but he’s the type of mid/late round receiver who could stick in the league.
Wilde tracks the ball ever so well. His build is unusual for the position — he’s thick with a dense frame at 6-2 and 200lbs. He’s not a vertical threat with his speed and there’s a lack of suddenness. However, he possesses good body control and combines it with solid hands to complete difficult catches.
He concentrates perfectly when the ball is in the air to track and make challenging grabs. When covered he still makes catches under pressure — which is key because he’s not a big separation-creator. He’s willing to run across the middle and fight for catches.
Against Indiana he showed excellent control and leaping ability to go up and make a red zone catch. He got up in the air so high, caught the football and then got both feet down. It was an improbable touchdown catch — given the small amount of space he had to work in.
There’s nothing wrong with his route-running and he’ll use a head-fake to deceive cornerbacks. He just doesn’t have the quickness and speed to truly threaten with suddenness.
He mixes between the slot and outside corner with almost an even split. He seemed to thrive playing with Aidan Chiles who played as well as I’ve ever seen him play — to the extent I’d like to see more of him later this season.
Overall I’ve done more scouting in the three weeks than I’ve ever completed before the end of September and already have thousands of words of notes. I’ll begin to start publishing some positional breakdowns in the coming days.
I’ll probably start at wide receiver because it’s a particularly strong position group again. I’ll probably also do a stream/video soon talking through some of the players I like in this class.
