A college football game will be played tomorrow. Kansas State is taking on Iowa State in Dublin. It’s the best game they’ve had since they started doing this in Ireland. It’ll be particularly interesting to watch K-State quarterback Avery Johnson, a player with the potential to rise in the coming weeks.
Seeing as we’re getting back into the swing of things, I’ve been trying to cram in some scouting ahead of the season. Usually by now I’m a couple of months of solid study into the next draft class. This year, I’ve had the busiest summer day-job wise in my career with the BBC. Those who follow me on Twitter will probably be bored stiff hearing about the story I’ve been covering and it has delayed my draft work. My apologies for that.
Recently I have been able to watch some tape. I’ve done a tentative grade board with 66 names on it. Here’s an overview of what I expect this year…
I think there are a handful of players with a lot of obvious talent where it’s easy to imagine they could be high picks:
Caleb Downs (S, Ohio State)
Jeremiyah Love (RB, Notre Dame)
Spencer Fano (T, Utah)
Peter Woods (DT, Clemson)
TJ Parker (EDGE, Clemson)
Kedric Faulk (DE, Auburn)
Francis Mauigoa (T, Miami)
On top of this I think Garrett Nussmeier (QB, LSU) should be considered the top signal caller going into the season, followed by Drew Allar (QB, Penn State).
Ohio State safety Caleb Downs is the best overall prospect, sporting a complete game. His instinct, size, athletic range and college tape all scream top-five pick. The only thing that’ll hold him back is positional value — yet we’ve seen top echelon defensive backs go very early and I imagine that’ll be the case with Downs too.
In terms of pure talent, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (brother of Julian) might be second on the list. He doesn’t necessarily have ideal bulk for the position but he’s extremely fast, has superb vision and he just looks the part of a future star. As with Downs, positional value will be a consideration.
It’s looking like a good, deep offensive line class. I am a huge fan of Spencer Fano, Utah’s right tackle. Stylistically he’s been my favourite player to watch so far. He reminds me of a slightly better version of Taliese Fuaga (himself a top-15 pick). Fano just gets after opponents, plays with superb power and aggression and he’s a good enough athlete to handle pass-pro duties additional help. The next best tackle I’ve watched so far is Miami right tackle Francis Mauigoa. Whether he stays at tackle or kicks inside to guard, he’s another very athletic, aggressive, balanced blocker.
There are more names you could add to the list. Gennings Dunker the Iowa right tackle is exceptionally underrated. Caleb Lomu, the left tackle team mate of Fano at Utah, is a good pass-protector and could also be a top-50 pick. I enjoyed watching tape of Auburn’s Xavier Chaplin. Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor also has some talent I just worry about his weight — he looks too big and heavy. The talent is there but he could stand to drop a few pounds.
Iowa’s Logan Jones and Alabama’s Parker Brailsford are the top two centers for me and both belong in the top-50 discussion.
In terms of defensive linemen, I think there are three obvious high picks. Clemson duo Peter Woods (DT) and TJ Parker (EDGE) plus Auburn’s big defensive end Kedric Faulk. All three appear to have rare traits and the profile to go very early.
There are others who could get into the debate. Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks is a good athlete for his huge height and size and he does an excellent job working into the backfield. However — unsurprisingly for someone noted at 6-6 and 325lbs he’s not the most sudden or agile player and you don’t see much in the way of gap-shooting or twitch. It does make you wonder if he’ll be as effective at the next level.
Georgia’s Christen Miller is a bully of an interior defender, playing the run brilliantly without showing much in the way of a pass rush. Zane Durrant at Penn State is undersized at 6-1 and 290lbs but he’s athletic talent is off the charts.
I don’t have a receiver with an early ‘could be a first rounder’ grade and the same goes for the tight end position. The best three I’ve watched so far are Arizona State wide-out Jordyn Tyson, Oregon’s Evan Stewart and Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers.
I think Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton can be a top-50 pick.
At linebacker, Georgia’s CJ Allen and Ohio State’s Sonny Styles are the best two I’ve seen — both with early day two marks. I have the same grade on cornerbacks Avieon Terrell (Clemson), Jalon Kilgore (South Carolina) and Malik Muhammad (Texas).
There are some players I think are being overrated by the national media in pre-season. This includes Alabama linebacker Dontae Lawson, Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr, Alabama defensive end LT Overton, Alabama guard Jaeden Roberts, Miami quarterback Carson Beck, Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt and Clemson tackle Blake Miller.
I’ll finish with the quarterbacks overall. I don’t understand why Clemson’s Cade Klubnik is suddenly being pitched as a potential top pick. To me he looks like a middle rounder with limited upside and tools.
Perhaps it speaks to this class overall, before the season begins, that people are reaching for players like Klubnik to be something they aren’t? It’s also partly why there’s an obsession over Arch Manning because he’s a big name (and a Manning). The guy has barely played in college. How can anyone say he’s a potential #1 pick? Just because of his second name? South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers also gets pushed into the top-five but based on what? We need to see a lot more from him to justify that talk.
For me very little has changed from the end of the last college football season. Garrett Nussmeier and Drew Allar should be considered the top-two quarterback prospects entering the season. I get the sense, like usual, that familiarity is breeding contempt.
Nussmeier had the biggest number of pro-throws in college football for LSU last season, looking the part on a technical level. While he doesn’t possess a cannon his arm strength is still plenty good enough. He does need to limit the number of WTF mistakes in year two as a starter but the good last year was very good. There are some concerns about his Head Coach noting ‘patellar tendinitis in his knee’ but hopefully it’s not as bad as it sounds. If he’s cleared by teams, he is a very clear favourite to be the top QB taken next year.
I’m a little bit bemused by the negativity about Allar online to the point it feels almost the trendy view now to say he isn’t a first round talent. As someone who was very critical of his 2023 tape, there’s no denying he made major strides in 2024. Now we get to see if he can up his game even further. It’ll be harder without Tyler Warren to throw to us as a safety valve — but that’s even better for judging his tape.
He’s big, athletic, has a tremendous arm and is of good character. He showed maturity returning to Penn State to work through aspects of his game despite so many people talking him up as a potential high pick during the playoffs.
Who else could emerge? For me the name to watch as a toolsy prospect who can rise is Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson. He has everything physically, he’s a good, mobile runner and he can make plays in multiple ways. He’s a player to keep an eye on. I think Georgia Tech’s Haynes King is being slept on somewhat. Byrum Brown at USF is someone to watch to see if he can take a step, as is the aforementioned Johnson at Kansas State. Indiana’s system will help Fernando Mendoza after he transferred from California while transfers for Jacob Zeno, Mark Gronowski and Billy Edwards Jr will also provide some intrigue to the class.
The point is though, I currently only have Nussmeier and Allar in the ‘could be first rounders’ category before a pass is thrown. There are players who can grow, develop and turn this into a good class. Even Klubnik can change my mind with a strong, consistent season where he makes difficult, complex throws downfield and drives Clemson to a big year. Currently though, I don’t think there’s a cluster of clear first round types.
