KRIS BOYD #2 CB 6’0/196 TEXAS The CB positions have been a big strength for the Longhorns most of this decade. The leader of the pack for them this season is BOYD. BOYD is not the glamour guy that HOLTON HILL was last year, or that DEVANTE DAVIS is turning into this season for the Longhorns. But he… Read More »
JAKE BAILEY #14 P 6’2/202 STANFORD 2018 was a veritable bonanza year for Rookie kicking and punting prospects on NFL Training Camp rosters. And more than a few of them made the 53-man roster cut-downs. Any team with a big need going forward on their Special Teams better get lucky and/or risk a fairly early Pick for a… Read More »
And so the chaos begins in earnest for the 2018 College Football season. ARMY takes OKLAHOMA into OT, in Norman, before the thin gray line breaks. STANFORD comes from well behind to beat the Ducks on the road. KELLY BRYANT loses his starting job at Clemson, and is leaving school. The biggest bad news is that top NFL… Read More »
The Week 3 game schedule was a bit weak, as many teams prepped for their pending Conference schedules with cup-cake tune ups. Then again there were more than enough solid matchups to view, with pro prospect status in mind. So once again let me share with you some thumb-nail sketches of players Who Caught My Eye! SQALLY CANADA… Read More »
Once again, this year it sure feels like there are an inordinate number of player injuries, seriously affecting significant prospects for the 2019 NFL Draft. I had intended to thumbnail Oklahoma RB RODNEY ANDERSON for last week’s column, but Oklahoma was rolling roughshod over Florida Atlantic and he never saw the field in the second half with 100+-yards… Read More »
I have to keep reminding myself to try to temper early season player thumbnails because overall play suffers a bit the first couple of weeks of the season, since college has no pre-season games… thank God. So in general I try to avoid QB evaluations this early. But as you will see below I have made an exception,… Read More »
KEISHAWN BIERRIA #7 LB WASHINGTON 6’1/230. Because he lacks the traditional bulk of an ILB BERRIA has not gotten the credit he deserves as an active, productive IB, who plays the run effectively, and has the athleticism to handle pass coverage in the middle of the field. He has a nose for the ball and pursues from sideline… Read More »
There are times when the only value in my world for many of these earlier Bowls with .500 teams in action is that it gives me an opportunity (tongue in cheek) to look at a few prospects that fit the category of ‘good players in bad/mediocre programs’. So let’s separate a little fly-shit out of the pepper, shall… Read More »
DAVID BRIGHT #64 OT STANFORD 6’5/300. I don’t think this guy has gotten the credit he deserves for his all-around play out at LT for the Cardinal. Every time I watch Stanford play he impresses me with his steady work out at LT in both pass-pro and the all important run blocking in the Stanford ground and pound… Read More »
TREVOR DARLING #73 OG MIAMI (F) 6’4/300 I always give props to players who sacrifice for the good of their team. Mark down DARLING as one of those guys, having played out at LT for a couple of years, and doing a solid job for the rising ‘Canes program. But for as solid as he was out on… Read More »
ZACH ALLEN #2 DE BOSTON COLLEGE 6’5/275 JR At first I was highly disappointed to learn that HAROLD LANDRY/ER was still injured and being held out of the game against UCONN. After a bit of sulking I realized that it would give me a chance to watch a contest in which ALLEN would need to step up and… Read More »
BRIAN ALLEN OC #65 MICHIGAN STATE 6’2/305 Being a solid college player does not necessarily mean the pro game is in a player’s future. Size, athleticism, etc. often end up derailing pro aspirations for dozens of solid players each season. And then there are the guys who play well in college, don’t quite measure up athletically, and yet… Read More »
MARCEL ATEMAN WR #3 OKLAHOMA STATE 6’3/220 The number one wideout for the Cowboys is clearly JAMES WASHINGTON. But Okie State also has a full stable of thoroughbred wideouts for Mason Rudolph to throw to. For my money the clear No. 2 is MARCEL ATEMAN, who is having a great season after missing all of 2016 to a… Read More »
First a quick apology for late and light entires this week. My laptop crashed on me and was in the MAC Hospital most of the week. It has recovered and is back home now for me to work on. Let the thumbnails begin. J.T. BARRETT #16 QB OHIO STATE 6’2/220 Heading into the weekend I had no intention… Read More »
MARK ANDREWS #81 TE 6’4/254 OKLAHOMA JR ANDREWS has made his mark for the Sooners as a very athletic receiver in a big boy body, ever since his true frosh season in 2014. He is a two-time, all Big 12 1st teamer. This season, with the graduation of WESTBROOK/LEWIS at WR he has become Baker Mayfield’s top target.… Read More »
#38 DANIEL CARLSON K AUBURN 6’4/218 Great kickers come along about once a decade, if that. Just look around the NFL at the multiple teams who bring in 2-3 kickers per season in an attempt to shore up their K slot. CARLSON is this decade’s Star Kicker. He has the leg, the form, the psyche to withstand the… Read More »
#8 BRAXTON BERRIOS WR/RS MIAMI (F). 5’9/186 The time has come to accept the reality that between quickness and good hands almost every NFL roster has room for 1 or 2 “slot-type” receivers/return men on their roster. Used in a creative scheme they are just too productive and clutch to discount because they are 5’11 or shorter. BERRIOS… Read More »
#20 OREN BURKS OB VANDERBILT 6’3/230. You have to be a real Draftnik to really know much about BURKS, but I highly recommend you watch him in action for the Commodores as the season progresses. BURKS has toiled in relative obscurity but has been a significant factor in making the Vandy team competitive in the tough SEC. He’s… Read More »
SAQUON BARKLEY/RB #26 PENN STATE 5’11/228 JR. My first thought watching the Iowa game was what a great player BARKLEY is. My second thought was that JAMES FRANKLIN is going to use him up by sometime in late October. How can BARKLEY not declare for the 2018 NFL Draft before he’s beaten to a pulp? This guy is… Read More »
Happy to say that I got power back in time to watch pretty much a full slate of games last weekend. It was another week of solid game match-ups and some significant performances by 2018 NFL Draft prospects. Here are some notables from games I was able to watch. DEONTAY BURNETT/WR #80 SOUTHERN CAL 6’0/175 JR Please allow… Read More »
#1 JERMAINE CARTER LB 6’0/235 MARYLAND CARTER returned to the Terps this past Spring with a slimmed down body and seriously improved speed in pads. He is a o-it-all LB who can blitz, drop in coverage and his coaches wisely use him in multiple locations and roles. He needs to improve his wrap-up tackling skills. Right now he… Read More »
Just when you thought we might be through with prospect thumbnails I have dusted off my notes from the second half of the Bowl season. By this time next week I’ll be deeply immersed in prep work for Shrine Week. But I did find some impressive work from prospects during the past couple of weeks, and wanted to… Read More »
It’s our last chance to see prospects in live game action as the Bowl season trudges on. In some cases the games are bereft of serious prospects to thumbnail because almost 150 were done during the regular season play. But in some cases there are also previously injured players who are returning to action. On the downside the… Read More »
This pretty much wraps up our weekly prospect thumbnails of the week since the 2016 College football season is now over. But wait, in a couple of weeks the Bowl season gets underway and will provide us with more prospect play to review. TARELL BASHAM/DE/OHIO 6’4/265 OHIO #93 There may be almost as many questions about BASHAM’s pro… Read More »
DANIEL CARLSON/PK/AUBURN 6’4/215 #38 JR It is not very often that I look to Kicker underclassmen as prospects for declaring early for the NFL Draft, but after watching CARLSON again this season I think he is as close to being a dominant player at the position as we can get right now. And for way too many NFL… Read More »
