We will be going over players who either helped or hurt their draft stock these past couple weeks that are eligible for the 2025 draft. I will also mention some sleepers to keep an eye on that haven’t been talked about much.
Players Who’s Stock Has Gone Up
WR-Jack Bech from TCU. In six games he has collected 39 catches for 702 yards and seven touchdowns. He has put up at least 130 yards in every game but two. Bech is listed at 6’2 215, but looks bigger. He has done a lot of his damage deep and especially as a big slot. Coming into the season he was seen as probably a late day three pick. Now he is probably seen as a late day two – early day three pick. He has a big test this week coming against Utah.
WR-Dane Key for Kentucky has really become the bell cow for that offense the last few weeks. It has shown in how the offense has started to show some life after looking pretty anemic early on. Especially with Barion Brown not playing as well.
WR-De’Zhaun Stribling from Oklahoma State by way of Washington State. Stribling has always had idea size at 6’2 200, but production has always been mediocre. His best season was in 2022 where he had just 51 catches 602 yards and five touchdowns. He just didn’t seem to take that next step in 2023, but in 2024 he has become the guy that has kept the Oklahoma State offense going despite other players not producing. He already has 29 catches for 556 yards and four touchdowns in six games. Coming into the season he was likely seen as a UDFA prospect for the 2025 draft, but he has worked himself into the early day three conversation.
RB-DJ Giddens from Kansas State. Giddens had over 1,200 yards last season so you may say how is his stock up? well he averaged just 5.5 yards a carry which is very good by NFL standards, but for a high level college running back is just ok. His average this season is up to 7.3 which is very good, he is showing more explosiveness and downfield potential. If he can keep his average up he will be seen as more of an every down back.
TE-Harold Fannin Jr has definitely made a name for himself this season at Bowling Green. The question with him was could he do it against power four programs? and he passed that test with flying colors. He had back to back games against ranked opponents and had over 130 yards against both Penn State and Texas A&M. He is definitely in the day two conversation.
DE-Donovan Ezeiruaku from Boston College is having a big final season after having trouble converting pressures into sacks in 2023. He has already beat his career high of 7.5 sacks from 2022 with nine in just six games. He collected three sacks this past week against Western Kentucky. Ezeiruaku has gone from a probably late day three pick to in the day two range for this draft class.
WR-Elijah Sarratt for Indiana. Sarratt transferred to Indiana this past offseason with what it seems like half the James Madison roster and coaches. Sarratt has had thee games over 100 yards with two of them coming the last two games. He put up big numbers last season at JMU, but of course that was in the SunBelt conference. Now he is showing him can do it in a power four conference as well. That will definitely help his stock if he decides to come out.
Sleepers For The Draft Class
Isaac TeSlaa-WR from Arkansas has shown flashes this season. He is a big guy at 6’4 217 and looks to be a decent athlete, his production doesn’t stand out. He even has a couple games without a catch. A lot of that is due to Arkansas being a heavy run oriented team. When he has gotten chances in the passing game he had 120 yards against Texas A&M. He could be a day three sleeper that could be developed.
Ahmed Hassanein-DE for Boise State has not gotten the pub he deserves. While all of the attention on Boise is rightly on Ashton Jeanty, Hassanein had a big 2023 season with 12.5 sacks and is having another solid season in 2024 despite his numbers being down a bit (5 sacks in six games). He’s an all around edge rusher can can pressure the QB and play the run.
Bhayshul Tuten-RB from Virginia Tech is quietly having a big season. He showed some flashes last season, but has taken his game to another level this season. He already has nine rushing touchdowns after having a total of 10 last season. His yards per carry are up from five to 5.7 and is also on track for 1,300 yards. The fact that he is doing this while wearing a knee brace is impressive. As long as he is healthy come draft time it would not surprise me if he was a late day two pick.
Players Whos Stock Is Trending Down??
RBs-Damien Martinez and Ollie Gordon from Miami and Oklahoma State respectively. Both have had slow first half of their seasons. There has yet to be a understanding as to why Gordon has struggled. The Oklahoma State passing game has been a big improvement from last season. Gordon just isn’t getting it done, he’s not breaking tackles like last season and isn’t having the big explosive runs he had. Gordon is averaging just 3.8 a carry and had a leg injury against West Virginia. With Martinez its not all his fault. Miami has relied heavily on the passing game this season and they have rotated their backs a lot. Its been hard for him to get into a groove.
QB-Riley Leonard-Notre Dame. Leonard showed flashes in 2022, and came into 2023 being a possible 1st round draft prospect, but he played poorly and got injured. His stock took a huge hit. He decided to transfer to Notre Dame and it was thought he could rebuild his stock there, but its only been slightly better than last season and he looks like a major day three project at this point.
Deone Walker-DT from Kentucky has not played well this season. He is a mammoth man at 6’6 345 pounds and agile for his size. he has a killer spin move, but he struggled with his pad level and his motor a bit in 2023 despite the 7.5 sacks. His weight looks about the same in 2024 and his pad level has not gotten better. His numbers are down too with only half a sack on the season. The offseason talk was him potentially being a 1st round pick. His stock has dropped enough now that he might slip into day three.
QB-Drew Allar was seen as one of the quarterbacks that could really move up boards if he had a big 2024. While he has been ok, he hasn’t taken the jump that some thought he would or expected. If the draft were today he might not go until the 4th round.
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