NFL Draft: Stock Up, Stock Down Part 2

We are back for another week of Stock Up, Stock Down. We will go over players who raised their stock this past weekend and players whos stock might have dropped down some.

Stock Up

Bhayshul Tuten – Virginia Tech: Tuten had his best game of his career, and it was against a good Boston College team. He even sored four total touchdowns on the night, one through the air and three on the ground. He showed vision, patience, agility. Tuten also made big plays, ripping off a 61 yard touchdown. He looks more explosive and mobile after he was able to ditch the brace he had been wearing the last couple weeks.

Sam Brown Jr. – Miami: Sam Brown was a big transfer for Miami from Houston where his counting stats weren’t great, but if you watched his film he looked like a player on the rise. He had a slow start to his 2024 season with him not going over 50 yards in his first three games and not breaking 75 until this past weekend. He is a 6’2 195 pound deep threat that seems to finally had a breakout game against Louisville. Brown had just three catches, but they went for 125 yards and one touchdown. His downfield speed and ball tracking were on display. Hopefully he can keep it up.

RJ Harvey – UCF: RJ Harvey started off the season fast with 126+ yards in each of his first three games, but failed to break 100 in the following three games. He found his groove again this past weekend against the #9 ranked Iowa State Cyclones going off for 25 carries and 196 yards and two TDs. He showed his big play ability with an 80 yard run. He has a big challenge this weekend with the #11 ranked BYU Cougars. If Harvey can keep it up it will definitely help his stock even more.

Jalon Walker/Mykel Williams – Georgia: I know its kind of cheating to have them both in there, but both had big games that helped their stock for different reasons. Walker was seen as a linebacker that could blitz the quarterback on some third downs. After this game he might be seen as a guy that can play some 3-4 OLB as well. He is still listed at 6’2 245 which means he’s probably a little smaller, so I cant see him being a hand in the dirt defensive end, but could be used standing up.

Williams was seen by some as the next Travon Walker. A big and ultra athletic pass rusher that flashed talent, but might be a year or two away who ended up going #1 overall. Travon was similar in size when he was at Georgia. Mykel had just 4.5 sacks in each of his first two seasons. Due to injury he has only played in four games this season, but he got two sacks against one of the better tackle tandems in Texas. He needs to stay healthy and show that his arrow is pointing up and he could go in the first round.

Cobee Bryant – Kansas  : Bryant came into the season with some offseason hype but Kansas had a bad start to the season and it didn’t seem like teams were testing him much. His lack of size though did show up in some instances (he was officially 6’0 168 pounds in the offseason). He had his first interception of the season against West Virginia, but has been quite most of the season. Until this past weekend. He picked off Houston three times! He showed off some impressive ball skills and leaping ability in some of those picks. He has definitely helped himself.

Stock Down

Quinn Ewers – Texas: Ewers entered the season with some talk of being a 1st round quarterback, even some pundits claimed he could be the first quarterback taken. It was a bit of a stretch just going off his film from 2023. He started off the season played well, but not great. He seemed to have cut down on some of the bonehead plays. But his inconsistency has creeped back up as well as injury issues. Ewers has sustained injuries in each of the last three seasons and has a slight frame that may not hold up in the NFL.

His interceptions are also up having thrown six last season, but has already thrown four in five games played. His accuracy has also waned. He is a junior and he could return, but I don’t think Texas would take him back with Manning waiting in the wings. So either he declares and possibly goes early day three or transfers and plays one more year in college.

Antario Brown – Northern Illinois: Antario Brown exploded onto the scene last season with 1,296 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns and that was after a slow start to that season. He showed flashes of vision and quickness of an NFL back. He has only broken 100 yards once this season against NC State. Brown is averaging 4.5 yards a carry, but that’s in the MAC. The season is already half way through and he needs to get back to the way he played last season otherwise he might go undrafted.

Jack Bech – TCU: Jack Bech the former LSU transfer started off the season on fire, catching over 130 yards in four of the first five games of the season. He even had 200 versus UCF, but he’s cooled off the last couple weeks with just seven catches for 101 yards in those two games. He was killing teams on sideline throws and out of the slot. It seems like some teams may have figured out how to play him, he will need to figure out how to beat that and show NFL teams that he can do multiple things and can make adjustments

Joshua Farmer – Florida State: Farmer showed some flashes in 2023, collecting five sacks and showing strength and explosiveness. This season he has been off to a rough start. He has just 2.5 sacks and doesn’t look as engaged and may have even put on a little bad weight. Farmer also isn’t showing the pass rush potential he showed last season. He looked like he could be a day two pick coming into the season if he kept on his trajectory, but he has not and may not go until the middle of day three if he declares.

Ashton Gillotte – Louisville: Gillotte showed some flashes in 2022 and took that to another level in 2023 showing more consistency and talent. He has never been the most talented and also is not very bendy, but he still was able to collect 11 sacks in 2023 with skill, determination, his length and his power to rush the quarterback. This season though that all seems to have disappeared and he seems invisible at times. Gillotte has just two sacks on the season. One against Virginia and the other against Austin Peay. He is in danger of falling into late day three range.

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