We got another week of college football in the books and we are seeing players continuing their breakouts and other players already falling off. As the season goes the draft class will take more shape, but of course there are some things to talk about from this past weekend. From this past week there seemed to be some very specific storylines.
Some Changes In The Edge Rusher Class?
As we have talked about here before the Edge rusher class was supposed to be one of the strongest groups in the 2025 NFL draft, but a number of the expected top guys have struggled this season. For example Abdul Carter the freak athlete that played off ball linebacker last season was moved to edge this year. He just had his first sack of the season this weekend, so it makes you wonder if maybe he’s better off at linebacker? Another edge rusher that was talking about Dani Dennis-Sutton had his first sack of the season as well.
Marvin Jones though seems to be finally showing something. He has the same number of sacks this already this season than his previous three years at Georgia put together. Patrick Payton also had three sacks against Cal giving him four on the season already. There are obviously still flaws in his game that need work, but at least he’s still able to show some flashes. Antwuan Powell-Ryland the Virginia Tech pass rusher had another sack this past weekend which put him at 5.5 for the season. He had 10 sacks last season and it doesn’t look like a fluke.
A pass rusher that is having a big of a breakout 2024 season and is definably moving up draft boards is Bradyn Swinson from LSU. He had five sacks in four years coming into the season. He collected two more sacks this weekend giving him five total for the season, matching his career. He could find himself on day two if this continues. Mike Green from Marshall was a player coming into this season that was a bit of a sleeper that not a lot of people knew about or talked about. He just had 4.5 sacks last season as a back up, nothing to get excited about, but if you watched his film you saw a guy with talent and potential. He became a starter this season and already has 3.5 sacks. Green needs to add some bulk, but could definitely be a big mover.
#Marshall EDGE Mike Green continued to show next level flashes vs. Ohio State. Got his sack in the 3rd quarter but showed a few more quality pass rushes as well.
Needs to be a more consistent run defender but his explosiveness was noticeable once again. pic.twitter.com/NOsyXuuXBz
— Devin Jackson (@RealD_Jackson) September 22, 2024
It Seems There Is Always Some News About This Wide Receiver Class
Jack Bech from TCU continues his breakout season. He has now eclipsed his previous high of 489 receiving yards from 2021 with eight catches for 166 yards and two TDs. Tai Felton from Maryland of course had another big game, especially playing a small school like Villanova. He was put to work though against them having 14 catches for 157 yards and a TD. He has a big game against undefeated Indiana next weekend.
Tre Harris who has been dominating every corner he’s come against destroyed Georgia Southern to the tune of 11 catches for 225 and two TDs. He has over 600 yards receiving already and will easily break 1,000 as long as he stays healthy.
While Nebraska lost a close one to Illinois big receivers Jahmal Banks and Isaiah Neyor had big days again with eight for 94 and four for 90 respectively. Their numbers have been a bit up and down, mostly due to playing with a true freshman at quarterback and a number of transfers on the roster. Neyor reportedly ran in the 4.46 range before multiple injuries ended his last two seasons early. They both have boosted their stock so far this season.
Dane Key has first big game of the season with seven catches for 145 yards. The previous three games he had a combined eight catches for 119 yards. Key is a solid player that doesn’t get his due since he has Barion Brown on the other side and everyone just watches Brown. If Key can keep it up it should help his stock. A somewhat underrated prospect coming into the season was Jalen Royals from Utah State. He actually had a slow start to the season, with just 168 yards receiving in his first three games. He had a breakout game against Temple this past weekend with 10 catches for 112 yards and one TD.
Luther Burden has continued to look like himself after a slow go of it the first couple games. Burden had six catches and two TDs.
The Tight End Class Is Better Than We Thought?
The tight end class for the 2025 NFL draft was thought to be a bit underwhelming, but with some players stepping up it continues to look better. Harold Fannin Jr. from Bowling Green has produced against a number of Group Of Five programs, but this season has shown he can do it against power conferences as well. He had 11 for 137 against Penn State last week and followed that up with going off on Texas A&M as well with eight catches for 145 and a TD. His current stretch might make him a top 3 TE in the class.
Justin Joly is another tight end from a smaller program (he just transferred from UConn to NC State this past off-season). Joly had a good season last year, but having played at UConn it went unnoticed. He’s having a good start to this season. Joly gave Clemson fits this past weekend with three catches for 72 yards and looks like he could be moving up the boards.
More Interceptions For The 2025 Draft class
Kentucky has had a slow start to their season mostly due to the offense. But Maxwell Hairston was always that dude, but statistically he he was having a slow start to his season, until this past weekend where he had a sack and a pick-six against South Carolina. I have a day two grade on him. Both Maxen Hook and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren who play for Toledo had interceptions this weekend. Hook is seen as a day three guy, where McNeil-Warren could sneak into day two with a big season since he is bigger and has the higher upside. EMW also had 7 tackles and a PBU.
Kansas’ duo of Mello Dotson and Cobee Bryant both had picks and a PBU in a loss. The #1 corner in the class Will Johnson also had a pick-six and continues to show why he’s the top of his class.
A Deep Running Back Class Is Getting Even Deeper?
Omarion Hampton is back to himself after a weird game against Charlotte, he had 210 yards against North Carolina Central and just had 139 yards and 3 TDs this past weekend against James Madison. Kalel Mullings the Michigan linebacker turned running back has seemingly turned himself into an NFL prospect in the matter of a couple weeks. He started out as a linebacker, but was moved to running back in 2022, but was stuck behind some really good running backs; until this season. He had a slow start, similar to Hampton, but the last two weeks has really put it on teams. He rushed for 159 yards and two TDs this past weekend against USC. He looks like a draftable running back.
Donovan Edwards seemed to look like his old self against USC. He looked lost in 2023 and it didn’t look changed early in 2024. Nate Noel from Missouri showed he can carry the load with 24 carries for 199 yards. He is still likely a 3rd down back in the NFL though. Dylan Sampson seems to have emerged as the next Tennessee draft pick at running back. He already has 10 rushing TDs on the year.
Quinshon Judkins finally had a big game. Judkins is another running back that had a bit of a slow start to his season but this past Saturday he had 14 carries for 173 yards and two TDs. Kaleb Johnson(Iowa) continues to make a name for himself carrying the ball for 206 yards and 3 TDs.
Just A Few Random Things
Billy Edwards Jr. has came in a took over for Taulia Tagovailoa and dare I say might be a better QB prospect for the NFL. He has definitely been more accurate completing 75% of his passes so far. Just a Junior he is a QB for 2026 to keep an eye on. Jalon Daniels stock is dropping with all the injuries he has had in his past and his poor play this season so far, if he doesn’t right the ship he could be looking at a late day three or undrafted prospect. You could say Riley Leonard is in a similar situation, but he still has eligibility.
Kyle McCord played like the old Kyle McCord this past saturday. Hudson Card has been struggling since week one where he completed 24/25 passes. Shedeur Sanders is taking too many sacks, yes his OL isn’t much better than last season, but he is still holding onto the ball too long.
Donovan Smith’s stock is way down. He had offseason surgery and that was thought to have slowed him down early on, but he’s still not playing well and might end up as a day 3 pick?
Mason Graham had a big game against USC. Big game for Travis hunter as well, where he had the game wining forced fumble. WR Devonte Ross from Troy is becoming a prospect to keep an eye one for 2026. He has 500 receiving yard in four games with 142 coming against Iowa.
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