Quick Draft Dish: Week 1

WEEK ONE

TEXAS A&M @ SOUTH CAROLINA

Ø  SOUTH CAROLINA SR QB DYLAN THOMPSON struggles with his accuracy. He is a career 53% passer, and only connected on 50% against the Aggies. His struggles with accuracy stems from his poor footwork. Thompson throws a very pretty deep ball, but struggles with intermediate routes.

Ø  SOUTH CAROLINA SR OG A.J. CANN looked very strong at the point of attack and was one of the few bright spots for the Gamecocks.

Ø  SOUTH CAROLINA JR RB MIKE DAVIS has been banged up for some of fall practice. He only touched the ball seven times, and left the game after suffering a rib injury.

Ø  TEXAS A&M SR OT CEDRIC OGBUEHI came as advertised. He neutralized what little pass rush the Gamecocks could generate. He is very athletic. Even if he gets beat, he is able to recover.

Ø  TEXAS A&M SR CB DESHAZOR EVERETT was victimized twice on long TD passes. He possesses the physical skills, but his instincts are not there.

Ø  TEXAS A&M SR WR MALCOME KENNEDY was previously not on my radar, but he is firmly there now. Kennedy caught 14 passes for 137 yards. He is a solid route runner, with very good hands. He may not have long speed, but his speed is adequate.

EASTERN ILLINOIS @ MINNESOTA

Ø  MINNESOTA SR RB DAVID COBB has a good burst and has thus far been very productive in his career.

Ø  EASTERN ILLINOIS SR QB ANDREW MANLEY is a transfer from New Mexico State. He has an NFL frame, and a good arm, but he did not show much against the Gophers. It could have been a rhythm issue, since he split reps with JR QB JALEN WHITLOW (a Kentucky transfer).

TEMPLE @ VANDERBILT

Ø  TEMPLE JR OLB TYLER MATAKEVICH showed good sideline-to-sideline range. He was also solid in coverage.

RUTGERS @ WASHINGTON STATE

Ø  WAZZU SR QB CONNOR HALLIDAY has enough of a skill set to land him in an NFL camp next year, but his body frame is not capable of taking an NFL pounding. Heck, I am not sure if he is going to survive the Pac-12 this year. He took a beating against RUTGERS.

Ø  WAZZU SR WR VINCE MAYLE impressed me with his hands and run after catch ability. In the future, I would like to see him do a better job at high pointing the football.

Ø  RUTGERS JR RB PAUL JAMES has some tackle breaking ability, but he really excels with his cuts. He does not have top end speed, but he is fast enough.

JACKSONVILLE STATE @ MICHIGAN STATE

Ø  MICHIGAN STATE JR QB CONNOR COOK looked excellent rolling out to his left, and to his right. He showed good arm strength on a few deep balls. He also showed resiliency after taking what I thought was a dirty hit to his left knee in the first quarter. Fortunately for Cook and the Spartans, he was wearing a brace on that leg.

Ø  MICHIGAN STATE SR WR TONY LIPPETT is a big wide receiver, who has the ability to separate.

Ø  MICHIGAN STATE JR DE SHILIQUE CALHOUN didn’t play much, but when he did, he was very disruptive.

COLORADO VS. COLORADO STATE

Ø  COLORADO STATE SR OT TY SAMBRAILO was injured in the early part of the first quarter. He sprained his MCL, and will only miss three games.

Ø  COLORADO STATE SR QB GARRETT GRAYSON was inaccurate in the first half, but recovered to have a nice game. Grayson has minimal athleticism, but he has a good arm.

Ø  COLORADO STATE SR RB DEE HART had a phenomenal debut. Hart is an Alabama transfer, who had multiple knee injuries, and got buried on the depth chart with the Crimson Tide. Hart has good vision and burst, but you can tell he doesn’t have the speed he once had. He catches the ball well, but his pass blocking leaves something to be desired.

Ø  COLORADO JR DT JOSH TUPOU was washed out the entire game by an inexperienced CSU offensive line. He showed very little disruption or an ability to anchor the middle of the line. CSU ran right in the spot he was taken out of, often.

UNLV @ ARIZONA

Ø  UNLV SR OT BRETT BOYKO is a nasty blocker. He is so violent with his hands. He finishes his blocks, and in one instance, he pancaked an Arizona defender six yards down the field. The arrow is pointing up for Mr. Boyko.

Ø  UNLV SR WR DEVANTE DAVIS has a huge frame and a large catch radius. He has solid hands. I don’t however get the feeling he has top-end speed.

PENN STATE VS. UCF

Ø  PENN STATE JR TE JESSE JAMES has the size to hold up as an inline blocker and he has very soft hands.

Ø  UCF SR OT TORRIAN WILSON has the size to play left tackle, but lacks the athletic ability. I don’t know if he can handle speed rushers off the edge.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE @ IOWA STATE

Ø  IOWA STATE JR WR QUENTIN BUNDRAGE was injured very early in the game and never returned. The injury turned out to be a torn ACL, and he will miss the entire season.

Ø  IOWA STATE SR TE E.J. BIBBS never became a part of the offense. He lined up in the slot most of his snaps, and was only targeted a handful of times.

Ø  NORTH DAKOTA STATE SR RB JOHN CROCKETT showed excellent burst when hitting the hole. He had two long touchdown runs (one was called back). He could be a priority free agent type after the draft next year.

UCLA @ VIRGINIA

Ø  UCLA JR QB BRETT HUNDLEY really struggled in the first half. The Bruins offensive line played horribly, leaving Hundley running for his life.

Ø  Part of the problems with the offensive line were due to UCLA JR OC JAKE BRENDEL was out with a knee sprain.

Ø  UCLA SR DE OWANAGBE ODIGHIZUWA was a menace off the edge. He showed power and speed, constantly disrupting the Virginia quarterbacks. He looks fully recovered from the knee injury that took him out last year.

Ø  UCLA SR ILB ERIC KENDRICKS was all over the field. He recorded sixteen tackles and ran an interception back for a touchdown. He is a bit undersized and he may have a hard time finding a spot at the next level.

ALABAMA VS. WEST VIRGINIA

Ø  ALABAMA JR WR AMARI COOPER is one of the best NFL prospects at wide receiver. He runs polished routes, has great hands, and good speed.

Ø  ALABAMA SR WR DEANDREW WHITE was having a solid game before leaving with a shoulder injury. White should miss the next two weeks.

Ø  ALABAMA JR RB T.J. YELDON has great burst and vision. His upright running style worries me. It opens him up to bigger hits and can lead to more turnovers.

Ø  ALABAMA SR ILB TREY DEPRIEST was suspended for this game because of “violation of team rules”. His presence is the middle was missed.

Ø  WEST VIRGINIA SR WR MARIO ALFORD has Ferrari-like acceleration. He showed this on a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown. If he can show solid contribution in the passing game, he can work himself into draftable position.

Ø  WEST VIRGINIA SR WR KEVIN WHITE has great size and high-points the ball well. He showed excellent hands in this game. I look forward to seeing him in other games.

RICE @ NOTRE DAME

Ø  RICE SR WR JORDAN TAYLOR did not play with a foot injury. He should be able to return in two weeks (Rice has a bye next week), when the Owls play Texas A&M.

Ø  RICE JR DT CHRISTIAN COVINGTON drew double-teams most of the game. He held his own during most the battles, and was able to make plays with his quickness.

Ø  NOTRE DAME JR OG CONNOR HANRATTY was solid in pass protection.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE @ MISSOURI

Ø  SOUTH DAKOTA STATE SR QB AUSTIN SUMNER injured his ankle in the first half and did not return.

Ø  SOUTH DAKOTA STATE SR RB ZACH ZENNER is a north-south runner, who rarely gets taken down by first contact. He has a little shiftiness in the open field. He catches the ball well. He does not however possess top speed, and will likely test in the 4.7 range. Some members in the draft community think he will have to convert to fullback at the next level. I am not ready to write him off as a running back just yet.

SOUTHERN MISS @ MISSISSIPPI STATE

Ø  MISSISSIPPI STATE JR QB DAK PRESCOTT is a physical specimen at quarterback. He has a strong arm, but he has a small wind-up in his throwing motion. He is a physical runner. I think he would benefit from playing through his senior season.

Ø  MISSISSIPPI STATE SR OT BLAINE CLAUSELL is not very athletic, and can be beaten inside. He is very strong, and wins battles when he gets his hands on defenders.

Ø  SOUTHERN MISS SR ILB ALAN HOWZE is a player that I thought exhausted his eligibility after last season. He suffered a season ending injury in the first three weeks of the 2013 season, and was granted a medical redshirt. Howze is a solid player, who doesn’t do any one thing spectacular, but he always seems to be around the ball. Special teams will be his ticket to an NFL camp.

FLORIDA STATE VS. OKLAHOMA STATE

Ø  OKLAHOMA STATE JR DE JIMMY BEAN impressed me with ability to use his hands to get off blocks, and then use his burst to attack the quarterback. This was my first look at Bean, and I look forward to seeing more.

Ø  FLORIDA STATE RSOPH QB JAMEIS WINSTON looked shaky in this game. He was forcing balls into coverage, reading the wrong coverage, and his mechanics were out of whack at times. He was still able to make plays with his legs, and he had some positive throws at well. This is something to monitor as the season progresses.

LSU VS. WISCONSIN

Ø  LSU SR OT LA’EL COLLINS has athletic feet, good length, and good size. He also has enough athleticism to get to the second level quickly, spring big running plays.

Ø  LSU JR CB JALEN MILLS has excellent closing speed and very good ball skills.

Ø  WISCONSIN JR RB MELVIN GORDAN is one of the fastest backs in the nation. He has superior burst and vision. I question how much he can contribute in the passing game. At this point in his career, the Wisconsin coaching staff has not asked him to participate much in the passing offense.

WASHINGTON @ HAWAII

Ø  WASHINGTON SR DE HAU’OLI KIKAHA is a tremendous pass rusher, with good burst around the edge. He can get a tad over-aggressive at times. He also is a solid run defender. He seemed comfortable rushing from a standing position, but I didn’t get a chance to see if he dropped into coverage.

Ø  WASHINGTON SR WR KASEN WILLIAMS is one of my higher ranked WR’s coming into the season. In this game however, he seemed to struggle getting on the same page with his new quarterback.

UTAH STATE @ TENNESSEE

Ø  UTAH STATE SR QB CHUCKIE KEETON struggled in his first game back after suffering a torn ACL last season. He looked timid and his accuracy suffered. The Tennessee defense had him under fire the entire game. I look for Keeton to bounce back as the season progresses.

Ø  UTAH STATE JR OLB KYLER FACKRELL injured his knee in the first quarter, came back into the game, and then re-injured the same knee. The injury turned out to be a torn ACL, and Fackrell will miss the rest of the season.

SMU @ BAYLOR

Ø  BAYLOR SR QB BRYCE PETTY suffered two cracked transfer processes in his back. He could be seen visibly wincing in pain during the first half. It also affected his accuracy.

Ø  BAYLOR JR DE SHAWN OAKMAN is listed at 6’8” 285 pounds and he looks every bit the physical specimen that would signify. He has very quick hands and the power to be able to bull rush. He also has the instincts to quickly diagnose run plays and screens. His stock is trending way up in my eyes, as this was my first time seeing him play.

MIAMI (FL) @ LOUISVILLE

Ø  LOUISVILLE SR RB DOMONIQUE BROWN looks leaner than he did a year ago, and he runs meaner. Brown has agility, burst, and soft hands.

Ø  LOUISVILLE SR RB MICHAEL DYER missed the game with a thigh bruise.

Ø  MIAMI (FL) SR ILB DENZEL PERRYMAN is built like a brick s**thouse. Perryman flies to the ball. He finds cracks in the offensive line to make constant plays in the opponent’s backfield. He may only be a two-down linebacker at the next level, as I question whether he can cover.