Building the Beast: Darian Mensah and Trinidad Chambliss put down NFL Draft markers in Week 1

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2:00Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card, and welcome to an all-new episode of Building the Beast. Week one of the college football season is officially behind us. So much to react to, quarterback performances, big games from big teams. There's no reason to get more complex than that. Dane Brugler and I with a full notebook coming out of the first weekend of the college football season. Let's get right to it.

2:27Well, I know this technically isn't the first episode of Building the Beast. We did a whole preview show a couple weeks ago before we got into the meat of this thing. But Dane Brugler, it feels especially good doing this now that we've got three or four days of college football in the books. We don't have to hypothesize or say if that this, then that we have real live football game results to react to. And even if a lot of teams were, we'll just say taking it easy in week one will be nice and say, you know, we're easing into the schedule. It's still something we can react to instead of project.

3:08And I am really excited to do that with you today. yeah i i think i'm confused by the amount of people who are maybe disappointed with the lack of uh rank first ranked matchups and like of course we want to see good football but i don't know any football is good football especially in week one and so it was it was great to have new tape players that we've been talking about all summer see them on the field another year older wiser more developed hopefully um and so yeah it was uh even though we didn't have maybe some of those juicy matchups and the ones that we thought would be compelling, like the game you were at Saturday night, maybe didn't turn out the way we, we had hoped in terms of just a good matchup.

3:52But you know what, next week, there's a lot coming week three. There's a lot to talk about, but just focusing on opening weekend, there's still plenty to cover as we get forward, as we go forward on this, as we start the 2026 season. I think maybe, and this is purely anecdotal, but going back over my time paying attention to college football, especially when there was no playoff or when it was a smaller playoff week, one was loaded with these ridiculous matchups where it was like number four versus number nine and number 15 versus number 22. I understand why that might take a backseat in this era of enlarged conferences and an expanded playoff.

4:34And I think over a long enough timeline, especially with how many playoff games we get now, that's going to take care of itself. But I do, I think it's just a reaction to waiting nine months and not really having any matchups that you can sink your teeth into. But that's only if you don't want to work at it, Dane, like we have plenty we can react to just from this week alone. And it's definitely going to get better as we move through September, but you kind of alluded to it, man. So let's just get it out of the way at the top of the show. I think you've known me for a long time. Over the course of my career, if I can downplay an LSU performance or an LSU player, I try to do that because I don't want people to think I'm some kind of Homer jerk who only wants to talk about the Tigers.

5:24But LSU Clemson was the centerpiece of this college football weekend. That's where game day went. It was the two biggest name programs. It was one of the only ranked teams that was really testing itself in the opening weekend. And to say LSU made a statement, I really feel like it's an understatement, Dane. I mean, I like we've seen plenty of lopsided games in the past, but. LSU treated Clemson like a rent to win in this game. I mean, I'm not even being mean. They outgained them 644 to 145. They had 38 first downs, which I believe is a record for LSU or at least a home game record. I mean, by any objective measure, this just did not look like two power four programs playing each other.

6:16And I was cautiously optimistic and interested in LSU this year, obviously, not only because that's where I went to school, but because of the Lane Kiffin era. And I had heard so much about what this roster was. And I was like, well, I'll be there at the beginning of the season. I'll see for myself. I saw for myself, man, this is an insane LSU roster. Before I launch into any more of a tangent, I'd love to know for your initial reactions, because there's like eight different ways you can go with this. i i don't know how good lsu is um just because i i don't think clemson's very good this year but i feel pretty good that no matter what lsu is going to be pretty entertaining uh the rest of the year and whether that that's 11 wins seven wins who knows we'll see as the rest of the schedule plays out uh two weeks against old miss that one is going to be a lot of fun but watching this team it's just there's a lot of players on this team a lot of prospects lsu did not pinch pennies this offseason right we know that they're brought in a lot of high-priced uh free agents put it that way transfers uh jordan seat in the left tackle ty benefield at safety uh sam levitt at quarterback and all of these guys played a pretty significant role immediately and so So it's a very entertaining.

7:42And I mean, let's buzz through some of these players. I mean, let's start with Jordan Seaton, because I think he, you could argue he was the top prospect in this game. I thought he had a nice debut at left tackle for the Tigers. It was far from perfect. Fell off several blocks. I wish he was more consistent with his hands. But you just, you don't have to squint to see the talent. And to me, week one, debut in an environment like that, new team, That's my takeaway is you see the talent. And so the ceiling, it still feels uncertain because of all those things that need tidied up to his game. But his ability on the move, the way he can react, his mentality, the way he finishes.

8:25There is a foundation here with Seton that I think you can get excited about. Clemson's top edge rusher, Will Helt, also in my top 50, had a very quiet night. I don't know. Did LSU give up a sack? I don't remember if they did. uh that offensive line and and i mean i don't have to tell you this but that lsu offensive line has been an issue it seems you know the last five years where whether it's you know garrett nussmeyer or whoever's a quarterback just had a tough time getting going and the offensive line was a big issue and they've had some high draft picks will campbell and some other guys but it just it seemed like a much more cohesive unit and i think part of that's the offense and what lane wants to do with motions and different things.

9:06But I came away, I was already, you know, optimistic about Jordan Seton coming in. Maybe not as sky high as some others, but optimistic about him. And I thought based on his debut, no reason to think otherwise. LSU did not surrender a sack and they ran for 309 yards on the night. And I said this to my friends and my wife after the game, typically when a team runs for 300 plus yards in a college football game, you can count on a 60 70 80 90 yard rush really doing a lot of the heavy lifting there LSU's long on the night was 18 yards they were just gashing them consistently all night long that offensive line was it was it Levitt it was Levitt and their new running back Dylan Jones tied for the team lead at 113 okay wow uh I mean they they were just getting whatever they wanted to every time they ran the ball.

10:01And yeah, I mean, Seton was a part of that. Our guy who we talked about a good bit last year, Braylon Moore is back at center for LSU, man. I, I joked with you. I'm not, I'm not ready to get reckless with Jordan Seton. I, I said something reckless to you privately that I will hold on to now that I am, you know, not in the afterglow of this game, but the talent leaps out at you, man. Like Jordan Seton, he just turned 21 years old when he gets down in that stance. I mean, he's got those big, long arms. He is such an effortless mover. And I was really impressed with his power in this game and like his ability to drive guys back and finish blocks.

10:43And he did, in addition to allowing two pressures on the night, he did have a penalty, which coaches are going to say is, is not, not a good thing, but it was like an, it was a late hit at the sideline, like finishing a block on a guy right near the sideline and privately to my O tackle. I'm going to be like, Hey, yeah, that's the, that's the edge and the nastiness we want to play with, even though you shouldn't do it again. Yeah. I love it. So you, you had actual eyes on these guys where I was watching the tape, but you were there was Seton the guy that maybe attracted your eyes the most? Or was there somebody, I mean, because obviously there's athletes up and down this roster, which, besides Seton, who else really grabbed your attention, whether in warmups or during the game?

11:32So, and that's the point I wanted to make, because you're right. And LSU beat Clemson in the season opener last year, and it didn't ultimately mean anything for their overall season. And I remember talking to you, I mean, it was a theme of last year, Mansoor Delane was amazing and we knew that relatively quickly into the season but I think LSU had three top 100 picks last year and Xavion Thomas was a little bit of a surprise like most people weren't expecting him to get drafted that highly even if I'm not going to try to guess at the number of first round picks on this roster I just was watching LSU and I was like this team feels like it has half a dozen top 100 caliber players like that is my initial read on this LSU team.

12:15And other than Jordan Seaton, we know about trade as green, who's a guy that you previewed extensively in the summer. He's obviously going to stand out to you because he's a six, seven tight end who runs like a wide receiver. We can talk about him, but if you're asking me who stood out, Clemson could do nothing with the two edge rushers, Jordan Ross and Prince will, um, and um, and um, is a name that we knew because he's, he's princely's little brother. Who's with the Carolina Panthers right now. And he also followed Lane from Ole Miss after having like nine sacks last year. So that was on my radar.

12:52I got to admit, Jordan Ross, number 29, I looked him up now and I'm like, okay, he transferred from Tennessee. He was like a talented, but maybe inconsistent player with the volunteers. Brother, I don't even care about the pick six. He was everywhere other than that. Like even without the touchdown that he scored, He had four pressures and a sack and was just all over the place in the early going of this game. My wife and I looked at each other midway through the second quarter, and we were like, holy shit, 29 has done everything in this game so far. So those two guys, considering I like, you know, I was pumped to watch Jordan Seaton.

13:32I was pumped to watch Sam Levitt and Ty Benefield. I really didn't have these edge rushers on my radar going into the game, and they were very, very impressive. yeah the best way I can sum it up is when I put on the tape for Clemson's offense I felt like in 10 minutes I was done like I think they had they ran like 40 plays or 40 something plays I think it was under 50 um it went pretty quickly and so uh I think that kind of sums it up where uh I think a good shout with those two edge rushers Joran Ross especially with the number you you notice him, but his ability to get off blocks and find the football was impressive.

14:12Um, um, me Ellen is undersized like his brother. I mean, I I'll be surprised if he's more than 243 pounds. I mean, he, he looks a little bit smaller, but it doesn't matter if you can't get hands on them to block, to block them. And several times he was able to get loose, whether creating a lane for himself on the inside, getting free. He did it consistently. Um, he just has a feel for creating those rush lanes. And so he's someone that I wasn't when talking to scouts over the summer, neither of these guys get talked up all that much. But he's someone that I think can get in the top 100 range just by nature of, you know, similar to his brother, because his brother was a mid third round pick to the Panthers.

14:54I think Prince Will can do the same exact thing. And Jordan Ross looks like a guy that we need to take a longer look at. Ty Benefield, who we talked a lot about over the summer. because, you know, he's 6 '3", he's long, he's a good athlete. He made plays. The missed tackles and the missteps were a big thing for him at Boise State. We didn't see that in week one. He had a nice PBU in this game. I also want to talk about Sam Levitt real quick, though. We should talk about the quarterback that we've been waiting to see. Right. I mean, obviously, we knew about Sam Levitt from, you know, two years ago watching him at Arizona State and how much fun he was to watch then.

15:37Last year, banged up most of the year. Now he transfers to LSU. And in that Lane Kiffin offense, I mean, I think the Jackson Dart comps, and we've talked about this, is kind of, they make almost too much sense. Maybe, you know, the reckless nature. Like there's that fine line between being reckless and being productive with the way that these guys play with using their legs and working outside of structure and just having a real uh yolo type of feel to some of their passes like clip out dane saying yolo for social media please that's fantastic i would just he's a real twitchy passer all right but sometimes you're just not sure where it's going and the accuracy is not always on point um because it's almost like his his eyes and his arms aren't on his arm they're not on the same in his feet they're not on the same page all the time because his eyes see one thing and his arms ready to go but his feet aren't in line yet and so he just needs to get more in tune with everything to be more consistent but man he's a talented kid there's no doubt about that and with lsu's weapons he can have a real big year i told myself going in that i just didn't want to compare sam levitt to jackson dart because it was too on the nose like you know they're both playing for lane kiffin they're both big blonde guys they both kind of seem to have this like very fun demeanor about themselves.

17:00But like midway through the game, I was like, yeah, no, okay. This is, this is Jackson dart, or at least maybe a little less polished of a Jackson dart. And I do think I didn't come away from this game overly impressed with Sam Levitt as a passer. Like I thought the ball was kind of all over the place. I thought off the top of my head, I could think of like one nice throw that traveled more than eight or nine yards in the air. And obviously LSU didn't need him to do a whole lot else with that. And I will say it's an encouraging sign that he was able to run 12 times for 113 yards with two touchdowns because it was his foot that he needed to have surgery on.

17:40And he was sidelined for a good chunk of the off season. So if he's moving around well enough to do that in a big time game, that's really encouraging because mobility is, is such a huge part of what he does. And I think I looked it up. Half of his carries were explosives. So like that is that's a big time element to bring to your offense. I'd like to see a little bit more consistency as you know, as a true thrower of the football from the pocket. But that feels like nitpicking for such an impressive season debut. Like if that's if that's our first look at Sam Levitt, that's that's just fine, even though I'm not trying to put him in any mock drafts just yet.

18:18And Levitt just missed my preseason top 50. part of that was I didn't know what to do with them two years ago at Arizona State we saw a player that was really productive at Arizona State but last year there's only so much tape and there's so much you can go based off of and coming in this year is can he stay healthy what is it going to look like in a theoretically a better situation but we still want to see more consistency and in this game he was under 60 completions but it was still a I think you come away from this game pretty excited about what Sam Levitt can be as as long as he continues to develop and grow and you know we'll see in two weeks going to Ole Miss on the road against a defense I gave a lot of points this weekend what does it look like in a big time atmosphere like that the rest of that LSU schedule will be interesting so but yeah we have plenty of the quarterbacks to talk about as well it's a perfect segue and yes contrary to what you might be thinking this is not an LSU podcast.

19:17So we're going to put a pin in it right there. LSU's got Ole Miss in two weeks. They've got Texas A &M shortly after that. So we won't have to wait long to see how that talent continues to develop from there. But for now, we're going to transition. We're going to hit plenty of other quarterbacks that were in action in week one right after this break. Football season has arrived. And with the U.S. Bank Smartly Visa signature card, you earn an unlimited 2 % cash back on every purchase, including at the stadium or at home watching on a brand new TV. Score big with unlimited 2 % cash back on every purchase.

19:51Visit usbank.com slash smartlycard to learn more. The creditor and issuer of this card is U.S. Bank National Association, pursuant to a license from Visa USA Inc. Some restrictions may apply. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. If I could wake up tomorrow and be better at any one thing, it would probably be something music related, singing, playing the guitar, playing the piano. I absolutely love music. My family loves music. We have something playing in our house seemingly at all hours of the day. And, you know, as much as I might enjoy it, I'm not exactly great at it. If that was something I could just change tomorrow about myself, I would absolutely love it.

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22:51Just when you have two really solid teams playing a game that comes down to the final seconds, incredibly impressive. And another just really fun night for Trinidad chamber, which did not look like it was going to go that way at the beginning, by the way, Trinidad chamber, which had 76 passing yards and two turnovers at halftime. And then when they came back from the break, looked much more like the guy that we're excited about in 2026. Yeah, they're knocking the rust off and then exploded in the second half. And look, Chambliss is the type of prospect that I don't think he screams NFL first round pick.

23:31You know, he's under six foot. His eyes can be inconsistent at times. He's going to be a 25 year old rookie, even though I don't know how much that matters to NFL teams. but he's a playmaker there's no denying that and so I love the way the ball explodes off his hand his athleticism is a big-time asset that first 62-yard touchdown he had to deuce Alexander because there were multiple 62-yard touchdown passes to deuce Alexander but the first one Chambliss did such a great job of reading the safety rotation and anticipating that window behind the linebacker and just ripped a perfect strike to hit Alexander in stride and it's like okay if you don't have if you don't time that up perfectly maybe you still get a completion maybe get the first down and you're moving the sticks but it's not a touchdown um if you don't hit it with if you don't have that same anticipation of alexander working behind uh the the linebacker you're not going to see that read and you're probably going to dump it off with the check down so his ability to see it post snap based off of the coverage rotation and then to hit it in stride so the timing the placement the read it it takes all of that to make that a 62 yard uh big time touchdown and deuce alexander doing the rest with this with the speed was just awesome to watch and so yeah chambliss it wasn't a perfect night he had that fumble earlier took him a little bit to get going but this guy he's just a playmaker you do with his legs you can do it with his arm um it's it's it's really fun to watch him i'm really not asking you to get reckless i'm genuinely curious because it's obvious he's not the ideal build or, you know, prototype for a big time NFL draft pick.

25:14He's a little undersized. He's a little older, but I don't know. I don't know. I have a, I have a hard time putting a cap on it is what I'm trying to say. Like I have a hard time determining what I find to be so limiting because I, you know, your brain can immediately go to like Bryce Young when you hear about his build and his size, but I don't know, man. I think he's got a liver arm than that. And he is a very dynamic athlete. Like I was trying to decide who I think he reminds me of watching the second half on Sunday night. And I think it's Bo Nix. Okay. But I, I do think like, I think he's a college wise, not talking about right now, obviously, but like, I think he's a better anticipatory passer and like better at throwing from the pocket than Bo Nix was at this point in his career.

26:05But the way that he is never, ever dead to rights reminds me of Bo Nix, where like you can you can get a free rusher on him. You could scheme up an open blitz where he doesn't see it until it's right in his face and it's still not going to matter. And his ability to get out of those situations and at worst turn them into neutral slash positive plays or at best make a make a game breaking play it's yeah like Bo Nix is the name that comes to mind for me at least and so I hear all the reasons why he might not be a big big time pick and if I had to guess I think that's probably right and yet I don't I don't want to put a limit on what he might be capable of no I and I don't think we should right and I I don't mind that comp at all to Bo Nix, who also was an older prospect.

26:57I think he was 24 years old when he got drafted. So an older prospect as well, still went top 12 in the draft. I think with with Chambliss, I just the arm audacity. I love that about him is he will he's not afraid to put it in those small windows. He's not afraid to anticipate and bet on his guy being in the right place at the right time um obviously that you know louisville i think i give their defense a lot of credit the the energy that they were playing with was a lot of fun it will get tougher against some of these other defenses um in the sec so you want to see him keep it up but uh and they did it with uh you know you think about with that offense coming alive in the second quarter or in the second half they did it without kawan lacy uh you know their stud running back who was hurt and banged up most of that second half so it was all on chambliss to go out and make things happen and he did it multiple times where you know whatever the problem was that the defense presented he found a solution i don't know how you quantify this as an nfl evaluator but also if you didn't happen to watch this game ole miss ole miss seemingly put this away on a chambliss rushing touchdown with six minutes to play and lo and behold not a wonderful night for their defense Louisville managed to tie it up with a minute and a half to play coming back from down 14.

28:23And the minute Louisville scored, I looked at the clock and I was like, oh, Chambliss is winning this game. Like I had zero doubt in my mind. And of course, Ole Miss drove the field. He went two of three for 33 yards and threw in a couple of rushes on the drive. And Ole Miss kicks a walk off field goal. And I just I have an innate faith in this guy after everything I've seen from him, which, like I said, I don't I don't know how you factor that into your evaluation, but I think it matters. I agree. I mean, there's there's definitely a vibes check, right, with these quarterbacks. And that's even to your point at the end of the game, they were playing for the field goal.

28:59And I was kind of yelling at the screen saying, what do you give it to Chambliss? Let him go make plays and at least make it an easier field goal instead of the 50 yarder or wherever it ended up being. I mean, they have a stud field goal kicker, so I think they felt pretty confident in that. But your quarterback, you have all the reason in the world to trust him to go make plays. And so, yeah, a great opening debut for Chambliss. And he started the year, the preseason, number 35 in my top 50. So just outside of that first round. And it's kind of the look, I like him enough where he belongs in the top 50.

29:36But I can't get there quite yet and say he was absolutely a first round pick. you know I'm still keeping an open mind to all these you know different projections and the way it could go but he deserves the respect of being talked about as a top 50 prospect you mentioned him briefly but number nine in your underclassmen receiver ranking heading into the season was Deuce Alexander number one at Ole Miss and just go just go cut on the highlights five catches 159 yards two touchdowns. You see it very quickly between just the, the outright speed and the stop, start movement ability. Um, I know like he had a role on Ole Miss's team last year.

30:21I think he caught 44 balls for 600 yards. It's not like he was a nobody, but there were other options, other very good options in that offense. And, uh, I think, I think they're going to be just fine. If he's their go-to guy this year, he looked really fun. The speed is real. I mean, you, you feel the speed. Um, and going back to last fall, talking to scouts about Dejan stripling and Harrison Wallace, um, and those receivers, they, they would bring up, uh, Deuce Alexander in a way of like, okay, well wait for Deuce or, you know, like Deuce is the best of the group. Um, just because, you know, they would see that speed and that ability and that talent.

31:02And so it's, this isn't coming out of nowhere. It's just, it's, it's good to see him finally get this stage where he can be the go-to receiver and go make plays another one of the most impressive performances of the entire weekend happened on friday night and that would be our guy darian mensa who we mentioned it's probably going to have a really good shot to be in new york city at the heisman trophy ceremony when this season's said and done he's my hand well your pick is looking pretty smart after one game dane and i know adversity comes for everybody eventually, but anytime you can throw more touchdowns than incompletions, I think you're on the right track.

31:42And that's, that's what Darian Mensah did in Miami's debut. They went to Stanford and absolutely shredded the Cardinal. I don't even remember the final score. I think it was like 42 to six, but the pertinent stats for our conversation is that Darian Mensah transferring in from Duke went 27 of 30 for 400 yards and five touchdowns. yeah it's not bad right um look and malachi tony really kind of stole the show because of how electric he is um but true sophomore so we're not gonna gush about him just yet because uh he's not draft eligible but yeah you can reserve a spot in the top 10 for tony in the 2028 class uh but i i don't think that should overshadow what mensa did because yeah like you said i mean he was just outstanding um he's so efficient with his operation he's perfect for that for the offense because he he knows how to find the vulnerable matchup he gets the ball out quick he doesn't have the strongest arm in terms of the ball just exploding off his hand but i love his feel for ball placement um and then his pocket awareness too he during stanford seemed to always get close but never really get to him and then they really didn't affect him consistently in the pocket He has a feel for everything going on around him.

32:59He hangs tough and then he delivers. So that Mensa to Cooper Barkate connection was something we saw last year at Duke. Barkate's one of the top senior receivers in this class. They're best friends. And so as soon as Mensa made the decision to transfer from Duke to Miami, Barkate was kind of right behind him. He's a really interesting story, too, because he was a Harvard transfer to Duke coming out of high school in California. I mean, he had offers Notre Dame and all these other places, but he went to Harvard for that degree, got the degree. And then, according to his plan, then transferred to a to an FBS program to make that next step to the NFL.

33:39And I mean, he had a big game as well, had that that touchdown on the slot as a slot post. And Mensah just laid it out there perfectly for him. So, yeah, that Miami offense is going to be a problem for defenses all year. the schedule is what it is I kind of already looking forward to that Notre Dame matchup in November which seems like you know a long time away but that'll give us a better more clear picture of this Miami offense and then you know I don't really root for teams to make the playoff but I won't be mad if Miami makes it and we get some better matchups with some of these defenses to see how Mensa and the rest of these Miami offensive players hold up.

34:21I'm glad you mentioned Mensa's pocket presence because my question, anytime a team loses three offensive linemen to the draft is just what does that look like? How well does the offensive line come together? And there's going to be better tests of that eventually. I don't know how quickly given Miami's schedule, but even still having a quarterback with a really great feel for pressure and ability to navigate in the pocket, I would hope is going to mitigate some of that turnover. Yeah. And just peeking at that offensive line, the new left tackle, number 63, Okunlola, he looked good. And he was a former, I think he was a five-star recruit.

35:01So it just someone that they, you know, they just are bringing these guys in and developing them. And, you know, Cristobal has a good feel for that. So I have no doubt they'll get that offensive line figured out. I just assume anybody Cristobal brings in, particularly on the offensive line, was probably pretty highly recruited. I will definitely have an eye on Miami as the season goes along really quickly. I wonder how long are we waiting for an opponent with a pulse here? Well, they play Clemson on October 3rd. I don't know what that means in wake of this weekend. Probably nothing. Maybe Florida State on October 17th.

35:41They go to Chapel Hill, right? Maybe that Belichick defense can give them a little bit of trouble. Yeah, it's it's I mean, at Clemson, Florida State, Pittsburgh, at North Carolina, at Notre Dame. OK, not trying to call that murderer's row, but I think there's there's plenty of opportunity there for somebody to test them. Well, and that Irish secondary, I mean, they in my opinion, they're the best secondary in college football corner safeties. And so to see how Mensa and that group can react to a Notre Dame secondary like that. I mean, obviously led by Leonard Moore last year when the Notre Dame faced USC, we saw Leonard Moore attach himself to Makai Lemon and basically shut that down.

36:25Are we going to see that with with Tony? Are they going to ask him to do that? That's a tough ask for anybody. So that we're getting ahead of ourselves. But it's something that we'll be talking about in the next month or two. I do also want to talk to you about Notre Dame. But first, let's let's keep it on track with some quarterbacks. And as a disclaimer, I'm not planning to hit the big, big guys in this show. I mean, Arch Manning is playing Ohio State in a few days. And, you know, he threw an early pick against Texas State, seemed to rebound really well. I don't know how much more we need to say about that.

37:02Dante Moore, I know it was a little bit of a nail biter for Oregon against Boise State, but Dante Moore looked just fine. I don't know how much we need to relitigate that, especially with those two guys playing, you know, good football teams here over the coming weeks. One guy I did want to hit on with you is a guy that we flagged as somebody we're excited to watch this year. But to your point in the preseason show, somebody who maybe is more of a 2028 draft prospect than a 2027. and as cool as drew Mestemaker's story is at Oklahoma state, you know, the season kicked off and we have to remember reality sets in sometimes.

37:44And that, that's sort of my take from watching what I could of Oklahoma state's lost to Tulsa on Saturday afternoon. Well, and that's when you overhaul rosters it's just, it's not going to be perfect right away. And Mestemaker is still a really talented quarterback, but his inexperience showed in this game. And it's just, it's a lot to put on a player with his relative inexperience and to kind of ask him to put everything on his shoulders, go make plays. Yeah, it's going to take time. And so, yeah, I think that we're not out of bounds by considering Mestemaker a 2028 prospect. And, you know, that's based off of how he's played up to this point, realistic expectations and just what's best for him long-term is what, you know, You don't need to be rushing to the NFL when it looks like this right now.

38:37I think it'll look better by the end of the year, and I have no doubt that that coaching staff will get things on point. But it was not the greatest first step for him as he moves up to power foreplay. Again, it's not to say anybody else was boring or anything, just considering what's coming down the pipe. Like again, Julian saying and Jeremiah Smith were both amazing against ball state. I think we can put a pin in that until they play Texas on Saturday. Josh Hoover. I saw also through more touchdowns than incompletions and bloodied the hell out of his face in the process for Indiana. I thought that was pretty cool.

39:18And are there are there any other quarterback stories coming out of week one that we that we need to hit on? I mean, we got our first look at Lenore Sellers in Kendall Bryle's offense at South Carolina. I thought he looked sharp. Three touchdown passes. I thought he played on time, which is good to see. They go to Tuscaloosa in a few weeks. That'll tell us a lot more. Jade Maiava at USC. He's completing 89 % of his throws through two games. Not too shabby. I think he looked awesome against Fresno State. So the touch that he plays with, that he delivers with, it's awesome. the they welcome Oregon to the Coliseum later this month I think that's something that we'll be watching for closely but yeah I mean I think that uh you know John Mateer in Oklahoma they did a nice job against uh UTEP so uh CJ Carr speaking of Notre Dame um it wasn't I mean he he came in and it it looked like it took him a few drives to get going to get comfortable the first few drives a lot of checkdowns a lot of um it looked like a team that was missing jeremiah love and jadarian price uh but then as the game went on car still started to feel more confident started uh testing some of those downfield windows and i think that's how his season's gonna play out where it might be a little slow going but it'll pick up right when we get to you know kind of the meat of the schedule and then uh hopefully for notre dame's sake the playoffs Another fitting segue because I want to talk a little bit more about Notre Dame's Sunday win over Wisconsin up at Lambeau Field.

40:55We'll do that on the other side of our second break.

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44:25Are you the kind of sports fan that wants to dig into the story behind the stats? Join The Athletic Live on YouTube to cover all the sports stories you can't stop talking about. On game days, we'll watch the biggest matchups alongside The Athletic's most tapped-in reporters, and you can become part of the show in the interactive chat. The Athletic Live is presented by Google Gemini. Subscribe now on YouTube. All right, back for the rest of Building the Beast with Dane Brugler. Dane, I said I wanted to hit on Notre Dame, Wisconsin. Irish win 41-13 at Lambeau Field. I'll give, just to throw our wonderful producer, Michael Bell, or Bone, Wisconsin made this a really tough battle in the first half.

45:04Notre Dame pulled away. And that's what I wanted to touch on. We know all about Leonard Moore. He looked exactly as good as advertised and no, for anybody following on social media, it was not Leonard Moore that gave up the double move touchdown in this game. So just to, just to clarify that, but I wanted to hit on DJ McKinney who has the unfortunate distinction of being the other cornerback playing opposite Leonard Moore and DJ McKinney has NFL potential and an NFL future all his own. And I thought it was really fitting that he had the pick six that turned this into a laugher, not the most incredible interception you're ever going to see in your life.

45:48But I'm guessing he's going to get a lot of opportunities at ball production as teams throw away from Leonard Moore. Yeah. And I mentioned earlier just this entire Irish secondary, how impressive it is at safety, their depth at corner. um yeah they're and we know how much they love to play man-to-man in that in that defense and so we get a lot of opportunities to see these guys uh on an island a chance to go make plays uh they're very aggressive and teams will take advantage of that like you just mentioned that double move uh that wisconsin kind of set up there but um yeah dj mckinney was a player going back to at this time last year was in my top 50 when he was at Colorado.

46:33And last year didn't go quite according to what he wanted. Transfers to Notre Dame for a senior year this year and has every opportunity to prove why he is a firm day two pick now with the Irish. And like you said, he's going to get plenty of opportunities to go up against guys that are targeted and a chance to go make plays so yeah it's a good name to bring up dj mckenny because he's one of the top senior corners this year um a couple other names that i just kind of wanted to buzz through before we sign off here uh devin mckeon the wide receiver for ohio state i think you know the buckeyes are so good at getting those five stars um the run of guys that they've recruited kind of homegrown developed and turned into first round picks um obviously it's going to happen again with jeremiah Smith McEwen is a transfer from UTSA and a guy that is kind of went overlooked they brought him in brought him up to Columbus he stepped in as the number two for this Ohio State offense and I tell you man I was bullish on him just watching his UTSA tape but I feel and I said this over the summer that this could be a potential top 100 guy I feel even better about it after watching his first game in an Ohio State uniform.

47:49He's so in the size is OK. You know, he's under six foot. He's around 205 pounds, but he looks like a four four athlete. The route savvy is real. The competitive toughness is outstanding. The ball skills are there. So he's a guy that I think with Jeremiah Smith getting so much attention, McEwen's going to be someone that will benefit from that and really have a big year. So excited for him to see what he looks like. It looks like chemistry going that'll be a lot of fun um yonse pierre uh from alabama had that pick six against ecu i think he's gonna be collecting splash plays all year he came in at number 10 overall on my early top 50 um you mentioned oregon and you know they had to fight until the end against uh boise state who really challenged uh the ducks in in aughtson but even though the it seemed like the pass defense was giving up some plays the run defense for oregon i thought uh showed up bear alexander the defensive tackle was a bright spot on that oregon defensive front um i think everyone knows about amari washington and the ends that they have but bear alexander who's a guy that started at georgia then went to usc you're gonna say this is at least his fourth school if or i mean this feels like he's been everywhere since his high school recruitment he has been because yeah he was a top recruit and now i mean this is i believe he's a fifth year senior yeah and but he's 6 '3 310 and plays with power and he was very disruptive whether he was taking on double teams or shedding blocks and so i think barry alexander is a guy that enters the year as a probably a top 100 uh type of prospect but he's trying to prove that maybe he's a little bit more than that um and then one other guy i wanted to mention do you know who oklahoma's tight end is It's not, it's not like you should, because he's not a locked draft pick.

49:41No, I will. I will readily admit into a microphone that I didn't see much of Oklahoma's win against whoever it was. Utah. Yeah. No, no fault there. In the all name draft, he's a first round pick. This is tight end Rocky beers for the Sooners. Okay. I definitely know that name. I I've heard that name probably because it's such a good name, but please tell me more. Yes. Transfer in. He's going to be a weapon for that, that offense and material this year. Like I said, the tape, the traits, they're more borderline draftable, you know, like maybe a late round pick, but based off of what his role could be this year, maybe that changes.

50:28He had a touchdown against Utah where, I mean, he was wide open, but you saw the athleticism after the catch. He had a nice hurdle to finish. And I mean, I don't know what the name like that with like Rocky beers. That's just that's something that's going to stick with you. As long as we're talking about tight ends that made impressive plays in otherwise forgettable games. I did want to bring up what Jaden Riddell did for Georgia and their win against Tennessee State. Yeah, I it just like Georgia's just got a new tight end doing this shit every year. I mean, it's, it was like a, a 14 yard comeback out of emotion.

51:06And then he just pinballed off of three would be tacklers all the way to the end zone. Obviously it's Tennessee state. We don't have to overreact to it too much, but that's one of those things though, where like if it's a Georgia tight end or a Georgia pass catcher doing that shit, I'm like, all right, I'm going to remember this name for later. Yeah, no, that's, that's a good name to bring up. Cause he, he looked good in his, uh, in the season opener. We'll see how that I don't know. It feels like Georgia just forgets that they have tight ends. You know, we saw that last year with the Oscar Delp.

51:35And I mean, lost and lucky still there. But hopefully he becomes more of a part of this offense because, yeah, I think just based on the flashes, it looks like he's a pretty talented kid. They'll have plenty of bigger tests in front of them, which, yeah, that's I'm just going to transition to the upcoming week because I think we hit everything. that you can take like a reasonable reaction from, you know, otherwise it's a lot of saying, well, I know he was all alone or I know he was going against a future accountant, but guess what? That's not going to be a problem in week two. It's, it's a pretty good one, man.

52:13We've got quite a few marquee matchups. They bumped Ohio state, Texas to week two. So the rematch down in Austin is officially on Saturday. We will have so much to say about Arch Manning, Julian saying Jeremiah Smith, Trevor Gooseby did play week one for the Longhorns. So that is a really encouraging sign for UT. Can't mention that good poof. Of course he did. Like Texas, I mean, Texas has like four top 20 caliber guys is okay. So Cam Coleman is the other one. is there and you mentioned McEwen earlier in the show is there anybody else in this game that we need to have an eye on I mean obviously there is but who is so many um but I will say Ryan Wingo the receiver for Texas is somebody that has probal potential like he is that level of talent you know he's 6 '2 he's a good size athlete he can fly um the inconsistencies to his game are what has been holding him back the drop rate is ridiculous um the some of the route stuff that he needs to figure out but in the opener he did have a drop it was a tough catch in the back of the end zone but he had i think seven catches i believe he was targeted eight times seven catches um a couple down the field so i think that he's going to be someone that arch targets quite a bit uh this year and for them to beat ohio state going and ohio state has a young secondary um they've got a couple kids that are like big time recruits and i think will have nfl futures but they're still young and so how texas looks to attack that young secondary uh at ohio state is going to be really interesting kenyatta jackson was he was hard to block for ball state I think he finished with maybe eight pressures.

54:02You don't say it wasn't able to. Yeah. Wasn't able to get any sacks. And so still he needs to finish. But he was somebody that they just had a tough time blocking. So, yeah, this is going to be a fun one. Yeah. And there's there's other Oklahoma at going to Michigan. Michigan obviously had a eventful opening weekend. We won't, you know, kind of go over rehash that. But how how is Oklahoma only a five and a half point favorite in that one? That seems a bit off compared to how Michigan played. That game is at the big house for the record. So I would guess that I would guess that has a lot to do with it.

54:39But yeah, hopefully it's I don't know. Hopefully it's a 60 minute and zero second game. Yeah. Texas is favored by one and a half, which is interesting. Obviously, they are the home team. So you figure that that's it's almost a pick them at a neutral site. So, yeah, this is going to be a fun week, too. I was I was curious. So David stone is the D tackle at Oklahoma. That's a name worth knowing going into this game. John Mateer is interesting because he's a quarterback. The receiver Isaiah Satania made a lot of plays for Oklahoma last year. Is there anybody else in this? Oh, you Michigan game. I know like Andrew Sprague, their offensive tap Michigan's offensive tackle.

55:22And then I, I just reading your previews, they have a couple corners worth knowing. Yeah. Yeah, Zeke Berry at corner. Definitely somebody to know. Mateer, I think for him, it's like, OK, can he get to a level of he's someone we're talking about when we do this quarterback, you know, rundown of, oh, let's check in on Lenore Sellers and how Chambliss worked this week. And can Mateer get to a part, a point where he's forcing us to include him in that conversation? um right now he reminds me a lot of a smaller will levis which you know i mean take that however you want i guess but um yeah this this should be a fun game because i think both these teams are um you know obviously coming off wins but very very different wins um and so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out um i'm glad you mentioned satania he's smaller but man he is a big play waiting to happen.

56:22It should hopefully, hopefully Michigan keeps it close and they, they get better consistency out of the offense than what they showed against Western Michigan. A little bit of the luster is off of Oregon's verse Oklahoma state after Oklahoma state's debut, but that game is in Stillwater. So not only is it a look at Drew Mestemaker against a big time opponent, but Oregon going on the road to what I assume will be a pretty raucous environment early in the season. Something to watch as well. All right, Dane, it's Labor Day. I promised you we were going to keep it light today. We got plenty more college football coming y 'all's way.

57:00That's the beauty of it. We're back every week. The rest of the way, we'll be reacting to all of this weekend's big games and whatever the heck else pops up. Can't wait to be starting this journey with you again, man. We will talk to all of y 'all real soon.

57:45We'll see you next time.

58:01Hi,

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