Building the Beast: John Mateer's big day, top-50 stock watch, Armand Membou's NFL debut, and more

0:03Welcome in to another episode of building the beast. I am Dave Helman and each week during this college football season, Dane Brugler and myself are building the beast is much anticipated annual NFL draft guide. We are reacting to all the biggest matchups, all the biggest performances in the college game as we put together this 2026 NFL draft class. Really fun discussion coming out of week two of the college. college season, which as we're going to get into, I at least had my doubts that that would be the case. I shouldn't have college football is, is good for that. It is good for the surprise weekend, even when you don't expect it.

0:42This one did not disappoint. Really fun show between Dana and I, not just recapping the week that was in week two, but looking forward to a really loaded week three in college football. Also some talk about some impressive rookies in the NFL. Yes, we were not completely college football focused. We're keeping an eye on the 2025 rookie draft class as well. A loaded episode of Building the Beast with Dane and I. Let's get into it.

1:13All right, Dane, I'm going to be fully transparent with you, man. Looking at the slate, looking at what we were working with in week two, I was a little trepidatious about filling a draft podcast episode with content just for the matchups that we had, like heading into the weekend. I was like, is there going to be enough here to get us excited about to fill a podcast? And by like two o 'clock on Saturday, I was like, what was I ever worried about? This is like, of course, there are going to be storylines. Of course, stuff is going to happen that that gets your juices flowing and makes you excited to talk about some of these prospects.

1:49And so if this is what we get coming out of week two, I am so excited once conference play starts and once we kind of get through these these very cupcake heavy weeks because I found a lot worth getting excited about on Saturday what about you yeah shame on us or anybody that ever doubted college football it always comes through for us one way or another and that's it's kind of the beauty of you know looking at this through the lens of the NFL draft and evaluation, because even if the ranked first ranked matchups aren't there, there's still plenty of prospects to be looking at. And so from that respect, no, I don't, it didn't disappoint at all.

2:32There's always something to be looking at every single window of Saturday college football. And I do think much like in the NFL, we say, well, it's week one, let's, let's not overreact. Let's temper our expectations. And college is similar where you're saying, okay, for a lot of these guys and a lot of these teams, you're still not getting into the meat of your schedule. You kind of got away like, okay, he did something amazing, but I don't even know where the school he was playing is located. So I'm trying to keep all of that in the back of my mind. But even with that being true, a lot of cool stuff to get to.

3:10So we're going to do, we're going to do categories today to help us work through the schedule. Going to hand one of these out every week. And that's, that's the game ball from week two of college football game ball for our purposes, which again, we're not trying to figure out who's going to the college football playoff. We're not trying to rank the teams one through 25. That's somebody else's job. We're here to talk about NFL draft prospects. So with that in mind, I think we both agree. If we're handing out a game ball, let's talk about the Saturday night game in Norman, Oklahoma and John Mateer.

3:44We said it heading into the weekend. Big showcase game for him. I really thought the guy delivered, man. That was a really fun performance to go and watch back. Mateer is giving little Nora Sellers a serious run for most entertaining quarterback to watch in college football. I mean, he is a true dual threat guy. He had over a thousand yards rushing last year. If you take out the last sack yardage, which I hate that college football does that. that counts against the quarterbacks rushing yards. But if you take that out, he had over a thousand yards rushing for Washington State last year. As a passer, he looks like a second baseman completing a double play.

4:25He's got that sidearm whip. It's a really twitchy release, so it's out. He can really toss some lasers. Sometimes maybe too many fastballs at times, but I think this stat says a lot. Mateer has at least one rushing touchdown and one passing touchdown in 13 of his 14 career starts in college, including first two with the Sooners, which that's incredible production, incredible efficiency. see he's accounted for 51 total touchdowns in his 14 starts that's that's a ton of production and so to put that in perspective 51 total touchdowns and 14 starts jayden daniels 52 touchdowns in his final 14 starts at lsu just and i know sec competition is different but just to put in perspective what type of production that this guy is putting up it is really impressive to watch and Like, yeah, the game was in Norman.

5:21You know, we don't really know what kind of team Michigan is this year. Are they a seven win team, nine win team? I don't know what time will tell, but they still have guys on defense. They have dudes on defense. We saw in the bowl game last year against Alabama. So, you know, and they did lose quite a bit from that team, but they still this is Michigan we're talking about. So for John Mateer to have the type of outing that he did on Saturday night, again, at home. but still I know something tells me nothing intimidates this guy. I'm so glad you said that because watching this game back on Monday afternoon, the thing that jumped out at me and there's, there's a few things I want to hit.

6:00I'm glad you brought up his throwing motion because it's very wonky and fun, but man, the, the fearlessness of this guy. And I like after like six plays, I was like, this dude's teammates love him. There's no doubt in my mind, just watching him play. Like he's, he's so willing to rip throws, not like completely unafraid to throw it wherever he needs to on the field. And then as a runner, full transparency, I didn't see much of John Mateer last year. I wasn't doing a draft podcast at the time. I apologize for that. I won't make the mistake this year though. He is a, he is a very capable runner and a very physical runner, by the way, like he's listed at 6 '1", 219, which in my experience, you're usually smaller than what your college lists you as.

6:49So I'm sitting there, I'm watching him. I'm like, this guy runs like a much bigger player. Like I expected him to be listed at a larger size. And I was like, he is physical. He is fearless. Yeah. You're so right. He throws it like a baseball infielder with that kind of compact sidearm motion that he gets into so much. It's just a very, very fun player to watch. Like my initial impression of this guy, I had a blast. Yeah. And so are the Baker Mayfield comparisons a little too on the nose? Because I, I mean, probably it felt a little lazy considering he's in an Oklahoma uniform, but I completely understand why you feel that way.

7:28It makes sense, right? I mean, you look at their frames are similar. Um, they're, they're short, but not small. I mean, they're both probably around six foot and a half to 20 ish pounds, um, strong arms, ultimate competitors, even their backstories are kind of similar. They're Texas kids who went overlooked as recruits, kind of forged their own way and ultimately ended up at Oklahoma transferring in. And, you know, Bruce Feldman did a great kind of backstory look at kind of his journey, why he was overlooked and how he got to this point. So check that out on The Athletic. I will say this, though.

8:05There are, I think, two main differences in these two quarterbacks. Mateer, I think is the better scrambler. I mean, to your point, just the overall athlete, his start, stop, his speed, his ability to break tackles are different than what you get with Baker Mayfield. And part of it worries me with Mateer because he will take on contact. And he's not afraid, which almost to his detriment at times. Like, how often are you going to be a hold up, especially in the SEC doing that for a full, you know, hopefully for Oklahoma, they're playing 14, 15 games this year. So that's ultimately the, you know, we have something we have to watch for with him.

8:43But the other main difference, and this is a big one, I think Mayfield was the much more accurate passer. And that is ultimately the question mark that I think we're going to have with Matier is, can he develop and just a more precise passer of the football? He puts a lot of hot sauce on his throws, needs to develop his touch. his desire to make a play I think it leads to him throwing a lot of fastballs into a lot of tight windows and he his ball placement just isn't on the same level that we saw from Baker Mayfield in college so can he get away with that yeah but not all the time and in this year in the SEC it will be tougher to do that there were multiple throws on that Michigan tape that were turnover worthy where Michigan could have made a play on the ball and at some point that's going to catch up with you.

9:30And so we'll set something to watch here when we watch this Oklahoma offense and John material the rest of the season. At what point does that catch up with him and how does he develop? How does he get better? So from an evaluation perspective, I can't wait to watch this guy the rest of the year. His, his mechanics are very fun when it looks good and you're just like, oh man, like the confidence to sling that in there. But yeah, I think over the course of a 12, 13, however many games OU winds up playing season. I think that's something to watch and whether it comes back to bite him and how consistent he can be with that.

10:06But like just from going in, knowing very little other than that, he was highly touted in the transfer portal. I had a blast. I cannot wait to keep watching him. Very, you know, I'm putting OU firmly on my radar for the rest of the year. Absolutely. Another guy we wanted to hand a game ball out to, And I love this too, because we know the, the, the big name quarterbacks and we'll get back to some of those guys as the season goes. We don't need to talk about many of them as they did not play noteworthy games on Saturday, but at least in name, which we can talk about this, Oregon, Oregon played a power four program on Saturday.

10:49What that means is up for interpretation if you watch the game. But I do think it's a good call on your part to hand out a game ball to Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, who a very highly touted guy coming out of high school. His career took a little bit of a detour, spent a year at UCLA, backed up Dylan Gabriel. And now he is off to an incredibly hot start with Oregon. What that means as the Ducks beat Oklahoma State 69 to three. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, because I'll be honest with you watching this game. I was like, I don't really know what I'm learning about this guy right now. But it was a very impressive win for Oregon.

11:27Yeah. Dante Moore, like there's no way around it. He was a bad quarterback at UCLA. OK, so now he was a true freshman. He had limited weapons around him on that Bruins roster. That's an important context to mention here. He went to UCLA so he can get on the field so he could start. but things didn't go well. He transfers to Oregon, sat out last year behind Dylan Gabriel. And I think two things happened for him. First, he was humble a little bit. And then second, he learned how to play quarterback. And so I think Will Stein, the offensive coordinator for the Ducks, is someone scouts bring up as a rising star in this business.

12:06I think most people know Dan Lanning is just how impressive of a coach he is, but he's got a really good staff and offensive coordinator is a big part of that. So him being able to mentor Dante Moore the last over the last year has really paid dividends. And we're seeing it on the field here. Now, obviously, the asterisk is Montana State in week one, an FCS program, and then Oklahoma State in week two. Could they be the worst team for a major conference? Yeah, maybe. That's there, at least in that conversation. But he deserves his due for the way he's played. He's got a really smooth stroke as a passer.

12:46And I've been really impressed with his pocket movements. He has a good feel for where the heat is coming from and just how to access the space around him to buy those little half seconds to let the route come open. So this is a good player. And now I think it's up for debate just how good based off of this small sample size in a few weeks. So now look at the schedule. They got Penn State coming up here in a few weeks. That's going to be a must-see game for scouts. Two quarterbacks with plenty to prove. Dante Moore, Drew Aller, and then just a ton of NFL talent on both rosters. But just for now, through two weeks, I think Moore deserves a little bit of credit for the way he's moved the offense up and down the field in these first two games.

13:32I will say this, and if you go watch this game, you're not going to see a ton of tight window, high difficulty throws. but his ball placement really impressive. Like for, for what you're working with and understanding that Oklahoma state was clearly very overmatched. I was like, these are, there's great anticipation, great accuracy on these throws. And I mean, like you said, like even, even knowing who Oregon's opened against, he's looked really good. And I think it's, it's smart to highlight him because obviously Penn state is a game to circle on the calendar. We can't wait for that, But I'm going to step out on a very sturdy limb and say, Oregon's going to win 10 plus games this year.

14:15Like they're the schedule just doesn't look like something that should prohibit them from being in the thick of the college football playoff. So I look at that and I think to myself, obviously, Bo Nix finished third in the Heisman voting two years ago. Dylan Gabriel finished third in the Heisman voting last year. if Dante Moore plays anything like this and and shows up well against Penn State he's going to be in that conversation just by virtue of playing quarterback for one of the best teams in America no doubt and he's got a very young team around him I Oregon had so many guys drafted last year and you know Evan Stewart going down with a knee injury being out for the year at receiver so He's thrown into a lot of young guys at receiver.

14:58Kenyon Sadiq was awesome. He's been so good. He's been my draft crush over the summer and through two games. I'm crushing even more. It's funny how much I heard about, oh, he needs to develop as a blocker. People watch this guy block. Kenyon Sadiq is a madman. On the move, the way he finishes, screens, he loves to finish. He loves blocking. And we really haven't even seen him become a big part of this offense yet as a pass catcher. That's common. So I think Kenyon Sadiq is just we're just kind of the tip of the iceberg of what he can be. So, yeah, to the your point, though, just Dante Moore, if he keeps this up or anything close to it.

15:44Yeah, I mean, he's going to be in that mix to be someone we're talking about Heisman time. And then even after the year talking about, hey, you know, you have an NFL decision to make. And, you know, I'm sure he's in a good spot because either way, he's going to get paid. That's just kind of how it works in today's college football. Right. And Oregon's got the pocketbook. So, yeah, he's if he continues this up and continues to play at this type of level. Yeah, we'll be talking more about Dante Moore throughout the process. I am itching to see a better test for this Oregon team because they are obviously oozing with talent.

16:20It's at Northwestern this weekend. They got the civil war against Oregon State. And then not only Penn state to wrap up September, but Indiana on the horizon as well, which we'll see what happens between now and October 11th. But where's that game? Fernando men. It's in, it's in Eugene. Okay. But Mendoza going against Dante more, that could be very pertinent to our interests here on this show. No doubt. For sure. No doubt. Going to get into a category that Dane came up with, which I love very much to quote Shaquille O 'Neal from the meme. We're calling it. I was not familiar with your game. And I will say this.

16:56It's going to be a lot more of me being unfamiliar with people's game because I am wading into the draft waters the same way that all of you at home are. But even our resident expert, Dane Brugler, maybe as the season goes, he'll be in for a few surprises of his own. Do you want to start this off with your guy, or do you want to let me gush about what happened in the early window on Saturday morning? Yeah, we'll start with the years because I know this was a fun game to talk about. again. So we go into the week and, and it's, it's clearly on paper, not the sexiest college football weekend of, of the year, how wrong we were, by the way, I mean, a couple of major upsets.

17:37And then this game at 11 AM, the Baylor bears who we should note were competitive against Auburn on the first Friday of the season, they go up to SMU to play the, the Mustangs coming off of their playoff appearance. And what a, what a game, man, like just as a football fan, I mean, double overtime, I believe a final score of 48 to 45, the bears come back from 14 down in the fourth quarter and win this thing in double OT, just a fun game, no matter what you're looking for. But then as in a, as somebody looking for NFL prospects, I was, I was on the edge of my seat Cause I knew going in, you highlighted in your week two preview SMU receiver, Romello Brinson, who by the way, goes to the house from 75 yards out on the first play of this game.

18:27And I was also looking at Baylor running back, Bryson Washington, one of the top running backs returning to college this year. And those dudes took a back seat, honestly, to the display that we got from Sawyer Robertson, the senior quarterback at Baylor. Like what, what a performance this was. I mean, my guy threw for 400 yards. He's at 859 yards and seven touchdowns through two weeks, by the way. And that is, again, this is the time of year where you have to cash everything by saying, hey, they played, they played Alabama A &M. They played whoever they, they weren't playing the best competition.

19:05Sawyer Robertson has now done this against a CFP team from last year and Auburn, who even if Auburn isn't the juggernaut that we have associated with them with at times, still an sec program. I would argue Sawyer Robertson probably has the best two week resume just considering competition played, or at the very least you can put them up with anybody in the country. And so for him to go on the road and do this to SMU and got great days from his receivers as well, like Josh Cameron, the Baylor receiver had a great day in this game. I just I was riveted the entire time and found myself thinking like, damn, I think I think there are some really good players in this game on both teams.

19:49Yeah, I really enjoyed diving into Robertson over the summer and just learning more about him. And his dad was a former first round pick in baseball, grew up in the Lubbock area. So naturally, you know, with his dad having that type of background, he grew up more of a baseball player. Uh, but then like later in middle school, he's like, you know, he wanted to play quarterback at the college level. So ends up transferring schools and, uh, he was kind of tabbed as the guy. And there are a lot of big time programs that wanted him out of, uh, out of high school. I mean, Texas offered him, um, USC, um, and they, and they wanted to bring him in as a baseball player and football player.

20:31And so for Sawyer Robertson, he was a highly recruited player, decided to go to Mississippi State because he wanted to play for Leach in that air raid offense. And then he ended up transferring to Baylor. He was a backup last year. He kind of took over the starting duties like maybe after the third game or something around there. And he's a very incomplete player undeveloped in a lot of areas but he has taken a little bit more of a jump this year which we love to see um now i mean you love the size you love the the way he moves he's a good athlete um he can get the ball out quickly at times other times he holds it too long um all the character feedback i've gotten from uh from nfl teams and scouts has been really high i mean Just an impressive kid, leader of the team, self-starter, pushes himself.

21:27There's a lot of things I like about the person and some of the development, too. So I still think he's a work of progress in a lot of areas. The decision-making, it's got to be better this year. Too many times, the layups, he's missing those throws. I saw on the Auburn tape and even against SMU, the pocket presence needed to be a little bit better. But to your point, the production, you don't have that type of production. He leads all of college football right now in plays of 10 plus yards. You don't have that type of production without. That's a stat. Yeah, you don't. It's like 36 or something.

22:01That's crazy through two games. You don't have that type of production without having the talent to hit your receivers in stride, really fire the football. So I think he's and he's really worked hard because, like I said, he was a baseball player. And so we had that that pitching wind up and, you know, different mechanics. He's really worked hard to quicken that release and kind of get rid of some of those bad habits. And this is the best version of Sawyer Robertson with what we saw on Saturday and a guy that's getting better and better. So, yeah, it's still a work in progress. But, you know, I think you have to be encouraged by what he's shown here in the first two weeks.

22:40my harsh opinion that's definitely not fair but it's just how i feel is when i typically when i see that a guy's like a fifth year senior i'm just like okay what's what's the issue and like that's not exciting to me but then you look at it and it's like okay you transferred from state after one year and really over the first two years of his college career he played less than a full season combined so this is really his second season as like an every week starter in college football. So that, that makes me feel a little bit better. And yeah, I mean, if, if this is how you're starting off your, what I would assume is your final season, I guess you can't take that for granted these days, but this is how you're starting off.

23:20I'm, I'm pretty impressed. And I mean, all of these quarterbacks have such unique journeys. I mean, Jayden Daniels and Joe burrow and like all these, you know, they had to transfer to, to really discover the full version of themselves. And yeah, I'm not just bringing up LSU players for you i mean they just kind of two that popped in my mind um but you know like with uh with sawyer robinson like yeah he goes to mississippi state he red shirts his first year his second year he's stuck behind uh will rogers who was the established starter there for leach and then leach passes away uh sawyer robinson goes in the transfer portal goes to baylor and that first year he he doesn't play all that much and then like i said the next year is last year where he becomes a starter um you know at some point in september and you know he had over 3 000 yards passing last year so i i think that uh he is a we have not seen the best version of of sawyer robertson i think we're seeing a player that's getting better and better and we have to be encouraged by what we've seen up to this point and you know even though they ended up losing that game to auburn in the opener um i mean they have as good a chance as any to really compete in the big 12 which feels wide open i think it's it's worth saying that yeah staying in school like exhausting your eligibility means less now than it ever has we've seen so many success stories with guys really clicking into place especially really impressive start right oh yeah we're not talking about running back we're talking about quarterback where you know you look at some of the guys that have made it in the league uh you know the quarterback you know there was no no mystery why Jane Daniels and Bo Nix were arguably the two best rookie quarterbacks last year.

25:04They were fifth year guys in college. You know, they were ready for that. They needed that extra development they got in college. And so, you know, I, yeah, to your point, fifth year seniors at quarterback, I, it shouldn't scare anybody. It's part of a quarterback's maturity and development. I do want to shout out Romello Brinson one more time. Like I said, he scored on the first play of this game, tipped ball. I thought like excellent concentration and ball skills to make a tipped catch. And then the speed speaks for itself. And then in overtime, just a really nice contested touchdown catch that I honestly thought was going to win the game for SMU.

25:43I came to this game because of your recommendation on Brinson and he didn't disappoint at all, even if Sawyer Robertson kind of stole the show. yeah and he's i wish you were a little bit bigger he's so wiry he's uh six one and a half and he's in the 170s so he is very very lean but he can fly he has that four three speed where he can stretch out a defense and be a real threat down the field and so if you do that you're gonna have a chance at the next level and brinson uh he was banged up a lot last year and so it's good to see him back healthy and him it seems like him and jennings the smu quarterback have a connection And so they'll be even though I know they lost, ended up losing that game to Baylor.

26:26The ACC feels wide open with Clemson struggling. They almost lost to Troy. You know, we'll see if Miami's for real here the next few weeks. But the ACC, it feels like it's very much a conference that's up for grabs and SMU will have something to say about it. I'm going to go ahead and assume you were familiar with this guy, but you highlighted him on Twitter. Cincinnati linebacker Jake Golday. What are what are you what are you learning about his game in the early going of the season? Yeah, and I liked him when I studied him over the summer, gave him a draftable grade, included him in my linebacker rankings when those came out in July.

27:06But he's seeing things a lot better so far through two games this year. And he I think he's really trending towards being a day to pick now that he's got a year underneath them. And I think that's, again, it's part of the context here. So with Jake Golday, linebacker Cincinnati, he was overlooked as a recruit. He comes from a big basketball family. His parents were basketball players. His older brother is a basketball player all in college. He was a football player, and that was kind of his best route to play in college. He goes to Central Arkansas out of out of high school, actually played the same high school, played on the same team as Kenneth Walker, running back for the Seahawks, actually.

27:47In the kind of outside of the Memphis area. but so he goes to central arkansas he's a defensive end and then so his defensive end for what three years last year transfers up to cincinnati they move him to off-ball linebacker we're talking about 6 '4 237 pounds but he has the athleticism where he can play in space he was banged up last year his first year kind of playing off the ball so he had a good year but maybe not a dominant year good enough where it's like okay yeah this is this is a draftable player and so they're playing him at like a sam position so he's out in space almost like a nickel and man he can run like the wind and it's fun watching him go pursue and like i said he's seeing things quicker so it's just boom see the ball go and get it and he's a little robotic and has changed direction but the dude can go and so now that he's seeing things better it's allowing him to be more confident and really show off that athleticism and it's it's fun to watch through two games He leads the FBS and tackles.

28:45It's just all clicking for him right now. It's fun to watch. My guy is on pace for 156 tackles right now. Tied for third in the country in total tackles. So, yeah, it's a nice, nice place to be for Jake. That Cincinnati program, they between Golday, Corleone, the defensive tackle, Royer, the tight end. They've they've got some guys to watch in terms of draftable players for next April. putting that on my radar okay adding that to my notes watch more bearcat football moving forward got plenty more to get to but first let's take our first break

29:24all right dane next thing we want to do today is a category we came up with we're calling it prospect snapshot it's it's exactly how it sounds if there was a prospect over the weekend that made a play just something quick that gives you a perfect encapsulation of what they're all about this would be it I'm gonna let you start this because you were beating the drum for this guy over the summer we talked about him in the preview episode before we even started playing games and he kind of showed you what he was all about in a Friday night game against James Madison that would be Louisville receiver Chris Bell yeah and I think the Louisville offense has been a little underwhelming so far.

30:04I think Miller Moss has been up and down. I've kind of expected more out of that offense, at least. But with Bell, like you said, he started the year wide receiver two in my rankings. I expect a lot of fluctuation in those receiver rankings just because there's not one clear-cut top 10 pick in this draft. Even if you do, say, Jordan Tyson as your wide receiver one, two through six, seven, it's wide open. Chris Bell is right there in that mix. And it's really based on the traits. And in the third quarter of this game, he had a 64-yard touchdown that I think really illustrated the best version of him.

30:43And it's those traits that I'm talking about. Simple slant versus zone. Bell, he uses his strength to drive the corner off the ball and then catches a slant mid-stride and just accelerates away from the rest of the defense. 6 '2", 227 pounds, running like that. I mean, legit 4 '4 speed. And not like 4 '9". I'm talking like 4 '2", 4 '3", somewhere in those low 4 '4s. It's hard to find guys like that. And that's why he started the year so highly ranked for me. He needs to continue making plays like that. Because that's what's going to get him drafted in the top 50. Because there were a few other plays in this game where it showed some of my concerns.

31:24Especially in those contested situations. You want a receiver that size to do a better job winning in traffic. And he's a really emotional player. It's something he's been working on to play with better focus. So something I'll be watching closely this year. But that 46 yard touchdown, man, like that's it's intoxicating. Like that's that's what NFL teams are looking for. Guys that size with that type of ability who can make a house call on a simple slant. And so if he can keep making plays like that the rest of the year, Yeah, Chris Bell is going to live up to kind of that high billing we were giving him preseason.

31:59I paused the play when Bell made the catch and there are four defenders surrounding him. Like there's obviously the corner that he, you know, bullied off the ball. There's two linebackers pursuing and there's a safety in front of him. And it wasn't even close. Like you talk about erasing angles, like the safety never even had an angle. Like he just straight up blew past these guys. And then down near the goal line, the like the, the backside cornerback who wasn't involved in the play, he tried, tries to, he tried. And Chris Bell was just like, get, get off me. Like, stop it. Yeah. It's honestly stuff.

32:41I mean, like it's just, it's hard to find those guys. A.J. Brown is a good modern example. Cause I was going, I was going to go back to our time doing draft content for the Cowboys. And I was like, Oh, I saw Des Bryant do this stuff all the time. Right. Like this, because it was a very Des Bryant type of play. So I officially understand why you are intrigued by this guy. Yeah. And like I said, there are areas of his game where he needs to get better. If, you know, this is going to come to fruition. No doubt about it. Better consistency, especially in those contested closed windows. But I think when you put plays on film like that, that's when NFL teams can look at point two and say, OK, yeah, I want that on my offense.

33:19Coaches can look at that and say, yeah, we can work with that. And so hopefully he's able to do that throughout the rest of the season. Guy, I wanted to highlight with my snapshot. I'm cheating a little bit because it was actually three plays, not one. But it was three plays that happened all in a row. So that was Garrett in basically, I mean, obviously, that's crazy praise. Texas A &M adjacent. Hey, he's a Texas A &M player. Maybe you heard that Cassius Howell of Texas A &M just took over a game by himself over the weekend. They were playing Utah State. Cassius Howell, who's been a good college player, transferred from Bowling Green where he had a nine and a half sack season.

34:01I think he had four and a half sacks last year. He's produced in college. but that is a far cry from three sacks in three snaps, which is what he did to the other Aggies of Utah state on Saturday afternoon. And the thing that I really liked about it was he won in a different way every single time. Like the first snap, he just bulldozes the left tackle, just bullies the guy gets his hands on him, forklifts him out of the way. Classic. Like I'm stronger than you type of play. Then on second down, the tackle sets up outside and he just knifes inside and just straight line to the quarterback. Like, Oh, thanks for playing.

34:44And then finally on third down, he runs the hula hoop around this. I mean, this poor left tackle, like guy did not know he was going to become a meme and draft circles when he woke up on Saturday morning, but three snaps, three sacks, and you get those sacks in three different ways. Cash is how rightfully so making a big impression on an otherwise kind of quiet weekend. Yeah, Cassius Howell, he's interesting. This is the reason he transferred up to the SEC is to show what he could do. And obviously, there will be a bunch better competition coming up on the schedule. But pretty good start for him.

35:20A little more of an undersized, probably a designated pass rusher type of guy. 6 '2", 250. He has Twitch as a rusher, plays with violence. Type of guy that you could see maybe being your third or fourth pass rusher on an NFL roster. roster, but games like that plays like that or play sequences like that are things are going to help him come draft time. No doubt. How will have a much better opponent that coming this weekend, but we will get into that later in the show. I want to take a look at some of the prospects on your preseason top 50 day and all year long for better and for worse. I just want to whenever Whenever somebody on that list is playing a noteworthy game or has a noteworthy matchup, I want to do our best to check in on that.

36:08And at the same time, guys that maybe play their way into that type of consideration when you put out your next top 50, we want to kind of keep an eye on how all of that's shaking out. And this week, there was one, we're going to talk about a few names, but there was one big game that I felt like affected that. We talked about it. Arizona state going on the road to Starkville, a very underratedly tough place to play, even if the Bulldogs aren't always a power and Sam Levitt and Jordan Tyson had a big opportunity to kind of stake their claim and make a statement and to credit the sun devils, they, they bounced back a little bit, but overall a performance from Arizona state that, that left you wanting a little bit as the Bulldogs get a big ranked upset win.

36:58yeah it was um in arizona state almost put it out the end but yeah credit to missus state for um in the end just uh you know that's it's a program where it's tough to win and coach levy is i think he's got those guys in the right direction so um you know it's good to see them get a big ranked win at home but you know from the arizona state perspective i don't sam levitt It just did not look like the Sam Levitt we have come to really appreciate playing quarterback. It just everything looks hard for that offense. And for Levitt, it just looked like he was second guessing himself a lot, hitching with his throws.

37:35You could tell he wanted to go one direction and then kind of had like a mental battle with himself and went somewhere else. Then airmailed that throw. and then the connection with him and Jordan Tyson, who both these guys were in my top 50 coming into the year, Tyson being wide receiver one. And while they looked like it in week one against Northern Arizona, it didn't look nearly as easy in week two against an SEC defense. The placement and timing, they were not there. Everything looked forced to Jordan Tyson. So this is an example of these two guys just, I don't know, not being on the same page.

38:12So it was a watching Sam Levitt in this game. I think you get the sense that this is going to be a player we're talking about in the 2027 draft, more so than the 2026 draft. You know, maybe that sounds like an overreaction, but that's kind of the vibe I got from his tape last year as well. It's just this is a good player. There's something here. But the overall consistency is down to down is not there yet. And by the looks of it on Saturday night, it's still something he's working through. To be fair to Sam Levitt, he's he's 20 years old, which that was a little surprising to me when I looked it up because he transferred in from Michigan State.

38:48He quarterback to playoff team last year. He's been playing college football and he's been on my radar long enough that I assumed he was an older player, but he's not. He's he's 20 years old and man, he he looked like it. And it's it's not that I thought he was going to win this game by himself. I don't think of Sam Levitt as a guy that we're talking about as like a top 10 pick, but given what we've seen from him and given that, you know, I know Cam Scadaboo is a hell of a player, but Arizona state didn't, it's not like they lost all these players to the NFL draft. You know, I think about, I'm going back a few years, but Sam Howell, remember he lost so much production from that 2020 North Carolina team.

39:31And it looked like it when he went back to school the next year, Sam Levitt, there's enough on this Arizona state team that I thought it would look better. And, and the sun devils came back. They, it looked like they were going to steal this at the end before their defense collapsed a little bit in the final minute. But I just, he, he did not look in command. The entire team looked completely rattled by the environment, which I thought was very surprising. Like if you know one thing about Mississippi state, it's that they ring cowbells. So I don't get why they looked surprised that that would be the case.

40:06And even if he, even if he wasn't just going to play the game of his life, I thought that having a quarterback who's done this and performed well in conference championship game and in playoff games, I just, I thought it would look better. I thought it would be more of a stabilizing force for Arizona state. And there's a lot of season left to be played, but it was just disappointing. So when I turned the film on Sunday morning to watch that game. The tape actually had the audio on. And so you hear the cowbells. And I mean, I had to turn my volume off because it's so loud and so distracting. I couldn't imagine trying to play quarterback in that situation.

40:46But to your point, you know, it's coming. And, you know, I think part of it is just an SEC defense. Last year was Levitt's his worst game last year was against Mississippi State. It was also like a second career start. So, you know, I think that was expected. But it's something that is we have to we have to pay attention to that. You know, the better one of the better defenses he's going to face all year was where he struggled. And so something to watch that development as we go forward. I will say this. I've been to Davis Wade Stadium and like Ohio State, LSU, Clemson, Penn State, like all these big programs love to pride themselves on how loud they are.

41:26Davis Wade is about as loud as I've ever heard. And for an obvious reason, because they have they have cowbells like it's not it's not fair, but it is incredibly loud. But having said that, good teams go into Davis Wade and win all the time. I mean, Bama Bama plays Mississippi State every year, and it's not usually a problem for them. So it's kind of a hollow excuse for me. Mississippi State when they didn't have a win last year in SEC play. So, yeah, I 100 percent agree. Like it's we both expected a much better showing from Arizona State and that offense and Sam Levitt and it didn't happen. So we'll see how they bounce back.

42:02A couple other guys you wanted to highlight, not the same caliber of opposition, but USC has some very intriguing receivers who both put on a show on Saturday in their own way. That USC offense as a whole, it's just it's been fireworks in the first two games. they have so far five different receivers with at least one catch of 50 plus yards that's that's unbelievable um so just something to watch for this year is that usc offense um especially these receivers jacoby lane had that ridiculous big brother touchdown uh that was just silly um that poor cornerback's gonna never live that down um but mckay lemon who cracked my preseason top 50 What I loved about his game over the summer was just how slippery he was to get open, snatch the football and then create.

42:58He could do something after the catch. He's already over 150 yak yardage this season. That's number two in the FBS. Again, like you said, USC hasn't faced necessarily a daunting schedule, shall we say? And it's not going to change this weekend. They've got Purdue coming up, but Illinois, Michigan, Notre Dame, they're all on deck after that. So we'll have more time to talk about this offense as a whole if they continue to pass these tests in front of them. But just had a shout out these receivers and what they're doing for the Trojans offense. Makai Lemon, 248 yards on the year, 151 of that, as you said, is yak.

43:37And I'm not I'm not going to fall too far in love until I see it against better opposition. but he's like, he's very fun with the ball in his hands. Like he kind of, he's very running back ish once he gets the ball in his hands, in my opinion. And I was like, Ooh, this is, this is fun and interesting. Just the, the movement skills, the balance once he's running after the catch, I thought was something that stood out to me. Yeah. He's just got a natural feel for it, which makes him a weapon. One more thing we wanted to highlight and we've talked about him before, but just let's just state for the record, Big Citrus is such a good nickname for Iowa State defensive tackle Dominic Orange.

44:19He went against Iowa center Logan Jones, the big noon game. Of course, El Asico, as college football sickos like to call it, it delivered just like we knew it would. Of course, it scored under 40 and a half total points, but we definitely wanted to highlight a matchup of two interior linemen that I think we can go ahead and assume will be fairly highly drafted. Yeah, and I mean, Dominique Orange, he's at least in the conversation for the name we've mentioned the most here in this short-lived time we've been doing the podcast. Well, to be fair to us, they played on week zero, okay? It's true, it's true.

44:55So that's more time that we've just spent talking about Iowa State. Well, I mean, you can go to other podcasts. They'll be talking about the receivers and running backs. We're talking about nose tackles here. That's right. And this guy, he's going to be starting him for an NFL team at this time next year. Six to three thirty. So dense and powerful, but he also has some movement skills. He showed that going up against Logan Jones, who Logan Jones is kind of the opposite, where he's undersized very much. So he's very much Tyler Linderbaum, that type of player, just not nearly as talented. He's a good player.

45:30He's got a shot to be drafted. he's just undersized and it's it's really the movement skills and the weight room strength is great with logan jones but actually you know just his body type kind of limits him going up against a guy like dominique orange and that was pretty evident uh during this game so the i would not being able to run any semblance of an offense part of that is their personnel and i have no idea what they're trying to do the other part was that iowa state offense and a guy like dominique orange in the middle blowing things up right from the start so like this is this is a guy that probably not gonna be a first round pick but i bet you he's gonna be a day two pick and like i said i'll bet you he's starting a year from now hawkeye fans nodding along with the thought of i don't know what they're trying to do on offense a theme for most of the last quarter century for iowa and look they went and got mark granowski and i get like granowski was a good player it's to go to state if he would have came out like he was crazy like two years ago he was in demand like he he was getting offered a lot of money to go to i was like miami wisconsin like there was a lot of teams after him he stays loyal he stays put it doesn't go great last year at south dakota state he instead of the draft he go he decides to transfer go to go to the portal go to iowa again when he talks.

46:52And it's just not a great fit. It's just not what I was asking him to do, that whole structure of that offense. And Grinowski hasn't played well either. So it's just, it's, it's rough to watch. And I feel for Hawkeye fans who don't have a Caleb Johnson at running back to kind of get them out of, or give them something fun to watch when they have the football. I'm glad you said this. Cause I wanted to ask you, I wasn't sure if I'd be putting you on the spot, but it's easy to wonder about the draft range for a nose tackle, even a really good nose tackle, because the, the cliche is that if you don't, if, if rushing the passer, isn't your specialty, it's tough to get drafted highly.

47:34But at the same time, I mean, right off the top of my head to Vondra sweat was just drafted 38th overall out of Texas. And that is looking like a really good decision by the Tennessee Titans, by the way. So clearly there is a value for this role in the NFL. And if you're good enough at it, you can get drafted pretty highly. And I know it's it's way too early in the season to write anything in stone. But Dominique Orange, like you said, day two. I mean, is it realistic to think top 40, top 50 back like third round? Like, what are your initial thoughts on that? Yeah, a player like this, it just you have to get a little bit lucky that the team that is looking for a nose tackle is set.

48:15and maybe some other needs where they would feel comfortable drafting you at 45 overall, you know? And so he's not going to be for everybody, especially in the top 100 picks. But if the right team lines up with the right need, I think absolutely he could sneak into that top 50. If not, I think he'll be a top 75, top 80 guy. The point of attack strength is just it's really impressive. You're not going to move this guy. He is immovable, even against double teams. And then, like I said, he has the movement skills where he can go make something happen. So even though he's never going to be a high leverage pass rusher, but I don't want to be a two down player for your team, not someone that you want, you know, playing three downs.

49:00There's still a role, an important role for a guy like this in an NFL building. And just might take the right team having that need at the right time for him to go in the top 50. A couple more things to get to before we do that. We're going to take one last break.

49:18all right dame before we take a look at week three of the college schedule i do want to jump into the pros for a second because i do think this show offers you a great opportunity you talk so much about the the rookie class that gets drafted in the spring and then for better or for worse they just sort of blend in with the background noise but this this feels like a great place to talk about the rookie class for 2025. But certainly as we move forward, we can do this every year where this is a chance to check in with guys we loved, guys that are surprising to us, maybe guys that are a little bit disappointing.

49:54So I wanted to use this place to talk about some things that we saw from week one, and we can do it as the season goes along. Who stood out to you? And I mean, there are too many rookie performances to highlight them all in one podcast. But if we're just looking at things that jumped out to us who stood out to you in week one of the nfl season well i really wanted to talk about two of my favorite players uh from this past draft class browns linebacker carson sweschinger and jets right tackle armand membu um the ucla tape last year for sweschinger high level instincts play speed and that's exactly what we got in the opener against the Bengals.

50:36He was one step ahead, flying around. You would not have guessed it was his first NFL game. Finished with eight tackles, several key stops on third down. And he didn't give up anything in coverage. He's an underrated guy for defensive rookie of the year this year. He's going to get over 100 tackles and maybe he can get a pick or two. Who knows? He could if Abdul Carter doesn't have a big rookie year. And, you know, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Swessinger kind of goes in there, steal some votes. And then Membu, who just turned 21 years old, not that long ago, to ask him to go into that type of environment against a good Steelers defense, including a lot of matchups with TJ Watt and not only win, but look dominant at times.

51:21The balance, the play strength, the finishing grit. It was awesome to watch. It was it was as good as an as a debut I've ever seen for an offensive lineman in the NFL. I mean, that's that sounds hyperbolic, but I really believe that it was as good as I've seen for a rookie to come in week one and play that impressively against a pretty good defense. I was going to say you're you're allowed to say it. Armand Minbu played 64 snaps at right tackle on Sunday. Zero pressures allowed. TJ Watt played 54 of his 59 snaps over right tackle, like on that side of the formation in some form or fashion. And he held up beautifully.

52:04The Jets ran the ball for 182 yards. They had six explosive runs, which I think wound up third best in the NFL for week one. I mean, just a phenomenal performance. We joked about it on the recap show. So Robert, Derek and I, moral victories might not be a thing in the NFL, but if you're a Jets fan, you're allowed to kind of feel like you won even in a loss on Sunday afternoon. Right. Yeah. And that's like Membu is just and he was a. I think a lot of I remember vividly at the senior bowl talking with a scout about Membu and because he was supposed to be there and he got sick. And so there's a lot of there's a lot of anticipation seeing Membu at the senior bowl.

52:46He's so young and they wanted to see how he would be a person. And we didn't get that chance. And they thought this was this one scout said, you know, this might drop him to the second round now. And, you know, and I just I don't know the tape. The tape says he's going top 15. He said, oh, no way, no way, no way. And as we go through the process, I remember he texted me in like early April and said, yeah, you're right. This guy's going top 10 because he's he's just too good that the the ingredients of what makes him a talented player are too good. And so for a young player like that to live up to that potential this early, it's one game.

53:23But, you know, it was a really good first game. And we're going back several years. He's certainly he's not close to a rookie anymore. But, man, it was just it was fun to see the Justin Fields that I loved so much as a draft prospect playing behind. a phenomenal offensive line. I mean, and yeah, and we'll see how that goes as the year goes along, but it was cool to watch Justin Fields and be like, Hey, he's, he's still there. That guy that I remember from Ohio state. And technically he is not a rookie, but JJ McCarthy in his first, like the NBA and baseball does it too. Like if you don't play your first year, you're still considered a rookie.

54:03So you're still eligible for like rookie of the year. NFL doesn't do that. So JJ McCarthy is not technically rookie. He cannot win offensive rookie of the year honors if he keeps us up, but just good to see him out there. And the way he played over the second half, if you're a Minnesota fan, I think you're feeling pretty optimistic. I'm glad you mentioned Carson Schlesinger. Cause I all, I just wanted to highlight basically the entire Browns draft class because they all, obviously you draft two quarterbacks. Those guys aren't going to play week one. And obviously Quinshawn Judkins just recently signed.

54:36We'll see when he makes his way onto the playing field. But four Browns rookies got a lot of playing time on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. And I think the obvious caveat is the Browns need to play their young players. Like that's what happens when you trade away a generation of picks in a trade that doesn't work out. So the rookies are playing because the Browns need them to. But when Mason Graham, Carson Swessinger, Harold Fannin and Dylan Sampson all are forced onto the field, it's really nice when they all play well, man, like every single one of them. Even Mason Graham's stat line is far from sexy.

55:16But if you just go back and watch, I thought it was a nice debut. You know, he was active in the run game. He was drawing a lot of double teams. He almost sacked Joe Burrow for a safety on one sequence. So certainly not a splashy debut from your top five pick, but a very solid one. You already mentioned Swessinger and then Harold Fannin, man, seven catches for 63 yards. They had him play wildcat quarterback for a snap. And I thought he was adequate as a blocker. And Dylan Sampson, nothing was really doing for the Browns run game anyway, but had what? I think he had 93 scrimmage yards in his rookie debut as a, as a what third, fourth round pick.

56:00So fourth round, fourth round. I was, I was so encouraged watching the Browns game back and being like, man, if all these guys need to play, it's gotta be a relief when they all look pretty damn good in their first game. I think Joe Burrow had one completion over 20 yards, the entire game. Like they just, the credit to that Browns defense. And it was just nice after an entire offseason where the two Browns draft picks that got the most ink, Shador Sanders, Quinchot Judkins, obviously neither played in this game. Good to see the rest of this draft class get a little bit of love with the way they played because they they really did.

56:41And to your point, they have to because that's who the Browns need to put out there. But they believe in this young class. And so far, so good for this group. I'm eager to watch how I know Robert, when he was leaving Berea, he called me and told me, man, they love Harold Fannin. And it's no surprise. I mean, he is right up their alley in terms of young guy, super productive, just a little bit different, but, you know, a unique athlete. and you know with Ninjoku being a pending free agent after this year they want to get Fannin involved early so they can find out all right is this our guy moving forward and you know that Jerome Ford's the top back for this team so Dylan Sampson's going to get a lot of get a lot of touches at least until Judkins is ready to go then like I said I talked about Schwestinger I think he's I think he's the real deal so it's it's going to be fun to watch these guys if if you you know, the Browns aren't exactly a sexy team to watch, but if anything else, these rookies should be fun.

57:45I'm not convinced it's going to reflect in the win loss record, which, Hey, that's probably a good thing when you have multiple first round picks in the upcoming draft. But I just, I'm optimistic that the Browns could be fun to watch just as a fan of football, which would be a step in the right direction after the last couple of years that the Browns have had. And yeah, I mean, fan and man, like again, like the, the box score production is one thing, but you just watch the game, the stuff that they're asking a third round tight end to do in his NFL debut. Like they clearly feel comfortable asking a lot of this guy, which is, I mean, if that's where we're at on September 7th, that could be really fun by the time we get to the second half of the season.

58:28Yeah, no doubt. It's, uh, we have plenty of rookies to talk about this year, but something tells me it's not the last time we're going to be talking about this Browns group. We will be sure to check back in with them. We'll, we'll definitely, we'll use this time. We'll, we'll definitely find something we loved about the rookie class that we can highlight every single week. So I'm looking forward to doing that before we get out of here. We do also, we want to spend time looking ahead to the week that's coming. And I think this one, if, if we needed to wait until Saturday to be impressed by week two, I don't think that's going to be the case in week three.

59:03We have no shortage of marquee matchups. I just, we don't have to spend a ton of time on it, but I just want to highlight what makes these games interesting. I'll just start off the jump. Anybody that follows the draft knows that you can count on the Georgia Bulldogs to have a list of NFL prospects and week three will officially be their first real football, like no opponents worth mentioning in the first two weeks. And now they go to Knoxville to play a Tennessee team with sky high vibes, by the way, like for all of the drama with Nico Iamaleava leaving in the off season kind of felt like people sort of left them off to the side, entering the season.

59:45Tennessee looks very fun with Joey Aguilar stepping in from Appalachian state. So a lot to be excited about. And obviously, particularly on the Georgia side of things, there should be no shortage of NFL prospects to look at. Yeah, they've got a lot of top recruits and guys ready to step up, but now it's time that we see it, right? One of their top players this year, C.J. Allen at linebacker, he was my linebacker one coming into the year, and he's been awesome so far in two games. So let's see if he can continue that. Dominant read and drive defender, a lot of Roquan Smith to his game. I just want to see him become more of a playmaker in coverage, And so I think he'll have a chance to do that in this one for Tennessee.

1:00:27Let's stick on defense. Joshua Joseph's pass rusher. I think he could be this year's version of Donovan Ezraku, where he's a tad undersized, 6 '3", 240, 245, but really long arms and awesome body twitch, has speed around the edge, can win with explosiveness, can win with physicality. And so he's a name to watch as maybe that maybe not good enough for the first round. But once we get a day to one of those interesting pass rushers that have could have a role at the next level. Joshua Joseph's with a strip sack against Syracuse in the season opener. So and Tennessee, nobody of note in week two, but going and playing a neutral site game against Syracuse and looking very good doing it.

1:01:13I mean, that carries some weight. I'm curious about this game because Georgia hasn't looked like world beaters against bad competition. And Tennessee kind of looks like they've found something here with Joey Aguilar. And I don't think Tennessee's beaten Georgia since Kirby Smart's first season on the job. And obviously the game's in Knoxville. It's going to be a big. Georgia's actually favored. So I think by a field goal maybe. But that's it's interesting. I this series hasn't been very competitive in recent history. So like this is, this is a big chance for Tennessee to say something. I'm looking forward to that.

1:01:48Another big game, obviously Texas A &M at Notre Dame this weekend. Jeremiah Love is the obvious headliner. Maybe Notre Dame will get him a little more involved than they did in the season opener against Miami. And we mentioned Cassius Howell. I would say that counts as a step up in competition going against Notre Dame's offensive line. Is there anybody else in this matchup? Yeah, we saw Notre Dame's tackles get a little beat up against Miami in the opener. So, you know, maybe they could be vulnerable against Howell in that pass rush. But yeah, I mean, you mentioned it. I want to see a Notre Dame rushing offense go up against an A &M rushing defense that I expected to be better so far this year.

1:02:28Scooby Williams, middle linebacker for the Aggies, he's a potential day three draft pick. He's been a little bit up and down. So that that's the main thing I'll be watching for in this one is can Notre Dame establish the run? He can A &M do anything to stop it. If we were a strictly college football show, we obviously would have led with this, but it is worth mentioning. Yes, South Florida did score a huge upset of the Florida Gators in the swamp. We actually joked about it, Dane. The upset tour continues because they started the season with Boise State. their reward for beating Boise state was a trip to Florida and their reward for the upset of the year.

1:03:09So far is okay. Now go do it in Miami against a hurricanes team that looked pretty ferocious in week one against Notre Dame. So I know you wanted to talk about Byron Brown, the USF quarterback, let this, this is our opportunity. Congratulations bulls. The, the tough tests just keep coming. Yeah. And I believe the hurricanes are like 17 point favorites in this one. So the world's still against you, USF. Even though you're coming off a big win, you've got plenty of motivation to go out there and do it again against the Hurricanes. And we'll see. I think Florida helped out USF a ton in that game.

1:03:46So we'll see if South Florida can maybe step up against the Hurricanes. Byron Brown, he's really inconsistent, but man, he's fun. They don't win these first two games without him. um you know six three and a half 235 pounds he's big he's got a rocket arm uh misses way too many layups uh it was all over the the florida tape where just he just didn't have any touch on those easy throws flat throws screens slants um needs to get better in the short to intermediate game um and and then what he can do with his legs that that's a if you better finish this guy to the ground because he is a bull. And so he, he, he will carry that offense as far as they can go, but it'll be fun to see if they can stick with them with, with Miami throughout the game.

1:04:33I didn't catch your pun on the last show, but I caught that one. I thank you. Thank you for that. I will get better as the season goes along. The next one, it looked better before the aforementioned USF upset, but there should still be, I mean, there will be a ton of NFL talent on the field in Florida at LSU. It's not quite as sexy from a narrative standpoint now that Florida's lost a game they shouldn't have. But again, there's talent all over this LSU defense. And even for whatever you think of DJ Lagway, from a consistency standpoint, he will present a very fun challenge for guys like Harold Perkins, Whit Weeks.

1:05:14An LSU defensive lineman I really want to watch in this game is Bernard Gooden, who actually fittingly transferred from USF sort of impact that he can make in this game. And then obviously I'm burying the lead. Garrett Nussmeyer, another another big opportunity to make a statement after a very, you know, LSU just kind of messed around with their food for three and a half hours on Saturday against Louisiana Tech. I'm guessing they can't afford to do that this week, no matter what happened to Florida. Yeah, and Florida needs Caleb Banks back on the defensive line. That's their best player. Not having him has really shown up in these first few games.

1:05:56Tyreek Sapp at defensive end is a good player, but he's stout versus a run, doesn't give you enough as a pass rusher. So they really need Caleb Banks back. We'll see if he's healthy and good to go. Billy Napier needs to coach for his job, man, because that's coming off a really bad home loss to USF. It's not it's not easy going to Baton Rouge at LSU facing that that defense, which got after Kate Clubnick in the opener. They're going to get after DJ Lagway. Hopefully Lagway plays better in this one, hopefully for Florida's sake. And then, yeah, for LSU, I want to see Garrett Nussmeier. I mean, technically, he's probably the Heisman favorite now with Arch kind of fizzling out in that opener.

1:06:39I understand this isn't how it works, but that's insane considering what Garrett looked like against Louisiana Tech. Like, I mean, it's just a very, very gross for the LSU offense. I did not watch a lick of that game. And so do you think it was LSU kind of looking forward a little bit and not taking their opponent as serious as they maybe they needed to? Or what was your why didn't Nussmeier and the rest of that offense look better in that game? So, I mean, it was a combination of both. The big thing really is LSU's starting center sprained his ankle on like the first snap of the game. And it is not encouraging.

1:07:17Good player, by the way. Yeah. Braylon Moore. Yes. Transfer Virginia Tech. It is not encouraging that LSU looked that overwhelmed at the line of scrimmage against Louisiana Tech with one injury. Like you should be able to function against Louisiana Tech, even if your center goes out hurt. But they could not. They couldn't run the ball. The pocket wasn't good. And Garrett, I mean, Garrett is Garrett Nussmeyer. Like he is not afraid to try some stuff. And he had a really ugly under throw that got intercepted. He just tried some very audacious throws that he, in my opinion, had no business trying.

1:07:53It was it was the Garrett Nussmeyer experience. So, I mean, I get it. He's still a really good player, but it doesn't. Like I said, particularly the way they functioned with an injury on their offensive line against lesser competition, it doesn't make you feel good about what might be coming in the SEC. So hopefully Braylon Moore's injury is not a long lasting one. Florida's defense is they've got some guys, and so it'll be interesting to see Nussmeier in this type of test against this defense. So, yeah, anytime Nussmeier is on the field, it's important to watch from a scouting perspective. And yeah, this this will be definitely one to keep an eye on.

1:08:34I would have drafted Caleb Banks in the top 20 based off of his LSU tape alone last year. So with my with my luck as an LSU fan, he'll be healthy and ready to go this week. They let him they thought maybe go in the opener and they held him out. They thought, OK, well, week two. Well, they held him out against USF, probably thinking let's get let's keep him healthy going into LSU. And obviously that backfired a little bit. Hopefully he's ready to go because, yeah, he is a difference maker when he's on the field and a type of player that can help change the game. And especially if is Braylon Morgan to play for LSU?

1:09:09Do you know? I haven't heard. I I'm not optimistic, but I don't know that for sure. On Tuesday of game week. Yeah, no. Yeah, absolutely. That's that's big. And that's something that could really affect how, you know, just the effectiveness of that offense. One last one I wanted to highlight. obviously Lenore Sellers is going to be must-see TV all season long, and he gets a home game against Vanderbilt, which obviously some years Vanderbilt is like whatever. They're honorary members of the SEC. This Vanderbilt is not that Vanderbilt. Like this should be a really good test for Lenore Sellers. Vandy just crushed the Virginia Tech team that gave South Carolina a pretty tough game, and they did it at Lane Stadium too.

1:09:53So, you know, everybody knows about Diego Pavia. He upset Bama last year like this. This is a spicy Vanderbilt team. So don't don't look at this one on the schedule and write it off just because it's the smart school in the SEC. Yeah. And if you're watching this one, obviously Lenore Sellers, it just he's must see anytime he's on the field. But when Vanderbilt has the ball, I think people know about Diego Pavia, the quarterback. I don't think he's a serious NFL prospect, but the tight end Eli Stowers is six, three and a half, 240. pounds. He's not a traditional inline type of blocker. That's not, he's a pass catcher.

1:10:32Um, and he's a guy that he could blow up the combine burst athleticism. Um, the quickness in and out of his routes really shows up so he can win one-on-one he's got reliable hands. Um, I think, uh, Eli Stowers is definitely a guy to watch here and he's, he's competing for, uh, the right to be that first senior tight end drafted. I think that's most of the major headliners. Is there anything else that you want to have an eye on as we get closer to Saturday? No, I think we covered. I mean, it's, there's, there's always something from a draft perspective to watch. And, you know, I know we mentioned a lot of, it's a lot of SEC.

1:11:12I think almost every team we mentioned is an SEC program. I noticed that I was like, man, And I hope nobody thinks I'm a homer, but that's just where all the good matchups are this week. Yeah. And, you know, that's that's how it is, you know, and that's the SEC is where most of the draft picks come from. But, you know, Ohio State, they're playing Ohio and some of these other programs. It's just not a big week for them. So, no, I think we covered it. Still, I mean, be that as it may, what we listed off, we listed off five games here. Like there is a lot to look forward to on this schedule. Looking forward to catching up with you on that next week, Dane.

1:11:51This was a ton of fun, man. Thanks for listening. We will catch up with y 'all on the other side. Talk to you soon.