Building the Beast: The potential diamonds in the rough are starting to emerge

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1:26Welcome once again to Building the Beast, the athletics NFL draft podcast throughout the college season and into the spring. Dane Brugler and myself will be seeking to build his annual NFL draft guide looking high and low for every prospect imaginable. The good ones, the top 10 picks, the marquee names, as well as maybe the names you don't know, maybe the names you need to know heading into each college football season. Really fun show with Dane. We're about a quarter of the way through the college season. we're seeking to get our hands around how we feel about the top of this draft class, what we've learned, if we've learned anything at all, it's been that type of season so far, identifying that, recapping some of the big winners, maybe some of the names you didn't hear over the weekend, as well as looking forward to another loaded schedule coming up on Saturday.

2:20Really fun episode with Dane Brugler. Let's get to it.

2:28well dane we have reached the 25 percent mark of the 2025 college football season three games in the books i know it always flies right but i'm having a little bit of a crisis as we start the fourth week of this show because even with 25 of the season in the books i feel like I know less than I did in August. And maybe I shouldn't be surprised because of the unpredictable nature of college football, but some of the teams that I thought really highly of coming into the season have been exposed a little bit. Some others haven't been exposed, but maybe they just haven't taken the baton and run with it the way that I thought they would.

3:10And of course the top of this quarterback class, I think it's fair to call it lackluster through 25 % of the season. So I'm just, I'm searching for more information desperately. I'll be very happy once we get into conference play and everybody's playing good opposition most weeks. I'm having a hard time with this, if I'm being honest with you. I think that's perfectly normal. I think this is, this can be a tough time for scouts because you do so much work over the summer to create a base foundation of what this draft class looks like. And then the season starts and all these curveballs come at you where, oh, I didn't expect that.

3:50Or, oh, this looks different than we expected. And so it's a you use the word crisis like it's it kind of fits because you have to. And this is where the best evaluators are the most experienced. They've been through this. They understand it. Just understanding, OK, what does you need to stick to your guns on some of your preseason thoughts based off of, well, OK, this this player is playing much better than I expected, but maybe they haven't played anybody or they haven't been tested yet. You know, not going overboard with trying to overcorrect. But at the same time, you have to keep an open mind.

4:29You have to be open to, hey, players get better. You know, guys were banged up before. Maybe they're healthy now um you know different situations so you know it's definitely a fine line of being open-minded but still sticking to your guns because you don't every all the work you did over the summer it's not like you just erase that it's not like that doesn't matter anymore like you have to still have a framing of who this player is um so all the context is so important with with players and that's going to continue throughout the year but i do think that as we get into october November, it will stabilize.

5:06And that's also why I don't do a top 50 update. I don't do one until like Halloween because it's just, it's, there's so much that needs to stabilize with this draft class with new faces, guys playing better guys come back down to earth. Um, so I, me personally, I need a good two month window into the year before I feel better putting my name on an updated top 50. I don't think you could do one right now, at least not, not if you wanted to do it true justice, just with the amount of volatility that we've seen. The one thing I will say I do love about college football is because especially from a national perspective, it's easy to fixate on the major storylines and we could get on here every week and harp on Arch Manning's problems in Texas.

5:53And there are enough other people doing that, right? But what's cool about college football is there's 65 games on every weekend at the major level of college football. And you can go find something to be excited about if you set your mind to it. And that's what I want this show to be. And that's what we're going to start off with, with this week's game ball, which I'll be honest with you, Dane, I didn't see a down of this game until you told me we were going to talk about this guy. And I went back and watched, uh, not the whole game, but I watched a lot of it on Monday. And yeah, I want you to tell me about Texas tech quarterback, Baron Morton, who was on fire in the red Raiders, big win against Oregon state over the weekend and flashed some very enticing talent.

6:43If you're looking for a quarterback to get excited about this fall yeah baron morton uh he replaced tyler shuck uh when shuck was hurt at texas tech and played well enough that that's when shuck decided hey i'm going to transfer to louisville um and you know shuck turned into a second round pick but morton has been on the radar for a little while now um he had on saturday against oregon state career best 464 passing yards um right now he's tied for the FBS lead with 11 passing touchdowns. And look, I don't think this Beaver's defense is very good, but Morton was doing NFL level type things. And that's what kind of got me excited.

7:23And that's, that's, that's why I wanted to give him the game ball here. You kind of, you just touched on it, like just introducing new names that, you know, I know that the diehards know who Baron Morton is, but maybe not everybody does. And like, there's, there are a few plays in this game where he showed quick feet in the pocket really did a nice job maneuvering but staying in rhythm with his reads with his eyes downfield and he's not shy pushing that ball down the football field currently number two in FBS in completions of 20 plus yards I think he's at 18 not very big he's six one and a half 205 but he's very confident as a passer and some of the placement on those tight window throws that that really showed.

8:05So I think a common theme with him is when he's out there, Texas Tech wins in games that he has started. The Red Raiders are 17 and four. And so I think that when you factor that in some of the throws that he's making, the decisiveness and scouts call him the heart and soul of the team, the type of competitor that you almost have to reel him back at times because he wants it so bad. So you take all these things and it's like okay this there's something to him and he came into the year as my number six senior quarterback um with a day three grade so it's not like he's coming out of nowhere here um now the first three games i wouldn't say he's been truly tested but that'll change on saturday uh going to salt lake city it's a it's a local 10 a.m game up there uh but utah probably has the best defense in the big 12 so this is going to be a critical tape for morton in terms of putting his best play out there for scouts.

9:02And so this will be, this will be a big one for him on Saturday. I do love that wrinkle when you talk about, and not to, not to talk trash on the big 12, plenty of good players are going to come out of that conference. But I do think it's a conference where Texas tech might play four games instead of seven or eight, where you can really zero in on the level of competition. And I think you, Utah is going to be one of those. They play Arizona State later in the year as well. Like there are other tests on this schedule, but it doesn't feel like a stretch for me to say Utah is going to be like, if you want to see how these guys do against premier competition, this is probably as good as it gets for Texas tech during the regular season.

9:45And that was the thing with Shador last year when we were studying him and, you know, facing a lot of bad defenses in the big 12. So it put an extra emphasis on the two or three games that he played against the better defenses on that schedule. And so that was Nebraska. That was Kansas State, BYU. And so those and those were the worst games that Shador played last year. And that that played into the overall evaluation. And it'll be the same thing with Sam Levitt, all these big 12 quarterbacks. So and especially Morton, who, yeah, I mean, Utah is a they're always going to play respectable defense.

10:21And so they're going to be in the mix to be one of, if not the best defense in that league. And so this will be an important game for him. Texas Tech, major storyline heading into this college season because they spent a ton of money in the transfer portal. They kind of upset the status quo in college football. Everybody's like up in arms about a non-blue blood spending their way to the top as if that's not what every other program in college football does. But they've handled business to this point in the season. They have been utterly dominant in all three games. I'm intrigued to see what they look like in a tough road spot.

10:56I had so much fun watching back Morton's plays against Oregon State. And I know he's not as big. I don't want to say this is like a true comp, but just watching the ball come off of his hand. Can I give you the reckless thought that came into my brain? Give it to me. What do you got? He reminded me of Jordan Love a little bit. Ooh. Like I, yeah, not as big, right. But no, he's not as big as Jordan, but the arm talent just jumped off the screen. And even the confidence in his arm talent to the degree of recklessness. I mean, the interception that he threw in that game was completely bonkers. Just drifting off of his back foot, throwing like a 25 yard Yolo ball into the end zone.

11:42And I'm sure when you, when you've done that much fun stuff with your arm, I get where the confidence comes from. But I was like, whoa, buddy, let's let's rein that in a little bit. Just just slightly, even though I know it's a lot of fun to watch. Yeah. And I think that decisiveness or overconfidence really kind of fits his persona, because that's that's that's how scouts say that he is in the locker room and how he rubs off on the rest of his teammates and all that. So that's that's important to note. I another thing when you watch Texas Tech, stick around and watch the defense, too, is David Bailey, the transfer from Stanford, who was made my top 50.

12:22I mean, he was in my top 30. He's, I think, third in the FBS and pressures so far through three games. So he is a guy that going up against Utah and Utah's big time. We're going to preview the Saturday's games later, but I'm just going to mention this now with Utah's starting tackles, Lomu, Fanu. I mean, those guys are as good as you get in terms of bookend tackles. And to see what David Bailey could do against them is going to be a lot of fun. I'm going to say we're going to talk some about this matchup when we get to the end of the show. But yeah, a lot to like in that game. A lot of fun quarterback play in the Big 12.

12:59I wanted to just highlight. It felt like an obvious place to go, but I do think it's worth mentioning handing out a game ball. The funny thing is I didn't know where exactly to go in talking about LSU's defensive performance against Florida on Saturday night, because a lot of the biggest moments were made by guys that are not 2026 draft prospects. Like they had sophomores and freshmen flying all over the field. I, I wish that I had an opening day to talk about DJ picket with you. he's not going to be a draftable prospect for like two more years, but it already seems like opponents are afraid to throw to his side of the field, which is a crazy thing to say about an 18 year old.

13:45It reminds me a little bit of Derek Stingley's star turn in LSU's defense a few years ago, but I don't, we, we can wait on that, but I wanted to highlight the LSU defense. I think a guy that stands out here specifically, I'm excited that Harold Perkins looks like the guy we were excited about his true freshman season coming off of a major injury. And I had serious concerns about how he would be used, especially as a pro prospect. And some of that is still true for me. Like I don't see a true edge prospect in Harold Perkins, but the way Blake Baker is using him at LSU, the way he's able to generate pressure and showcase his closing speed in addition to, I don't know if I'd be ready to call him like a strength in coverage, but he can at least make plays in the passing game.

14:34I thought doing that against major SEC competition was a big step forward for a guy that I had a lot of questions about coming off of an injury. Yeah. And you want him in space because there are, there's still times where he will get just absolutely stonewalled at the line of scrimmage can get kind of caught up in the noise with the bigger bodies, But out in space, he's so explosive. There are a lot of instances in this game where you see that closing speed where it just in the blink of an eye. He's beating blocks because the blocks can't get to the landmark in time. His closing burst is outstanding.

15:12And as a zone dropper, he did a really nice job kind of taking away some of those throws in the flat. When they would motion the running back out wide, he had no problem going out there with him and just kind of taking taking that option away. from dj lagway um and so part of why dj lagway had five interceptions was part of it was the way perkins played as his own dropper um and he had one play where he sniffed out the screen or it was a wide receiver screen and was able to get his hand out knock the ball down that was a big time play um yeah this lsu defense especially because they lost what weeks early in this game uh with a with a targeting penalty so everybody else had to step up and they did in a big way i mean i'm still just really really impressed with mansoor delane that guy corner uh he had another fantastic game watching the tape of this one back last night he was outstanding i mean he just really he's so smart again he's not a guy that's gonna wow with the size and the speed he's gonna be he'll be good and when we talk about him at the combine but he won't be amazing he won't be great but what really separates him is how smart he is on the football field especially in zone the way he can come off, read the quarterback's eyes.

16:26AJ Halsey, the safety, had a really nice pick in this game where he kind of baited that middle of the field throw and then his break on the ball to go get it was awesome. So yeah, there's some dudes on this LSU defense that we'll be talking about in January, February as we get closer to the draft. I think that's another reason why I wanted to highlight these guys is I'm not ready to try to guess where they're going to be drafted, but watching this LSU defense over the first three weeks of the year, there's at least going to be three or four of these guys who he, we hear their names get called in the spring, potentially more than that.

17:04Like it is a very talented, very deep unit. So if you are a NFL fan with defensive needs on your team's roster, this will be a fun team to watch all season long. Cause there's like half a dozen of these guys making plays for LSU. I mean, if I had to do a top 50 tomorrow, I don't know how I could possibly keep delaying off of that. I mean, the way he has played, the way he's played and against two, you know, even if we don't think the world of Florida and Clemson at this point, and obviously they've had really disappointing starts to their seasons, but these are still teams with NFL talent all over the roster.

17:38And I like that carries a lot of weight for me. No doubt. And I mean, I would kind of say the same thing with Harold Perkins, who I kept him off my preseason top 50, just with the uncertainty, just coming back from an ACL, not sure exactly the role he was going to play, but he's really settled in with this star position where he will be a blitzer on some plays. He's going to drop on some others. He just had a really good game, and he's had a really good start this season against Clemson and then the Florida tape. I mean, whether it's undercutting routes, whether it's just understanding the spatial awareness that he has to have when he drops in some of those zones as a read and drive player, he's outstanding.

18:26So I think he is a guy now in his fourth year where some of the football awareness that you want to see from a player, it's catching up to how dynamic he is as an athlete. And so Perkins is another LSU player that I don't know that I'd be able to keep him out of my top 50 if I did one tomorrow. I'm, I'm very encouraged by what he has looked like and how they're using him. I still think he's an intriguing prospect because I'm not, I'm not a thousand percent sure what his NFL NFL role looks like, but I think the talent is enough that somebody would just say, whatever, get him on the team and we'll figure it out later.

19:04Right. Yeah. I mean, it's somewhere as an outside linebacker type of player. I think that he's, he's only helped himself put it that way by the way he's played this year in terms of convincing scouts that hey he has a type of moldable skill set where you know you're gonna draft me and figure it out one more guy i want to highlight and i'm just i'll admit it i'm doing it selfishly because we highlighted tennessee defensive end joshua joseph's in the preview of week three and i know it didn't go the way tennessee wanted it to great game by the way up in knoxville but Joshua Joseph's what was a four, four tackles, a sack, two tackle for loss.

19:45He had a big strip sack in the second half of this game. Just very much looked like the guy we were hoping he would be against one of the premier programs in college football. Yeah. And credit to Gunnar Stockton for that pass he made for the, the, the game time touchdown. That does look, I mean, it's not for that pass. We're talking a lot more about the Joseph's sack late in the game that really kind of felt like it might have been able to put the game away. But, yeah, he is a disruptive player with how long that he is, how quick he plays. He's I don't know that he's going to have maybe the size and some of the things that teams look for to go in the first round.

20:29But that's why I compared him to Donovan as a rock, a guy who maybe didn't check every box, but he's just a good football player goes in the second round to Dallas, his past draft. I think Joseph's could be similar where he's, you know, he's really long. He, he, he's not someone you have to hide versus the run. And he's going to give you some juice off the edge when you want them to get after the quarterback. So even though he might not check every box, he is someone that you want part of your defensive line rotation at the next level. We're going to stick with this game. As we talk about some players whose game we weren't so familiar with, but first we're going to take our first break.

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24:01All right, Dane, lot to watch in that very fun Georgia overtime win against Tennessee. And as we shift into, I was not familiar with your game. I'm not surprised to see this name on the rundown. We've talked a lot already this season about wide receivers trying to establish themselves at the top of this class, make a make a statement, jump up the rankings if you can, as we go through the early part of the season. And safe to say, Tennessee receiver Chris Brazil did exactly that with an enormous performance against Georgia. Yeah. And look, he's a player we knew about, but the way he played, it was like, oh, I wasn't familiar with this part of your game because and here we are talking about another Tennessee receiver trying to figure out, OK, hey, how much of what we're seeing is the talent?

24:53How much of it is the scheme? But there were enough flashes, especially in this game against Georgia, where Brazel's a guy we're going to be talking about a lot the next, you know, how many months trying to figure him out. Six targets, six catches, 177 yards, three touchdowns against Georgia. Average almost 30 yards a catch. He had two catches over 50 yards. He first came on my radar when he was a freshman at Tulane. He was making plays. And then he transfers to Tennessee last year. He started he was he was a starter for them, but he was really underwhelming. And through three games this year, he already has more receiving yards than he did all of 2024.

25:32So now it's going to take some more work to fully figure him out. Because, again, that Tennessee offense is it's just so far from what you're going to see on Sundays. But this is an NFL guy, clearly. I mean, he's six, five, 200 pounds. he's got this long striding acceleration so he can be explosive vertically um and you saw those two catches of 50 plus yards the tracking skills the finishing skills but the play that really made me kind of sit up in my chair was there was a deep out earlier in the game that i thought was his best play i mean he beat press off the line immediately pushes the route vertically sells the nine route and then at 15 yards makes this abrupt 90 yard cut uh where he's just without gearing down like most guys that long with those long longer legs they've got to collect themselves make a very decisive decisive cut but one that the corner sees coming he was so abrupt with this cut that the corner was five yards beyond him before he even realized it um most receivers that size just don't have that type of short area quickness.

26:36But that so that route specifically, I mean, just executed it. It was coaching tape exactly how you want it executed. So I guess that's why I'm including him in this. I wasn't familiar with your game category because I didn't I wasn't familiar with that part of his game. Knew he was big, knew he was fast, but he's more than a one trick pony. This is a guy that even though that maybe the Tennessee offense doesn't always give him a full route tree to show everything he can do. He's more than just a straight line, go up and get it down the field type of guy. I was really impressed with his contested catch ability, like his two of the big catches in this game came in those sorts of situations.

27:18And the contact balance, I mean, you mentioned his finish to not only make the catch, but make the play after that. I mean, you mentioned it. I mean, he's 6 '5", so he's a big dude, but six, five, 200. That's, I mean, there's not a lot of meat there. Like this is a skinny dude, but he was playing physical at the catch point. I thought, and I was, I was really impressed by that. No doubt about it. I mean, yeah. Cause that those windows, I mean, some of those throws were underthrown, um, uh, by Aguilar who for most of the game had a pretty good game. Um, but some of those stories were under, underthrown, but that, that the tracking skills that he showed to get underneath it uh and then the finish uh those are not easy plays to finish but he made it look easy so yeah i'll be surprised if he doesn't get a lot more targets in this offense as the they go through the sec schedule and look this tennessee offense and their defense the way they played they're going to be a contender for the college football playoff as we go through because there's you know i i know they lost this game and so they're you know on the win-loss record it's going to show up but the way they play, the talent they have, they're going to be a team that is going to be pushing for one of those playoff spots.

28:32When we talk about it two months from now, plenty more chances to make an impression on their schedule and none, none that I don't think they can win based on what we've seen so far. I mean, if you, if you put forth that kind of effort, the Alabama game is in Tuscaloosa. So not to say they won't be challenged. It'll be fantastic. Yeah. And I'm, I am excited to watch more Tennessee football, which I said this heading into the weekend, but I think from a national perspective, they were kind of left for dead when Nico Iamalaya left town. And clearly that's not the case. I'm, I'm still pretty high on this volunteer team.

29:10Well, and hopefully at some point they get Jermon McCoy back there, their top corner, who has one, he's on your top 50 and we haven't even seen him yet. Yeah, exactly. He had ACL in January, so he's still working his way back. You don't want to push him necessarily, you know, before he's ready. But at some point, we hope to see him out there. And that's only going to strengthen this team. There was another really fun game that happened in the SEC on Saturday, and it flew below my radar. And I feel bad about that now because my submission for I was not familiar with your game was the quarterback play.

29:49we saw in the Arkansas Ole Miss game on Saturday. And I am familiar with Talon Green. He was at Arkansas last year. He transferred over from Boise State. I know all about him, except I thought he played at a level beyond what I was expecting, I think. And Arkansas had a really nice start to the season playing lesser competition, but in a road spot against a ranked Ole Miss team, I was super duper impressed with Talon Green. And then on the other side, Dane, I, I, I want to talk to you about this because look, I'm not, I'm not trying to sell this guy as a big time draft prospect, but again, I think I overlooked Ole Miss Arkansas because there was a lot of uncertainty with the quarterback situation and lo and behold, Ole Miss winds up starting backup quarterback, Trinidad Chambliss who transferred in from D2 and man, he didn't look like it playing against sec competition on Saturday.

30:47Like the D two national champion out of Ferris state completed 21 of 29 for three 50 and a tutty rushed for another 62 yards and just looked beyond comfortable going against sec competition. I don't know what that means for any potential draft stock, but I thought, I thought the whole game was great and I thought the quarterback play was really exciting. If you're, if you're looking for more of that around college football this year. Yeah, he was fun. No doubt about it. He's listed at six foot 200. So, you know, he's probably five, 10 and change. And I was going to say that the measurements are not kind to this guy.

31:29That is for sure. He kind of reminded me of Jordan Travis come out of Florida State a couple of years ago, who unfortunately had to retire after that bad injury he had late in Florida State season. but smaller guy who operates really well from the pocket where, you know, he can get quick release, get the ball out, distribute it. I mean, you saw him every level of the field. He was distributing the football, giving guys chances for, for yak opportunities used his legs when he needed to, when those opportunities were there. Now I think there's a chance that Arkansas's defense is just really, really bad.

32:09And that certainly helps really. I mean, both these defenses were pretty, pretty rough, but makes it a fun watch for us, though. Well, absolutely. And, you know, if you're Austin Simmons, I mean, now there's there's more of a quarterback conversation here in terms of who's going to be the rebel starter moving forward if if everybody's healthy. So that's just I'm glad you brought him up because it's he's a perfect. I wasn't familiar with your game type of candidate just because, yeah, I don't know many people outside of diehard Ferris State fans who were watching him last year. But, hey, they won the national title division, too.

32:48That's that's that's not nothing. And to go against an SEC opponent and play like he did, that certainly has, you know, should get the attention of people. um now I will say with tailing green I it's it's tough with him because I I like him um I think he's done a lot of good things this year I thought there were this was a very this was a game a tape with a mix of some good stuff and also plenty of bad stuff that has me hitting a pause button with him just like I'm not sure how far to like him as a as a prospect because there were multiple throws that he just left out there um he he had a bad interception in the red zone that was called back because of a penalty so does it's not going to show up in the box score but it's on the tape and that's it was rough um he's just he's a player that he needs to eliminate things quicker um to get through his progression so many times he locks on to a uh a preferred read and then when it doesn't come open, he tucks and runs.

33:55And I want to see him find that backside dig. I want to see him use his eyes and eliminate things quicker. So he understands, uh, all right, that's not going to be there. Move my two, my three anticipate some of these windows. And he's just not there yet. Um, so there's, there's definitely some Terrell prior in his game. Uh, this big, long athlete with a with a good arm um his delivery is a little wonky it's a little methodical like i said doesn't play with a lot of anticipation as a quarterback um every time he throws it over the middle of the field to kind of hold my breath um just i don't i don't think he had one nice throw over the middle of the field in this game though and it jumped out to me because you can't always count on that but i i'll give him credit for that at least well and that's why let me say like it was definitely a mix of good and bad i mean i'm hitting a lot of the bad but he did have there were some explosive rushing plays um you know he did have some nice passes in this one um but it's just in terms of what does this mean for him as a prospect like i don't think he's a top two round guy but third round fourth round when you're looking for someone that you possibly you could develop uh tailing green becomes a little more interesting at that point well the i mean the rushing ability makes him intriguing just i believe he leads all quarterbacks in rushing yards so far this season, or he's at least near the top of the list.

35:17It's, it's like 307 rushing yards through three games. And it's, it's the classic case of the mobile quarterback. Like it's nice to have that, but if we're talking about NFL level, you want to see a guy lean less on that and show that he can do the, the, the, the pocket passing part of the job. And we do this with every mobile prospect every year. So we'll see how he develops. I, I, I'm intrigued by where it can go for both of these guys really. And unfortunately we don't even know how much Chambliss is going to play. He's still officially the backup until Austin Simmons is, I mean, Austin Simmons is coming off of an injury.

35:54We'll see, but I do, I do like the idea. It's easy to get fixated on top 10 prospects. And I know that's, what's going to matter at the end of the day. But But if we're building the beast, then I want to highlight some guys that might be day three quarterback picks or, you know, maybe Taylor Green can play his way into a day two draft slot or potentially higher. I don't know. But I love the idea of remembering these names on Saturday when this draft rolls around and saying, oh, yeah, the Ole Miss Arkansas game. That was really fun. no doubt and that's why and what i think are both our vision is for this podcast is we're not going to harp on just the first round guys we want to talk about everybody um i had a lot of mentions in my uh on my twitter this weekend about oh taylor and green put him in your first round mock like i don't i just i don't think we're there you know like i don't want to put him on that type of level just yet like i don't i don't think the tape supports it um but something that I'm really encouraged about with Taylor Greene is scouts talk really highly about what the coaches say.

36:58And they say he's confident team leader. He's a captain, like the type of guy who's not going to call you out. He's going to put his arm around you, take you to the side, explain exactly what he's talking about. Just an awesome, awesome person. And so the confidence, the ability to address your team, your teammates, and do it with authority where they're going to listen, all those intangible factors he's going to check those boxes which is certainly something that you can along with the physical traits and the way he's gotten better every year that's something that you can sell to a war room no doubt well one thing about arkansas we do not have to guess at the level of competition they're going to play the rest they they have memphis this week which okay fine but after that Arkansas plays Notre Dame at Tennessee Texas A &M Auburn and then at the end of the year they have road trips to LSU and Texas back to back so we'll find out a lot more about uh Taylor Green and yeah Taylor Green's got a lot of opportunity to improve his draft stock if he manages that gauntlet well let's jump to our player snapshot this week which I just mentioned Texas A &M we haven't said anything about their enormous road win against Notre Dame over the weekend and I know you in particular wanted to highlight their cornerback Will Lee who I believe was was he he was part of your preseason top 50 or am I mistaken yep he snuck in there he was in the 40s um and I love this category because it's the purpose of this category is you give one play snapshot where like you just try to encapsulate hey this is this player at his best This is why this is a player we should be talking about as a as a legit prospect.

38:47So there was a play in the second quarter in this game. Notre Dame had third and goal, threatening to go up by two touchdowns. And the Irish, they had trips to the left. A &M was coming with a zero blitz. So man to man across the board, seven are rushing, trying to get after the quarterback, not giving him any time to throw the football. And so that leaves Lee alone on the right side of the formation, defending Malachi Fields. six, three target, big catch radius. And I think everybody knows where it's going. It's either going to be a quick screen to the left for with two blockers in front, or it's going to be, uh, the quick slant inside slant or the fade.

39:25And so in this type of situation, the corner, you have to guard against that outside fade, but then also take away the inside slant. And so it's all happening very quick. A lot of, for corners, a lot of times it just gets chaotic and they get indecisive and they try to try to guess and try to anticipate and they get off balance uh this play i think is it's coaching tape for corners lee stays patient he stays balanced and he just he looks very there's no panic in his game he looks very comfortable mirroring fields off the line and then into the slant knocks the pass down uh and the irish so they have to kick the field goal and that was basically a four-point play for lee and it's significant when you consider a &m ended up winning this game by one point.

40:09So Willie, yeah, he's an interesting prospect. Like you said, he made my top 50. The speed, the fluidity, I don't think they're more good than great in terms of NFL standards at the position, but he's long, he's instinctive, and he can match up versus size on the outside. And a play like this really shows just that veteran presence that he has to be patient to be balanced and go make a play not surprised by the result at all pretty damn surprised at the game script in a &m notre dame i just i saw the winner of this game having like 23 points and of course we get a 41 40 barn burner this uh had this notre dame defense i mean that this was like coming in to the season it was like we're not sure what to expect from the offense but we know the defense will be good.

41:01You know, we just that's what we've come to expect. But you lose Al Golden to the NFL. It's just obviously they lost some personnel changes in terms of the players, but just thought it would be something that Marcus Freeman would have that group buttoned up and ready to go. And it's been anything but that so far. So for Notre Dame, it's it's tough when you start on two against arguably the two best opponents on your schedule. And so now you have to go out there and make sure you play a flawless game against USC and some of these other player teams coming up on the schedule to have any hope of getting back in that playoff discussion.

41:41So, yeah, it was an interesting game from a lot of different standpoints. And for for A &M, I think you you could tell where they spent some of that NIL money this offseason, especially at receiver Craver, the smaller but speedy sophomore. We're not talking about him yet. He's not draft eligible. But Casey Concepcion is a junior. He's draft eligible. He's a fun player. You know, they A &M, they've got some guys, no doubt about it, that is going to make them fun to watch in the SEC. see. That's part of my crisis so far this season is when I hunt back through what happened on a Saturday and I get excited about something half the time, I'm like, ah, shit, this guy's not draft eligible, which not to, not to, not to talk trash on this year's class.

42:27Cause the, the guys we get excited about, they will emerge in time, but a lot of young players making a lot of fun plays across college football in the early going of this season. No doubt about it. Um, and I just I want to mention one honorable mention for a one play snapshot. Bray Hubbard for Alabama, the Alabama, Wisconsin game. We I think we thought Alabama was going to win. I thought maybe Wisconsin had the chance to cover a big spread. I think it was like, what, 21 or something like that. They don't. Alabama wins. but Bray Hubbard to safety, he took a lot of heat because of the way he played against Florida State and specifically that one viral play where he was jogging, not giving maximum effort.

43:18Meanwhile, Florida State's there, they're scoring a touchdown. And just so deservedly so, he received a lot of pushback on that. But credit for bouncing back in a big way, whether that was motivation for him or, you know, whatever it was, this type of game is, I mean, he took it over. He had two interceptions, but there were a couple of plays where you see the trigger, the read, and the drive. And those plays are kind of what I'm talking about for the one-play takeaway where before the ball carrier can even turn the corner and get outside, Hubbard was on him and physical when he arrives at the ball carrier, but the read and drive really stood out.

43:58So alert, fast, confident, a lot of things that maybe you thought the opposite of if you just saw that viral clip of him from the Florida State game. So good on him. Like he deserved the the criticism he received, but he also deserves to be praised for the way he played against Wisconsin this past weekend. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but it looks like the embarrassment of how they played in Tallahassee has snapped Alabama back into focus. I mean, they've just they have looked at Robinson's playing well. Yeah, they've looked the way you expect them to look the last two weeks. Now, does that mean anything?

44:36I don't know. Fortunately, we don't have to get what I say. It also might mean that Florida State's just really, really good. Well, that's true. That's true. That is that chance to. So, yeah, I mean, we don't have to guess was going to be my point, because when they get off of their by it's at it's at Georgia. So we don't have to wait long to see what Alabama is all about. I wanted to highlight and I guess my theme for the show this week, Dane, is that I'm just given some love to some quarterbacks that I think are playing well, who maybe aren't bona fide blue chip NFL prospects. I still think we should talk about Haynes King.

45:12And we're going to talk about Clemson in a minute on the other. We'll talk about them in the next segment. But Haynes King, man, just willed his team to an upset win against Clemson. 20 of 28 for 211 as a passer. Much more importantly, 25 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown. And on the touchdown, that is my snapshot. Fourth quarter, Georgia Tech drives 90 yards to get to the goal line. They got a chance to take the lead late in this game and engineer this upset. And of course they call Haynes King's number right at the goal line. Clemson safety, Ricardo green, I believe the Clemson, excuse me, Ricardo Jones meets him in the hole and Haynes King just doesn't give a shit.

46:01Just, just drives this guy, takes him for a ride into the end zone. And I like that is a snapshot of what he's all about. He's a perfectly adequate passer of the football by college standards, at least. But the snapshot on Haynes King is just what a tough SOB. And he's going to carry the ball as many times as he needs to and crush as many defenders get in his way and do everything he can to win a game for Georgia Tech. I think draft people are going to fall in love with this guy, even if he's not like a big time quarterback prospect. Like, I think this is a guy who could get drafted late and the fan base that gets him will be really, really excited just for intangibles and just the fun of it all.

46:48No doubt. We've seen, you know, think about Sam Ellinger out of Texas, you know, like not the best passer, but tough intangibles. Like you knew what you were getting with him. Riley Leonard, similar type of thing last year. um i don't think like i think the natural thing for a lot of people and i my twitter mentions were a lot when i tweeted about haynes king being a uh a player that was easy to appreciate because he's no hyperbole he might be the toughest guy in college football um just the way he like you were saying he takes licks running the football and just bounces right back up um i mean his sunday mornings have to be just brutal just i mean awful um it just feel like you were in a car accident.

47:32There's only so much you can take. And so I think that's it's fair to kind of worry about that part of it. But as a prospect, you know, he has a long release. His placement isn't as sharp as you'd like, but he's smart. He's athletic. He has top tier intangibles. A lot of people want to say, oh, Taysom Hill and Taysom Hill. I don't think people give him enough credit for how good of an athlete he is. Like Haynes King isn't that level of athlete, but he's still an athletic player, no doubt about it. And so I think that he definitely has a shot to get drafted because the intangibles are so great because of that competitive toughness that we're talking about.

48:08And, you know, he's avoiding some of those big mistakes that kind of plagued this team last year in some of those big situations. So Georgia Tech is a team we should be talking about more as they could be a playoff team very easily. I mean, when you look at their schedule, it's like, OK, they get past Colorado and Clemson in September the next uh they don't have Miami obviously and then obviously they play Georgia later in the year so I don't know besides uh you know having to face Pitt like the ACC just isn't this super deep conference of teams that you worry about now it feels like there's a lot more um you know chances for upsets in that league um so you know who knows, you know, maybe Duke can upset them in a couple of weeks, but Georgia tech, if they play their best football, they're going to be in that conversation to be maybe in a favorite to be in the ACC championship game on the doorstep of possibly going to the playoff.

49:04I am manifesting this now that you've said it, Georgia tech has a manageable schedule up until the end. I am manifesting a world where Georgia tech has zero or one loss and Georgia has like one loss i think georgia would need to have at least one loss going in but georgia and georgia tech playing a rivalry game over thanksgiving weekend where the loser might be on the outside looking in of the playoff picture that's the type of stuff that gets me going i i would that would be i will be glued to the tv for a scenario like that oh and georgia tech came so close last year to oh my god that game was one of the games of the year it was painful i felt so bad for for brent key and that to be that close and the fall just just short i mean how many overtimes did it i think four it was something stupid like it's crazy it was crazy and so they'll they'll have their chance at a rematch this year and i believe this year it's at their place i believe um it's in atlanta yes yeah yeah so that's hey the the we got a lot a lot of gains before we get to that point, but it's, uh, it's shaping up to be a possibility that could be a big one for more than usual reasons.

50:19Let's just stick here with Georgia tech Clemson as we dive into our top 50 stock watch. And this one, uh, it ain't, it ain't going to be so good because Clemson was Clemson is the poster boy. And I know there are some other ones. I know people were excited about Florida this year. I know Alabama had that disappointing loss at the start of the season, but Clemson is the poster boy for national championship contender with a Heisman candidate, first round pick quarterback who just has not lived up to the expectations. They lose their second game in September, which is not where Dabo Sweeney's program is used to being.

51:01And it prompts a lot of questions about what's going on with a team with this much talent and how it's fallen off so quickly so if you knew nothing about clemson and their players and you just watched the first three games of this season and i said to you okay tell me which two of these players on defense are the projected top 10 picks i you would probably come back to me and say they have top 10 players on this defense because i it just hasn't shown on the on the film um i've charted all three games and neither Peter Woods, defensive tackle, or TJ Parker, edge rusher, they haven't played bad.

51:42They haven't played poorly. And I would say that they've played better than average. But when you have high expectations of being a top 10 pick, Peter Woods being number one overall for a lot of people coming into the year, slightly better than average, it just doesn't get you excited as an evaluator. It's going to be a disappointment. And TJ Parker, he has a total of six pressures so far through three games. So he's on pace for 26 pressures this year. That would be almost exactly half the number of pressures that he had last year. I think he's playing well versus the run, but he's just not affecting the quarterback enough.

52:20And that's just that that's something that has to change. Now, Peter Woods, I think he's he's seeing more double teams and teams are running away from him where I'm not as alarmed with his lack of reduction. and just his impact not showing up in the stat sheet as much. But still, for a player that you're considering drafting top five, a player that's so talented, has so much promise, you want to see more of an impact. And I mean, he has one pressure through three games. That's just that's he has to be has to have more of an impact than that. And I don't think again, I don't think he's playing bad.

52:58I don't think either of these guys are playing even even average. I think they're playing slightly above average, but with the expectations attached to these two players, you know, it's just it's just not good enough. And so I think, you know, there were plenty of mock drafts this summer who had Kate Clubnick as a top five pick. And I think those people have woken up and realized, all right, he's not that type of guy. But should we be selling our stock on the two defensive players, too? I'm not going to go that far yet, especially with Woods. but they're both on notice that they have to have a greater impact on the tape or, you know, it's possible they could start to slip because it's if it's not on the tape, especially in that last season before you become a draft prospect, that's just something that teams can't ignore.

53:41We also know how good this can look like when you when we talked before the season about Clemson having a defensive line full of top 20 prospects, I was like, oh, great. So it's Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence and Cleland Farrell all over again. And like, we know how disruptive and dominant those Clemson defensive lines were. And those guys all got drafted really, really highly. And so I know you don't scout the helmet, but I just like when a program has a proven track record of producing these types of prospects, it raises my expectations that much more. And when they don't meet it, it's, I hate to say it, but I'm kind of like, okay, well, we know this program can produce this, these type of guys.

54:24So where, what's the issue here? You know? Yeah. And well, okay. If I, if you had to do it, a mock draft right now, um, who, who would you put number one overall? I mean, forget about the team drafting. Who are you considering putting there at the number one overall spot? Like it's tough. I don't have a good answer to that question. Who? Yeah. Sorry to put you on the spot like that. Cause I, it's, it's a hard question to answer because I don't, I mean, I mean, Arch Manning, obviously we can move on from that, at least for the time being. Are any of these like Lenora Sellers, we should mention, he got hurt this past weekend.

55:00It doesn't look like it's long term, but we saw how lifeless South Carolina looked without him. So hopefully he's able to come back, but it's, you know, there is a. I think my answer would be Caleb Downs. Safety, okay. Which, I mean, that's not great. That's not a great place to be. right and that's that's and even even caleb downs like i don't he has a pick this year um but i think that was was that against grambling maybe so you know it's a half a pick um but like i it's it's tough because i don't know maybe like the two utah tackles you can talk yourself into yeah i would try i was gonna mention that i i'm gonna check in with them after we see this this game that they have this weekend.

55:47Yeah, no doubt. But my overall point being, it's part of the reason that what made Peter Woods number one and why it's part of this conversation that we're having, there just weren't, in my opinion, there weren't a lot of no brainers. Like I think Keldrick Falk from Auburn is on his way. I think he has a chance to, you know, really cement himself as a top five, top seven type of guy if he continues at this pace. um Ruben Bain's been playing really well it's more the Ruben Bain from Miami that we saw as a freshman which is a really good sign um not the player we saw last year so if he keeps that up he's going up against a a decent Florida offensive line this weekend so that'll be a big one for for Ruben Bain um but yeah overall it's just it's it's another top 10 where it just feels very unsettled in terms of, okay, would a team really take Garrett Nussmeyer that early?

56:44Like that's, it's, it's rich. I don't know. Like, I mean, but if you need a quarterback, can you talk yourself into it? Like that, that would be tough. Nuss has not played that way this season. Like, I mean, not to say that he can't tap into it, but he just hasn't. Yeah. And I don't, I don't know that his, like, I've always been a Nuss supporter, always, but I've always looked at him as an NFL starter, not a high end NFL starter, you know? And so it's like, OK, I would, you know, I would draft him in the Jackson Dart range. Like I would if I'm the Steelers and I have the 16th overall pick, I would I would probably have no problem taking Garrett Nussmeyer there.

57:19But we're talking top five, top 10, where you feel like you're getting blue chip guys still love Jeremiah Love. But, you know, do we feel that great about I think Jeremiah Love credit to him for having more of an impact in the passing game? He had that really that no one covered him, but he had to make a nice adjustment on the ball and his touchdown against A &M. So that was really good to see those ball skills. But overall, I think there have been some players this year that have been risers like Arvel Reese. For me, the Ohio State linebacker, we touched on him a ton after week one against Texas.

57:51He keeps doing it. I mean, I don't care who Ohio State's playing. I'm going to watch the tape because they have so many dudes. and Arvel Reese, every single tape is just jumping off the page or jumping off the screen with the way he moves. And so Reese's, if I had to do a top 50 tomorrow, Reese's a slam dunk. I don't think it's crazy to say Ohio State could have the first two linebackers drafted in April, which is crazy to think about, but it's very, very possible. And so I think that, yeah, this is a draft class that's very much in flux at this point, which makes it interesting to kind of talk through.

58:24I'm going to say, we've talked about it at the top of the show, I think this will all stabilize once teams are playing each other on a regular basis and it'll just be easier to gather information but that is it's a sobering thought 25 percent of the way through the season where I don't have a good feel for who will get drafted at the top of this draft right now and honestly that gets me excited to see who steps out here over the final two-thirds or three quarters of the season. I can't do math, whatever. One more thing I wanted to hit on in the stock watch just as a guy that we've talked a lot about, very exciting prospect, and that's Caleb Banks, the defensive tackle out of Florida.

59:06Sounds like we're not going to see him for a while. He tried to give it a go against LSU. He played 29 snaps. He did draw a holding call. So like he looked, he was on his way toward being disruptive, but then he re-injured his foot And it sounds like he might be out for a while, which is just a bummer for a senior prospect and makes it tricky to think what his stock might look like if this is all we have to go on. Hopefully not. But Billy Napier did not sound very enthused about his his long term injury outlook right now. Well, and it's a foot, right? Like that's what they're. Yeah. Yeah. And like foot injuries for 330 pound human beings are always, you know, worrisome just in terms of how it's going to heal.

59:52Is it something that's going to be a problem, you know, long term? And so that's like you said, it's always tough with injuries. Sometimes it ends up hurting players more than more than others. And that's what the combines for. I mean, Colson Loveland was hurt, you know, a good chunk of last year with multiple injuries. He still went top 10, but we've seen it before where players have fell because of just lingering effects and worries about it. So, yeah, it's unfortunate for Florida and for banks, but something we'll have to watch moving forward. All right. We got two more things to get to. We're going to take a quick look at the 2025 rookie draft class, how they're doing in the NFL.

1:00:32Also going to take a look ahead to week four of the college season. We'll do that right after this break.

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1:01:08week two of the NFL season officially in the books. Dane, I know we wanted, we want to use this space every week to hit on some guys from the most recently drafted class that were impressive. Why don't you start us off with, with one of the guys that caught your eyes in week two in the NFL this week? Got to go with Tedaroa McMillan, first a hundred yard receiving game in the NFL. Very cool that he did it in Arizona. You know, same state where he played his college ball. uh had that really impressive catch and go on that in cut um did you see the one-handed grab that didn't count because it's technically incomplete along the sideline but man like that's the type of thing he can do and the type of thing that gets you excited with him he's i think he took up a lot of heat this spring because of oh he's not fast enough and the routes aren't good enough you don't take this type of athlete in the top 10 all that But it took about one and a half games for, I think, all that to look pretty silly.

1:02:05You know, just watch all of his tape. And what you were drafting him for is the ball skills and the Gumby like adjustment ability. You know, it's is he the fastest receiver in the league? No, but you put the ball in a place where he can go get it. He's going to go get it. And so it's too early to make any definitive statements. but I feel very comfortable saying McMillan is a legit NFL weapon. We do this every year. We'll do it again. We can't help it. The draft process is too long and too involved and too popular to not overthink a lot of things, but the overthinking on Ted Arroa McMillan was really something.

1:02:47And he is currently the only good thing about the Carolina offense. I mean, it's like Chuba Hubbard's had some nice moments. He's a good player, but every time I flip my eyes over to what the Panthers are doing, if it's not a target to T-Mac, it's probably not working. And I mean, yes, his two-game production in an iffy environment. The Panthers look a little too close to the way they looked at the beginning of 2024 for my liking, but T-Mac looks like a star. He already looks great. Yeah. And it's not a not a surprise. Right. I mean, it's I know in hindsight, it's easy to look back, but this is what he was doing in college.

1:03:32And so I think it's as long as you put the ball in a place where you can go get it. That's what exactly what he's going to do. This is a perfect example of what following the draft does to you as a person, Dane. And I wouldn't have it any other way because halfway through their game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Trevor Lawrence. it looked like a misdirect screen because like the screen breaks, right? And Trevor Lawrence flips back and throws it to Basel Tootin who takes it to the house from, I don't, it was like 15 or 16 yards out. I think something like that. But I freaked out like the Bengals were about to win a playoff game.

1:04:11I got so excited to see Basel Tootin showcase his speed on the NFL level. And he looked really good, man. Eight carries, 42 yards against the Bengals, had a touchdown reception he he looks like the guy I liked during the draft process that's for sure yeah and the guy that Virginia Tech is desperately missing uh this season because yeah that four three speed it's evident right the explosiveness every single touch every single time he touches the ball one of the things I didn't like about him on the college tape was there's a little bit too much east west but on Sunday I mean that that east west really helped him some of the cutbacks that he was able to access were awesome.

1:04:52And then, yeah, his presence in the screen game, that wasn't a huge part of what he did last year at Virginia Tech, but it's something that defenses have to prepare for because if you get him in open space with a blocker or two with that type of speed, yeah, I mean, good luck. And it's no surprise why Jacksonville felt comfortable dealing Tank Bigsby last week. They want Tootin to have more of a role, even if it is, even if he's still the backup, he's going to have more of a role in this offense and deservedly so. I was going to say, it doesn't look like it's going to come at the expense of Travis Etienne because it looks like Liam Cohen has a very good vision for how to use him with the start that he's off to.

1:05:32But it's very exciting that Tootin is in this offensive all offenses just because we know what Liam Cohen did for his running backs last year in Tampa. And he's doing it again this year. I mean, the screen game, the ways that he's able to design things that get them out in space it's a good spot to be if your superpower is your home run speed i would say yeah no doubt about it um one or two other players i wanted to mention um teammates playing right next to each other uh in new england will campbell jared wilson left tackle left guard um week one i thought was rough it was your introduction to uh nfl type of moment but week two they got a lot of things cleaned up and against a pretty good miami front seven um so the way they played i think the run blocking was more of a mixed bag but it was it was it was good not great their pass pro i thought was really great they worked really well together um they you didn't see uh i don't think either of them gave up a pressure um they did not look like yeah perfect and so because that's the way it looked like during the game and they they held their own against, again, a pretty good dolphins defense, no pressures, no sacks.

1:06:51I think Wilson had a penalty in the game, but yeah, I would call that a really clean performance against the dolphins don't look very good through two weeks, but there is a lot of talent on that Miami front. That is one thing that you can say about them. So I, I consider that an impressive performance for two rookies playing their second game and they got a big assist from special teams but was the Patriots first 30 point game since 2022 so I call that a plus for two rookies starting together on on the left side of that line no doubt and like Jared Wilson I I comped him his my comp was Rodney Hudson I thought he was stepping from day one and be a capable starter in this league but I thought that at center I because we just we hadn't seen him at guard in college.

1:07:43He started one year. It was all at center. So there was a lot of some questions about, oh, OK, we're going to move him over to guard. I mean, a position that he just doesn't have that proven versatility. Well, I mean, he's he's showing it right now. He does not look lost or he doesn't look like guard is a foreign position for him, which is just it's awesome for him and awesome for the Patriots who now have a little bit of flexibility with how they build this offensive line moving forward. Let's wrap this up with our week four look ahead. We already talked a fair amount about it, but I am really excited, Dane, to watch some Texas Tech Utah football.

1:08:24We already mentioned it. The quarterback we talked about at the top of the show, Baron Morton is in this game. Texas Tech has the 29th rated prospect in your preseason top 50, David Bailey. believe he has two and a half sacks on the year already. Obviously not against the stoutest competition, but that is about to change because the eighth and 15th rated players in your preseason top 50 are Utah right tackle Spencer Fano and left tackle Caleb Lamu. I can't believe one team has potentially the two best tackles in college football. This there's a lot to like about this matchup early on Saturday.

1:09:06Yeah. Yeah. And I, with, you know, Lomu, it was the question with him is, could he, he's very, he's very quick feet. Could he hold up in terms of the physicality of the position? A guy like David Bailey is all about speed. That's how he attacks. And so it'll be really good versus really good on the outside. Who's going to win that corner? How do they mix it up? It's just going to, it's going to feel like a dance going back and forth. So really looking forward to that one um for utah's defense lander barton's a really good linebacker um he was in my top 50 last year didn't have a great 2024 but still a he's a draftable player um he's trying to prove why he belongs in the top 100 he'll have a chance to do that in this game um and then an underrated receiver to watch in this one for texas tech caleb douglas um who had one of the touchdowns uh last week uh from uh catching passes from morton but he's a he's an underrated player that it some scouts like as a late round draftable guy.

1:10:06I'm also excited to watch the other quarterback in this matchup. I mean, Devin Dampier has a very big opportunity transfer out of New Mexico off to a really nice start. Again, not not against anybody great so far, but he plays well in a matchup like this. I think a lot of people will be talking about him on the other side of the weekend. He's got a very exciting skill set as well. Yeah, I'm glad you brought him up because that's I think he's a player we're still learning about, but this is, and again, Texas Tech's defense. Yeah. Not sure exactly what to, or how the expectations should be, you know, against this type of player or against this type of defense.

1:10:44But yeah, he's, he's a name that maybe we should be talking about more. Another matchup number 23 Auburn goes to number 11 Oklahoma. We talked a lot about John Mateer on the show last week, but man, there's, I mean, there is a lot of talent in this game. And I said this to you over the summer, Auburn got very little hype for a team that is as well represented in your preseason top 50 as they are. Obviously you mentioned defensive end Keldrick Falk a minute ago. He's fifth on your preseason ranking. Auburn center. Connor Lou is ranked 21st. Auburn offensive tackle. Xavier Chaplin is ranked 13th.

1:11:29And I think the reason that maybe Auburn didn't get a lot of preseason love is we don't know about their quarterback situation. Well, Jackson Arnold is, he's not lighting the world on fire, but he is playing winning football through the first few weeks of the season. So I'm intrigued to see if, I mean, clearly Auburn has a lot of NFL caliber talent. How do they look going against a team that also has a fair amount of talent in Oklahoma? Yeah. And is this the Jackson Arnold revenge game? I mean, obviously he's played in Norman before. So not like this though. Yeah. It won't be an unfamiliar setting for him, but you know, it's, and they haven't asked him to necessarily win games with his arm.

1:12:14And so he'll probably need to in this one. We know that, you know, the, what they do in the running game is, is a big part of their strategy on offense, but he'll need to put the ball in the air, especially with, you know, Eric Singleton. They have a chance to mention Singleton. He is also a preseason top 50. So for four guys on the Auburn Tigers, like I want to see what these guys are all about. Yeah. Yeah, and this will be a great test for them on the road against a Oklahoma offense or Oklahoma team in general. That's that's playing their best football right now. And, you know, they had a big win at Temple over the weekend.

1:12:51So, you know, what they did two weeks ago against Michigan was great. This will be another big test. And so this will be a fun one. Under the radar game that it's not under the radar for me, given where I'm from. but Tulane at Ole Miss is a spicier matchup than it might get credit for. Obviously we just talked about Ole Miss. It's interesting because Trinidad Chamberlain might get another chance to start, which would be very exciting for me, but also Tulane is, I mean, we're at the point now where you can reasonably expect Tulane to put a guy or two in the NFL every year. I mean, I feel like that's been the case for the last four or five years, at least they're undefeated.

1:13:32They're playing well. Jake, pardon me, lost his name in my notes, but Jake Retzliff is the BYU transfer is off to an incredibly hot start. So I think a lot of people would see this on the schedule and maybe blow past it. But I think this, even if Ole Miss like covers, I'm not even saying it could be an upset, but I think it could be a much more interesting game than it might get credit for for a lot of reasons. yeah and i think they don't have there's not a senior on two lanes roster that would point to and say oh definitely draftable but they definitely have a few guys that have a chance westmoreland um outside backer slash ed rusher um you know he's a guy that a little bit undersized but um he he plays fast he plays explosive he's a guy that i'd be paid paying attention to in this one um i mean old miss should this is a game they should win especially at home but yeah telane especially with uh with these non-power four uh conferences that having that playoff spot that you're competing for um you know the south floridas and the boise states and um you know all these teams like telane's right there in that mix and so all these games the chance to go out and pull an upset against an SEC team on the road, that would carry a ton of weight.

1:14:56So yeah, this will be one that Tulane, they're going to, Ole Miss better get up for it because Tulane definitely will. I know Florida at Miami loses some narrative juice because Florida's one and two on the year, but I don't care about narratives on this show. I care about evaluating prospects and I'm juiced for this mainly because Florida's defense, I mean, Florida's defense is not the reason they are in this situation. They have allowed two touchdowns in three games. They gave Garrett Nussmeyer hell on Saturday night. Obviously LSU forced five interceptions and scored 20 points. And one of those touchdowns was a pick six.

1:15:37So Florida held LSU's offense to 13 points on Saturday night. They are a really quality unit or they have been to this point in the year. I'm excited to see Carson Beck go against these guys. And if he plays as well as he has been through the first few weeks of the season, like if you're a Miami fan, maybe you're annoyed that we haven't said Carson Beck's name until right now. Well, go ball out against the Gators. And I will be talking about you at the top of next week's show. No doubt. We saw him over the weekend against South Florida. He played pretty well. He also had two picks. The first pick was exactly what I worry about with Carson Beck is when you heat up the pocket, when he feels that, he kind of just, he short circuits, and he just, he'll toss interception balls, throws that he shouldn't make, and that happened on that first interception against South Florida, but when you give him time, when you give him a clean pocket, he will pick you apart, and so for Florida, can they get the pressure that they need?

1:16:39This is a game that feels like it'll be one in the trenches, because if, you know, with Miami, Ruben Bang rushing off the edge, Florida's got a decent offensive line of Florida is going to be able to put up points and need to be able to protect them. And Miami comes into this game as a more than a touchdown favorite. And so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. But yeah, I'm glad you brought up Carson back because this he's playing really well through three games. No doubt about it. But now I want to see you do it against, you know, arguably one of the better defenses you're going to face all year, because right now it just doesn't look like that Notre Dame defense is very good.

1:17:12And not that I'm going to take credit away from Carson back from that, the way he played. But at the same time, you know, we're we just don't know much about the competition in week one. In hindsight, maybe Notre Dame's defense isn't very good. So this this game maybe tells us a little bit more about Carson back and where he is in his development. We are allowed to slow play these things if we want to. And Carson, he's got Florida and Florida State back to back coming up. So plenty of opportunity to wow us. I mean, if he plays well in both of those games, then yeah, he's he's going to be the guy that the national networks are highlighting on all of their coverage.

1:17:50I promise you that last one I wanted to mention. Indiana has just I mean, I'm not trying to talk trash, but they just have not played anyone of note to this point in the season. And that changes on Saturday as they play. They play host to number nine, Illinois. I know Illinois has got some some good players on their roster, but mainly as the as the basic man that I am. I mean, I'm intrigued by Fernando Mendoza's first big test of the season going against a good Illini team. Yeah, Mendoza's the competition level hasn't necessarily been challenge worthy, I would say. And so this will be this will change because Illinois has a really good defense.

1:18:35Gabe Ackes, the pass rusher, who we've talked about before, trying to prove himself as a top 50 prospect. I mean, I think he's he's top 100, but he's trying to prove to scouts that, hey, I belong in the top 50, maybe even the first round conversation. And for that Indiana offense, Mendoza. Also, I really like Omar Cooper at receiver. Sarat's a good player, too. But keep an eye on Cooper, who is really good after the catch. He will break tackles. He will make guys miss. I think if Indiana is going to win this game, it's at Indiana. Are they favored in this one? I'm curious. Yeah, by five and a half.

1:19:14Okay. There we go. If they're going to win this game against a really good Illinois defense, it's going to be Mendoza distributing the football to those targets, Sarat and Cooper. And it's going to be something that NFL scouts are watching closely. If you told me Indiana-Illinois was a major matchup that all eyes were on, I would have been like, oh, damn, they got their basketball programs together. That's really cool. But it's a football game, and I love that. What a fun twist. Really looking forward to this weekend. Dane, always love talking to you. We will be back next Wednesday recapping what happened in week four as well as looking ahead to week five.

1:19:52We're doing this all year long. We're hitting on the marquee players, the top of the NFL draft. We're looking for the day three gyms. We're trying to build the beast. Always love doing it with you, man. I'll talk to you all soon.

1:20:33We'll see you next time. you to make smart decisions. After all, you listen to this show. See terms at discover.com slash credit card.