Which college receivers are flying up NFL Draft boards?

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2:26Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card. Welcome to an all-new episode of Building the Beast. I am Dave Hellman. Got another great show for y 'all today. Dane Brugler and I wanted to talk about receivers. Yes, you know Jeremiah Smith. You probably know Charlie Becker. Whole lot more exciting guys in this class to talk about. Plus, some big unfortunate news coming out about Dante Moore this week. We talked about what his NFL future looks like. Plenty of other stuff to get to. Another great episode of the show. Let's jump right into it.

3:05Well, Dane, unfortunately, a little bit of breaking news on this week's Building the Beast. We went into the week thinking we wanted to talk about the situation with Dante Moore and what came out of that, especially in light of Oregon firing their offensive coordinator Drew Meringer after their loss to Illinois. Not a fun update, though. On Tuesday night, right as we were prepping the show, Dan Lanning comes out and acknowledges that Dante Moore is done for the season. I mean, it's been a month since he's played. He had that really nasty concussion in the USC game. We haven't seen him since. And Oregon at 4-3 certainly feels like a lost season from a national championship perspective.

3:50and it doesn't sound like we're going to get to see a whole lot more of Dante Moore, man, which throws an already confusing situation into turmoil. I don't know. I don't know what to do with this. We talked about it recently that it's a weird spot to be with a guy who might have gone at the top of the draft last year getting shut down after basically two real football games. Not surprising news, but right, still a bummer. Yeah, I think you said it well. It's a disaster season for Oregon, especially on offense. Offensive coordinator looked above his head or way in over his head. The offensive line issues, the skill position players were up and down.

4:32And so for Moore, yeah, we get, what, two and a half games for evaluation purposes. I thought he played well against Boise State. Not as well against Oklahoma State, even though I thought he played much better than what the box score says. I'm not going to include Portland State. And then we got a half, not even a half, from USC before the injury happened. So I think, yeah, all the reasons why Dante was going to be most likely a top five pick last year, those reasons are still there, right? And so just a very natural throw of the football. He finds rhythm really well. He can just as easily layer the ball as he can, fire seam balls.

5:10But I know for me, one of my main questions with him was, okay, can he deal with pressure in a more efficient way? especially interior pressure. I think that remains a concern, and he doesn't have the rest of the season to improve in that area. And so I think Dan Lanning, he came out, and he made it a point to emphasize that this wasn't more quitting, that it was out of his hands. And look, if Oregon was still in the playoff picture and circumstances were different, does he come back this season? Maybe. I mean, it's all speculation, but coming back from a serious injury like this, it's hard to blame more for just choosing not to rush back, especially when, you know, you're going to Columbus in two weeks and you have to face that defense.

5:53And, you know, the last thing you want to do is just stack another injury on top of that when even if you're not even 100%. So I think the what's next question is going to be interesting, right? So should he declare? I think I'd be surprised if he went back to school. I mean, yes, I would. But at the same time, this is a guy that surprised a lot of people last year and went back to school. I think that who knows how Moore's perspective has changed through this entire process. On one hand, he saw how football can be ripped away from you on any given play. I get the argument that, hey, go back, build up your draft stock.

6:31But he passed on being a top five pick last year. I don't think his draft projection is necessarily the number one factor in his decision, which obviously will make it interesting. I think it's worth saying, and you touched on this, but if Dante Moore had a gimpy ankle and he could get out there and hobble around and still help Oregon, I think that's a different scenario entirely than a concussion, an injury to your brain that A, is drastically dangerous more so than running around on a bad ankle. and B could affect the way that you play a position as cerebral as quarterback. So I don't, yeah, like you don't gut through a concussion.

7:17That's ridiculous. And so I think that's worth saying. And I would never question Dante Moore being smart about this, especially when this season has gotten so far away from what Oregon hoped it might be. I think this is going to be a cautionary tale, right? where more situation is going to come up a lot with underclassmen, especially these quarterbacks, as they work through the decision-making. Go pro? Do I look at the NIL money if I go back to school? I mean, we've seen in the past, like Andrew Luck, Josh Allen, two examples of players that passed up being a high-high pick go back to school.

7:58This is before NIL, obviously. And they were still high-high picks and had good careers. But every situation is different. You know, I think that it's just this situation specifically is a reminder of the risks of when you do go back to school. And look, let's just assume for a minute that Moore is going to declare. I'm just thinking about this last night laying in bed like this 2027 quarterback class. it's setting up to be one of the most polarizing we've seen in terms of first-round potential prospects with a wide variety of different red flags and just unique factors. Let's work through it briefly.

8:41We've got Dante Moore has one full season in his college career. I mean, he's played in 33 career games, but last year is really the only year that he started and finished in his college career, and now he's ending it on a down note after an injury. And not just an injury, but like you said, a brain injury. A very serious injury. Right, exactly. Arch is the most polarizing prospect. We don't need to get into him. Trinidad is 5 '11 and 25 years old. No precedent for a first-round pick like that. We're going to be having some slobber-knocker fights about this in the spring. Drew Mestemaker is the unicorn of all unicorns.

9:24I didn't even mention Mestemaker. Prototypical size, arm strength, competitive toughness. He started two years since middle school. And then let's not forget Brennan Sorsby, who the ultimate wild card because he flashes potential starter. If all things, if he was on the field, good chance he's a first round pick. But Dante Moore, it's like it's Dante Moore's played two games since the college football playoff last year. and that's so bad. Brennan Sorsby's like, hold my beer. You haven't seen me since then at all. All these quarterbacks we just mentioned have come up in first-round conversations with scouts.

10:00And I mean, it's just, it's such an eclectic group of unique factors that talk about the polarization of opinions from not just teams, but fan bases. When, if all these guys are part of the same quarterback class, it's going to be really interesting. I don't want to second guess Dante more too much. And we talked about it a lot last year, but it's hard not to think about the fact that, I mean, the jets are not a good NFL team, but they are certainly not the trash heap that they were billed to be like Omar Cooper, Jr. And Mason Taylor looked great the other day in a, in the loss to Miami. And I don't know, there's there's something to be said for striking while the iron's hot.

10:42Fortunately, I guess the one thing that makes me feel better is just in this era and in this NIL era, you're not leaving all the money on the table by forsaking the NFL. So I don't think this is going to bite Dante more nearly as badly as it would have in a previous version of college football. But what you do with him, man, that's it's fascinating because if if if the scouts are believed, he could have gone to overall last year. And now, I mean, I don't know. I think I'd still like his chances to be a first round pick, but just talk about stepping out on a limb after everything that's happened since.

11:19All right, let's keep it pushing. This was going to be the top of our show before the Dante Moore news. Banger of a game. Speaking of two of the big quarterback prospects in this class, we wanted to spend a little bit of a little bit of time talking about the Ole Miss Texas game. And we can touch on Arch, but I really do mean what I said, that we don't have to do this every single week. And fortunately, man, a lot of other storylines coming out of Texas' win against Ole Miss where you don't even have to dial in on Arch Manning. Where do you want to start? Because I think there's a few big storylines we need to hit coming out of that game when we're talking about prospects.

11:58Let's just get the quarterbacks out of the way first. I think both were Arch Manning and Trinidad Chambliss, both inconsistent. You know, Arch, he showed some good things in the first half, you know, things that we expected to see in August. He used his legs more, which is good to see. But, you know, you at the same time, the consistency in the second half wasn't there. The two interceptions, first one, he was just late on that out route. The second one was an arm punt on first down, like still making some decisions he shouldn't be making. And then with Chambliss, this was it was it was a streaky game for him.

12:33I think credit to the Texas defense going back and watching that tape. They took away a lot of what he wanted to do. And look, sometimes that happens. And the thing that you can't have is three interceptions. Now, I mean, obviously the last one was that, you know, Hail Mary at the end. But it was just uncharacteristic for Chambliss, who usually takes care of the football. This was his first multi-interception game since the 2024 season opener. That was when he was at Ferris State. So I think with Chambliss, you have Auburn, Georgia, and Oklahoma coming up the next three weeks. Scouts are very eager to see, okay, tough one in this game.

13:09How do you rebound and come back from it? The fourth and two interception Chambliss threw at the end of the half was really very weird. Like he pumped toward the fade. Like he thought about going for the fade, and then he came back to the guy coming over the middle. And it was well defended. and he was late as hell and just threw it anyway. And it was very uncharacteristic. Like, I don't think about, I don't think of him as being careless like that. And it is fourth and down, fourth and down. It is fourth down. The ball's got to go somewhere. I understand that, but just such a late, stubborn throw where I was like, I don't know, man.

13:54Yeah. And look, this is, does not, like I said, uncharacteristic. It doesn't happen a lot when you watch Chambliss on film. And this was by far his most inconsistent game of the year. And I think a lot of credit should go to Muschamp and that Texas defense, even without Colin Simmons, their best player. But those three games opponents that I mentioned the next three weeks, plenty of opportunity to kind of get the bad taste out of your mouth and get back on track against three defenses that have some guys that can make it for a pretty good battle. And Arch's game just solidified for me that we were dead on last week.

14:32I mean, the post to Wingo. Yeah. It's as good as it gets, man. Like the talent is there. And then just as you're saying, like, yes, there it is. There's that's the NFL throw. That's what we're talking about. Then the second half kicks off and all hell breaks loose. And it's. Well, I do wonder how much of that was not having your left tackle. And, you know, which is the other big storyline we need to mention coming out of this game. It was such a bummer for Trevor Goosby, who honestly wasn't having a great year to begin with. And he really needed the second half of this season to get back on track.

15:08Talking to scouts, there were probably more second-round grades on him than first-round grades. I know I think a lot of people, when the injury happened, oh, a top-ten pick goes down. If the drafts were held last week, I don't think he's a slam-dunk first-round pick, just based on how he's played this year. So now you have, it sounds like a major knee injury. I think this is going to be his fourth or fifth surgery since his junior year of high school for different things. But you just hate it for the player because this is kind of a worst case scenario for him, puts his draft projection in limbo.

15:42He's a fourth year junior, can go back for another year if he wants it. So just a lot up in the air for him. But I think in the second half, you know we saw that uh backside um sack of manning he just didn't feel it coming and since after that play happened it looked like they went to a lot more quick game they relied on the run game more um it just looked like the offense just flipped the switch into okay we were doing this now we're gonna do this because our left tackle's out so they were they absolutely looked like they were in let's get the hell out of here with a win mode after that happened right and they were able to do it it was close but they were able to do it um and i think similar to gooseby cam coleman you know they're they're a super talented receiver for the long horns he left this game with a shoulder injury it doesn't appear to be as major of an injury but kind of like gooseby he was trending in the wrong direction based off of pre-season expectations he continues to be a prospect that just leaves you wanting more and you see the talent clearly a talented guy but there's a level of physicality that's missing he doesn't do enough to sell routes and keep coverage off balance half of Arches interceptions this year feel like they were when he was the target and you know he wasn't able to make a play so I mean coming into the season And Cam Coleman was one of the top receivers in the draft class, arguably the top guy behind Jeremiah Smith.

17:13But he hasn't even been the top receiver on his own team so far this year. So it's an interesting discussion with Cam Coleman. I felt a little bad writing it in my notes on a night where he did get hurt. But up until that point, and he got hurt trying to make a contested catch going to the ground that he couldn't hold on to. and I wrote down earlier in the game just when is Cam Coleman going to look like the guy that a I remember from Auburn and B I was told we were going to see on a weekend and week out basis because last year it was like this guy is the man he is stuck in a hopeless situation and he's going to go nuclear when he gets to a team with a quarterback and I don't think anybody put him on Jeremiah Smith's level, but he was the first name that you said after Jeremiah Smith heading into the year.

18:05And every week it's just been underwhelming. I mean, he dropped a wide open touchdown in this game. The goofy Ohio state play comes to mind just every single week. You can come up with, like you said, a moment where he has left you wanting. And I think it's interesting too on a on a team whatever you think of arch like he's a functional college quarterback on a team with a functional quarterback his high for the season is five catches like he's just he's not consistently coming away with the football or putting up numbers no when it's happening at auburn it was like okay well the quarterback situation's a mess and auburn the offense is a mess and like oh well just wait till he gets to this texas offense and it's still kind of the same thing compare that to jeremiah smith i know that's not exactly fair but compared to charlie becker because i think coming into the year okay yeah exactly jeremiah smith's on his own tier and then for me like jeremiah smith was one in my uh preseason top 50 cam coleman was five and then charlie becker was nine so i thought those two guys are in that second tier kind of duking it out to be wide receiver two and so far i mean becker just you know clearly the better of the two receivers based on the first half of this season.

19:23And I think with Coleman, and we'll get into it in a little bit with these receivers, but Coleman's more in that next tier where it's like, okay, where does he stack with, there's a lot of names in here. Where does he stack with this group? Throw in the fact that Colin Simmons is missing for a couple more weeks with that ankle injury. And I think I'm getting to the bottom of why Texas's season has felt a little bit disappointing. Just, you know, between between blue chip players getting hurt and blue chip players not quite looking the way we wanted them to. It makes a lot of sense. With that said, credit to Relique Brown.

19:57He's the last guy I wanted to mention from this game who just had an outstanding half running back for for Texas. He was like the long reliever in baseball who comes out of the pen in a tie game in the fifth inning and he gives you three dominant innings. Like when Texas needed him to step up, Hollywood Smothers, he's out. He's injured in this game. When Texas needed him in the second half to step up, he absolutely did. And going back and watching the tape, I couldn't help but get Bucky Irving vibes when you see the quickness, the balance, the toughness. He's a type of guy that can – sometimes he'll get himself in trouble because he wants to go so fast.

20:32But when he stays patient, which is what we saw against Ole Miss in the second half, that short area burst, his vision, his feel, he can pick apart the defense. I just love a little ball of hate God help me and he was delivering some punishment in this game and he's listed at 5 '9 that probably means he's a little bit smaller than that and he was just bowling over guys I've got I've got 5 '076 so 5 '7 and 3 quarters 193 ask him if he gives a shit I mean ask some of those Ole Miss linebackers how much it matters. Because, yeah, he had a really impressive second half with some of those chunk runs and the ability to transition out of his cuts.

21:19I was really impressed. Really impressed. I've loved him since he was at Arizona State. So cool to see him have a big moment on a big stage. The one-upper. This is what I get for getting into a battle. You didn't see him at modern day? Trivia. What do you mean? Come on. he might have been at modern day when i was living in california i don't know probably he he was the type of guy that was getting um offers in eighth grade like he was a lead kind of like a legend when it comes to youth football growing up there and um yeah he he went to utah for a minute and was on the same high school team as uh uh puka nakua like he's been around for a minute but yeah he's a good player real quick before we talk receivers and this is a pretty self-serving question, I'll admit.

22:10But Gooseby kind of having a disappointing season. Unfortunately, now it's over. Is that, I mean, is OT1 Jordan Seaton's place to lose? Is there, I mean, we've talked about Jacarius Peak a few times. Like, is there anybody else in that race right now besides Jordan Seaton? Seaton, I think, is clearly the most talented of these tackles. It's just scouts have to be convinced that, hey, he's got what it takes to reach his full potential, right? I think the talent's great, but can you be more consistent? Do you have that dog in you to, you know, face off with NFL defensive linemen on a snap-to-snap basis?

22:54And so I think we'll get the answer to that hopefully by the end of the year. But I do think this is a decent tackle class between after Seaton. Some of these seniors I do like. Lance Hurd at Kentucky, we've talked about. Zaraway Williams, the left tackle at Utah, has been one of my favorites since I got eyes on him in September. I like Elijah Page at USC. I think there's a lot of interesting tackles in this group, but I think Seaton has to be the favorite at this point to be the first tackle drafted just because he's the most talented of the group. I was going to say, we can have all those conversations as we get more into the draft cycle.

23:32But just from a pure talent standpoint, that kind of seems to be the consensus right now. No question. And LSU has plenty of tough matchups coming up down the pike that we'll see against Yonsei Pierre in two weeks and Alabama and a few of these other teams. And so, yeah, I think the Seton evaluation is ongoing, but fair to call him the favorite for OT1. I was just curious because Gooseby and Seton are like the two big names at the top of that position. So I think it's worth having some other names in mind. So I appreciate that. And now, after a quick break, we're going to talk about some wide receivers.

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28:19All right, Dane, this segment's pretty straightforward. We just wanted to take a chance to go down the list of some receivers. We feel good about try to tear this thing out. I think our producer Katie was probably hoping we were going to break this into like six or seven tiers. I don't know if we have to do that because the point is this thing really feels like a jumble after the first two names. And so let's just, as we have already done, set Jeremiah Smith and Charlie Becker to the side. We have invited them to our building the beast green room. We are confident they are going to be first round picks.

28:57We don't really need to talk about them in this segment. It's not a knock on them. They're that good. but sorting out the rest of these guys is a useful thought exercise as we move into the second half of the season and I'm curious where you want to go here because we talked about cam coleman at the top of the show I think he's the name that gets talked about the most just when you hear people talk about draft prospects I don't think he's played that way and so I'm curious to see or or here where you would start this thing off if you were going down the list after those big two. So if we're going to bucket these next receivers into one tier behind Jeremiah Smith, Charlie Becker, for me, I think I have a clear guy who's at the top of that stack.

29:46But I'm interested to hear from you if you have a guy that you love the most out of that group. I spent my morning digging through as much of these guys as I could in addition to just what I've seen this year. And I brought him up in like September and I haven't thought about him since. But going through all of this today, I really love Reed Harris at Arizona State, man. I love this guy. And you know what? I was watching him back. I rewatched the A &M game. I watched some Texas Tech tape. I tried to watch like three or four, you know, tapes of him playing this year. I love that Denzel Boston is balling in the NFL this year because I just like I don't want to hear my notes.

30:36I don't want to hear any of the bullshit. And no, we didn't. We did not share notes before this show. So I'm happy to hear this. But like I was I'm just watching Reed Harris and I'm like, OK, very Denzel Boston esque. And I don't want to hear any bullshit about how he's not fast enough or doesn't separate because, A, I don't believe it. And B, we're watching a very similar player kick ass in Cleveland right now. So that's that's where I want to start this conversation. Harris is a dude. I mean, he grew up in Montana, high school quarterback, also a basketball standout. He won a state championship in the 200 meters in track.

31:15so I don't think we're gonna have the same type of speed questions as we did with Denzel Boston um but I mean some schools were looking at him as a linebacker coming out of high school Boston College I think was the only school that recruited him as a receiver so he goes to Boston College was there for three years transfers to Arizona State this past year he's been their go-to weapon this year I mean some of their plays are just okay you know Reed Harris is down there somewhere and he'll make a play. Big bodied athlete. He's legit 6 '4", 220. He can win in traffic. He has the speed to win vertically.

31:49He can stack and he can track the ball over his shoulder. He can, you know, whether it's a back shoulder, he can adjust. The athletic ball skills are there. Denzel Boston is exactly the name I wrote down. And maybe that's just recency bias because we just studied him last year. He's been, you know, performing at a high level as a rookie. but you see a lot of the parallels with the size, the ability to frame the football. There's just a toughness to him with the way he plays. So for me, I think Nick Marsh is pretty comfortably my wide receiver three from Indiana. But after that, I think Reed Harris is up next in the hopper as kind of my next guy.

32:27So I'm glad you started with him. Maybe the missed touchdown against Ohio State is just looming too large in my mind. I mean, Nick Marsh has been has been really good this year, but maybe that that gaffe between him and Josh Hoover just influenced me. But I don't know. Harris's footwork and his body control are outstanding. And as you would expect of a guy who's six, four to 20, he's just so physical. But he yeah, he moves like a smaller player like he is fluid and athletic. And I just I think he's awesome. And I came into the season with an eye on Omarion Miller, his teammate at Arizona State.

33:05We can talk about him if you want to, but it's the Reed Harris show out there so far this year. Yeah, and Miller's been fine. I mean, he's been a good player. I like his efficiency to go from pass catcher to runner, I think, is awesome. He's a really athletic player. I can't remember which tape it was, but he had kind of like a slant and go that he just sold beautifully, a wide-open touchdown. So, yeah, Omarion Miller has been awesome. The next guy I want to talk about is kind of in the same bucket in terms of size, physicality. That's K.J. Duff at Rutgers, who he's even bigger. He's probably 6 '5 and change, 225, maybe close to 230.

33:48Not as fast as Harris. I think that there will be those speed questions with KJ Duff the same way that we had it with Denzel Boston. But I don't think he's slow. And I think that the ability to big brother corners down the field is what separates him. The contested catches, the catch radius is awesome. Nobody in college football has more contested catches the last two years than Duff. And you watch him play man up against a defender, and it just doesn't look like a 50-50 ball. I was watching Duff this morning and the first game I turned on, I think was Indiana and like half a dozen plays in, nothing's really happening.

34:29And I was like, why do I keep hearing people talk about this guy? Like, what am I, what am I waiting for? What's going to happen here? And I don't know, like two snaps later, he brought in a go ball over double coverage and just sunned both of the DBs. And it was just this like incredible catch. And I like pulled my glasses down, staring at the screen. and it's like, okay, all right, I get it. And sure enough, when you watch enough of him, he does that like two or three times a game. I mean, he's running a lot of cardio because of Rutgers' quarterback situation. It's so bad. So bad. Oh, my gosh.

35:05There are a few, like, you know, they'll throw him a fade and, you know, the ball hits a cheerleader or a reporter or something. And I'm like, ah, that's KJ Duff's probably not having a ton of fun. But two or three times a game, it looks really sick. Yeah. And he's a guy that, I mean, I think Texas A &M offered him out of high school. But this is a Long Island kid who wanted to stay close. He had a lot of options after last year, this past offseason, to go cash in. And Rutgers stepped up NIL-wise. But he also, I mean, he cares about the legacy part of it. He wanted to stay put. And so, you know, I think even though the offense around him is very suspect, he's still finding ways to produce just out of curiosity so we've mentioned nick marsh reed harris kj duff do you in your mind like do you have like ideas of grade range on this like are you at the point where you're willing to think of these guys in terms of rounds like are these top 50 guys are these potential first round guys what do you think i think everybody we've mentioned so far are top 50 guys for me.

36:15I think that Marsh absolutely has a chance to be a top 25 pick. And then the two, Reed Harris, I think if he went into the first round, I don't think that'd be a shock at all. And KJ Duff, I think, belongs in a top 50 mix. I think it's, you know, the jumbled nature of this tier, there's a lot of different types of receivers, right? So like, if you're looking for more speed, then maybe you're not looking at, those three guys who are bigger. Maybe they're power slots for you. Maybe they're guys that are just going to win on the outside as an X. But if you're looking for more speed, then you're looking elsewhere, right?

36:53And so, you know, where does a guy like Deuce Alexander from Ole Miss fit in this conversation? Where does Ryan Wingo from Texas fit in this conversation? Ryan Coleman Williams from Alabama. So it's the nature of the receiver position and there being so many different types of guys, I think that factors into why this is such a jumbled mix. So you just mentioned the three guys that we were probably going to go to next. I'm just, I'll step out on the limb. I usually like to let you go first, but of those, I really like Deuce Alexander. Yeah. And that's coming off of a game where he had a really tough drop against Texas.

37:33Like that, it was kind of shocking to see, you know, they got him on like a deep post and it just went right through his arms. And it was shocking to see him not come down with that ball. He's been very consistent for Ole Miss this year, and he's an electric football player, dude. Yeah. I mean, his dad, by the way, was at the Combine in 2001 coming out of Morris Brown College, which isn't even a thing anymore. But he's been a long – and he had like three years in the NFL. But ever since he moved on from his playing career, he became a trainer, a football trainer in the Atlanta area. He's literally known as the route king.

38:17So Deuce Alexander grew up with the route king and has legit speed and grew up really specializing at receiver and, you know, learning the ins and outs of the position. And I think that he's also a late bloomer physically. uh deuce alexander just he's always been a leaner athlete um but i i think that now he's in a spot where if he turns out to be okay let's just say that deuce alexander in the nfl is an 80 version of jameson williams like where where do you draft that uh in the first round because i mean i i loved jameson williams that year yeah like i think he if my memory's fuzzy but i think he was like my number one receiver in that class and it did it took him some time to get going he obviously had the issue with the suspension but you just speed like that only comes around every once in a while and I was literally going back this morning week one feels like a lifetime ago at this point but like what he did to Louisville in that season opener for Ole Miss was just disgusting and the routes are good the speed is special yeah i'm and maybe not as highly as jameson williams because didn't jamo go like jamo went like top 15 didn't he yeah but i mean that's why i'm saying he's in if he's 80 of jameson williams like i think that's still a really good player that you're he's gonna obviously help your offense go jamo went 12th if he's 80 of jameson williams So I'll take him anywhere starting around like pick 18 probably.

39:56So, yeah, I'm bought in on Deuce Alexander. Ryan Wingo, I see the vision, but I just want it more consistently, I think. I mean, the drops have always been an issue for him. That was kind of in the summer. That was the one thing keeping him out of my top 50. He was one of the last five guys that didn't make it. and the drops really bothered me. And they're still there this year, but I think you see more of the playmaking potential with him. He's a good-sized athlete. You can get him involved in different ways. I think that there's a lot of potential there for him to be a playmaker. And so I like him.

40:38I still like him quite a bit, kind of on that day-two range. Ryan Coleman-Williams, he's so tough because this year was a big year, obviously, for him. Still struggled with the drops a little bit, and now he's been out with the knee. I know Alabama's hoping to get him back for the LSU game here in two weeks, which would be awesome, just not only for Alabama, just for evaluation purposes. He would be back for the LSU game. That's how that works. Doesn't matter what's going on with somebody. They'll be ready for LSU. Yeah, that's a good way to look at it. speaking of I've been, I've been sitting on this for weeks because I refuse to let my personal allegiances blind my evaluations, but we got to talk about Jackson Harris, bud.

41:28How about it? My God. I look, I mean, I went to LSU. I follow the program closely. Jackson Harris was not on my radar and I'm sorry if I didn't stay up until 2 a.m. watching Hawaii football every week, but he had a nice season for Hawaii. And then he was a non-factor for LSU through the first three weeks of the season. And then starting at the A &M game, he's just been a menace for a month and a half. I mean, he's got seven touchdowns in four conference games. He absolutely destroyed Auburn. He's been good every week. And like he does it all. He's a deep threat. He's incredibly fast. His his body like his his like throttle control, the way he can go from 100 to zero.

42:18Everything he does just looks so impressive. He's got contested catch ability. He's a good route runner. I just I don't understand where he was through the first like three weeks of the season. If he is apparently LSU's best receiver. Yeah, just your typical Stanford to Hawaii to Baton Rouge. Talk about culture shock. Right. Right. But I think that to your point, Kiffin brought in so many high profile transfers. Good on Harris for because, yeah, I'm with you. I never heard his name once mentioned as like, oh, look who they're bringing in. Good on Harris for forcing everyone to learn his name. And, you know, he's been a really big playmaker.

43:00To your point, I really like how he's impacting the game in different ways. I mean, his two touchdowns against Auburn, perfect example. the one being just that uh just some type of over route catch and run heck of a pass uh by our our quietly well we don't have to talk we don't have to talk about him today and i'm not trying to put him in the top 50 or anything but sam levitt's been playing pretty decent ball for the last few weeks some of those passes against auburn i was okay hats off that was and you know they paid him off because the the one touchdown was that catch and run that he caught in stride and then just outpaced everybody to the end zone and then the other one was at the goal line where he had a db draped all over him and levitt put it in a spot where he could go get it and play through contact finish to the ground for the touchdown so yeah i like with jackson harris that we're seeing him do it in different ways use his physicality use that speed so i think that that's a great shout he is making himself a part of the draft conversation when we talk about these receivers.

44:05Not to shit talk Sam Levitt, because he has played pretty well recently, but I love the fact that Jackson Harris, he'll catch it no matter where it is. If you lead him, he'll get it out in front of him. He can high point the ball. He can go down to his knee pads to get it. He'll catch it behind him. He is great at extending his arms and finding the football no matter where it is, which sometimes depending on the quarterback that is a very valuable skill set two more sec guys that i wanted to talk about um mario craver from texas a &m i was talking to a an assistant coach for an sec team not that long ago and he told me that craver was the one receiver that they have faced this year that legitimately scared them um smaller guy but man he can fly and so So I think just the inconsistency of that A &M offense, we haven't really seen him get loose yet this year, but he's just got a lot of talent because of that speed.

45:02And then the other guy, Mike Matthews at Tennessee. It's not hard to see why this guy was a five-star recruit coming out. Twitchy athlete, had 6 '1", 200 pounds. He had several plays this past weekend against South Carolina where it's easy to see why he would be a favorite for scouts when it comes to draft time. it won't show up in the box score because it was called back due to an ineligible lineman downfield. But against the Gamecocks, he had that deep catch down the field where the defender had his arm pinned. So he caught it with one hand, no problem, tracked it over his shoulder, caught it with one hand, scored again, didn't count, but you know, he, he was able to make plays in different ways.

45:44Cause in the fourth quarter he had, he started in the backfield and then he leaked out, caught the ball like four yards behind the line of scrimmage, and then he made like four defenders miss to somehow get the first down. So the talent, the toughness, I think both those things show through on the tape. And so it's not hard to see why this guy would be a favorite come draft time. He was the one guy I wasn't able to get eyes on before we did this segment. And what like in general, what like what's what's your snapshot of him just overall? I think it's just it's just that what I said, talent and toughness like he's good size, good speed, you know, good body control, catches the ball well, he'll block.

46:32But I think the toughness really, really stands out as something that is, you know, a strength of his. And so to see that come out, and I know Tennessee's offense, they've got inexperience at the quarterback position, so we only see it so much. But again, I think watch the South Carolina game. I think Matthews is a guy that consistently flashed in a good way. Craver, there's no denying the talent. Watching A &M back the quarterback play just makes it hard to get excited about much of anything so far this year. Yep, and I think that's fair. But one other guy I did want to mention too, there are three receivers in college football with over 50 catches and double-digit touchdowns this year.

47:19Jeremiah Smith, Malachi Tony, and then the third is Colin Dixon at Illinois, who has been nails for them this season. Average size speed, but really good at the catch point. Finishing through contact, he can turn inaccurate throws into completions. He's one of those guys. I don't think he's going to get maybe in that tier, but he's been, this is, I think, an underwhelming senior class of receivers, but he's one of these guys that has really forced scouts to take notice and is on the rise. So every year it seems like you typically have somewhere between one and four guys that you're arguing about at the top of the draft.

47:59We've already mentioned Jeremiah Smith and Becker. And then you have this glut of dudes that you're starting to get excited about in the back half of the first round to say, I don't know, pick 75, pick 90. These names that we've mentioned here are not everybody, of course, and there's guys still have plenty of time to make an impression. But I just feel like we're going to be saying a lot of these names in that range when that inevitable receiver run starts to come together. No doubt. And there's a few names that maybe we didn't hit on that could get there by the time draft weekend comes. But it's looking like another strong group of receivers, obviously headlined by Jeremiah and Charlie Becker.

48:42But I think even if you're looking for a receiver at pick 34, I think there's going to be someone there that interests you, depending on the type of receiver you're looking for. Same thing if you're picking late in the second round, there will be someone there that I think has talent that fits what you might need. So as long as we live, receiver is going to be a strength for every draft. I was going to say, shocker of shockers, another 8 to 12 good receivers coming into the league. Need I remind you, Boston's doing well. Casey Concepcion looks awesome. Jeremy Bernard is doing some things. Cooper, coming back for the Jets, had a nice game of the weekend.

49:22We hype it up for a reason, because every year you're going to find six more of these guys who are ready to contribute. So I think that's a good jumping off point. Other names you should know as we dive deeper into this receiver class. We're going to take one more quick break, and we're going to then take a quick look at the upcoming weekend in college football right after this.

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51:28all right day not a huge preview heading into this weekend but there's there are a few things we wanted to hit on just briefly for this weekend's games and we were just talking about Tennessee I think we got to start that conversation with the quarterback that just beat Tennessee really wild game between South Carolina and Tennessee and after a slow start to the season And Lenora Sellers inching his way back into my heart by just continuing to show all of that potential. Definitely not a clean game for Lenora Sellers against Tennessee, but if you want an example of why people are excited about him, he gave you another one against the Volunteers.

52:12Well, and good for Lenora Sellers because he was a big reason why the Gamecocks have ripped off these back-to-back wins against Florida and Tennessee. And now they go to face one of the toughest defenses in the country in Oklahoma. So another big test for him. But yeah, I think the Florida tape a couple weeks ago was Sellers' best of the year. It's where he looked the best throwing the football. Four touchdown passes, a couple of legit NFL big-time throws, no turnovers. It wasn't quite as, to use your word, clean against Tennessee. He had that bad interception. And there were a few mistakes that really allowed Tennessee to have the lead for most of, like, really almost all the second half.

52:56But his legs were a major part of this game and ultimately the difference for South Carolina. And I just love that in the final two minutes, it was the freaks that changed everything for South Carolina. Lenora Sellers had that unbelievable four-year touchdown run. And then Dylan Stewart with Tennessee trying to move down the field to get him in field goal range. Dylan Stewart with the strip sack and, you know, with under a minute left, they get the ball. He gets the ball back for the offense. It's like, OK, in crunch time when his team needed him the most, the two freaks did their best for the Gamecocks.

53:32He was so disappointing early in the year. We talked in depth about the Mississippi State game and how bad that looked. SC got completely overwhelmed by Alabama. since then, even with the loss to Kentucky in overtime, he's completing just under 60%, 238 passing yards a game. He has 10 total touchdowns to one interception. He has picked up his level of play. Having said that, terrifying, terrifying from the idea of like deciding where to draft him and how highly you want to do it. Because like the interceptions, one thing, it's a muddy pocket and he had a guy in his face. The thing that scared the shit out of me.

54:17And he did, he had some really nice throws in this game. He had a go ball that got swatted away, but it was like really well placed. And he had a really nice in breaker where he led his man and got some good yak because of how well he placed the ball. But his miss on the slant, like it was a touchdown slant on the goal line that will, you will never have a more open opportunity at this level of football. and there was like pressure coming off the backside of the play, but not nearly enough to, for it to be this egregious of a miss. And the, the end zone camera angle had like fans in the shot and you could see all of their disgust because it was that bad of a throw.

55:01And so to have a throw like that in the same game where you have these two ridiculous rushing touchdowns, and it's just so obvious that he's like a one of one athlete, but the consistency in some of the decision-making, I mean, it has to scare you. His inability to find and play with consistent rhythm as a passer scares me. Like, it's very inconsistent, and that's just— it's hard to see that get better when everything's just so much faster in the NFL. So that still worries me, but, I mean, good on him for how he's played, especially recently, and we'll see how he finishes. South Carolina is at Oklahoma, so really good test for him.

55:49We'll see how he keeps it pushing. Florida, Georgia, cocktail party down in Jacksonville. At Atlanta this year. Wait, really? Something like a stadium situation, I think. Oh, they're doing the renovations in Jacksonville. I think that's right. They're renovating the stadium. Oh, that kind of, that breaks my heart a little bit. That's, you know, that's a tradition unlike any other. I apologize. The cocktail party temporarily in Atlanta this year. Jaden Baugh and Chris Cole, worth the price of admission alone, I would say. Oh my gosh, absolutely. I mean, and Baugh, he got off to such a hot start with, he was what, over 130 yards rushing in the first four games.

56:28And then the last three, it's been, I think it was, okay, it's Missouri, South Carolina, out of Texas, and I have it pulled up here. Okay, yeah, 1.1, 3.9, 3.6. That was his rushing average the last three games. Obviously, a large part of that is just the lack of balance from the Florida offense and the blocking not helping him open holes, but it's not going to get any easier against Georgia in that front seven, especially with Chris Cole just roaming sideline to sideline. So yeah, I think hopefully they can get enough from the passing game to open up some chances for ball in the run game but it's i wouldn't be surprised if this is another tough one for uh for the running game last one we wanted to mention a lot of intrigue for ohio state going to usc because they'll have a new quarterback all eyes on jeremiah smith as usual but not only did i want you to hit on some usc prospects other than jaden maiava that we maybe haven't talked about But all of a sudden, once again, USC's season kind of feels like it's on the brink.

57:32So big spot for Lincoln Riley in addition to player evaluations. Like this feels, I don't know, this feels like a big one for the Lincoln Riley era at USC. No, coming off a bad loss at Wisconsin. I mean, from Ohio State's perspective, whenever a team loses one of its best players, I'm always interested to see, OK, who steps up, who fills the void? Like Oregon, they didn't have that when Daunte Moore went out. So for Ohio State, and not necessarily just the quarterback, but can Austin Sereveld, who's coming back from injury, and the Ohio State offensive line, can they go up another level? Jeremiah Smith, he has one of the – his average depth of target this year is over 15 yards.

58:14He is someone that is winning down the field, but with a backup quarterback, do we see him more involved in the screen game, in quick game, in slants? It'll just be interesting to see who can step up with Sayan out. And then, yeah, I'm interested to see with USC reeling. It's a puzzling team because when I scout their games, there's clear talent there. Like, I'll bet you USC will have five or six draft picks in April. And that's not to mention future drafts. Jaday Abbasiri, number 97, a defensive tackle. Freaky talent. I bet you he'll be a day two pick if he declares. But collectively as a unit, that defense has just been terrible.

58:51So just interested to see how this one plays out. Don't ask us about our Halloween plans. We just told you we'll be we'll be watching the tape. OK, that's what we do over here at Building the Beast. Hope it's a good weekend for you, Dane. Appreciate y 'all listening. We'll be back on the other side of it, breaking down everything that comes out of it. Looking forward to it. Until then, we'll talk to you next time. We appreciate it. Thanks for tuning in. Make sure to hit that subscribe or follow button so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed what you heard, please like comment and leave a rating.

59:19We'll see you next time.

59:37We'll be right back.

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