This section breaks down many college football games each week and highlights how 2015 NFL Draft Prospects have performed. Or look at the 2015 NFL Draft Stock page (link coming soon).
By Charlie Campbell.
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Georgia 35, Tennessee 32
Johnson made a clutch stop on an early third down, pushing Gurley out of bounds just short of a first down on a swing pass. Gurley came back to make an impressive 16-yard run including stiff-arming a tackler into the turf. Gurley later set up a touchdown drive and dived over the scrum for a score.
Gurley was kept under wraps in the third quarter, but that can only be temporary with his sort of talent. He later exploded down the middle of the field and ran away from defenders for a 51-yard touchdown scamper. He broke one tackle from a safety and was gone. Shortly later, Gurley cut a run to the outside and hurdled a safety to get an extra 10 yards.
Gurley totaled 208 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns against Tennessee. Once again, Gurley gave NFL talent evaluators a tape showing that he is a stud. With his unique blend of power and speed, Gurley looks like he can be an immediate difference-maker in the NFL. This is further evidence of Gurley being a top-16 pick next May.
Johnson had a neutral showing. He had some good tackles in the flat and was around the ball, but he did have a few missed tackles and took some false steps at times. This tape shouldn�t have a big impact for him, and he looks like a second-day pick.
Colorado State 24, Boston College 21
It was clear that Grayson has a skill set against Boston College. He showed off a powerful arm and was spinning the ball beautifully with velocity to the deep part of the field.
Grayson began with a deep overthrow, and it fell into the safety for an interception. He had another interception throwing the ball up for grabs to a receiver in triple coverage in the end zone and a defender came down with the ball. Grayson came back to throw a touchdown on a check down, and his back streaked into the end zone.
Grayson started to get in a rhythm in the third quarter. He made a great, accurate throw right as he was about to get hit and couldn�t step into the pass. Grayson did his part to lead an 80-yard drive and tie the game at 14.
While taking some big hits, Grayson was making some accurate throws and moving the ball. Late in the fourth quarter, Grayson was at the Boston College 13-yard line in a fourth-and-11 down by four points. He rolled out and found a wide open receiver in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
Overall, this was a good tape for Grayson. He showed a powerful arm, advanced field vision, the ability to make plays out of the pocket and throw on the run. He also took a pounding and didn�t let that keep him from making clutch throws to lead the comeback win. Grayson needs to improve his decision-making on a few passes, but his flaws are coachable. Grayson was 28-of-42 for 269 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
Sambrailo was solid at blocking his man, though he was sort of beaten for a sack in the second quarter. He pushed a blitzer to the inside, but as Grayson rolled out to the left, the defender chased him down. Sambrailo should have maintained the block after the initial shove. Otherwise, Sambrailo played well against Boston College.
UCLA 62, Arizona State 27
Thus, it was a great time for UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley to have his best game of the young season. NFL sources from a variety of teams have previously told WalterFootball.com that Hundley is overrated, but he showed real progress against Arizona State.
On his first third down of the game, Hundley made a money throw from the pocket to hit his receiver perfectly on a slant to move the chains. The corner had good coverage, but Hundley made a perfect throw to beat the coverage. He did it again as he hung tough in the pocket to make an accurate completion on another third down.
Hundley later made a great hot read to hit his slot receiver with a blitz coming, and the wide open receiver exploded down the field for 30 extra yards with a gain of 43 yards on the play. It was a smart read by Hundley. He had an 80-yard touchdown pass on a short dump off that featured a few missed tackles by Arizona State.
In the second quarter, Hundley showed his athleticism with a scramble for about 10 yards, including hurdling a tackler. Hundley later had a receiver running wide open down the field, but a poor overthrow led to a missed opportunity for a touchdown.
Hundley bounced back to make a nice play escaping a rush and throwing downfield after moving up to the line of scrimmage. To end the drive, Hundley made a nice read and throw to the end zone for a touchdown. Starting the third quarter, Hundley had a clean pocket and laid out a perfect 80-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Jordan Payton. Hundley threw a back-shoulder bullet for a short touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Hundley finished a sparkling 18-of-25 for 355 yards and four touchdowns. He ran for 72 yards on eight carries with a score. Hundley showed real progress as a pocket passer and with his ability to throw some accurate passers while under pressure in clutch third downs. He has rarely shown that in the past, so this tape could help him to sway some of his NFL doubters.
On the first third down of the game, Strong went up over a defensive back to make a contested catch to move the chains. Strong made an impressive catch later in the first quarter where he leapt and went up with his hands late to snatch the ball out of the air between two defenders for a 25-yard gain.
Strong later had a rough play as an under-thrown pass fell into the crowd but the ball went off him and into the cornerback for an interception. It was a poor throw, and Strong tried to make a catch, but he ended up batting it into the stomach of the cornerback. Strong had a step on the corner, so if the pass had been laid out deeper, Strong could have had a big play. He had a drop on the next possession.
On two straight plays, Strong out fought cornerbacks for some back-shoulder completions. He is excellent at that route and using his size/strength advantage to block out the defenders for the completion. Strong also made a nice driving catch in the fourth quarter.
Against UCLA, Strong totaled 146 yards on 12 receptions. This was a good performance for him that showed his ability to be a possession receiver. He may not have elite speed, but he has quickness. Strong could warrant consideration in the back half of the first round or in the second round.
Late in the second quarter, Kendricks destroyed a screen pass to Foster and forced an incompletion. Kendricks also made an impressive tackle for a loss as he perfectly read a bubble screen to Strong. It wasn’t all good for Kendricks as he over-pursued occasionally, including missing a third-down tackle to allow a first down. Kendricks came back to make a perfect solo tackle on a pass in the flat to Foster. Kendricks took away the cut-back lane and used the sideline as another defender to lock down Foster. Kendricks followed that with an hard tackle as he rocked a wide receiver to the turf in the open field.
Against Arizona State, Kendricks was superb. He really showed phenomenal skills in pass coverage. The senior also made a lot of open field tackles on wide receivers and running backs. Kendricks was instinctive and covered a ton of ground. NFL evaluators are going to get super excited about Kendricks watching this tape as he was a real weapon as a pass-defender in the middle of the field. This game is an example of why he is a first- or second-round pick.
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