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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Texas A&M 41, Auburn 38
The Tigers don’t have a great defensive line, but Ogbuehi looked so much better back at right tackle. In the second quarter, he had a nice block on an off-tackle run to spring his back for a chunk play. Ogbuehi handled speed rushers, withstood bull rushes and did a much better job of sustaining his blocks than he has in recent weeks.
Ogbuehi’s draft value gets hurt by moving back to right tackle, but at least he gave NFL evaluators a solid tape and a bounce-back performance.
Early on, Coates burned the secondary for a potential 75-yard touchdown, but the ball was overthrown. On the very next play, Coates dropped a potential first down on an out route.
In the fourth quarter, Coates got deep and caught a pass between two defenders. He caught the ball wahile falling to the ground, but it would have been nice to see him high point the reception rather than catching while falling down. At any rate, it was a 52-yard gain at a critical time midway through the fourth quarter. Coates finished with two receptions for 58 yards. He did a nice job of blocking on some plays, and this tape should be neutral for him.
UCLA 44, Washington 30
In the first quarter, Hundley made a nice play on a read option to keep the ball and dive into the end zone from a few yards out. He threw a touchdown a short time later when he had all day to throw on a play-action pass while receiver Kenneth Walker got wide open in busted coverage for a 57-yard touchdown.
On a later drive, Hundley had a nice play of working across the field before firing a fastball through a window of defenders to his receiver to move the chains. Hundley ran in another touchdown on a quarterback draw. In the third quarter, he threw a bullet on a short slant for another touchdown. The signal-caller should have thrown an interception a bit later, but the pass bounced off the hands of the defender and went to his receiver.
In the fourth quarter, Hundley threw a well-placed ball to a receiver for a leaping touchdown catch, but the play was taken away by an offensive pass interference penalty that was very questionable. Hundley completed 29-of-36 passes for 302 yards with two touchdowns. He also ran for 18 yards with his two scores.
This was a decent tape for Hundley. He made some good reads and throws from the pocket, but the majority of his completions where on the first read to open receivers. This performance won’t significantly address the concerns that NFL teams have about him.
In the first half, Kendricks had some struggles. He couldn’t get off a block on a screen pass and that helped open up a long gain. On other plays, Kendricks was manhandled in the box.
Kendricks started playing better in the third quarter. He made a hard tackle on the perimeter when he went low and flipped the running back. Kendricks later read a play well to snuff out a run for no gain and used his agility to make the tackle despite a nice move by the runner.
Kendricks made a lot of tackles in pursuit and looked good in pass coverage. That looks for good NFL teams, but he does need to get stronger for taking on blocks while improving his ability to shed the blockers. Kendricks totaled 13 tackles against Washington.
In the first quarter, Odighizuwa pushed the left tackle back into the pocket before disengaging and bolting to the inside to sack quarterback Cyler Miles, who was stepping toward the line of scrimmage. A couple of plays later, Odighizuwa got leverage on the right tackle with speed around the corner. His pressure caused Miles to step up in the pocket, and Odighizuwa worked back to tackle him from behind.
In the fourth quarter, Odighizuwa almost notched a sack after coming unblocked, but in the open field, Miles dodged him. Odighizuwa later burned the left tackle with a speed rush and came close to another sack, but Miles ran forward for a short gain. Odighizuwa came close to another sack just a bit after that.
Odighizuwa had eight tackles against Washington. He really had two sacks, but because Miles fell at the line of scrimmage, he wasn’t credited with a sack.
Ohio State 49, Michigan State 37
On the first drive, Cook threw a beautiful deep ball off a play-action pass as he dropped in a perfect ball to a receiver who was covered closely by two defenders. It was a great throw that beat good coverage for 44 yards. To end the drive, Cook threw a short sprint out to his back who, after a broken tackle, darted into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown.
Cook showed some poor ball security when he fumbled the ball away while being taken to the ground. Cook came back to throw a strike while taking a big hit from a tackle. It was great anticipation as Cook threw the pass before his wideout even turned to look. On the same drive, he converted a third down with a nice run to move the chains.
After halftime, Cook made a great throw to convert a third-and-long, but he had an overthrow dropped by a defensive back for what should have been an easy interception. Cook’s second half was up and down, but he had a touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter go to a wide-open receiver. Cook later overthrew a receiver streaking deep down the middle of the field for a missed opportunity and a big play.
Cook was 25-of-45 for 358 yards with two scores. Once again, his accuracy was hit or miss. He some amazingly difficult throws, yet missed on some routine passes. That is the area Cook has to improve for the next level.
In the second quarter, Drummond was beaten in a foot race to the end zone on a 79-yard touchdown. Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett held Drummond in the middle of the field to open up a long touchdown just before halftime. Later on, Drummond had a great jump to slap a pass away for the Spartans. This wasn’t impressive performance for Drummond as he got caught out of position on a few plays and took some false steps. He has to improve his eye discipline for the NFL.
After halftime, Bennett had an ugly play where he was pancaked into the turf by an offensive lineman on a rushing play. Late in the third quarter, Bennett had a coverage sack after the blocker seemed to ease up on the play and Bennett darted by him.
Bennett showed NFL scouts that he has real skill as a pass-rusher, but needs to get stronger for the ground game.
Alabama 20, LSU 13 (OT)
On the first drive of the game, Cooper dropped a screen, and that set the tone for the night. He almost made an over-the-shoulder catch a short time later, but couldn’t control it, and it fell incomplete.
In the second quarter, Collins gave Cooper an easy catch on a quick slant that turned into a 21-yard gain. Collins gave too much cushion on that third down, but that could be from the instructions of the coaches. To extend the same drive, Collins had tight coverage, but was beaten on a back-shoulder throw to Cooper. A play later, Collins should have given up a touchdown, but Alabama wide out DeAndrew White couldn’t control the pass. Collins got away with a hold and showed poor awareness by not locating the ball before it sailed by his helmet. He got lucky on that play.
It got worse for Collins as Cooper beat him on slant, bounced off a couple of tacklers -including Mills – and stiff-armed Collins at the goal line for a 23-yard touchdown. That was the big highlight play for Cooper against LSU.
In the fourth quarter, Collins had tight coverage with a clutch breakup to help force a punt. On the final drive of the fourth quarter, Cooper had a terrible dropped pass that could have really cost Alabama, but his teammates bailed him out. He finished with 83 yards on eight receptions. Cooper shouldn’t be hurt by this tape significantly, but it does illustrate that he has inconsistent hands and needs to improve there.
Collins also contributed to a number tough run-stops and laid out some hard hits. This was a quality tape for him.
In the third quarter, Collins crashed down the side of the Alabama offensive line to open up a huge lane for Leonard Fournette. All night, Collins forced movement in the ground game and opened up holes for his back. Collins did a solid job in pass protection, but LSU didn’t throw the ball that much. This tape should help his draft grade.
Yeldon has had a mixed sophomore and now junior season. If he wants to be a first-round pick, going back to Alabama for his senior year could be the best route.
Texas 33, West Virginia 16
In the first quarter, White showed his speed by darting down the sideline on a wide receiver screen. Diggs failed to make a tackle on him on another screen, but he did help slow White down for his teammates to limit the gain.
Late in the second quarter, Diggs read Clint Trickett’s eyes and jumped a slant pass intended for White. Diggs picked the ball off and returned it about 20 yards to set up his offense just outside the West Virginia 20-yard line. It was a smart play by Diggs, and there wasn’t anything White could have done to prevent it.
After the half, White got separation from Diggs on a comeback route to move the chains. Diggs came back to hold his ground on a screen pass to White and limit the gain. On the very next play, Diggs dropped into coverage after not buying a fake screen and dished out a hard hit on a receiver to break up a completion inside the 10-yard line. It was an excellent play by Diggs as he showed the instincts and recognition skills to get into position to make a play for his defense.
In the fourth quarter, White had a disappointing play on a jump ball where he let a ball hit off his hand when he could have attacked it for a reception over Diggs. White added a few receptions in garbage time against a prevent defense.
Overall, White showed his potential to serve as a possession receiver as Texas sent extra coverage over the top to keep him from making big plays downfield. White still moved the chains with 15 receptions for 132 yards, and this tape won’t hurt his draft stock.
Diggs helped himself with how he played against West Virginia. He looks like a slot corner candidate who could be a second-day pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Reed had a tackle for a loss in run support during the fourth quarter. He followed that up with a safety on a speed rush where he came unblocked. The right tackle picked up a blitzer, but the right guard let Reed go free. He flowed that up with a nice run stuff.
A few plays later, Reed fought through the left tackle to notch a sack fumble on Trickett that Texas recovered. Reed used some power to push the tackle back and then shed the blocker to get to the quarterback.
This was a great game from Reed and his best of the season. Reed showed the speed and strength to beat tackles in the pass rush. He also was a tough run-defender. If Reed can stay consistent with this performance to close out 2014, it will go along way to making up for his quiet start to the season.
Baylor 48, Oklahoma 14
Early in the game, Oakman lacked impact. Williams shut him down on a third-and-long pass rush while, Thompson pushed Oakman out of his gap to let the Sooners run for a first down and set up a first-and-goal. On third-and-goal, Thompson pushed Oakman into the turf while Oklahoma threw a touchdown pass.
Shortly later, Oakman was late to realize he was unblocked on a third-and-goal, so Trevor Knight was able to get the pass off before Oakman could get to him. The 6-foot-8 Oakman had the ball fire by his head, and if he had put his hands up, he could have easily batted the pass.
In the second quarter, Oakman made a tackle after Thompson had him blocked for a few seconds, but Trevor Knight scrambled before Oakman chased him down. Oakman made his second tackle after he came unblocked. He had a nice rush on Thompson with leverage on a speed rush to get a pressure. Late in the second quarter, Oakman chased down Knight on a run and planted the quarterback into the turf with force. After that, Oakman was pretty quiet again.
In the third quarter, Thompson opened up some huge holes to spring his back for a long run of about 50 yards. It wasn’t all good for Thompson as he had middle linebacker Bryce Hager dodge him at the second level and make a tackle for a loss. A play later, Oakman had a good rush on Thompson, but that was really the only play that Oakman had against Thompson.
Overall, Oakman didn’t help himself and Thompson did. Thompson got the better of the vast majority of their plays against each other. Thompson showed quickness and agility to handle speed rushes with strength as a run-blocker. This was a good tape for Thompson, but for Oakman it illustrates that he doesn’t play up to his skill set.
Petty got into a groove before the half and into the third quarter with some short passes and a few well-thrown deep balls. He completed around 20 straight passes as he ate up the Sooners’ defense playing in a deep cushion. Petty completed 32-of-42 for 387 yards with a touchdown. This was a good tape that will help him to get consideration on the third day of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Arizona State 55, Notre Dame 31
Strong made a nice reception on the first play of the game. He followed that up with a good leaping catch and move to pick up some more yards. Strong made a highlight reel one-handed touchdown catch, as he made an amazing adjustment with great body control for the score. Strong twisted and cradled the ball in with one hand while getting both feet down before falling out of bounds. It was one of the best catches you�ll see all year. At the half, Strong had five receptions for 58 yards and he was shut out after intermission.
For the majority of the final two quarters, Notre Dame dominated the time of possession, and the Sun Devils were unable to get into a rhythm. This tape shouldn�t help or hurt Strong significantly.
Georgia 63, Kentucky 31
The linebackers didn�t impress against Kentucky either. In the second quarter, Herrara had running back Stanley �Boom� Williams run through his grasp and the back exploded downfield for a 56-yard touchdown. After Herrara missed the tackle, Williams was gone. Wilson came up with a nice tackle in the first quarter, but was quiet otherwise. Herrara blitzed the quarterback well on a few plays. Neither player had a real impact.
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