This section breaks down many college football games each week and highlights how 2020 NFL Draft Prospects have performed.
By Charlie Campbell.
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Georgia 23, Notre Dame 17
There were a fews plays on which Thomas showed excellent recoverability. Okwara used speed to get upfield, but Thomas would use his length and strength to push Okwara deep outside of the pocket and keep the edge rusher from getting to Jake Fromm.
Throughout the game, Thomas came up with some key blocks that allowed the Bulldogs’ offense to produce points. In the second quarter, Thomas fired into the middle to knock the Notre Dame middle linebacker back and open a lane for a short rushing touchdown from D’Andre Swift. In the third quarter, Thomas held strong and kept Okwara off his quarterback to give Fromm time to get the ball out on a few throws that produced a field goal drive for Georgia to take the lead.
This tape should only serve to confirm that Thomas belongs as top-10 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and is a franchise left tackle for the NFL. He is a skilled pass protector with quickness, athleticism, size, technique and length. As a run blocker, Thomas is a good contributor and is more effective than many left tackles. If Thomas maintains this level of play, he should hear his name being one of the first ones announced in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Fromm started making some clutch throws in the third quarter, producing two field goal drives that put Georgia in the lead. Early in the fourth quarter, Fromm made two well-placed passes to drop the ball in to his receivers, including a back-shoulder throw for a 15-yard touchdown. Fromm completed 20-of-26 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown.
Fromm is an accurate quarterback that makes good decisions and is an efficient game-manager. He is a gritty signal-caller who seems to who at his best in crunch time. However, he does not have a first-round skill set for the NFL, in part because his arm strength is average at best. He is a little shorter than ideal as well, and while he has some mobility, he won’t be a running threat in the pros. Fromm may not have a first-round skill set, but he has great intangibles and is a winner, so a team could easily fall in love and make him a Thursday night selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.
In the second quarter, Swift got moving on a few carries and had a short rushing touchdown. In the third quarter, he started ripping off yards in chunks with some superb carries. One play saw him hurdle a tackler with a tremendous leap, and on the next play, he juked through defenders at the line to rip off another big carry. Swift totaled 98 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown. This tape will help him to be a first-round pick.
In the first half, Reed read a play extremely well off the snap to fire into the backfield and knock down a third-and-goal pass to the flat. In the third quarter, Reed read the eyes of Ian Book to jump a route, but Reed dropped an interception that would have been about a 30-yard pick-six had he held onto the ball. The third time was the charm for Reed, who came flying across the field to dart in front of receiver on the sideline for an interception. Reed was in zone coverage and did a good job of quickly reading the field to get in position to make the play. This tape could help Reed to end up getting second-day consideration from some teams.
Oregon 21, Stanford 6
In the first quarter, Herbert threw a couple of strikes on long crossing routes, the second of which was a 36-yard touchdown to a wide-open receiver. Midway through the second quarter, Herbert ripped the ball down the field. He was seeing the field extremely well and making good decisions, which included a well-placed underthrown pass to let his receiver break away from coverage to make a 16-yard touchdown catch in the front corner of the end zone.
Herbert put the game away in the fourth quarter with an excellent pump fake on a screen that got three defensive backs to bite and move forward. That let another receiver run by them to get wide open for a 24-yard touchdown. He finished completing 19-of-24 passes for 259 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
There is no doubt that Herbert has an excellent skill set with a powerful arm that can drive the ball and make every throw required in the NFL. He has good field vision to work through progressions and read coverage while knowing where to go with the ball. On top of size and arm talent, Herbert is a good athlete with the ability to make some plays with his feet. The only real flaw with Herbert is his passing in the face of a heavy rush. In past games, his accuracy and ability to move the ball got significantly hindered when he didn’t have a clean pocket. When Herbert has a clean pocket, he’s deadly and will rip up a defense. But in the NFL, a top quarterback remains effective even when throwing in the face of a rush.
It would also be good for Herbert to show that he can beat an elite team and push his team to a win. After falling short of doing that against Aubrun in the season opener, the best regular-season tests remaining for Herbert come against Washington and USC. Those will be important games for Herbert’s evaluation when compared to other top quarterback prospects like Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa.
Auburn 28, Texas A&M 20
Brown did a superb job of recognizing a screen being set up on the next series. He destroyed the play by blowing up the setup. He then almost picked the pass off, but knocked it incomplete. Brown came close to getting Auburn another turnover in the third quarter, as he bulled his way through the left tackle to to meet a teammate at Mond for a sack-fumble that was recovered by the Aggies.
This was an excellent tape from Brown, as he showed off his devastating talent. Brown has a freakish combination of size, strength, speed and athleticism. He is a load against the run and a capable interior pass rusher. Multiple team sources told me before the season that Brown would have gone ahead of Christian Wilkins and Ed Oliver if he had entered the 2019 NFL Draft, and this tape will help to reinforce that opinion.
For much of the first half, Mond struggled, and the Aggies were losing at the point of attack to the Auburn defensive line. Mond had an early misdirection play rolling to his right and that set up a wheel route to the left sideline. He had a receiver running open for a 48-yard touchdown, but Mond overthrew the receiver on what should have been a score. It was not an easy deep ball to throw, but still a pass that an early-round quarterback prospect should make.
Late the third quarter, Mond started to get in more of a rhythm as a passer throwing some darts into some tight windows to move the ball. Mond finally got the Aggies in the end zone to begin the fourth quarter, as he threw a deep out to Quartney Davis and the shifty receiver dodged a tackler to dart into the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown. Late in the fourth quarter, Mond made an impressive play with Derrick Brown bearing down on him to deliver a big hit. The quarterback stood tall and laid out a perfect 13-yard touchdown pass, leading his receiver to an opening in the back of the end zone. Mond finished completing 31-of-49 passes for 335 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Mond has a good skill set with a strong arm, athleticism, size and the ability to make all the throws needed. However, he needs to get more consistent with his accuracy and decision making. Team sources have told me that Mond is interested in coming out early, but he should return for his senior year to improve before going to the NFL. Mond has a much better change of being an early-round pick if he returns to school and continues to develop rather than entering the 2020 NFL Draft as an inconsistent and raw quarterback.
Wisconsin 35, Michigan 14
On the first drive of the game, Taylor showed his good vision on a run where he was initially bottled up but he saw an edge defender blow containment, and Taylor bounced the ball to the outside for a good gain. That helped set up Taylor’s sixth rushing touchdown of the season later on the drive. Taylor then bounced a run around the left side to explode untouched downfield for a 72-yard touchdown to put the Badgers in firm control late in the first quarter. Taylor, however, was limping shortly later and was taken into the locker room. After missing the second quarter, Taylor returned to the field and put the Wolverines away by setting up more points and eating up the clock. Taylor finished with 203 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.
This tape will definitely help Taylor, as he completely owned Michigan. He was too strong, quick and deadly in the open field for their defense to contain. He didn’t even need to use his deadly stiff arm. Taylor showed a complete skill set as a tailback. This tape will help Taylor to be a first- or second-round pick. We have Taylor going to the Steelers in the second round of our 2020 NFL Mock Draft.
Florida 34, Tennessee 3
In the fourth quarter with the Volunteers trying to get back into the game, Greenard threw the right tackle off of him and then put a hard hit on the running back to strip the ball. The Gators recovered the loose ball to be set up near midfield.
Greenard is a fast edge rusher who is athletic, has some twitch, and shows good instincts. He also is a smart defender who does a superb job of reading keys to anticipate what the offense is trying to do. Greenard could end up being a nice day-two pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
In the first quarter, Smith put the Volunteers in a bad down-and-distance situation with an unnecessary hands-to-the-face penalty. He blocked pretty well overall though and showed nice technique as a pass blocker. Smith bends at the knee and sets up well to handle one-on-one blocks. He is quick and athletic, and he has length to handle speed rushers. With strength and size, Smith also can anchor against bull rushes. If Smith has gotten over the blood clot issue, it might make more sense for him to return for his senior year to continue to improve and show that he is not a health risk for the NFL. Having healthy junior and senior years would be huge for his draft stock to take away concerns that he could have a limited or short NFL career.
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