2027 NFL Draft: College Game Recaps – Week 11

Texas quarterback Arch Manning has not had the great season to mature into a top of the draft caliber of prospect and that was given further proof versus LSU. Manning had poor ball security, throwing too many passes up for grabs in crowds of defenders, and Manning took some bad sacks from holding the ball too long. This tape gives more proof that Manning should return to college in 2027 and improve his craft before making the jump to the NFL.

On the opening drive of the game, Manning moved the ball down the field and ran the ball into the end zone with a short rushing touchdown. In the second quarter, Manning was scrambling and threw a pass off the mark, and it was intercepted by Tigers safety Ty Benefield. In the third quarter, Benefield got Manning again. With a rusher coming downhill on him, Manning threw flat-footed with a ball floating up in the air deep downfield on a slot receiver fade route, and Benefield ran under it for the interception. Late in the fourth quarter, Manning aired out another deep ball deep down the field and an LSU defender tracked the ball like a receiver to make another interception.

Late in the fourth quarter, down by five, Manning had a few completions to Ryan Wingo to move the ball inside the 20. With less than 10 seconds remaining, Manning threw to an open receiver in the flat for a four-yard touchdown to Raleek Brown. Despite some bad plays, Manning made the game-winning throw in the clutch to get his team a huge road win. Manning finished completing 19-of-35 for 174 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Regarding the NFL, Manning needs work. As a player, he needs to improve his field vision, accuracy, and decision-making. Ball security issues stem from the decision-making, and getting more reps in college could be beneficial. Given the family history, it would not be surprising if Manning does return to school and looks to improve before taking on the NFL.

LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt has had an uneven season, and he needed a good tape to help his draft grade if he decides to enter the 2027 NFL Draft. Overall, Leavitt was not impressive and showed once again that he should come back to school in 2027 to improve before entering the 2028 NFL Draft.

Leavitt had a mixed first half; on the good side, he had some scoring strikes to his emerging star wideout Jackson Harris. Early in the first quarter, Harris got open on a quick slant for a 10-yard touchdown. Harris made some nice catches to move the chains; he showed his strength and moves with run-after-the-catch ability. In the second quarter, Harris overcame a holding from Bo Mascoe to make a contested catch on a nine-yard touchdown.

There were also some bad plays. In the first quarter, Leavitt threw a bad pass deep downfield into triple coverage. There was nothing open, and the pass was tipped by a defender before Longhorns safety Jelani McDonald caught the deflection for an interception. Shortly later, Leavitt was blitzed and threw a jump ball for Trey’Dez Green in the front of the end zone. Green fell down, and McDonald made a leaping grab for his second interception of the game. That interception was not a horrible play, as Texas had a free interior rusher on a blitz, and he put the ball up for his giant tight end but had bad luck that Green fell down.

In the third quarter, Longhorns cornerback Bo Mascoe had an excellent jam on Harris to disrupt the timing of a fade route, and that stalled the play to give McDonald a chance to come flying over, and he made a leaping interception on the sideline of the end zone. It was a great hands catch from McDonald and a clutch catch that took points away from LSU. Leavitt finished completing 27-of-37 passes for 244 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Overall, Leavitt needs work for the NFL. His field vision, ability to work through progressions, and operate out of the pocket all needs a lot of improvement for the next level. Leavitt should return to keep working with Lane Kiffin in 2027.

While some of the interceptions were not difficult plays, McDonald had an excellent game. He took advantage of the opportunities to get those interceptions and made clutch plays for his team. McDonald also had an excellent third-down tackle on Trey’Dez Green in the fourth quarter to force a critical punt. With Texas pulling off a one-point win, McDonald’s interceptions in and near the end zone were huge plays that impacted the scoreboard and were vital to helping his team. On top of the three interceptions, he had 11 tackles with a pass batted. McDonald speed, athleticism, vision, and ball skills. This tape will be very helpful for McDonald’s draft grade.

This game had a matchup of the top left tackle prospect for the 2027 NFL Draft in LSU’s Jordan Seaton, taking on the best pass rusher in Texas, Colin Simmons. Simmons has been out for a while with a high ankle sprain, and he really did not look close to 100 percent. Simmons looked like he was playing at 75 or 80 percent, as he did not have his normal burst off the ball or closing speed. As a result, Simmons did not have an impact, and the LSU blockers were able to keep him in check overall.

In the first quarter, Seaton got away with a hold on Simmons on a third-down conversion, but it was not a blatant hold. That was perhaps Simmons' best rush of the game. Seaton had some other good protection blocks on the drive to help his team move the ball. Simmons was getting upfield on some rushes, but he was not getting home to Leavitt. In the third quarter, Simmons did not hustle off the field, and that drew a too many men on the field penalty. In the third quarter, Seaton had a great block on a third-and-short to open a big hole for his back to convert. He then helped spring his back for a 44-yard touchdown run with a good kick-out block.

Overall, this tape will help Seaton. He made some big blocks to help get his team a big lead in the second half, and he was steady in pass protection. This tape showed that Seaton could be a starting left tackle in the NFL, and this tape could help him to be a top-20 pick next April.

Simmons won’t get any help from this tape, but he clearly was not himself coming off the injury. He still hustled after the ball and got in on several tackles in the ground game. Before getting hurt, Simmons was dominating college football, and this is the third season of good tape. Simmons looks like a worthy top-10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.

Two defensive prospects produced excellent tapes in this game, with one of them being Benefield and the other being Texas linebacker Rasheem Biles. On top of the interceptions, Benefield had an impressive win over a block on a blitz to get a sack of Manning. Benefield finished with eight tackles, two interceptions, one sack, and 1.5 tackles for a loss. Benefield showed instincts, range, ball skills, tackling ability, and versatility. He looks like a starting safety for the NFL with the flexibility to be a free or strong safety. Benefield could be a really nice value pick in the second round. Biles was all over the field for the Longhorns. He made a lot of tackles in the ground game, showing his instincts and speed to flow to the ball. On top of his run defense, Biles showed impressive man coverage skills running with Trey’Dez Green on some routes and preventing separation. This was an excellent tape from Biles, and he showed real early-round ability. This tape will help both Benefield and Biles to rise.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava has some buzz about him as a potential late first-round or second-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. Entering this game against the defending National Champions, Maiava had the Trojans at 7-2 and ranked 18th in the top 25. Versus Indiana, Maiava was not impressive and struggled with field vision and ball security.

In the first quarter, Maiava strikes down the seam in a tight window to get the Trojans moving. But he did miss some conversions with some passes behind receivers, and he got lucky he didn’t throw an interception to Hoosiers’ ballhawk Amare Farrell when Maiava threw into double coverage to a blanketed receiver. He was very fortunate the pass was knocked down.

In the second quarter, Maiava was pressured and was unable to get his feet set. That led to a soft pass to a well-covered receiver that was easily intercepted. Late in the second quarter, Maiava came back to lay out a deep ball for 51 yards Kayden Dixon-Wyatt. The ball was a little underthrown, as it could have gone for a touchdown if Maiava led him down the field. To cap the drive, Maiava threw a quick slant for a short touchdown. Midway through the fourth quarter, Maiava had some success with short passes and his receivers getting some good runs after the catch. However, Maiava stared down a receiver in the front of the end zone, and the pass was intercepted by Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones. Maiava’s eyes led Jones right into the throwing lane for a critical interception. Late in the fourth quarter, Maiava threw a poor pass on a jump ball on a fourth-and-10. It hung in the air like a punt and was easily intercepted by Indiana to clinch the win over the Trojans. Maiava finished completing 26-of-42 passes for 311 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Overall, this tape is going to hurt Maiava’s draft grade. For the NFL, Maiava has a quality skill set with size and arm strength. However, his accuracy and ball placement are inconsistent. Maiava needs to improve his field vision and get better at working through progressions. This tape made him look more like a backup than a starter for the NFL.

Indiana has a pair of first-round talents at wide receiver in Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh. USC did a nice job of keeping them from making a lot of receptions, but the talented receivers made the most of limited opportunities to produce some big plays. Early in the second quarter, Marsh ran a go route down the field, creating separation from man coverage and slowing down to adjust to the pass to reel in a 65-yard reception. Marsh finished with 80 yards on four catches. Late in the fourth quarter, Becker got open running deep along the sideline and stretched out to make a 42-yard touchdown catch. Becker finished with three catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.

Becker looks like a top-10 pick for the 2027 NFL Draft. Wide receivers with Becker’s skill set of being big, fast, and productive don’t last long in the NFL Draft, and Becker has special ability for the NFL. Big receivers are a dime a dozen, but what sets Becker apart from a typical big wideout is that he can really run. He has explosiveness and deep speed to get vertical. After a fast first step, Becker has a second gear to accelerate down the field and stretch defenses over the top. He can run by double coverage and create separation from defensive backs by beating them in a vertical race downfield. His speed and route-running skill allow him to consistently generate separation from defensive backs, as he is very difficult to run with. Becker shows good technique as a receiver as well. He tracks the ball well and has late hands to reel in passes even with defenders close. At his stature, Becker has big size, weight, height, strength, and length to present a dangerous mismatch versus defensive backs. Becker is a similar receiver to the Colts’ Alec Pierce. This tape will help Becker to go in the top 10 next April.

Marsh has a good skill set as he is tall, fast, and athletic. He could be a quality starter in the NFL who plays X or Z receiver. With his skill set, Marsh has a lot of upside, and he has shown his talent despite not having good quarterback play during any of his seasons of college football.

Missouri quarterback Austin Simmons turned himself into a quarterback prospect for the NFL during this season after a hot start, but this analyst thought Simmons was more of a 2028 prospect as he needed more experience and development. Simmons has cooled down in recent weeks, and we re-signed with Missouri for 2027 if he doesn’t enter the NFL Draft. This tape indicates that Simmons should return to the Tigers next season and wait on going to the NFL.

In the first half, Simmons struggled as Georgia dominated. On the first play of the game, Simmons threw an interception to Bulldogs linebacker Raylen Wilson. It was a poor read and decision by Simmons, as Wilson was blanketing his receiver, and Wilson just had to turn around to spot the ball as it flew right to him. Simmons could not get in a rhythm and had only 66 yards passing at halftime, but he did have a short touchdown pass after his receiver broke a tackle in the flat. In the third quarter, Simmons did a nice job executing a play-fake by pulling the handoff back and threw a bullet on a slant for a touchdown. He added a short two-yard touchdown pass in garbage time. Simmons finished completing 17-of-25 passes for 175 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

For the NFL, Simmons is very similar to Michael Penix Jr. at Washington. Simmons has a powerful left arm capable of making all the throws and challenging defenses deep downfield. There is no doubt that Simmons has some talent, but he is only in his first year as a starter, and he could use refinement in his footwork, field vision, and get faster at working through progressions. Simmons could use more experience and development. He should return to Missouri next year and looks more like a prospect for the 2028 NFL Draft.

The Georgia defense has early-round talents with cornerback Ellis Robinson IV, linebacker Chris Cole, and safety K.J. Bolden. The trio had a quiet game overall, but none of them played poorly. In the third quarter, Robinson stayed in the hip pocket of a receiver running a deep go route, and then he played the ball well to knock the pass away for a third-down incompletion that forced a punt. This game won’t hurt or help any of them significantly.