Stock Up:
Caleb Williams, QB, USC - Class of 2024 and Jordan Addison, WR, USC - Class of 2023
The dynamic transfer duo from USC is making waves right out of the gate, with the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner already catching four touchdown passes with a ridiculous 5.14 yards per route average in his first two games. Interestingly, HC Lincoln Riley lined up Addison out wide on 81% of his snaps so far, a sharp increase from the 32% of snaps from the outside he experienced last year at Pitt. For his part, Williams has been sensational as well with an 84% adjusted completion rate, 6-to-0 ratio and sky-high 155.3 NFL Passer Rating thus far. Here’s an overhead view of their first TD hookup with Addison deftly weaving through traffic.
Jordan Addison is my Devy WR1
— Jeff Bell (@4WhomJBellTolls) September 12, 2022
I’m sure this will be handled rationally.
pic.twitter.com/K6fmXUKvMM
And here’s the end zone view of Caleb-to-Addison’s 75-yard touchdown strike and subsequent spin into the end zone.
This angle of Jordan Addison’s TD 👀 (via @Scott_Schrader) pic.twitter.com/yTOiCfNUQA
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) September 11, 2022
The USC receiving duo is set to light up the Pac-12 this season, with Addison arguably the 2023 WR1 and Caleb Williams the 2024 QB1 for Devy/Dynasty purposes.
Jaren Hall, QB, BYU - Class of 2023
A former MLB draftee, Hall leads BYU’s efficient offense that returns 75% of their production from a team that ranked top-10 nationally in yards per play (6.7), points per drive (3.1), success rate (50%), and EPA/Play. He led a virtuoso 2-minute drill to end the first half while showing advanced mobility and pocket awareness when pressured. Hall keeps his eyes downfield when flushed instead of instinctively pulling the ball down and taking off every time he is pressured.
Here are several throws Hall made against Baylor that show his accuracy and touch:
BYU QB Jaren Hall made some really strong throws against Baylor on Saturday.
— Eric Froton (@CFFroton) September 13, 2022
From a crisp 2-minute drill to end 1H to a well-placed hole shot to setup the game-winning TD, Hall looked poised and in command throughout.
He even added a TD reception for good measure! pic.twitter.com/7Q4nBR4vwf
Hall is currently being mocked in the third round with an NFL Draft ADP of 96th overall according to the Mock Draft Database. I was extremely impressed with how he handled pressure last year, and think you could see Hall slide into Day 1 consideration with more standout performances like he had on Saturday.
Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas - Class of 2024
I realize Ewers injured his shoulder and is set to miss multiple weeks, but he looked the part of a future NFL Draft choice in the first big test of his college career, completing 9-of-12 passes for 134 yards, 11.2 YPA, and 14-yards of average target depth. His arm strength is palpable, as he has the ability to pop his hips and make a 15-yard out to the field-side look almost casual.
Quinn Ewers drops a dime on the sideline to Xavier Worthy! These two can give this defense trouble! pic.twitter.com/FDBDF9PQud
— Full-Time Dame 💰 (@DP_NFL) September 10, 2022
Ewers makes an incredible throw under duress to Whittington here.
I’ve been buying Quinn Ewers all offseason, what a great throw under pressure. He has easy arm strength too, he just flicks this ball and it’s right on target. pic.twitter.com/vLn7w0Q9iY
— Eric Froton (@CFFroton) September 10, 2022
But the money shot was this downfield toss to Xavier Worthy:
Quinn Ewers hits Xavier Worthy on the 46-yard pass! Amazing anticipation and throw on the deep ball from Ewers. https://t.co/OpCa6yZDGz
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) September 10, 2022
Though it was a small sample size, Ewers’ prodigious arm talent was on full display against one of the elite defenses in college football. He is firmly slotted in behind Caleb Williams as QB2 of the 2024 NFL Draft class with upward mobility to take over the top spot if he continues to develop his five-star tools.
J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan - Class of 2024
The Michigan faithful have been waiting patiently for the day when blue-chip quarterback prospect McCarthy would finally supplant steady game-manager Cade McNamara and open up the Michigan offense’s big-play potential. Well that time appears to have finally arrived, as the second-year signal caller turned the porous Hawaii defense into kindling last Saturday, completing 11-of-12 passes for 229 yards, three touchdowns and a sterling 93.5 PFF passing grade while earning a perfect 158.3 NFL passer rating. Here are all of McCarthy’s 12 throws against the Rainbow Warriors in one clip. The former five-star recruit was legitimately surgical to all three levels when able to stand and deliver in the pocket:
Why are Michigan fans going CRAZY over JJ McCarthy?
— James T. Yoder (@JamesYoder) September 11, 2022
Watch all his passes from today. Amazing 👇 pic.twitter.com/VLTmcyNCgO
Though he’s a year away, McCarthy has the arm talent and pedigree to break out from the pack of 2024 quarterbacks and cement himself as a top-tier NFL Draft option for quarterback needy teams.
Stock Down
Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida - Class of 2023
What a difference a week makes! Against Utah, Richardson was blazing down the field in a way that 240-pound men simply aren’t generally able to. However, this week defensive guru Mark Stoops made Richardson beat them with his arm, holding the toolsy quarterback to just four rushing yards on the day after going for 106 yards on the ground in Week 1. With his ability to make plays outside of structure taken away, Richardson struggled to string together drives completing 14-of-35 passes for 143 yards and two interceptions in the 26-16 loss. He has struggled with accuracy on both throws of 20+ yards (2-of-9, 5.8 YPA, 49.8 Pass Grade) and on short throws within nine yards of the line (8-of-18, 3.7 YPA, 2 INT, 28.9 Pass Grade). This costly miscommunication cost Florida the game, though it’s unclear who read the play incorrectly.
Anthony Richardson OH NO 😲
— 247Sports (@247Sports) September 11, 2022
Keidron Smith pick-six gives Kentucky the lead 🏈pic.twitter.com/1cEyrrRzJN
While this poor showing doesn’t completely crater Richardson’s draft stock due to his impressive physical gifts, it certainly gives pause when projecting him as a surefire 2023 NFL Draft first-rounder and drops him into the second round from an evaluation standpoint from me.
Spencer Rattler, QB, South Carolina - Class of 2023
The ascension predicted for Rattler after his lackluster 2021 has not come to fruition as originally hoped. Last year, he earned a woeful 45.5 PFF passing grade with a 63.5% NFL Passer Rating on deep throws, which comprised just 9% of his overall attempts. This year his deep passing grade is just 45.8 with a 1-to-8 big time throw-to-turnover worthy play rate. Here are four throws that encapsulate how Rattler left yards on the table last Saturday against Arkansas:
South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler’s troubles with downfield accuracy at Oklahoma have continued in 2022.
— Eric Froton (@CFFroton) September 13, 2022
Here are four missed deep throws from Saturday’s game against Arkansas that backup his 1-to-8 Big Time Throw-to-Turnover Worthy Play rate according to PFF College. pic.twitter.com/BmcV6SQ96h
Rattler was mocked in the first round of several 2023 mock drafts that were released in early May after the 2022 Draft wrapped up in an attempt to garner hype and clicks while draft talk was still relevant. Those predictions were short-sighted and based on name recognition as opposed to Rattler’s actual production. I cannot envision Rattler ever being more than a 4th round developmental flier for NFL Draft purposes, and even that feels like a best-case scenario at this point.
Jermaine Burton, WR, Alabama - Class of 2023
Burton cashed in two short touchdowns in Week 1 against a listless Utah State defense that just got beat up by an FCS program. However, he averaged just 7.0 yards per reception in that contest with a long catch on the season of just 12 yards and a paltry yards per route average of 0.59. This is not the usage rate we saw from Jameson Williams last year after he transferred from Ohio State and lit the Alabama secondary on fire throughout training camp. Bama is also lining up Burton out wide just 44% of the time, which is a precipitous drop from the 82% of snaps where he lined up wide last year when he was at Georgia. Against Texas, Burton caught just two-of-three targets for 10 yards with a drop for a concerning ADOT of 3.4 yards. His usage leaves me wondering if Burton will be a possession receiver who will be used on short-to-medium range targets in an attempt to get him the ball in space, as opposed to taking the top off of defenses. I was skeptical all offseason that Burton would waltz right in and take over the WR1 role in Alabama’s talented WR room. He is being projected as a late-first to mid-second round selection in recent mocks, but I think he’s more of a third-fourth round flier at this point until he shows something more.
Phil Jurkovec, QB, Boston College - Class of 2023
Jurkovec arrived at Notre Dame as a highly regarded prospect who was expected to lead the Irish’s offense for multiple seasons. However, when he was beaten out by Ian Book, Jurkovec saw the writing on the wall and transferred to BC where he could have the starting job all to himself. He quickly showed a rapport with star WR Zay Flowers, showing promise with a 62% completion rate and a 15-to-3 ratio during his first season as a starting quarterback in 2020. He suffered a hand injury last year that all but ruined his 2021 and hasn’t been able to recapture the flashes of potential he exhibited in 2020. Through two starts this season, he has completed 54% of his throws at 6.0 yards per attempt with a 4-to-3 ratio and a 54.5 passing grade. Against Virginia Tech last Saturday he looked rattled in the pocket, taking six sacks with poor ball placement on many of his timing throws. With the second tier of 2023 quarterbacks so unsettled, Jurkovec has been getting listed as one of the top-10 signal callers in April’s NFL draft. Based on what I’ve seen in the first two games, I don’t see Jurkovec improving enough to warrant anything more than a 7th-round flier in terms of draft capital. He’s a stay away from a Devy perspective for me.
Freshman Phenoms
Nicholas Singleton, RB, Penn State - Class of 2025
I know it’s against Ohio, but check out these two incredible runs by Singleton, the #1 overall Devy commodity from the 2025 class:
5⭐️ Penn State freshman Nick Singleton goes 70 yards to the crib 🏠💨 pic.twitter.com/CgLSS4R2wT
— 247Sports (@247Sports) September 10, 2022
If that explosive run weren’t enough to turn you onto Singleton’s NFL potential, watch this second-half run he uncorked:
RB1. Nick Singleton.
— TK 🦁 (@PSU_TK) September 10, 2022
pic.twitter.com/ILzbet0EPB
Singleton was considered the top RB prospect from this year’s freshman class before his explosion against Ohio, but the agility, acceleration and contact balance he exhibited last weekend has solidified his status as a must-own Devy/Dynasty asset going forward.
Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ole Miss - Class of 2025
Judkins runs with violence and purpose, lowering his shoulder pads and slamming his way through for his first career touchdown:
Ole Miss freshman RB Quinshon Judkins is an absolute unit. #OleMiss | @OleMissFB pic.twitter.com/wZr1kA7agF
— Brad Logan (@BradLoganCOTE) September 7, 2022
Judkins lays down the law on this unfortunate linebacker:
Can we call that the Quinshon Judkins drive?
— We Run the Sip (@OMRebelNation) September 3, 2022
True freshman. pic.twitter.com/IAdagSuaYu
Here’s a pair of strong runs from Week 2 against Central Arkansas:
Ole Miss Freshman RB Quinshon Judkins is already the RB2 and is set to take over as the primary when Zach Evans moves onto the NFL. He’s solidifying himself in the upper tier of 2025 RB Prospects with runs like the following. Already runs with impressive power for an 18-year old pic.twitter.com/OE06HvTPCR
— Eric Froton (@CFFroton) September 13, 2022
While Judkins didn’t have the massive hype surrounding him that fellow 2025 NFL Draft prospect Singleton did entering the season, he has already solidified himself as the #2 RB behind star RB Zach Evans. Judkins is poised to assume the bell cow role in HC Lane Kiffin‘s offense that vaulted former FAU RB Devin Singletary into national stardom once Evans departs. He is a clear Devy/C2C buy and deserves to be considered in the RB4-7 range for 2025 leagues at this early point in the season.
