Week 3 of college football is behind us, time to take a look at the stock of some of the nation’s most polarizing prospects.
A week ago in this NFL Draft stock watch piece, a handful of prospects profiled showed off for the NFL scouts, but the top prospect was Missouri’s, Drew Lock. With each passing week, Lock is ascending into the top of the draft order. The dominant defensive linemen that were featured again showed the NFL is about to get a ton of talent on defensive fronts next year. This article is not going to re-hash those players in back-to-back weeks. Instead, we can look elsewhere and see how the NFL’s next influx of talent is faring.
Week 3 in the college football season had a typically-SEC style game in Auburn-LSU come down to the wire. Then a non-SEC style game with an Alabama offensive explosion. Both games featured players that made this list, including the first one.
5. Jarrett Stidham, QB, Auburn
The Auburn signal-caller is getting first round buzz in a quarterback class that is considered by most to be a weak overall group. On Saturday, we learned more so that while the tools may be there, Stidham has a way to go. He had opportunities to bring the Tigers back against a pesky LSU defense and failed to do so. It is easy to forget that Auburn runs a very quarterback-friendly system that highlights Stidham when things are going right.
When, like at home against LSU, things start to go poorly it could get ugly in a hurry. The former four-star recruit is going to need to put on better showings against the rest of Auburn’s SEC schedule if he wants to be taken in serious first-round consideration.
4.Marquise Brown, WR, Oklahoma
All talk after Saturday’s win in Ames was about quarterback Kyler Murray and the Sooners offense. While Murray is a solid player, the NFL is not as high on him as his statistics would suggest. Instead, the apple of the NFL’s eyes for the offense is wide receiver, Marquise Brown.
“Hollywood” as he is known by the Sooner faithful showed off his insane speed and why the comparison’s to Tyreek Hill are not that far fetched. He finished the game with nine catches for 191 yards and a touchdown. Brown is just another name to add to this already loaded wide receiver class. Keep an eye on him come combine time because reports out of Oklahoma are he has run a sub 4.3 in the 40-yard dash.
3. Devin White, LB, LSU
For as bad as Stidham was on the other side of the ball, that is how good Devin White was for LSU’s defense. Entering the season White was a name to keep on lists for the first linebacker taken. He is a rangy and explosive linebacker at LSU who has constantly put solid players at that position into the NFL.
One knock for him was his instincts, read-and-react ability and he was a bit undersized. All three of those were on display at Auburn. White has grown leaps and bounds in his instincts and reactions. He also looks much bigger while remaining fast and agile. There are good linebackers entering the draft in 2019, none may be better than White.
2. Deionte Thompson, S, Alabama
There are few positions in the NFL draft that you can point to and find a clear-cut top option. One of those you can is at safety with Alabama’s Deionte Thompson. The ball-hawk on the back-end of the Tide’s defense is going to follow in the likes of Eddie Jackson, Ha-Ha Clinton Dix and Minkah Fitzpatrick. Thompson is garnering rave reviews, including Shannon Sharpe’s comparison to the late Sean Taylor.
Nick Saban’s defense dominated a good Ole Miss offense and Thompson is the leader of the defensive backfield. He finished the night with an interception and near forced fumble. His start of the season is elevating his stock every week and an NFL team is going to get a stud when and if he declares.
1. A.J. Dillon, RB, Boston College
Losing Rodney Anderson and an underwhelming Alabama backfield has opened up the RB1 talk again in college football. There are plenty of contenders, including Iowa State’s David Montgomery who almost made this list after a strong performance against Oklahoma. Another impressive performance may have gone unnoticed. Boston College and Wake Forest played a rare early Thursday game due to Hurricane Florence.
B.C.’s running back A.J. Dillon was the catalyst to the Eagle’s offense. His night included 33 carries for 185 yards and a touchdown. The draft community will need to see more from Dillon in the passing game for him to get top-50 consideration but there is no denying he is a talented and special player running the ball.