College football stars that NFL Draft scouts should be paying extra attention to this week

All the NFL Draft scouts know about Arch Manning and Dante Moore, but there’s quite a few budding stars after the first couple of weeks of the college football season scouts should have their eyes on. With a big week of college football ahead, here are the players that have shown they’re good enough to be drafted and will continue to prove that in Week 3 of the college football season. 

RB Jadan Baugh, Florida Gators

Jadan Baugh has been the feature running back in Florida for the last two seasons now. He burst onto the scene as a true freshman and eventually took over the starting role for last year. He amassed more than 1,100 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns as a sophomore, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. This season, Florida’s first two opponents haven’t been able to slow him down either. He has nearly 300 rushing yards already with five rushing touchdowns in just two games. He’s also averaging just above 10 yards per carry. 

Florida has its first real test of the season against Auburn. With it being the first conference game of the season, just about anything can happen. If Baugh has another big performance, it will show that he can dominate the smaller schools as well as the bigger ones. One of the biggest knocks against Ashton Jeanty was whether he could perform at a high level against better competition. He’s proving that and now Baugh has that same chance. If he does play well, he’ll certainly boost his draft stock.

WR KJ Duff, Rutgers Scarlet Knights

There isn’t anything good coming out of Rutgers University to start the 2026 season. In fact, KJ Duff might be the only thing to talk about that doesn’t refer to Greg Schiano’s hot seat or how bad this season is already going. Duff has the second most receiving yards in college football with 333 and tied for the most receiving touchdowns with five. Rutgers is in bad shape, but he’s been the only thing worth watching in the birthplace of college football. 

His first test this season will be against USC this week. Don’t have high expectations for Rutgers as a whole, but have high expectations for Duff. If he has yet another big game, he could quickly become a player draft scouts won’t want to overlook. 

S Kingston Lopa, California Bears

Kingston Lopa spent his first two seasons at Oregon and got buried in the depth chart. He transferred to California this season and proved just how talented of a safety he is. He had three interceptions and returned one for a touchdown against Syracuse in Week 2 to go with his six tackles. He can play in the box as well as in coverage, which makes him the perfect draft steal for a team looking for a nickelback. 

With this being his first full season starting as a safety he could very well return to school or hit the transfer portal for a bigger program, but he might be able to boost his draft stock enough that it would be worth it. Lopa won’t have a tough challenge against Wagner this week, but it will be a solid tune-up game before Cal’s second ACC game of the season. If he wants to truly get on the radar of draft scouts, that’s the game he needs to play elite in. 

EDGE Princewill Umanmielen, LSU Tigers

The Ole Miss-LSU game is the game of the week for more reasons than not. With all the eyes on this game, Princewill Umanmielen is a player that has to have a big week. he's the sack leader in college football with five already through the first two games. LSU has been dominant through Lane Kiffin's first two games, but this one is an emotional game and those usually have different vibes on game day. That could affect Umanmielen as well, as he's facing his former team for the first time since his transfer.

Umanmielen's brother, Princely, is in the NFL and was a third-round draft pick by the Carolina Panthers. Umanmielen is already proving he's going to be a really good college player and now he can prove he's worth using a high draft pick on in the NFL Draft.

LB Suntarine Perkins, Ole Miss Rebels

Suntarine Perkins is in his final season at Ole Miss which means it's paramount for him to have a good season to improve his draft stock. Ole Miss's defensive line has been the talk of this team but Perkins is really good. There were a lot of good linebackers taken on Day 2 and 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft. Perkins might fall into that category for now, but if he wants to move into the Day 1 conversation, he has to contain LSU's explosive offense.

He's more of an off-ball linebacker so he will have to show just how good of a pass coverage backer he is. LSU is a great test with their passing threat — assuming Sam Leavitt plays. He has just two career interceptions. Last year he had an interception with five passes defended with three forced fumbles. He'll need to build on that to improve his draft stock. This game is a great way to showcase just how good he is.

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