The 2026 college football season is upon us. Week 1 means lopsided games where the Power Four attempts to knock the rust off after a long offseason of practice.
However, there will be a few games with two teams from the Power Four and these can lend important insights into the NFL Draft prospects on their rosters. Looking at some of the marquee games, let’s also look at some of those prospects that can start to help their stock against quality opponents.
Miami at Stanford
- QB Darien Mensa
- Wide receiver Cooper Barkate
- RB Mark Fletcher
Stanford is a Power Four team and Andrew Luck is their general manager. This is about all we need to know about the Cardinal in 2026. Miami is a different animal though.
The Hurricanes, especially this offense, is loaded with draft prospects. This does not include their best player in sophomore Malachi Toney who is not eligible to enter the draft until after the 2027 season. But there are three players who will all be major prospects in April.
Quarterback Darien Mensa, the transfer story from Duke, is the first player to talk about.Â
After transferring from Tulane to Duke on a two-year, $8 million agreement, Mensa balled out in 2025 and decided to break his agreement during the final hours of the transfer window to take over at Miami for a reported $6 million. By doing so, Mensa has increased the amount of talent surrounding him. This will help his progression into a top-four quarterback in the upcoming draft. Currently just outside of this, Mensa will be able to throw to the likes of Toney and Duke’s leading wide receiver from 2025 in Cooper Barkate, who followed Mensa to Miami as a security blanket for both Mensa and the Hurricanes. If Mensa can use the surrounding talent in the same manner Cam Ward and Carson Beck have in recent seasons, he will be a first-round draft selection.
His partner in coming over from Duke, Barkate finished the 2025 season with 72 receptions for 1,102 yards and 7 touchdowns for the ACC champions. At 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, Barkate also has solid size. Unfortunately, the class of wide receivers set to enter the 2027 draft all have a lot of size. This makes Barkate less valuable as a prospect. But it still matters to Miami. With Toney on the other side and getting the double team treatment, Barkate can reproduce the production he had with the Blue Devils in 2025. Barkate will be seen as a late Day 2 or early Day 3 prospect in the NFL.
Finally, we came to running back Mark Fletcher Jr.
Fletcher Jr. decided to stay home in Miami rather than heading to Ohio State, and will not be the top running back taken — that will be Kewan Lacy of Ole Miss. But Fletcher will be a top-five player at his position and with the revival of the running back position in the NFL, he can still be a high selection. Â
After a 2025 campaign in which he finished with 1,192 yards and 12 touchdowns on 216 carries, Fletcher Jr. may not need to do as much in 2026 with the receivers Miami has. But this does not mean he will be any less important. Â
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound running back will be counted on to provide an additional threat on offense. By doing so, opposing defenses will not be able to concentrate solely on the passing game. By keeping them honest, this will help the Hurricanes reach their ultimate destination. Las Vegas.
Fletcher Jr. is well aware of his role in the offense, and he will be able to excel. With Mario Cristobal being a former offensive lineman, he knows the importance of the trenches. He will have this line ready to block for Mensa. But this also means they will be blocking for Fletcher Jr. who will have plenty of long runs as a benefit. Fletcher looks to be another Day 2 prospect on an offense full of such talents
Boise State at Oregon
- QB Dante Moore
Although not Power Four against Power Four, Boise State will provide more of a challenge for Oregon than most of the cupcakes normally played. While we can go through the entire Oregon defensive line and find four prospects, the biggest prospect for the Ducks is quarterback Dante Moore.
Moore, who stands at 6-foot-3 and weighs 206 pounds, left money on the table to return to Oregon. This shows not only what NIL can do, it also shows that Moore has something left to prove.Â
The last time these schools played in September of 2024, Oregon won the game. But, with the score being 37-34, it was too close for comfort. With Oregon being at the top of the most talented teams list in 2026, coach Dan Lanning will not want to see the same type of score. It will be on Moore and his ability to find receivers like Evan Stewart, Dakorien Moore, and Jeremiah McClellan to rack up the points. If Moore and McClellan were not both sophomores, they would also be on this list. Evan Stewart, playing in his fifth season of college football, can help his stock this season. But only if he can prove to scouts that he can remain healthy. If he can, the former five-star recruit can jump up as a Day Two option for teams.Â
As for Moore. He would have been the second quarterback selected in the 2026 NFL draft behind Fernando Mendoza. By staying another season in Eugene, he can go No. 1 overall. Â
Clemson at LSU
- DE Will Heldt
- LB Sam Brown
- TE Trey'Dez Green
- OT Jordan Seaton
- QB Sam Leavitt
Although Clemson might not be a national championship contender anymore, the Tigers do have a few NFL prospects who will be worth watching against LSU on Saturday.Â
The first of these prospects is Will Heldt, a pass rusher who finished the 2025 season with 15.5 tackles for a lost and 7.5 sacks for a Clemson team which sent nine players to the 2026 NFL Draft.Â
Hurdt has extremely long arms and good moves to get into the backfield. Current projections see him looking like a late first-round selection. But, with less competition for reps this season, he can climb even higher.
The other player to speak about is Sam Brown at the linebacker position. Brown, who measures in at 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, was a five-star recruit in 2024 and made an immediate impact. He was the top linebacker in the 2024 class and the No. 2 overall player at some services.
As a freshman, Brown finished 2024 with 80 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss and 5 sacks. In 2025, these numbers increased to 106 tackles, 13.5 tackles for a loss, and again finished with 5 sacks. Â
He is a threat to stop the running game as shown by his tackles and tackles for a loss numbers. But he needs to get better in pass coverage if he wants to get into the first round of the draft. This said, Brown currently looks like a second day prospect and will likely go somewhere in the late second round.
LSU also has NFL prospects on their sidelines in this game. This list starts with 6-foot-7, 240-pound tight end Trey’Dez Green who comes into the season as a top prospect at his position for the draft.
Green, who runs a 4.65 40-uard dash, will be catching balls from transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt who will know how and where to find his massive target on offense. The college game is not known for massive tight end production. But, playing in 11 games during the 2025 season, Green still pulled down 33 receptions for 433 yards and 7 touchdowns. These numbers, along with the offensive fire power the Tigers will have with Lane Kiffin can vault Green into the late rouns-one discussion come April.Â
The next player to look at on offense is tackle Jordan Seaton, who came in from Colorado after two successful seasons as the leader of the offensive line for Deion Sanders. Now in a place where he can show his ability against the best, Seaton looks to dominate again as he enters the season as a potential top-15 draft selection.
Sam Leavitt, who led Arizona State to the playoffs following the 2024 season, spent most of 2025 injured. It will be important for Leavitt to show that he is not only healthy, but that he can also replicate his performance on the biggest of stages in the SEC.
At 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, Leavitt has a bit of size. He also can run the ball a bit, something which is important for the offense run by Kiffin. This is an offense where quarterbacks can look good even if they are average. It cost the Carolina Panthers after they drafted Matt Corral. But it has worked so far for the New York Giants after they moved up in the draft to select Jaxon Dart in the first round and named him their starter.
It is difficult to know what you will get out of a Kiffin-led quarterback, whether they are a system creation or a good player. Many teams will hesitate before taking the chance and this could lead Leavitt to fall to the early part of Day 3.  Â
Louisville vs. Ole Miss
- LB Clev Lubin
- RB Isaac Brown
- QB Lincoln Kienholz
- QB Trinidad Chambliss
- RB Kewan Lacy
Ole Miss had a lot of their NFL prospects leave with Kiffin to go to LSU this offseason. But there were three important pieces who stayed in Oxford and will be key members of Pete Golding’s first team.
On Louisville’s side, Jeff Brohm has come back home and made Louisville competitive quickly. Making the conference title game in his first season back.Â
Louisville has two players of note to speak about. One of them is linebacker Clev Lubin, a 260-pound lineman/linebacker, who runs a 4.65 40-yard dash and is a high second-round pick in current projections. During the 2025 season for the Cardinals, Lubin finished with 35 solo tackles, 8.5 sacks and forced three fumbles. His ability to find the ball plays a big part in his high projection. If he can start the season strong against the Rebels, the sky is the limit for Lubin.
On offense, although Brohm is a former quarterback, the player to watch is running back Isaac Brown. He finished the 2025 season with 884 yards and 7 touchdowns on just 101 carries as he was the weapon Louisville used to keep defenses honest against an offense which wants to pass the ball more than it runs. Brown plays this role well and he will need to do so again as the team brings in another transfer quarterback, Lincoln Kienholz, from Ohio State. Kienholz, who is from South Dakota and never had a chance to start with the Buckeyes will count on the 5-foot-9, 190-pound Brown to be a reliable partner in the backfield and to bail him out when things go awry.Â
Brown will be more important to the Cardinals this season and his NFL stock will be limited by his size and speed. At 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds, Brown runs just a 4.48 40-yard dash. This will drop him to a Day 3 selection unless he can elevate his time during the season and before the combine.
For the Rebels, there are key players on both sides of the ball.
Trinidad Chambliss, who was granted another year of eligibility, looks to overcome his size to show scouts that he has the mind which will allow him to be successful.       Â
After throwing for 3,937 yards with 22 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in 2025, Chambliss will count on running back Kewan Lacy to provide him with even more help this season as Ole Miss will look to again return to the playoffs. Based on heart, Chambliss is a first-round selection. Based on measurables and on field play, he will fall into late Day 2 or early Day 3.
Alongside him in the backfield, Lacy is the best running back in the country coming into the season. But this does not always translate to the NFL. Much like Chambliss, a college star is different than an NFL star.Â
Lacy, who finished the 2025 season with 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns on 306 carries, will be the leading rusher in the SEC and the country in 2026, just based on volume. What drops him though is his 40-yard dash time of 4.48 at only 200 pounds. This does not project well to the NFL and is the reason that Lacy is not the top running back prospect in 2027. Instead, Lacy will be behind others like Jadan Baugh of Florida and Ahmad Hardy of Missouri. This puts Lacy in the range of a mid-to-late second-round selection.   Â
Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame
- QB CJ Carr
- CB Leonard Moore
While Wisconsin does not have anyone to speak of, Notre Dame has a few prospects in quarterback CJ Carr and cornerback Leonard Moore.
Carr will not have stats on the sheet which will wow you. Much of this is due to the incredible backfield of Notre Dame, a backfield which included No. 4 selection Jeremyah Love and No. 32 selections Jadeveon Pricein the NFL draft in 2026. This limited Carr to 2, 741 yards, 24 TD and 6 interceptions. With a new running back stable in the mix, Carr will use his strong arm more and prove what he can do on his own. Carr, who is currently a first-round prospect, can get into the top-five discussion on a loaded Irish team.
On the other side of the ball, Notre Dame has several players in the round one range. But the best of the bunch is Moore who is drawing rave comparisons to Patrick Surtain II and Jalen Ramsey due to his ability to lock down players in both man and zone coverage.Â
During his 2025 sophomore season, Moore caused 10 incompletions, defended seven passes and had five interceptions for the Notre Dame defense. If he continues this trajectory for another season, Moore could be a top-five selection in the draft and could go as high as No. 3.
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