Yahoo Sports NFL draft: Gifted wide receivers highlight best Week 3 prospect matchups
We’re starting to gear up toward a full(er) college football slate with each passing week, and the news that the Big Ten is jumping back in brings even more potential NFL prospects to break down each week once we get into October.
The matchups this week are on the lighter side still, but there are some talented offensive skill-position prospects — plus one exciting small-school defender — we wanted to highlight heading into the weekend’s games:
Oklahoma State WRs Tylan Wallace and Tay Martin vs. Tulsa
The Cowboys return a ton of offensive talent and will open their season against a Tulsa defense that lost quite a bit. And yet as much as we want to watch Chuba Hubbard, one of the best backs in the country, our eyes also will be attuned to two talented OSU receivers.
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Wallace was having a fantastic 2019 season, averaging 111.9 yards and a touchdown per game, prior to missing the final five games with a torn ACL. He’s back now set to prove that he remains one of the best at his position in college football.
Will he possess the same route speed he did a year ago? Can he play with the same “my ball” approach post-knee injury?
More than his production in a game that could get out of hand, we want to see Wallace’s movement skills in his first game back. Summer grades on Wallace ranged from the second to third rounds, but it’s contingent on his health and regaining his explosiveness.
OSU has a very deep and experienced receiver group, including Dillon Stoner (who stepped up as WR1 when Wallace got hurt), big-play specialist Braydon Johnson, slot threat Landon Wolf and LSU transfer Dee Anderson.
But keep an eye on Davontavean “Tay” Martin, who transferred from Washington State only three weeks ago. The early returns on him have been wildly encouraging. Head coach Mike Gundy said he expected that Martin would receive “an extensive number of snaps in Saturday’s game.”
If Martin can show that he’s made a rapid adjustment to the new offense in such a short time, it will bode well for his draft status, even if Gundy’s terminology has a lot of overlap from what Mike Leach did at WSU. That’s an indication that Martin is a quick study and could have similar success picking up an NFL offense more readily than some other receivers might be able to.
The 6-3, 186-pound Martin — who transferred to be closer to his 1-year-old daughter — is viewed as a Day 3 prospect right now.
All the offensive talent in Miami-Louisville
We’d love to focus in on one or two players for each matchup, but with this being perhaps the best contest this week, it might be best to just roll out the menu for this offensive smorgasbord and simply feast.
For Louisville, QB Micale Cunningham might be viewed as more of an NFL project right now, but his improvement a year ago allowed all of the Cardinals’ skill-position talent to shine. Most of those prospects are back in WRs Tutu Atwell and Desmond Fitzpatrick and RB Javian Hawkins. In the Canes’ blowout over Louisville last season, Miami was able to keep Fitzpatrick (one 9-yard catch on four targets) in check but struggled with Atwell (6-142-1 receiving) and Hawkins (15-91-1 rushing, plus a 40-yard catch).
Miami didn’t even have TE Brevin Jordan for last year’s matchup, as he sat out with a foot ailment, and leaned quite a bit on 2020 Seattle Seahawks draft pick DeeJay Dallas in that game. Jordan was a bit quiet in the opener and reportedly was being pushed for a starting spot by Will Mallory in camp, but Jordan did score the winning touchdown last week and possesses clear NFL traits.
The Canes also received good production in that game from RB Cam’Ron Harris, who logged eight runs for 78 yards and had a 12-yard reception on his mere 16 offensive snaps. Harris is back and was a star in the opener this season with 17 rushes for 143 yards and two scores, plus four catches despite leaving the game with an injury. Head coach Manny Diaz, though, has said Harris is “good to go” for Saturday’s game.
And with QB D’Eriq King starting off his Hurricanes career in fine fashion, this offense figures to be a more prolific one on the whole. King’s NFL evaluation will be a fascinating one to track, but he’s the type of player who can make everyone around him better.
We don’t want to overlook some of the defensive talent in this game, as there are NFL prospects on both teams’ units. However, this collection of offensive prospects is a fun feast whose playmaking ability should be on peak display.
Houston WR Marquez Stevenson vs. Baylor
The 2020 NFL draft was loaded at receiver. But the 2021 draft has a chance to be even better.
And one of the more slept-on stars at that position is the Cougars’ speedy slot weapon in Stevenson, perhaps one of the fastest players in college football this season. He has come back from two major injuries — a broken collarbone his freshman year, a torn left ACL as a sophomore — to put himself in the second- or third-round range entering his final NCAA season.
At a shade under 6-foot and around 190 pounds, Stevenson’s size is a bit of a concern. He’s also played primarily inside in college, which figures to be where he lines up in the NFL. But Stevenson is a blur in the open field, logging grabs of 69, 75 and 96 yards last year despite the Cougars’ offensive inconsistencies.
Is Stevenson as fast as, say, Henry Ruggs III? The guess is no. But it wouldn’t shock us to see him turn in a time in the 4.3-second range at next year’s NFL scouting combine. Stevenson just has a different gear in the open field than almost any defender he’ll match up against.
Baylor is in full rebuild on defense under new head coach Dave Aranda, and the Bears could be vulnerable in the secondary. Grayland Arnold, their primary slot corner a year ago, has moved on. Safety J.T. Woods has handled that duty, too, but do the Bears trust a safety vs. Stevenson’s home-run speed? We don’t think so.
Stevenson is a threat as a runner and could be used on returns, too. He has 22 touchdowns in his past 22 games — 18 as a receiver, two as a runner and two as a kick returner. Stevenson also threw a TD pass as a sophomore.
This could be a showcase game on Saturday for the undersized speed ball to continue rising up draft boards.
Coastal Carolina EDGE Tarron Jackson vs. Campbell
Who?
Well, if you watched any of the Chanticleers’ shocking upset of Kansas last weekend, you might have noticed that the Jayhawks’ offensive line was under siege most of that game. We like to highlight lesser-known prospects in this space when we can, and among those leading the way on that charge vs. KU was the 6-2, 260-pound senior.
Jackson doesn’t possess the length you’d ideally want to see in an NFL edge prospect, but his production — 10 sacks and 13 tackles for loss in 2019 — has him on NFL radars. The Senior Bowl recently listed Jackson on its Top 250 watch list and the first-team All-Sun Belt pick from a year ago is considered the best or second-best defender in the conference along with Appalachian State’s Demetrius Taylor.
Jackson was living in Kansas’ backfield last week, generating a total of eight pressures (three QB hits, five hurries), according to Pro Football Focus, with his all-out effort easy to see on tape. He has a nice arm-over pass-rush move, along with a spin like the one Jackson (No. 9, going against the left tackle) flashed on this play — on a pass that should have been an interception:
Right now, Jackson is likely contending to be a Day 3 selection. His unusual dimensions might only endear him to certain teams, and he needs to diversify his pass-rush approach a bit. Jackson also will face questions about his level of competition, even though the conference produced an impressive seven selections in the 2020 NFL draft.
Jackson lines up at nearly every spot on the defensive line (except nose tackle) and will stand up and rush the passer, too. He even took snaps as a blocking tight end last year and has played readily on special teams as well. His best fit defensively in the NFL might come as a pass rusher in a 3-4 front like the one the Chanticleers use most often.
Saturday’s matchup against the Camels could allow Jackson to get back in the sack category. But his strong outing against Kansas is exactly the kind of bigger-school tape that smaller-school prospects need to impress NFL scouts.
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