The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Building the Beast: First 2025 impressions of the draft-eligible quarterbacks

Episode Date: September 2, 2025

We saw Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeier and LaNorris Sellers all play in Week 1, to varying results. What are our first 2025 impressions of all of those quarterbacks? And who else should NFL Draft heads already be taking notice of this season? Dave Helman and Dane Brugler recap Week 1 of the CFB season on this episode of Building the Beast.Hosts: Dave Helman and Dane BruglerExecutive Producer: Michael BellerProducer: Michael BellerSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...⁠Apple⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠YouTube⁠Follow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Dave on X: @davehelman_Follow Dane on X: @dpbruglerTheme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the second episode of Building the Beast. And guess what? We got football to talk about. We already previewed the show. You know what we're here to do. Every week, Dane Bruegler and myself are breaking down this year's college football season in regard to the 2026 NFL draft draft. We are trying to build the Beast, Dane's wonderful annual draft guide. That is the goal.

And we have got a whole week one schedule to go through as we identify who to know, who to be impressed by who to keep an eye on during this 2025 college football season. There is a lot to get to after a loaded week one. So that, that'll do for an intro. Let's jump into the show. You know, Dan, it always feels a little surreal. It's a seven-month wait for the season. And then it gets here.

There's so much anticipation. And you look back on it, you're like, damn, did that just happen? Like, I can't believe we finally have stuff to react to actual results to inform our opinions. How'd the first weekend treat you? It was fun. First time in 36 years that we saw four top 10 teams lose on opening weekend, which is always fun that we see that immediate shakeup. I know people get upset because of preseason rankings and all that.

We shouldn't have them until October. Chill out. Like, it's for TV. It's for, you know, to talk about these teams as you try to blindly rank them over the summer. But in terms of prospects, I think a lot of. lot of players stepped up. Some players let us down. And it's going to be an interesting quarterback class.

You know, I think there's excitement over it because it's so much better than we had last year. But it's still not a great class. You know, I think if you're looking for your quarterback savior in this draft class, you're probably going to be disappointed. I'm not saying you should punt. You know, there's several guys that we're going to talk about today and throughout the year that are promising. and guys that we can get excited about.

But, you know, it's just, you know, the Caleb Williams, Drake May, like, it's just not that type of quarterback class. And so, but we'll get into it. We try not to overreact too much to week one, but at the same time, yeah, I think there's plenty we can take away from what we saw in this opening week.

That is always the fun thing about the draft cycle. It's like in May, we say, well, hold on to your hats for this 2026 quarterback class. It's going to be way better. And then those guys have to go play 12 to 15 games and their warts are going to get exposed the same way as everybody else. And the real version is usually not as great as the idealized version we see in May. But to your point, four top 10 teams go down over the weekend.

Obviously, number one, Texas loses at Ohio State. Clemson loses to LSU. Notre Dame lost the Sunday night game to Miami. And of course, Alabama with a, I would call it shocking. performance. Maybe not shocking that they lost, but shocking that they got dominated a little bit by a Florida State team that they were two touchdown favorites over. So we're going to touch on all of that. And I'm glad you framed it that way, Dan, because I came up with what I think is a great way to look at this first weekend, which is after one game of results, are we panicking?

Are we going to pause and let it play out? Or are we planning the parade already? And that can for some of these teams as well as some of these prospects. We wanted to hit on some of the biggest names. Some struggled. Some were great. Just go through the range of emotions and how we should feel. And I don't care how you feel about it, to be honest. I think we have to start with Texas quarterback Archmanning.

Obviously, all eyes were on him at the horseshoe on Saturday. And it didn't go so great. He kind of salvaged it with a more productive fourth quarter, although we can get into some of the misses from the fourth quarter as well. But the guy went into the final quarter of his starter debut with 38 passing yards. The Longhorns go down 14 to 7. The offense looked anemic. Arch looked uncomfortable.

I don't know. Was it as bad upon further review as what social media would have you believe on Saturday? Because that was the other thing. With the amount of hype on Arch Manning, the pushback on what we saw was extreme. Should it be that extreme? Should we be panicking? I'm not panicking on Arch overall. I think in the long run, he'll be just fine as he develops.

But in terms of Arch being part of the 2026 draft class and being that no-brainer, top pick, it's absolutely fair to panic. We always assumed he was going to go back to Austin for a senior year. And the inexperience was a big reason why. And that showed in the opener. And I think that's just going to fuel the fire of why he probably won't be part of the 2026 draft class. And so I think you look at what we saw on Saturday. I think most expected struggles early.

Two career starts, never completed a pass on the road. Arch just didn't look ready for that type of stage. And if you go back and watch his start against Mississippi State last year, that's what really sold me on him being a big time talent because he was so good with his rhythm. It all looked very natural for him. Obviously going to Columbus against an Ohio State defense is very different. But his inability to find that rhythm or play with any type of timing was the big story. And I'm not going to kill Arch because especially when you think about when you watch the All 22 of this game and you see what Matt Patricia, offensive coordinator for Ohio State, or defensive coordinator for Ohio State, what he was doing, I mean, good luck.

And think about it. Patricia has never been a college defensive coordinator. So what tape was Texas watching this summer to prepare? Seven Patriots tape from seven years ago? I mean, what were they watching to get ready for this? So a lot of what Arch was seeing was brand new. And it's not like he was missing a lot of open receivers because the coverage was awesome. Now, did he spray the ball?

Yes. Ball placement was not great. The mechanics just fell apart throughout the game. and especially as he started to press. But I also think Texas got thoroughly out-coached, and that's a credit to Matt Patricia and what he was doing on defense. So look, I mean, Texas has San Jose State, U-TEP, Sam Houston State, all at home the next three weeks.

So he's going to, Arch is going to get those valuable reps that he needs before the SEC schedule comes. And so I think in the long run, he's going to be just fine. but in terms of teams, whether it's the Browns, the Saints, whoever, being excited about the potential savior coming for them next draft in the form of Arch Manning, yeah, it's definitely fair to panic on that. This isn't how NFL teams look at it, obviously, but just in terms of public perception, and I think for a guy like Arch Manning, with that last name and the amount of advertisements,

I mean, the guy had three national commercial spots like during this game. That goes along with it, whether it's fair or not. I'm curious to see like what level he would have to reach to sort of alleviate this performance. You know, and again, Texas won't be on a stage like this playing an opponent like this for at least a month or so. I'm curious to see how good it has to look for people to kind of let this one go. because I think everything he does, at least over the next few games, is going to be, yeah, but he looked completely lost against Ohio State. Like, forgive me if I'm not impressed by big stats against U-TEP.

Well, and that's, so last thing I'll say about Arch is it's, it's so easy to overreact to this one game. But, I mean, we can go back. Look at, I mean, I don't have to tell you this, but watch Joe Burroughs first few starts at LSU. You know, like he was completing maybe 50% of it. passes. Like, it did not look good. Jane Daniels, his third season at Arizona State, it was rough. So, I mean, there are numerous examples of successful NFL quarterbacks who started slow, who, you know, showed their inexperience, looked like guys that needed to get better.

Development's not guaranteed, but it's still important to keep an open mind on all these young quarterbacks throughout the season and not just bury them because they didn't live up to their full potential. in that first huge test of their college career. I said it at the time. I know people want to make fun of Matt Patricia because of how his tenure as Detroit's head coach went. That guy ran a championship level defense for several years.

And so dropping him into the college game with prospects like Ohio State has, by the way, which we'll get into some of those guys. But when a guy with a mind for the game like Matt Patricia gets to use Caleb Downs to work against a quarterback making his first big time start. I'm really not surprised, nor am I alarmed that it went that poorly. I will say two of the two of the misses in the fourth quarter with Arch really did concern me though.

Like the third down miss in the low red zone, like when they had a chance to get back in the game, it looked like a mesh concept where he just, he had his guy open and just he, the mechanics were all wrong. He could not lead his receiver. I was like, I don't need you to be good, but that is a throw that I think you're capable of making even in these circumstances. I mean, it came open for you. So that set off a little bit of an alarm bell with me. But by and large, I'm more than more than happy to just press pause on Arch and see where he is in a few weeks. Yeah. And I think like I said before, it all comes back to his inability to find the rhythm. And when he can't find the rhythm, the mechanics fell apart. His feet were not on the same page as his upper body, his eyes, and that just threw everything

off with his accuracy. And so is it going to look like that in November? I'd be very surprised. Now, if it does, yeah, all right, let's, maybe we just don't need to talk about Arch Manning as an NFL prospect anymore. If we're still having this issue in November, but it's something that I think will get better over the next few months as he gets that valuable experience. under his belt. So the nightcap on Saturday was another matchup of top 10 teams. Number four, Clemson falls at home to LSU, 17 to 10. Just a chess match of a game, really.

But two of the big quarterback prospects also featured in this matchup, Cade Clubnick, are we panicking? Are we pausing about an up and down performance against the Ficey LSUD? And on the other side, Garrett Nussmeyer, are we ready to throw the parade? Forgive me if I am, but that's why I defer to you, the expert. So, all right, we'll start with Clubneck. And, you know, just when I, when I do like my preseason top 50 draft board, I tend to lean optimistic when I rank quarterbacks. Obviously, I did it with Arch.

He started at number two overall. Yeah, I did it last year. Shador. Like, I was never, I've never been a big Shador guy. But he started at number 18 overall for me on last year's top 50. because I thought that's where he could end up for me if he made some of those key improvements. That didn't really happen and he dropped out,

or he just Shador dropped with every ranking that I did last year. But all the quarterbacks in this year's early top 50 were based on them answering some of those key questions and developing in 2025. Like Lenore Sellers, and we'll talk about him in a little bit too, but he still's got a ways to go, but he's still a top 10 prospect for me because of where he could get to. And so with Clubnik, I've never been a big Clubnik guy.

I like him. He started at number 30 for me on the top 50 because that's where I thought he could get it with some of those key improvements this year. I just, we didn't see any of those key improvements against a tough LSU defense. He made some gutsy throws. I really like his athleticism. And I think we also had to point out how he was missing his top receiver, Antonio Williams for almost all the game.

He played, I think, five snaps. and then he had exit with a hamstring injury. But my main concern with Clubnik from the 2024 tape, all the panic moments. And we saw that again in this type of game, even though it was at home, he would bail from the pocket before he needed to. He'd make these uncomfortable decisions. And we put, I mean, there were several times where he put throws in harm's way. One was picked off. A few others could have been.

Again, his athleticism, his mobility, they're assets for him. and something that I really like about his game, but he tends to rely on it way too much. So I'll put it this way. I think Clubnik's a really solid player, but he has a lot more fans on Twitter than he does in the league. I just, I was hoping to see more from a guy as a three-year starter starting at home. You know, like he, like you said,

I mean, he was, he was bailing from pockets. He was not coping with LSU's pressure well. I would even say the big, my biggest takeaway from this game, Dane, and you prepped me and the listeners for it perfectly when we talked about Clemson's defensive front with Peter Woods at D-Tackle and T.J. Parker at Edge, LSU had a plan for mitigating Clemson's front. And Clemson just didn't really look like they expected LSU to be able to pressure their quarterback.

And they were very mistaken about that. And so Clubnick was dropping back, just traditional drop back a lot. And the pocket was not holding up. and even when it was, I thought Clubnik didn't trust it. And then Garrett Nussmeyer, A, used his mobility fantastically to get away from pressure. But also, they just were not letting him stand in the pocket that much. It was a lot of screens. It was a lot of quick throws.

I thought they had a wonderful plan, even if, like, the statistics are not gaudy at all, 28 of 38 for 230 from Garrett Nussmire. But they just had a plan to get the ball out of his hands and not let those de linemen wreck the game. Yeah, and I don't want to say that I'm necessarily planning the parade with Nussmire because, you know, I thought he played exactly how I expected to, you know, and it was like you said, it was far from a perfect game, but he looked good. And what I love so much about his tape last year and then what he did on Saturday night was it just, he's doing actual quarterback things and executing. You know, he's setting protections. He's negotiating muddy pockets. He has a really good feel for all of his reads and then how to, to access them. So the release really quick, it's tight, the ball explodes off his hands.

And just watching that tape against Clemson's defense, that's really, really good. Nussmeyer just had a lot of answers, a lot of solutions for what Clemson was throwing at him. So, yeah, he started, Nussmeyer started the year at number 10 overall in my early top 50. And nothing really happened to make me come off of that, you know, to really push him up. order to drop them from where I had them coming in. So Nussmeyer, to me, is the top senior prospect this year, overall, all seniors. And he's going to be right there in that mix to be one of the top quarterbacks. You know, we'll see who these underclassmen declare.

But Nussmeyer is at the top of these seniors. And so there's just a lot to like about his game. Even if I don't look at him and say, oh, easy slam dunk, top five pick, top three pick, he's going to be an NFL starter. I mean, if Tony Romo and Baker Mayfield had a had a baby, this is kind of like what it would look like. That's how he plays. I'm clipping that out.

His skill set, the way he plays, I think that's what Garrett Nussmeyer is, flaws in all. His plan after the play breaks down. I mean, like obviously, like he knows what to do in structure, but he always seems to have a plan when the play breaks down. and execute it really well. Like there was the cross-body throw when he escaped pressure.

I believe it was in the third quarter of that game. He had a couple just nice bait like stepping up in the pocket. And it's easy to call it a checkdown, but like evading pressure and finding the running back essentially while getting tackled by a defensive line. And just a lot of really heady stuff like that where like there's just no panic in his game, which is impressive when you remember that you're on the road playing in front of 90,000, whatever, Clemson Stadium.

holds. I'm curious for your thoughts on the next guy. He played Sunday afternoon. I don't want to give away any of my opinions about Lenora Sellers game against Virginia Tech. 12 of 19, 209 yards and a touchdown. 13 carries for 25 yards and a rushing touchdown. South Carolina gets the win against Virginia Tech. I mean, I don't think we could say panicking, but are we pausing or are we planning the parade with Lenora Sellers? Would you say you're a buyer for sellers or let me let me let me let me put it this way. If that was week one, I'm buying all the stock that I can because like if you if you watched this entire game and the highlights are incredible and we can get to them.

But if you watch this entire game, like you can see stuff that he needs to work on like the accuracy wasn't always there. Not every throw was amazing. I'm not saying he's like he should go number one overall. or anything yet at least. But like if that was week one against a pretty good team, I'm excited for what the future could hold. I'll say that.

Yeah. And this is why Seller started the year, what, number seven overall in my top 50. And I think this performance was kind of similar to Nussmeyer, where it wasn't a perfect game by any means, but it was a step in the right direction. It was what you want to see from a quarterback who's getting better and better. And it's a great starting point for the season. And I know this sounds hyperbolic, but Sellers is the strongest quarterback of ever evaluated in almost two decades of doing this.

And I say that with all due respect to Cam Newton, Jalen Hertz, whoever else, Sellers, he just has a rare combination of explosiveness, power, body balance. And so that dual threat ability is still what you love about him. You know, if you take his five best plays from Sunday's game, what probably four of them are him running the ball. You know, and so like that's still the main selling point with him is that dual threat ability, what he can do. And so how he develops as a passer throughout this year will be ultimately the decider

if he comes out because he's still young. He just turned 20 years old, very young player. And then if he does, okay, does he go number one? Does he go top five, top 10? So he still has planning to prove. But you know, and you want to see him read things out. You want to see the timing of the progressions work. He just needs to stack good outings here.

And I think this was a really good start for him. So, yeah, I think he's, he did. It wasn't a perfect performance, but I think he did enough where you're coming away watching that tape and saying, all right, I feel good about Lenora Sela's moving forward. I think that's a great thing to point out is, yeah. The major plays for the most part are with his feet. He had a 64-yard touchdown to Nick Harbor. I mean, it's an impressive display of arm strength.

I don't know if it's anything beyond that. You know, it's a throw that I expect a good college quarterback to be able to make. But I've only seen a couple of guys in my life who can shrug off a blindside hit from a defensive lineman at this level of football. And Lenora Sellers did that. And, yeah, when you combine that strength and athleticism with the arm talent, yeah. I mean, for how we talk about this guy, I think I thought Sunday was like as good as you could realistically expect. You know, like I'm not asking the guy to go out there and throw for 500 yards and rush for 100. Like this was a very nice starting point, I would say.

I tell you what, South Carolina football is must watch each week with Lenora Sellers. I think last year I called him the most entertaining quarterback that I watched. This year, he has a chance to be the best quarterback that we watch in college football. He is that type of good, that type of talented. And like I said, he just turned 20 years old. This is a young player. So just like with Arch, just like with some of these other guys, we've got to give them a little bit of grace as they figure out the learning curve. And they're going to hit some speed bumps.

And that's okay. But at the end of the day, are they doing what they need to do? So they're each outing, they're getting better. And so I think it was a good start for sellers. All right. That's it for quarterback talk, but we have some other major prospects. We want to talk about whether we're panicking, whether we're partying about the week one that they put on tape. We'll do that on the other side of this break.

All right, Dane, a handful of major prospects, guys that we talked about in the preview episode, top 50 players on your preseason top 50 had some good efforts, had some not so good efforts. And I want to start, we mentioned it, one of the most surprising results of week one. one, Alabama just got smacked in Tallahassee by Florida State. Kind of, again, not just like the score itself is surprising, but the way Alabama got beat is something else. And that's why I think it's a good point to talk about Alabama offensive tackle Caden Proctor, who had a rough day at the office. I mean, that's not unique, though.

I think just about everybody on Alabama's roster had a rough day at the office. But what did you see from Caden Proctor? Yeah, I'd be interested to find out the, traffic data for how many people Googled Kalin DeBoer buyout. Because if it's going to look like this, yeah, we might get to that point during the season. So I'm not ready to panic with Proctor, but I totally get it if some people are. Credit to Florida State. You know, I think, you know, we not just us, but everyone's talking about Alabama when credit to Florida State, the way they played,

the way they were prepared, the way that they executed it was awesome to watch. They got consistent pressure against Alabama's offensive line. Proctor was really strong in the run game, but his pass pro was really inconsistent. And so the way that we can break it down, he just, there's too much rare stuff with his body composition, the movements, the power, where I'm not going to bail. Like, I'm going to ride this out as far as I can with Proctor. because most of his issues are fixable, but they just need to get fixed. We need to see development from him this year.

So the number one concern on the Florida State tape was all the oversets. Too many times his past set depth, it just wasn't matching the depth of the quarterback. That's something he needs to button up because you don't want him trying to react to rushers in space. You want him to achieve the correct landmarks. So he's staying in between the rusher and the quarterback. And it's something that, you know, we really have to pay attention to with Caden Proctor the rest of this year. Does he understand, okay, you know, with this play call, my quarterback is going to be at this depth. And so I need to, you know, set inside out.

So I'm protecting against that inside move. Those depth points and the landmarks, that's something that we have to pay a lot of attention to this year with Proctor. I bet quite a few teams. Alabama and Texas in particular are. wishing that they had gotten to open with their week two opponents. And maybe we save these games for week two and get a little tune up out of the way. But what's done is done. We'll see how Bama rebounds.

I'm not ready to panic as much as the internet is telling me that I should be about Alabama. I mean, clearly, this is not the Alabama that we're used to. But it is a long season with a lot of opportunity for improvement. I'm not, even if they're not the Bama that I remember, I'm not. I'm not ready to say that they're hopeless just yet. Yeah. Guy that I, oh, sorry,

go ahead. I say Ryan Williams just didn't look like Ryan Williams. He had like three drops. And then, I mean, hopefully he's okay. He had a concussion late. They're missing their top runner,

Jam Miller. So, yeah, I mean, I think, I think you're right. Like, Alabama's got talent on that team. It's just a matter of,

I do wonder as part of this, like, NIL and their depth, just getting wiped out, you know, something that Saban, Saban always had the next guy up, you know, because that depth was was such a big part of that program the way they recruited. Now it's just, you know, you're showing, we're seeing some cracks in that depth and because of NIL and maybe that's just how things are going to be moving forward. So it's just something to watch with his Alabama team.

It's funny because Alabama's in the conversation. Like there, there's one, I think one other program that's really in that conversation of just reloading and rolling over. every year, no matter what you lose to NIL or the draft or whatever. And it definitely wasn't pretty, but Ohio State gets the dub against Texas. And I laughed because, look, we all know about Jeremiah Smith. I'm not quite as focused on him just because I know he can't be part of this draft class. But I laughed because we talked about Carnell Tate going into the season and certainly not a gaudy stat line.

But when you make the biggest play of the game in the passing, offense with just a wonderful touchdown catch, even if the box score doesn't look great. I think that's a fantastic starting point for a guy that you're really focused on as somebody who could jump up and be a big part of this receiver class. Yeah. And Ohio State's breaking in a new quarterback. They got really conservative, especially in the fourth quarter as they were just, you know, they were trying to avoid that backbreaking interception or mistake.

And, you know, I think that we will see this Ohio State passing off. offense really start to open up as we get through September. But yeah, I mean, Carnal Tate, I mean, look, you over the last four years, there have been five Ohio State receivers drafted in the first round. They're going to have another one in 2027 with Jeremiah Smith. We know that. Question is, will they have one in 2026? And that's where the Cardinal Tate enters the discussion.

And like, he's a good player. I don't think the tape says like slam dunk first rounder, but he's a good player. trying to prove that, hey, he belongs in that top 32 in a wide receiver class that is, you know, there's a lot of players kind of jockeying for that top three, top five. He had, like you said, he had only two catches, so the box score doesn't look great, but he made them count. The first was that third down conversion that showcased his hand strength along the sideline. And then the second was the 40-yard touchdown that was very much underthrown.

he was able to adjust, come back to the ball, impressive double grab over the DB. So with Jeremiah Smith getting so much attention this year, the opportunities are going to be there for Carnell Tate to really get better and show why he belongs in that first round. So it was a good start for him. Three prospects from that Tiger on Tiger matchup I wanted to hit on Peter Woods. I'm certainly not panicking about Peter.

Woods. Like I said, I thought LSU had a phenomenal plan for just mitigating Clemson's pass rush. And he's still finished with five tackles and a run stuff. Like he was still all over the place. He looked very disruptive, even if Clemson's D-line wasn't able to take over the game the way they probably wanted to. Yeah, I don't think the box score scouts are going to love, you know, Woods, you know, being the number one player on the board and all that, you know, he named him his sacks and they didn't have the, the God, he'd tackle for lost numbers. But he was really good on the tape. I mean, he consistently saw four hands, double teams.

Like you said, LSU had a plan for trying to make everyone else beat them and not Peter Woods. He was still really disruptive versus a run, getting off blocks, making stops. There was a mistackler too that, you know, you want to see him clean up. But Peter Woods played like the player that we expected to. when I put him at number one overall in my early top 50. So, you know, T.J. Parker was a little more up and down. Terrell at Corner had some good moments, but also some bad moments. So the rest of the Clemson defense, I thought, was a little streaky.

But Peter Woods, I think he was as advertised. You know, I think part of the reason I had misgivings about this game as an LSU fan is I just wasn't sure what we would get from Whitweaks and Harold Perkins, both guys coming off of injuries, both guys, I mean, needing to shoulder big loads in this defense. And week one was very impressive for both of these guys. Like, again, if that's your starting point for returning from injury, I mean, they were both all over the place. And so Whit Weeks made my top 50. Harold Perkins did not.

I thought he was one of the last, like, five that I was considering. But, you know, obviously, we need. know about the athlete with Harold Perkins. We've been talking about it since his freshman year. But the big question was, okay, what's his role? You know, like, that's fine that he's a really good athlete. He's fun to watch, run. But what's his role where it's going to really translate the football production?

And we saw that Saturday night at Clemson where playing more of a traditional linebacker role. I mean, he's kind of a star linebacker. There's some nickel in there. he was really, really good. Now, there's still times where he'll get stonewalled by an offensive lineman. He's not a big guy. But when he's out in space and can run, he's chasing down the ball carrier. His delayed blitzes were awesome.

I mean, that pursuit speed, the closing burst is still. It's special. It's why we've been talking about Harold Perkins for as long as we have been. So I'm just, I'm really interested to see him the rest of the season in this more defined role. and how that continues to evolve and how we project that to the next level. But I thought this was a really outstanding first step for Perkins as he tries to, you know, and also have to mention coming back from the ACL injury, like he did, he looked like the Perkins of old. There was no concern about the injury, maybe slowing him down a little bit.

And then with Whitweeks, instincts play speed. I mean, if you, if you want your linebacker to have those two things, he's got in spades. Another guy that's not very big and can get hung up on blocks here and there, but he was also at his best when he was downhill, some of those blitzes and going through the A gap or running to the outside. I mean, Wittweeks was awesome as well.

But these two linebackers, I don't think it's the best linebacker tandem in the nation. We'll get to that in a little bit. But I think it's right there at number two as just that speed that they play with. has a lot of fun. LSU's defense looked like LSU's defense for the first time in, in quite a while. And those two guys were a big part of it.

And they're doing it with some no names on the defensive line, right? Like I know you know some of the guys on the defensive line, but the average college football fan cannot name me an LSU defensive lineman. Right? I mean, it's a group of obviously talented players, but they're not doing it with that like that one guy that's, stands out as, you know, maybe a top 10 pick or even a first rounder. I did not expect it. Let's just say that. Even knowing that they had spent some money in the

transfer portal, I did not expect that sort of disruption. But it was a very welcome surprise. Friday night, one last guy we wanted to highlight, and I'm not surprised. When Auburn runs for 307 yards and four touchdowns, it makes a lot of sense that you want to highlight Auburn. or Conor Lou because they got whatever they wanted on the ground against Baylor. And I'm sure Connor Lou was a big part of it when you watched it back. Yeah, no doubt. He's the only interior offensive lineman who made my top 50. I had him in the top 25.

He's a guy that I'm really excited about. And he's not like he's not overpowering with the way he plays, but he just doesn't look overmatched. He understands positioning. He's very quick to recover. I like his movements in the run game. He's really effective getting the linebacker level and taking those guys out of it. A lot of those Jackson Arnold big runs against that Baylor defense came because of Conner

Lou, whether at the line of scrimmage or at the linebacker level. So, I mean, he is a really easy guy to like and easy guy to appreciate. Even if he doesn't maybe have any traits that are overweigh, overwhelmingly elite or, you know, nothing that stands out as like, oh, this is what really separates him. It's just, it's everything. It's the fact that he, you know,

doesn't really have any glaring weaknesses to his game. And that's, when you talk about an offensive lineman, that's, that's okay. I don't need my, my offensive linemen to be the biggest in the league, the most powerful, just someone that can trust and not worry about making mistakes.

And that's Connor Liu. So he's, he had a good debut this season against Baylor. I dream of a day where we respect sinners the way that I want them to be respected. Because like it's a time after time, it's a position where it's like, oh, you can find that guy later. Do you really want to spend a top 20 pick on a center? There will be a center available in the third or the fourth round. And like that is true.

But the best offenses, the offenses that I have, most fun watching almost always have a really, really good center. Like whether you want to talk about Tyler Linderbaum, Frank Ragnow in Detroit before he retired. Obviously, the Eagles found Jason Kelsey and Cam Juergens outside of the first round. But if you could redo do those decisions, you'd probably draft both of those guys higher. So I don't get the annual angst about center. Like if a guy's really good, he's worth taken. Yeah.

And to your point about the lions, like now with. Ragnow no longer there. You know, they seem to have a pretty decent plan in place to try to replace him. But it's easier said than done. And, you know, it'll be interesting watching that Lions offense this year with one of the best ground games in the league. But with Ragnow not there, it'll be interesting to see what that looks like. So we've been talking about guys that played in marquee matchups.

And that's why I think it's okay to panic or. throw a parade when you're watching somebody play poorly or play well against top 10, top 25 opposition. I'm calling this segment, it's early, but because these are much harder guys to get a gauge on, because let's face it, a lot of teams opened against Cupcake University, directional state university, whatever you want to call them. There were a lot of lopsided matchups. So it's harder to get a gauge on some of these guys, but I wanted to highlight some some really nice performances that maybe didn't come against the best opposition. And I think it's worth starting with Arizona State because we talked about Jordan Tyson

and I know it was Northern Arizona, but 12 catches for 141 and two touchdowns. That's pretty damn good, Dane. Yeah, I mean, really aside from, I think he had a fumble. Besides that, it was a really strong performance from Tyson. He lined up inside outside. you saw him, you know, get involved in the screen game. So catch and run opportunities, tracking the ball downfield. He was exactly what you wanted to see for a guy being touted as the possible wide receiver

won in this draft class against an inferior opponent. And so, you know, you don't want to get too excited against that type of opponent. But at the same time, it's like, all right, well, this is what you expect to see. So Arizona State, they did not let up. They kept putting the ball up in the air. Sam Levitt. You know, he, what I loved about is 2024 tape was how he took care of the football. 2025, at least in the opener, he took a lot more chances.

There were a couple of those balls that are getting picked off against better opponents. But I really like to see him open things up where it wasn't, okay, one read, drop my eyes, use my legs. He's so creative. I just, Sam Levitt is such. an easy quarterback to really appreciate because of the way he plays. And so Arizona State, I mentioned this like with South Carolina, Arizona State is going to be must watch anytime they're on TV this year because of that connection, Sam Levitt to Jordan Tyson.

And yeah, we saw it in the opener. Sam Levitt, 257 passing yards to go with 73 rushing yards, three total touchdowns. I'm so glad I have you. You're the goat because you found a way to see this because I, tried to turn on the Arizona State game on Saturday night and the feed didn't work. Like there was no there was no video of this game. I think it was there was some sort of technical issues. So of course, leave it to Dane to go find the tape later, which I deeply appreciate it.

So I tweeted out a couple of Tyson's plays from the game. I mean, he's just, yeah, like I said, no regrets putting him at wide receiver one to start the year. So eager to see if he, you know, or just, you know, keep that up throughout the year. It's a, like I said, it's a receiver class that's pretty wide open, Carnal Tade, and there's a few other guys that are fighting for a chance to be in the first round. Tyson's definitely at the top of the list as we get going. Elsewhere on the West Coast among former Pac-12 teams, Oregon Edge, Mateo Ui Ungolale had two sacks.

It's against Montana State. I don't know if that does anything for you, but, hey, two sacks against Montana State's better than no sacks against Montana State. There you go. And we'll talk about another Oregon defender coming up here in a bit. But, yeah, I mean, I think you're right. He looked like, again, you expected to see against a good FCS opponent. Montana State's not just another program. They are a really good FCS opponent.

But he showed athleticism. He showed power at the point of attack. I mean, he was dominant. And so now let's see him do that. I cannot wait to see in a couple weeks. Oregon goes to Penn State. That's going to be a must. There's going to be a lot of NFL scouts at that game because that's Penn State's loaded with them.

Oregon's loaded with talent. I think that Kenyon, Sadiq, at tight end on offense, had a really impressive touchdown. He was awesome as a blocker. I don't think he gets nearly enough attention with his blocking. Sadiq, the top tight end this year, he's just big time. So, yeah, both these guys, Uingley and Sadiq are top 20 guys for me. There's another edge rusher I wanted to highlight. I would be over in Illinois.

I would be Gabe Accus, I believe, is the pronunciation. There's a J there, but you don't pronounce it. Yeah, and he's a player. He's been on the radar for a while now, and he is just consistently productive. I mean, since his freshman year, he's been doing it. And I mean, he had a strip sack against, I think it's Western Illinois. But yeah, just he looked how you would expect him to look. And so now as Illinois gets into Big Ten schedule, I want to see him keep it up.

But yeah, I think he could definitely cement himself as being that day two pass rusher that everybody likes. One more guy I wanted to highlight. I'll jump back out to the West Coast. I didn't see this happen on Saturday night. but as I'm like going through getting ready for the show on Sunday, Washington beat Colorado State 3821 was a close game until early second half. Washington eventually pulls away and wins by 17.

Jonah Coleman, who you highlighted as a name to know in this running back class. And remember, we talked about this is a position outside of Jeremiah Love where we're just waiting to see what pops, waiting to see who steps up and, fills the void after so many guys went pro. Jonah Coleman of the Washington Huskies, 24 carries for 177 yards, two touchdowns, added a catch for 22 yards. If you're on social media,

go find the clip of him going to the house from 40 yards out. He didn't wind up scoring. I think they called him down at the three and he wound up scoring a couple plays later. But the burst, the vision, the physicality that this guy shows. And yeah, I mean, Colorado State, I mean, it's, it's a G5 school. It's not like you're playing Little Sisters of the Poor, but I'll be curious to see how he does against Big Ten competition after seeing this performance because holy hell. Yeah, I mean, he is short, stocky, rocked up.

I mean, he's 5'8, 227. I mean, he is not an easy guy to bring down. But the vision that he plays with, like you said, the lateral quicks, really good jump cuts. I, you know, he, whenever you give him that little bit of a crease, he will give you the burst to get through it. So, you know, not only does he run with some power, but he has the run burst.

And as a receiver, I think he has adequate hands. Pass pro is actually pretty consistent. So I don't think Coleman is going to have maybe some of the juice to be a first round pick or maybe even a second round pick, but he's just going to be a guy that is drafted and is a solid pro. He's going to help fill out a running back room in the NFL. All right.

We're going to take one more break, but don't worry, we got plenty more to get to. On the other side, we're going to talk about guys who maybe weren't so much on the radar heading into week one of the season, but certainly made an impression in the opener

right back after this. Dane, I knew we were going to talk about this guy the minute Ohio State, Texas, kicked off. because he was all over the damn place. And on a team with this much talent, I'm sure there are plenty of people that were in on linebacker Arvel Reese ahead of time.

I'm fine saying he was not on my radar. I was looking at three other guys. I'm trying to watch Caleb Downs. And you just keep zoning in on Arvel Reese, who finished with nine tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss. He's credited with four pressures. This Buckeye defense. what a performance.

They were so much fun to watch and Reese looked like he was at the center of all of it. Yeah, I'm trying not to overreact here. But if this is the Ravela Reese, we're going to get all season, he'll be the first linebacker drafted. Pretty easily. And in a lot of ways,

linebacker, it's kind of the key to Matt Patricia's defense. You go back to his time in New England and the way Dante High Tower was utilized or Kyle Van Nuoy, the corners are going to cover, the defensive linemen are going to win in the trenches, but it's the linebackers that are,

where you can get creative and you can really weaponize them. And that's exactly what Patricia did with Reese against Texas because you saw the different types of blitzes. He was covering out of the backfield. He was making plays against the run. 6'4, 240 pounds. He's got the power where you can jar blockers,

but he's got bend. He has speed. so you can chase down the ball. And Ohio State, they don't have that, you know, the, obviously they don't have a Bosa or Chase Young, but I would say they don't even have like that Jack Sawyer this year, who's just that consistent pass rush threat. Kenyatta Jackson maybe could be that guy this year.

He got hurt against Texas. We're not sure just if he's going to be held out very long. But that, the answer for Ohio State's pass rush is going to be R.Vell Reese because he does look like a defense event. He has that type of size, but the different ways they utilize him, the versatility that he shows,

it's a lot of fun to watch. And Sunny Seiles is the same way. They are both, Sunny Stiles and Ravelle Reese, they are both over 6'4 and 240 pounds. Freak athletes. I mean, it's just a rare duo that I don't know we've really seen in college football before, and easy for scouts to get excited about these guys.

it just feels like, and this is, we talk all the time about defense trending in this direction. And it's a hard thing to do, especially at the college level. But when you just have aliens who can do a little bit of everything and you can deploy them in half a dozen different ways, I mean, you're going to make life hell on most of the offenses you play, especially offenses that are breaking in a new starter quarterback, as we saw on Saturday afternoon. Another guy that I definitely wanted to highlight. And I would, look, I didn't. write this down. Dane wrote this down. So it's not me trying to pump up my squad. But I do think of all the of all the winners coming out of week one, I think you do have to mention LSU corner Mansour Delane. He's a transfer from Virginia Tech. He's a guy that LSU brought in to have this type of impact. But jumping in the transfer portal and delivering are two different things. And Saturday night against Clemson targeted eight times, allowed one catch.

two tackles, two past breakups, and obviously got the big interception on Kade Klubnick. I would say the early return on investment for LSU's expenditure in the transfer portal, very, very good. That's a perfect way to put it. Yeah. I mean, and I liked Delane quite a bit of Virginia Tech. At this time last year, he was actually in my early top 50. So it's not like Delane just came out of nowhere, but you can understand why LSU made him such a priority this offseason. I mean, Ohio State wanted him.

There were a lot of teams in the mix. LSU went above and beyond. And like you said, that investment, based off one game, looks like it was definitely worth it. And he's interesting because he's not super toolsy, you know, for a corner. Like he's not, you know, he's 511, 190. So solid size, but not great. He's got short arms right around 30 inches. He'd probably run in the 446, 447 range.

So the speed's good, but not elite. So the traits don't necessarily just jump out at you. But what does jump out, the instincts, the competitive reactions to route runners. And he has just a really good feel for coverage. So this is just a good football player. And I don't know that he'll maybe get into the first round, but I think he's going to be at worst a day two pick. And he will be starting in the NFL at this time next year.

I was going to say he sounds like the guy who, if you don't have those traits, If you don't have that measurable, go put 12 games of consistent tape out there for people to see. And if evaluators can trust that you're going to be that guy on a regular basis, they'll probably be more willing to overlook the fact that your arms are a little bit shorter or you don't, you're not as tall as their archetype would prefer that type of thing. Yeah. Those are the guys that make it, right, that are, you look up and they're still in the league 10 years from now because they're just good football players, even if they don't, you know, light it up on the stopwatch or with the measuring tape.

At the end of the day, the job of GMs just find good football players. And I think he falls in that category. I know you're excited to talk about this guy because you highlighted him on Twitter. That would be Oregon Detackle Amari Washington, which again, the Ducks played FCS competition. But I don't know how much that affects your opinion because I feel like you're pretty excited about this guy. Yeah, I was talking to Bruce Feldman back in July about some of these players as he was working on his freaks list. And he kept bringing up Amari Washington because of the testing numbers he was getting from the school. And, you know, he had played a little bit last season.

But he was obviously the backup with Harmon and Jamari Caldwell. Both guys were top 100 draft picks. But with those guys now in the NFL, Washington made his starting debut on Saturday. and holy cow man. He backed up those crazy numbers that put him top five on Bruce's freaks list. And again, Caviott, Montana State, really good FCS program, still an FCS program. But if you just watch the burst off the ball, the lateral quickness, how fast he was in the backfield, guys that are 320 plus pounds, and that's what he's listed at.

I'm not sure how heavy he is, but he's listed at 320. guys that size shouldn't be able to move like that. So this is a player with legit first round traits. And I cannot wait to watch him the rest of the season against some better competition. Like I mentioned that Penn State game coming up. Because if he continues to live up to the traits with his play, this is an easy first round guy. So now it's just a matter of him developing as a football player. One guy I wanted to make sure we highlight.

And I mean, the stat line, it's not anything other. worldly, but go back to that Florida State performance against Alabama. Earl Little Jr., man, just like a game, a game where you watch a guy and you're like, how's this dude playing three different positions? How is he everywhere? Finished with nine tackles. And I'll say it one more time. The edge that Florida State had, you know, Earl Little Jr.

transferred over from Alabama. I'm sure that factored heavily into his performance. But FSU played with their hair on fire for three. a half hours on Saturday afternoon. And maybe I overlooked the Knowles and I apologize for that. You know, they go two in ten last year. They only had one guy on your preseason top 50s. So maybe my expectations were, were too low.

But several guys on this Florida State team jumped onto my radar. And Earl Little Jr., for sure, was one of them. Well, and yeah, and I don't mean, I don't blame you at all because I was the same way. Like Earl Little wasn't a starter last year. You know, this was a, he was a special teamer. Like, that was his main role. He saw a little bit of time at nickel, played someone's safety. But, you know, he, he had a good first,

made a first, a good first impression with how he played on Saturday. So that's, Florida State, definitely there's a few guys on the defensive line. Darryl Jackson was awesome in the middle. They had a few freshmen were stepping up at pass rush. So Florida State, without a doubt, on defense. just you have my attention. And Castellanos, that quarterback. I mean, Florida State is going to be a fun team to watch this year, no doubt.

One other ACC team or ACC defender that I wanted to bring up to from Sunday night, Ruben Bain, the Miami. If you hadn't done it, I was going to. I wrote it in my notes and I was like, I'm sure Dane will be down to talk about this. So I'm not surprised at all. He was such a tough guy to study this summer because his 2023 tape is a fresh was really exciting. But then last year, he was banged up. He just didn't look right.

He struggled to bend. He struggled to flip his hips to work up and down the line of scrimmage. The effort wasn't always there. So it was like, okay, well, how much of this is just natural inconsistency? That's just who he is. How much of it is the injury? I mean, he was a hard. He made my top 50, but I wasn't sure just how high should I be on this player when I'm banking

on flashes from his freshman year. But based off of his first game and now as a junior, yeah, I mean, he looks like a first round player. So explosive and his body tight, he is so thick and dense, but he has the get off of a smaller player. So he's really good against the run. You see the physical hands, the way you can get off blocks, but then the way he can disrupt the quarterback. What they, him and Akeem Mesidor, the other defensive line from Miami, number four, number three, what they did in that final drive to notice. Dame's tackles was just obscene. I mean,

Notre Dame's tackles looked like they had no answer. They were gassed playing in that heat with that humidity late in the game. And Notre Dame's offensive line was not fresh. Miami's defensive line was led by Ruben Bain. So, yeah, he made a strong first round kind of like, hey, don't forget about me. I belong there. And if he keeps it up the rest of the year, he's going to get there. Notre Dame's right tackle was so,

he was so badly beaten that I feel like he was, he made a decision in the moment where he was like, I'm just going to try to block this guy with my butt and hope for the best because he got that badly turned around. It was obscene as a great word for what Miami did on that final possession. Yeah, I fell for C.J. Carr, a freshman making his first start and, you know, he did what he could.

He was far from perfect, but that last drive was certainly not on him. as I texted you. I was like, yeah, Ruben Bain called game. And yeah, it's,

it is valid. It's, it's definitely worthwhile to mention Mesidor. Did, like, what's, do you have a, what is your,

what's your projection of him? I mean, how should we be thinking about the two of these guys? Bain obviously looks like he could have first round potential. What about Mesidor? Mesodor has been tough because,

I mean, this is what a sixth year or now? Going into last year, had a draft blow grade on him. And then a foot injury. just kind of like wiped him out. He did not. And the feedback was if he's not 100%, he doesn't want to play,

you know, or he just, these injuries really take a toll on him. There are questions about, okay, is he a defensive end? Is he a defensive tackle? And so seeing his performance last night was really refreshing

because it's exactly what he needed to reintroduce himself to NFL teams who, maybe were a little doubtful that because he came into this year with more borderline draftable grades just based off of what happened last year. But based on what he did in that first season or in that first game against Notre Dame, yeah, he's right back on the radar. Even though he is an older player, he'll be a 25-year-old rookie next year. The medicals will be important.

But if he keeps this up, yeah, Mesidor will be a guy that gets drafted and will be a really interesting part of a defensive line rotation. I'm really excited about this Miami team. Like you have edge rushers that can do that. Obviously, we saw some wild plays from their receivers on Sunday night. Carson Beck, I thought it was up and down. Yeah. Like I'm not, I'm not ready to move him back to the top of the first round conversation or

anything like that. But he certainly showed that he's, he is a guy worth watching. He is a guy worth being excited about. And Miami's got a, Miami. plays Bethune Cookman week two so nothing super enticing but right after that it's south florida florida and florida state all in a row so this miami team's gonna they're gonna have some good opposition here and if they handle it well we could i mean they could be right in the thick of the national consciousness as if they aren't already having just beaten notre dame yeah and i my number

one concern with back has been just the inability to find those second reaction plays you know he's not a big mobile guy who's, you know, that's just not his game. And so he works really well from the pocket. But hopefully, you know, in that offensive line, credit to them for keeping him upright for most of the game. That's going to always be my hang up with Beck. But to your point, he did a lot of good things that, you know, things were scouts are down on him, no doubt. And after last year went, I get it. But it'll be interesting to see how this year plays out for him if he's able to resuscitate that draft stock and maybe get back into that top 100 conversation it's it's definitely not impossible you know don't we can't stay close minded to that

possibility it's a long season man it is this this was just a taste but there's so much to look forward to so much more coming i did i just wanted to quickly highlight some of the best of week two i i think it's fair to say it's it's not the juiciest college football weekend of the year but Hey, you can find good stuff if you're willing to look for it. And okay, so, I mean, right off the top of my head, Michigan, Oklahoma, I think is the big headliner. I know he's not draft eligible for a long time, but it'll be an interesting early look at Bryce Underwood, who if you're a draft officinado, I'm going to go ahead and say you should probably learn that name. And then obviously it's a showcase for John Mateer who play well against the team like Michigan in prime time.

and certainly the type of thing that puts you on podcasts like this one. Yeah, and I think that's the, I'm really eager to see the new look offense for the Sooners. John Mateer can be a roller coaster at times with his decision making, but he's a fun watch, super competitive. Scouts want to see that matured to Dion Burke's connection get going. And then here's a name to watch. Jaron Kanek, three years as a reserve linebacker for the Sooners, they moved over to offense for a senior year this year,

as in like kind of an H-back tight end. In the opener, he had five catches, 90 yards, including a 48-yard or so. This dude has some legit wheels for, he's listed at 6-2-235. So just a name to file away as off the radar for Oklahoma. And then, yeah, for Michigan, two guys that I'm really watching closely, running back Justice Haynes, transferred over from Alabama, averaged a cool, 9.9 yards per carry in the opener. He's got some juice for a 210-pounder.

And then on defense, Derek Moore at defensive end, has day two grades from NFL teams, 6.3 and a half, 265 pounds, might run in the four-sixes. He's a little stiff, but has a real feel for counters, how to set up blocks or set-up blockers. I want to see him take that next step now as a senior

and it'll start in this game. Another sneaky good game. State and Mississippi State played a banger in the desert last year, like a really a sneaky good game. They do the return game in Starkville this year. Mississippi State, Arizona State, obviously a much better test for Sam Levitt and Jordan Tyson than what they got in week one. And I'm going to defer to you, but I got to believe Mississippi State has has some NFL guys on the roster. I mean, it's an SEC school after all. Yeah, I think the one I like the most, their safety, Isaac Smith, six foot, 220 pounds.

I'm eager to see him. But yeah, this will be a really good test for Arizona State, that offense. Last year against Mississippi State was probably Sam Levitt's worst game. So it'll be good to see him. Now, the game's in Starkville. Those cowbells will be ringing. But it'll be good to see him go up in that type of environment. This is a team that, I don't know, I mean, we watched them last year in the playoff and the

Big 12 championship game. They didn't seem phased away from home. So I think they'll be just. fine, but like you said, this would be a much better test. I don't think USF against Florida would have really registered for me a week ago, but then USF smacks Boise State. I mean, 34 to 7. One of them, honestly, one of the most impressive performances of week one, all teams

considered. And their reward for that very big win, their first ranked win in a decade, by the way, is that they get to follow it up with a trip to the swamp. So we'll see how that goes. But again, Florida was another team that played lesser competition in week one. So at the very least, this will be a step up for them. Well, and I don't think there's another team in the country who has a tougher first three weeks in South Florida. They have a ranked Boise State team in the opener, which, like you said, they won Florida this week and then Miami in week three.

So they've got some chance to pull some upsets here. And they, Byron Brown at quarterback is a super interesting. player because he looks like a linebacker. He's big. He's athletic. He's got wheels. He's got a rocket arm. The mechanics, they tend to fall apart pretty quickly.

The consistency hasn't been there with him, but the talent is awesome. And so I'm eager to see him against an SEC type of defense. And then for Florida, hopefully we see defensive lineman Caleb Banks. He wasn't able to go in the opener. They held him out with an injury. So hopefully we'll be able to see him back out there. He's a potential first rounder when he's. he's when he's all good.

Lastly, for me, you can roll your eyes if you want to, but I want to see Arch Manning. And Texas plays San Jose State. It is not a juicy matchup. It's a game that I expect Texas to win. We said at the top of the show, I don't think Arch can win back over anybody by beating up on San Jose State. But for the love of God, please do that at least. Like, look the part against San Jose State and give me some opposition.

optimism that this isn't a real problem and we don't have to have like much more serious conversations about arch because that's that's how I'm going to feel if this doesn't look good. Well, and another reason to watch that game, San Jose State, they have that they have their own quarterback. Walker Eggett, who is a senior, fifth year guy, six three, good size, not an amazing athlete, but he throws a pretty ball. So I like to, watching, you know, some, players on defense over the summer. He's a player at quarterback that really stood out as, hmm, he's got something.

So just, you know, both these quarterbacks worth watching in the Texas San Jose State matchup. So a San Jose State team that made a bowl last year and has an intriguing quarterback, oh, maybe there's something here. Maybe this is better that I'm giving it credit for. That's definitely something I want to have an eye on as we roll in to week two. Before we get out of here, Dane, we do. we're going to spend time talking about the the 2025 rookie class in the NFL.

We're not just completely going to ignore those guys once they get to the league. I think every few weeks we'll probably do some kind of check in on on who's impressing, who's not so impressing, all that good type of stuff. But for the meantime, as we get the season rolling, I'm doing my rookie predictions in our preseason award show later this week. But I did want to give you the floor if you want to. to talk some offensive and defensive rookie of the year in the NFL this season. Well, yeah, I'm eager to see a lot of these guys.

And, you know, especially I was doing a fancy draft the other day. And I got Tyler Warren in like the ninth round. And I felt weirdly, really, really good about that, even though the quarterback situation is what it is in Indianapolis. But they're going to get, they're going to feed Tyler Warren. So part of me wants to go that direction for offensive rookie of the year. I think I just have to take chalk, right? and go Ashty with the Raiders.

I mean, maybe Cam Ward has something to say about that by the time, you know, we get to the end of the season. But, you know, they took Genty 5 overall for a reason. They're going to lean on him quite a bit. And, you know, he showed at Boise State. He can, if you want him to carry the ball

350 times in a season, he'll do that and he'll still be effective. So I'm going to go with Asheny as my offensive rookie of the year. And then defensive rookie of the year. again, I wish I was a little more brave with or gutsy with my defensive pick, but I got to go Abdul Carter. He looked unblockable at times

during the preseason during camp. He just, you know, he went as high as he did for a reason. So now again, maybe Travis Hunter will have something to say about both those, offensive and defensive rookie of the year. But I think I'm going to go with Gentie and Abdul Carter for my preseason. picks. It's so hard to go against Carter because we know sacks are king. Like if you can get sacks,

you're going to dominate the conversation. It's just easier for edge rushers to win these types of awards if they're good. And Carter should have not only is he amazing. He should have really favorable looks with the other pieces of that Giants defensive line. So it's hard to go away from that. It's it's no disrespect to Cam Ward or Ashton Genty, but I personally just, it's more fun when an unorthodox guy kind of comes out of nowhere to win rookie of the year. Obviously, Tyler Warren isn't coming out of nowhere. He's a top 15 pick. But that's a little more interesting to me. Like I said, I'm rooting for Cam and Ashton, but that would be really fun. And I think you're right. The quarterback situation is not inspiring, but a bad quarterback's best friend is the tight end.

So maybe team. I like a lot of process at least. Maybe. I mean, I mean, again, It's hard to go away from a quarterback again. Like if the Titans are even, if the Titans are even decent, Cam Ward is a good choice. And obviously Gentie's going to touch the ball a lot. But yeah, Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland, Tetaroa McMillan. Any of those guys. Yeah.

It gets, it gets my, it gets me a little more excited when the offensive rookie of the year is kind of an out of nowhere guy, you know, so we'll see how it goes. Dane, this was a lot of fun. We will be doing it every week during the season. it's a little different this week because of the holiday, but we will be dropping these on Wednesday all college football season long. Please make sure you're tuning in, finding us in your feed, give us a download, find us on YouTube, however you prefer to do it.

We appreciate it, and we will talk to you all next week.