Week 11 saw most of the teams at the top of the College Football Playoff rankings win, with most doing it in dominant fashion. There were some close games, even a few upsets within the top 10, and numerous outstanding performances by 2023 NFL Draft prospects.
Risers: Byron Young, Jared Verse Highlight 2023 NFL Draft Movers
Two terrific defensive linemen and several skill players are watching their NFL draft stocks take off and are headed in the right direction. Here are the Risers and Sliders for Week 11.
Byron Young, DL, Alabama
With all the star power on the Crimson Tide depth chart, it’s easy to dismiss Byron Young. Yet, the senior defensive lineman was absolutely dominant and turned in a career game against Ole Miss.
His stat line included 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, two quarterback hurries, and one forced fumble. Young put the Rebels on their heels late in the game with a sack as Ole Miss was driving for the tying score, then collapsed the pocket on the following snap, which ended the game.
MORE: 2023 NFL Draft Big Board
Young had been playing good football in the second half of the season, but he’s really ratcheted up the production in recent weeks. He’s an athletic and explosive big man with the versatility to be used in a variety of one or two-gap schemes.
I graded Young as an early fourth-round pick entering the season, about two rounds earlier than scouts, and he’s exceeded my expectations.
Cal Haladay, LB, Michigan State
Michigan State has finally kicked it into gear after a slow start to the season, and linebacker Cal Haladay has been a catalyst during the Spartans’ late-season push. Handed a third-round grade on my board over the summer, Haladay was inconsistent at the start of the season but has recently been on a tear.
He had 13 tackles during the victory over Wisconsin, nine tackles a week ago when the Spartans upset Illinois, and 19 tackles during the victory over Rutgers on Saturday.
Haladay is a safety-sized linebacker with great speed and instincts, and he’s outstanding in pursuit. He plays with reckless abandon and makes several plays in space.
Jared Verse, EDGE, Florida State
The Seminoles continue a terrific return to form, and the team notched its seventh win of the season by blasting Syracuse, 38-3. And once again, edge rusher Jared Verse continued to impress since transferring from Albany.
Verse and his Seminoles teammates held the usually potent Syracuse offense to just 160 total yards, with just 65 of those yards coming through the air. He posted four tackles, one TFL, and a sack, terrorizing the Syracuse quarterback all evening. Most impressive was the fact Verse did a lot of his damage against Matthew Bergeron, the highly-rated left tackle from Syracuse.
For the season, Verse has 6.5 sacks and 13 TFLs. He’s incredibly athletic and forceful and makes plays outside the box as well as up the field.
While Verse caught many by surprise this season, he showed a dominant streak last season for the Great Danes. He presently grades as a Day 2 prospect, though the redshirt sophomore has tons of upside.
Eric Gray, RB, Oklahoma
It’s been a disastrous season in Norman, as the Oklahoma Sooners, a team accustomed to fighting for the national title, is struggling to keep its head above water. Yet, despite their woes on both sides of the ball, running back Eric Gray has been a consistent force and is getting a lot of chatter in scouting circles.
During the Sooners’ three-point loss to West Virginia, Gray totaled 211 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns. He also caught four passes in the game. Gray has rushed for more than 1,100 yards in 10 games this season and has 10 TDs on his tally.
Gray is a bigger back with a terrific burst of speed and solid short-area quickness. He won’t scorch the track during predraft workouts, but like many running backs recently coming out of Oklahoma, I expect Gray to be a middle-round choice and go on to have a very productive NFL career.
Tyler Scott, WR, Cincinnati
The downfield passing game of UC quarterback Ben Bryant has hurt the draft stock of tight end Josh Whyle, a Week 9 slider. But Tyler Scott has benefited, and the junior has jumped onto the scouting radar.
The big-play wideout has caught 49 passes for 826 yards (16.9-yard average) this season with nine touchdowns. Seven of those receptions — as well as 149 receiving yards and one TD — came during the Bearcats’ close 27-25 victory over East Carolina last Friday.
MORE: Week 11 College Football Players of the Week
Scott showed flashes of big-play potential in 2021 with 30 receptions for 520 yards, but he’s taken his game to another level this season.
He’s a shorter wideout with great speed and the ability to score from any point on the field as a receiver or return specialist. Scott presently grades as a middle-round choice but has upward mobility.
Sleeper Prospect: Tyjae Spears, RB, Tulane
I wrote glowingly about Spears, a redshirt sophomore, during my Tulane summer preview, and he has not disappointed. He’s continued to be the primary offensive force for Tulane and has shown a lot of improvement in his game.
Spears popped off another outstanding performance in the loss to UCF on Saturday, rushing for 130 yards on just eight carries. The prior week against Tulsa, he totaled 157 rushing yards on 14 carries.
For the year, Spears has 10 rushing TDs and is averaging close to six yards per carry. He’s a smaller, creative ball handler with great quickness and balance and the ability to run to daylight.
Graded as a sixth-round prospect entering the season, Spears is a rotational/third-down back who will move up draft boards as he continues to progress on the field.
Small-School Prospect: McClendon Curtis, G, UT-Chattanooga
Shock waves were sent through the NFL when the New England Patriots selected Cole Strange of Chattanooga in the first round of April’s draft. The Patriots are having the last laugh, as Strange has played incredibly well.
Fast forward half a year, and there are many in the scouting community who are very high on Strange’s college teammate, McClendon Curtis.
The super senior is a powerful lineman with a next-level build who plays every bit the 6-foot-5.5, 340-pound blocker he measures. Curtis blocks with terrific fundamentals, possesses long arms that he uses well, and easily moves around the field for a big lineman.
Will he end up a first-round pick like Strange? Highly unlikely, but I believe Curtis has starting potential on Sundays in a power-gap scheme.
Sliders: Brennan Armstrong Struggles
Brennan Armstrong, QB, Virginia
It was another bad loss for Virginia, which was hammered by Pittsburgh, 37-7, and UVA quarterback Brennan Armstrong’s poor campaign has gone from bad to worse. The UVA passer was graded as a middle-round pick entering the season, yet many — including myself — believed he had the goods to make a move up draft boards. But that’s not going to happen.
Armstrong is completing just over 54% of his throws, a terrible mark for a college signal-caller, and has 12 INTs to just seven TDs. With a plummeting draft grade, Armstrong would be best off returning to UVA for a second senior season — or transferring to another school — with the intention of getting his game back on track.
