As Week 5 of the college football season approaches, which 2025 NFL Draft prospects will fall under the spotlight? We’re officially entering the realm of conference football, and the new Power Four outlook brings plenty of exciting matchups to review.
Week 5 is headlined by one game and one game in particular: The second-ranked Georgia Bulldogs heading off on the road to do battle with the fourth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide on Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Alabama-Georgia is the standard bearer of the week, but other quality skirmishes dot the schedule as well. Penn State will play a surging Illinois squad. Arizona will face off against Utah in an old Pac-12 rematch, and Miami will aim to keep its ACC supremacy.
Below, we’ve outlined some of the 2025 NFL Draft prospects who command the most attention this week — in some of the more compelling team clashes.
Carson Beck, QB, Georgia
Carson Beck has been good so far in 2024. He’s completed almost 70% of his passes for 680 yards, seven touchdowns, and no interceptions. Beck has been composed, efficient, and accurate, as always, but he hasn’t been tested like he will against Alabama.
The No. 4 ranked Crimson Tide have a host of disruptive players on their defensive line. They have two rising linebackers in Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell, plus a strong secondary anchored by Keon Sabb, Malachi Moore, and Domani Jackson.
Beck has a decent supporting cast at Georgia, but the current group is a clear step down from the 2023 cast that featured Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey, and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint.
As a QB prospect, Beck has shown a great deal already. But elevating his team in a blue-blood contest like this? That’s a feat that has eluded him thus far. And without elite creation capacity, that’s a question NFL evaluators will be eager to see if he can answer.
Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama
Jalen Milroe is in a similar situation to Beck entering this week’s gridiron gauntlet. Milroe has been exemplary in 2024. He currently has 14 total touchdowns through just three games, but he also hasn’t been tested a great deal. This game will change that.
Georgia’s defense might still be without Mykel Williams by game time, but there are still plenty of other names to know — among them Jalon Walker, Smael Mondon Jr., Daylen Everette, and blue-chip safety prospect Malaki Starks.
Beck was PFN’s preliminary QB1 in the class, while Milroe was more of an early-round sleeper. However, Milroe has three things that separate him — hyper-elite creation capacity, elite arm strength, and his steely competitive toughness.
If Milroe can outduel Beck through four quarters, in a clash of SEC titans, it could be the next step toward him joining Beck in the first-round conversation.
Earnest Greene III, OT, Georgia
Earnest Greene III entered the season with an early Day 3 grade on my preliminary 2025 NFL Draft Big Board. He’s now risen back into my top 100 and is starting to realize his early-round potential.
At 6’4″, 320 pounds, Greene has always had eye-catching explosiveness and physicality to go along with impressive natural leverage and proportional length. This year, he’s maximized that raw talent with improved timing, precision, balance, and upper-lower synergy.
Alabama’s defensive front doesn’t have a presence like Will Anderson Jr. or Dallas Turner anymore, but it’s still a diverse cast with a penchant for pushing the line. Greene will go up against different stylistic players with finesse and power. He’ll have to be ready for both.
LT Overton, DL, Alabama
If there’s one 2025 NFL Draft prospect to watch on Alabama’s defensive line against a stalwart blocking unit like Georgia’s, it’s former five-star recruit LT Overton.
Overton originally signed with Texas A&M out of high school, and played there for two years. Now, however, the 6’5″, 283-pound joker is on the Crimson Tide’s defensive front. There, he’s flashed promise through the first three games, showing off his explosiveness, power, and alignment versatility.
Georgia’s offensive line is flush with quality talents. Greene is situated at left tackle, while veteran Xavier Truss mans the RT spot. Jared Wilson anchors the center position, and Dylan Fairchild is a quality player at left guard.
However, Georgia will be without right guard Tate Ratledge in Week 5, which could serve as an opportunity for Overton. He has the elite raw tools to pinch and cave in the pocket on power alone, and that kind of talent never goes overlooked by evaluators.
Malaki Starks, S, Georgia
This one doesn’t need too much of an explanation.
Malaki Starks is a blue-chip safety prospect and the top overall player on PFN’s draft board. He’s a big-time player who shows up in big-time games; his high-flying interception against Clemson was one example.
And few games will be bigger than this one in 2024.
Malaki Starks: Blue-chip safety prospect
A little bit of everything on this INT. Good discipline and micro-motion in off-man. Fluid hips, instant acceleration. And then the extraordinary tracking adjustment on the vertical plane.
He’s different.
— Ian Cummings (@IC_Draft)
Alabama’s passing attack is potent when all the cogs work in unison. Milroe has a rocket arm that can push the ball down the field, into tight windows, and true freshman phenom Ryan Williams is a game-breaking presence.
There’ll be pressure again on Starks to show up and deliver for Georgia’s defense. If he does, it’ll be just another exhibit on a strong first-round résumé.
Mykel Williams and Jalon Walker, EDGE, Georgia
Mykel Williams‘ status on this list comes with an asterisk. The Georgia defensive lineman is listed as questionable for the Alabama game after he was taken out of the Bulldogs’ Week 1 matchup early with an injury.
If Williams manages to return to action, it’ll be a major boost for Georgia, against an Alabama offensive line that boasts Kadyn Proctor at left tackle, Tyler Booker at left guard, Parker Brailsford at center, and Jaeden Roberts at right guard.
At 6’5″, 265 pounds, Williams is a true athletic unicorn with a devastating mix of explosiveness, bend, and power capacity. When he’s healthy, he’s a battering ram for the Georgia front.
If he can’t go, Jalon Walker will be tasked to compensate. So far this year, that hasn’t been an issue.
Walker himself — though he doesn’t have Williams’ size — has answered the call whenever Georgia has relied on him to produce in pressure and in pursuit. At 6’2″, 250 pounds, Walker is a speed-to-power merchant who could make life difficult for Milroe if the quarterback holds the ball too long.
Drew Allar, QB, Penn State
Three games into the 2024 campaign, Penn State QB Drew Allar looks as though he could be a riser. The 6’5″, 241-pound passer has been absurdly efficient to this point, but a ranked Week 5 contest against Illinois marks his toughest challenge yet.
Illinois’ defense hasn’t missed a beat after losing players like Johnny Newton and Keith Randolph Jr. in the offseason. Xavier Scott and Miles Scott are wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks in the secondary, with help from Terrance Brooks and Torrie Cox Jr.
Meanwhile, in the front seven, the Fighting Illini have a venerable EDGE duo in Gabe Jacas and Seth Coleman, as well as a late-blooming wrecking ball on the interior in seventh-year senior Dennis Briggs Jr.
Allar will be tested at all levels in this game. There are turnover threats in the secondary and disruptive forces up front. If he can help lead Penn State to a win at home and play high-quality football against such a deadly defense, it’ll be a big “stock up” moment.
Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota
If you’re looking for an under-the-radar conference matchup to keep tabs on for prospect performances, look no further than Minnesota versus Michigan at high noon on Saturday.
Michigan has a ferocious pass-rush unit; that much was made clear against USC in Week 4. Josaiah Stewart is a banshee off the edge, while Derrick Moore brings a respectable power element. The interior is obviously elite, but tackle Aireontae Ersery will deal with the EDGE group most often.
Ersery is a massive 6’6″, 330-pound tackle who’s coming off one of his better career games against the Iowa Hawkeyes. He’s a long, powerful, and explosive blocker with a finisher’s edge in contact situations — but Stewart will test his timing and his ability against speed and finesse.
Other CFB Week 5 2025 NFL Draft Prospect Head-to-Heads
- Notre Dame CB Benjamin Morrison vs. Louisville WR Ja’Corey Brooks
- Ole Miss WR Tre Harris vs. Kentucky CB Maxwell Hairston
- Arkansas OT Fernando Carmona Jr. vs. Texas A&M EDGE Nic Scourton
- Baylor EDGEs Steve Linton, Garmon Randolph vs. BYU OT Caleb Etienne
- Illinois WR Pat Bryant vs. Penn State DBs Zakee Wheatley, Kevin Winston
- Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan vs. Utah CB Zemaiah Vaughn
- Arizona OT Jonah Savaiinaea vs. Utah EDGE Van Fillinger
- Texas Tech WR Josh Kelly vs. Cincinnati S Josh Minkins
- Iowa State WRs Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel vs. Houston S A.J. Haulcy
- UNLV WR Ricky White III vs. Fresno State DB Cam Lockridge
