It's a loaded slate of games this weekend! I listed out some of the prospect matchups that stood out to me. Let me know any other key matchups that I didn't include. Some additional notes on the matchups:

• RB Turbo Richard is averaging 8.3 yards per carry this season vs 3.2 YPC allowed for Bama's run defense. Richard is coming off a major dud of a week where he only produced 10 yards on 8 carries. He is at 597 yards and 5 TDs through 6 games, hes been on a tear this season.

• RB Jadan Baugh started the season blazing hot, but is coming off of two straight dud weeks, where he had a combined 2 total missed tackles over that stretch. That's really concerning for a RB who was mocked as high as top 10. He will be looking for a get-right game vs a very tough Texas run defense that has allowed under 3 YPC.

• RB Jamal Roberts is currently #2 in rushing in the P4, #1 in the SEC. Not Kewan Lacy, not Jadan Baugh, and not Ahmad Hardy (who is being projected like he's played snaps this season). If any of those RBs I mentioned were having the season Roberts was, we would hear all about it. He has over 400 yards and 5 TDs in the last 2 weeks. Roberts has a golden opportunity vs a weak Ole Miss run defense and I think he will become the leading rusher in college football this week.

• RB Kewan Lacy has scored a TD every game hes played this season, but he hasn't surpassed 100 yards rushing in any game this year. Hes been battling injuries, sort of a concern for me because hes also built like a receiver, but we've seen guys his size become great NFL RBs. It feels like Lacy is ripe for a breakout game that gets his season back on track after 29 and 39 yards the last 2 weeks.

• WR Deuce Alexander is potentially the most explosive player in college football, not named Jeremiah Smith. Deuce has 500 yards and 5 TDs through 5 weeks. So far this season, Deuce is catching 82% of his targets, he has zero drops, 3.2 YPRR in total and 4.9 from the slot (versatility), and a super low 5% contested target rate. Hes been explosive, reliable, and able to be a high volume target because his route running is good. I think people assume hes a sacrificial field stretcher, but hes a versatile player. This week vs a tough Missouri defense will be a challenge.

• Tennessee DT has been the most disruptive pass rusher in college football. He has incredible production, with 6 sacks through 6 games as an interior defensive lineman. He has a sky high potential, and hes not even an undersized DT. Hes listed at 6'2" 305 lbs, reminds me of Jalen Carter!

• The Indiana WRs have been electric this season. I'm significantly higher on Becker than Marsh, but I know many others have that flipped. Both are having great seasons. Becker has no drops in college so far.... Hes 6'4" with tracker speed, catches everything, has a massive catch radius, leaping ability, and wins every vertical route. I think theres some questions about his fluidity in and out of his breaks. Marsh is seen as more versatile, but he lacks the high end traits you look for in a round 1 WR, in my opinion. Jaylen McClain is competing for safety 1 in this class, hes been elite so far. His draft range is huge, I could see him going 15-45.

• Every Jeremiah Smith game is must watch, but vs a scrappy defense like Indiana, its a very interesting matchup. Jamari Sharpe is quietly having a very strong season, and I think Amare Ferrell is an undervalued prospect. Ferrell hasn't allowed a touchdown in 3 seasons. I hope Sayin targets Jeremiah deep. Devin McCuin is another prospect with a massive draft range: round 2 to round 4.

• Will Whitson is one of the best hidden gems in the 2027 draft. He has elite size at 6'5" 295 listed and with that length and mass, it allows him to be moved all over the line. He produced 5 pressures and a sack vs South Carolina and 3 pressures and a sack vs Alabama. Now hes about to face the OT1 in the 2027 class. Seaton at times has struggled with his anchor and a matchup vs a power edge like Whitson could be very interesting.

• LSU CB DJ Pickett is projected round 1 in 2028 and Ty Benefield is considered a top 5 safety by many this year. Miss St WR Anthony Evans has nearly 600 yards and 5 TDs through 5 weeks in the SEC and there's been no drop off vs top SEC teams like Alabama and Missouri. I've been incredibly impressed. I talked about Deuce Alexander being a top 3 explosive player in the country; Evans is also in that top 5 and is blazing fast. Kamario Taylor gets all the attention, but I think Evans is a big reason for his success as an elite target.

• ASU has a duo of premier receivers in Reed Harris and Omarion Miller. Reed Harris is a prototypical X WR with 6'5" size and 4.4 speed. Hes been elite this year, catching 600 yards and 7 TDs in just 5 games. He's a no brainer round 1 talent. This years receiver class is elite, imagine a super bowl team being able to draft this guy, crazy but some mocks have that right now. Omarion Miller has been far more inconsistent, and his usage has been weird at ASU, almost entirely from the slot. However, he also has weeks of 102, 85, and 78 yards, so hes a weapon himself (especially YAC). CB Brice Pollock has been a bit disappointing with allowing big plays this year, but hes still a ball hawk with 7 INTs the last 2 seasons.

• QB CJ Carr finally has to face a quality opponent. BYU is allowed under 200 pass yards per game and just 5.8 yards per attempt. I hope BYU is able to get some scoring production and put Carr in tough situations because its hard to judge QBs who aren't put in challenging spots.

• Oklahoma DT David Stone has high upside but his consistency and motor have been terrible this season. His technique doesn't look any better so far this season and hes facing a tough center in Coleton Price. We know Stone has game wrecking ability, so the pressure is on him to perform, or he likely returns to school

• Wyatt Young transferred with Mestemaker from North Texas to Oklahoma State and hasn't missed a beat. He was dominant against Oregon. Hes a slot receiver with good size at 6'0" 200 lbs. I love Wyatt Young as a prospect. 158 passer rating when targeted, 4.3 yards per route run. Young reminds me of Cooper Kupp. If Mestemaker returns to school, I think Young returns as well, but I expect both to declare and at this point, Young is the best slot receiver in the class.

I’m wondering about safety concerns and weighing the options regarding bringing a 9 year old girl to the NFL Draft hosted on the Washington DC National Mall in April.

What to be aware of?

What to avoid?

I’m thinking this area/event could be a targeted space for issues. Am I overthinking it?

It has seemed for quite a few years now that the RB drafts are kind of carried by how good the top prospect(s) are. In 2018 it was Saquon who was a top tier prospect, the best in show with a wide gap, same with Josh Jacobs and David Montgomery the next year. Breece Hall and Kenneth Walker were two prospects who probably deserved to be 1st rounders but both went in the 2nd, 2023 had Bijan and Gibbs who are arguably the two best RBs in the NFL right now but that Devon Achane guy Miami took in the 3rd wasnt half bad either. 2025 was a bit more of a 2018 type of year with Ashton Jeanty being so much better than the rest, however I do think Hampton, Judkins, Henderson, Sampson, Harvey, Johnson, etc were/are very good too. 2026 was, honestly, maybe the worst RB group in memory with the exception of Jeremiyah Love who went top 3 and deserved it, however the RB who went after him, taken at the end of the 1st round, was his own backup Jadarian Price. Not that great of an RB, who I'd have given a 3rd round grade in any other year, but was taken with a 1st round pick. This was because the rest of the group was quite subpar. My 2nd favorite RB was actually Nebraska's Emmett Johnson who was fantastic in a phone booth but a tad undersized and not quite as fast as you'd want, however the entire group after Love was pretty much a crapshoot as to who was even worth picking.

I'm wondering how you guys feel about the projected 2027 group. This year, there is no Jeanty/Saquon/Bijan/etc, and the guys sort of cluster together. I am a fan of Ole Miss' Kewan Lacy but he's been hurt this year which has made it hard to gauge him. Mizzou's Jamal Roberts has been fantastic in the wake of Ahmad Hardy's offseason tragic incident which he continues to recover from, but then you watch Mizzou's other RBs too and just think maybe Mizzou has some sort of magic wizardry they can cast to make any RB seem beastly. In my opinion, the projected class is being shaken up weirder than at just about any other position, considering how it looked coming into the season. Jadan Baugh was someone I knew of through having the sheer misfortune to have watched 2025 Florida. What an utterly putrid watch. Wanted a look at Devin Moore, Caleb Banks, and Tyreak Sapp, and in the process was forced to have a gander at that awful offense with one of my new most hated QBs in CFB. Baugh would occasionally make something out of nothing that year when given touches but I wasn't surprised he didn't make too much noise, nor was I surprised when he did start to break out this year. To me, he's comfortably RB1 in the next draft, but he's definitely a tier or two beneath the top prospects of the past 5 years or so - I wouldn't say he is as good as Breece Hall or Kenneth Walker were either for the record.

Trying to judge this group has been weird. In 2026 if you had asked me who I expected to be the best, it was going to be Mizzou's Ahmad Hardy for certain, but with what happened to him in the offseason I doubt he's going to declare this year and we don't know how good he's going to be going forward. Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown both went over to Texas and both have underperformed in their confusing offense, I think they're both draft worthy but I doubt either of them are going to get the chance to show it this season and so we won't have another Jeremiyah Love/Jadarian Price situation even though I don't think either of them are necessarily worse than Price. Mark Fletcher seemed pretty good too but there's something about Miami's skill position guys where they produce great and are amazing on paper but when I watch them they don't wow me quite as much as I expect them to. Have not watched much of Georgia's Nate Frazier or Louisville's Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown this year but I know Isaac Brown was really good the past year or two. Cam Cook I don't know what I think about. I honestly don't know that I buy into the current consenses.

To me, some backs that have jumped out to my eyes recently: Wayshawn Parker from Utah, J'Koby Williams from Texas Tech, Joe Jackson from Kansas State, Desean Bishop from Tennessee

I don't know how scout/analyst types view these guys, they may not have quite the traits you want or something may be missing but I enjoyed watching them and found they had good vision and lateral quickness, thought they were worth a pick if they declared.

To me, this RB class is nowhere near as good at the top as the past few but has some great depth

And there's a pretty high chance he doesn't even enter the 2026 draft. So anyone who has him #1 in their predictions is an idiot or isn't paying attention to the college football season.