The 2019 Draft doesn’t seem so far away now as we are getting an idea of who will be picking at the top. The bad news for those teams is that there is not one quarterback worthy of the first pick. You will see today, I don’t think there is a quarterback that should go in the first round (assuming Justin Herbert goes back to school. All indications point that way). This week on tap we have Syracuse At Notre Dame and Duke At Clemson. Here we go. Who stood out for better or worse in week 12?
Syracuse At Notre Dame
Did anyone else want to vomit watching Notre Dame rock the pinstripes? Disgusting. Outside of that, I don’t have much here. I didn’t expect this kind of beat down. I thought Notre Dame would win but I didn’t see 36-3 coming. Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey left the game in the second quarter which obviously didn’t help matters. Here are my takeaways. Notre Dame dominated the trenches. I’m going to have to watch this more closely against better competition but I would bet they have some NFL offensive and defensive lineman on the roster. They also don’t get as much credit defensively as they should. Snagging 3 interceptions is no joke. They also have a linebacker Tevon Coney who fits the NFL. Rangy speed and tackles well. He had 12 in this one. We’re going to find out a hell of a lot more once they playoff starts.
Duke At Clemson
I offered Daniel Jones the same challenge that I did to Ryan Finley. Go make plays against Clemson. Win or lose, I don’t care. Just go wow me a few times. That’s all I want. Senior night, on the road, against the best defensive line in football. What do you have Daniel Jones?
My expectations were much higher for Jones than Finley. Ryan Finley is a joke. He confirmed that thought. Jones, on the other hand, has been a sleeper of mine for a while. He was on my preseason watch list. 6-foot-5, well coached, and mobile. NFL Draft nerds have now overhyped Jones a great deal because of a weak quarterback class.
The thing is, I kind of got what I was expecting. Duke lost 35-6. Jones went 24/43 for 158 yards. He was abused and sacked 4 times. He made some good throws, he made some ugly throws. My comp for Jones is Paxton Lynch / Brock Osweiler. You may think that sounds bad but I don’t necessarily mean that as a bad thing. I’ll say the same thing now then when I did about Lynch. Sit him for two years and give him an elite play caller and he’s going to make it. Throw him into the fire right away and give him a defensive head coach and he’s screwed. Notice what happened to Lynch… Jones is the perfect 4th round developmental prospect. I don’t mean this as a negative but let’s not go crazy about first round nonsense.
Let’s talk about the Clemson defensive line. I just don’t see how you can go wrong with one of those guys. I’m not sure how high their ceiling is but I don’t see how you miss with any of them. Christian Wilkins and Clellin Ferrell are among my favorites. Wilkins really gets after the quarterback from the interior. I’ll just leave this clip here. This is back to back plays. Also the purple jerseys rock. Don’t @ me.
