The 2019 NFL Draft got some clarity after the first week of the college football season has concluded. This week, The Michigan vs. Notre Dame game got my full attention. If you haven’t read my draft posts in the past, I’ll give my takeaways on draftable prospects from the games I get to see on Saturdays. They probably won’t reflect what other experts are saying but that’s a good thing because I actually have an opinion instead of just repeating what everyone else has. Here we go, let’s take a look at the initial reactions of week one.

Michigan vs. Notre Dame

Shea Patterson stinks. I wrote the early quarterback rankings for 2019 thinking that Patterson could be interesting that might have been getting overlooked. Well, that’s why we have this process because that thought was wrong. Patterson looks like a poor man’s version of Johnny Manziel. I was never a fan of Johnny in college so calling him a poor man’s version of that shows how bad I thought he looked. Patterson is undersized and couldn’t even progress through simple reads. Let’s be honest, I’m not sure Michigan wasn’t better when Dylan McCaffrey was running the offense. The stat line of 20/30, 227 yards, 1 int doesn’t tell the whole story of as bad has he played. Just awful. Unless there’s a significant improvement, Patterson is nothing more than that guy who is the camp arm at the combine and never does anything in the NFL.

I bet on Michigan in this game figuring that they had the better quarterback, coach, and defense so how could they not win? After watching that game, somehow all three of those qualities may actually be true. I wanted to get the first glimpse of Devin Bush and Rashan Gary, both guys who I thought were first-round picks coming into the process. After the game, I thought both guys were good but the other players on the defense who I liked didn’t play well. Michigan got pressure on the quarterback but they couldn’t stop the run and lost contain in the vertical passing game.

Starting with Gary, this is still a top 10 type of player but he didn’t have his best game. 3 tackles, one for a loss isn’t cutting it. Now he did get some pressure but I thought Notre Dame’s offensive line did a really great job. Going into the game I thought they may have problems considering they lost two top 10 picks (Quenton Nelson & Mike McGlinchey) but you could hardly notice. Liam Eichenberg (LT) and Alex Bars (LG) did a fantastic job for the most part.

This game didn’t change my mind on Gary but I want to see more later on in the season. This guy was the number one high school recruit in the country for a reason. He’s going to make one NFL team very happy next year. Quick note, Chase Winovich also looked alright as the opposite side pass rusher. Maybe a guy creeping into the middle rounds and someone I need to pay more attention to.

Again, despite the downfalls of the Michigan defense, Devin Bush was the only glue holding it together. Bush is looking like a first round pick, I’m just not sure if it’s at middle linebacker or outside linebacker. Bush can really get after the quarterback. His range is good but not elite. It was sort of a tough game to evaluate because Michigan’s defense got gashed left and right and even if Bush was on his game, it didn’t matter. Again, just three tackles and a sack isn’t a wow game but I thought he showed everything I was looking for.

Below are three highlight clips from his game. you will see these three things.

Bush tackles well and offensive players often pay when he hits them.

Bush has some natural pass rush to him for a middle linebacker.

Bush has range out in space to go make the play.

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES:

*Miami vs. LSU:

I watched the first of the Miami vs. LSU game. Talk about a snooze fest. Ugly is the only word to describe that game. LSU is so poorly coached that it’s hilarious. They blew through all three timeouts with three minutes left in the first quarter. This is a team that lost to Troy last year. For Miami to get boat-raced by this LSU team is embarrassing. LSU does have some talent like Devin White and Greedy Wiliams are awesome but it’s going to be tough to watch this team.

2017 NFL Scouting Combine: Running Back Notes

*Appalachian State vs. Penn State

Appalachian State almost pulled off a huge upset over Penn State who was thought of as a serious Big 10 contender. Just a few quick thoughts: Trace McSorley isn’t draftable. Let’s stop pretending that he’s good. I don’t know who App State’s running back was but that guy is good. Jalin Moore is a name to keep an eye on because it’s not often you find a small school running back that create big yards out of nothing.

*Louisville vs. Alabama:

Tua Tagovailoa is left-handed Russell Wilson. That guy is the best quarterback in college football. You’re just going to have to wait until at least 2020 in the NFL.

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