Welcome to rivalry week. Good news for you the viewer. I watched a ton of college football this week which means this will be the largest 2019 NFL Draft article to date. Friday and Saturday provided action-packed games and I didn’t leave my couch much. Week 13 includes the following recaps: Houston at Memphis, Oklahoma at West Virginia, Washington at Washington State, Michigan at Ohio State, Florida at Florida State, and Auburn at Alabama. Here we go. Who stood out for better or worse in week 13 when it pertains to the 2019 NFL Draft?
Houston at Memphis
There were two players that I wanted to watch coming into this game. Ed Oliver, the defensive tackle for Houston and Darrell Henderson, the running back for Memphis. It’s the perfect scouting tool. Oliver missed the past four games with an ankle injury so let’s start there.
Oliver was the number one high school prospect in the country three years ago. He’s lived up to the hype. I can remember his freshman year when Houston upset Oklahoma, Oliver turned the tide for Houston on his own along with Greg Ward on offense. This is the first defensive tackle in years that actually has the potential of Aaron Donald. Oliver is listed at 6’3″, 290 and he’s probably lighter than 290. Oliver plays the run extremely well and gets after the quarterback. Oliver didn’t play a ton of snaps in this one but when he was in there, Oliver was dominant. It was an odd game to study because Houston had Oliver playing out of position at defensive end. He was double teamed on every snap. Memphis ran plays away from him at every turn. That’s really all you need to know. He jumped offsides twice and swatted a pass down if you can about those sorts of things. Here’s another thing to show you how dominant Oliver is. Memphis scored 17 points in the first half and 35 in the second half. Oliver didn’t pay in the second half.
I wanted to watch this game because of Darrell Henderson as well. Henderson has had a monster year for Memphis. Henderson broke the single-season American conference rushing record this weekend. He also has good size at 5’9″, 200. So far, Henderson has rushed for 1,699 yards with an 8.6 yard per carry average. Henderson also leads college football in all the advanced stats too. Prior to the game, the Memphis back is first in yards after contact (5.69), elusive rating (147.5), and avoided tackles (46). So, of course, I wanted to see if Henderson was the real deal.
Overall, I was impressed. I’m not going to put out on the first date but I was impressed. After a slow start, Henderson took over this game with 24 carries, 178 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Henderson has good speed, explosion, and power. He also makes guys miss and can hit the home run at any time. That’s all you’re looking for out of a tailback when you’re scouting. Check out this run by Henderson that came seconds after he broke the single-season conference rushing mark.
The thing that I was a bit shocked about was that Memphis may actually have two backs. Maybe Henderson is just a product of the system? Patrick Taylor also rushed 19 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns. They even had a third guy who rushed for a touchdown. More work certainly needs to be done and I’ll have my eyes peeled when Memphis plays Central Florida again. The last time Henderson played UCF, he rushed for 199 yards so let’s see if he can duplicate a dominant performance.
Oklahoma at West Virginia
Warning. The following entertainment may make your eyes bleed. Viewer discretion is advised. Classic Big 12 Game here. All offense. Zero defense. I’m all for offense but can somebody play a lick of defense? These types of games hard to evaluate but I’ll do the best I can.
I want to take a moment to talk about Kyler Murray. I know he’s going to baseball but there’s no question that he would *still might get drafted very high. If he was 6’5″, no question that he goes first. This isn’t like a joke that is Lamar Jackson. Murray can actually throw the ball. We might see more and more guys come out that resemble Russell Wilson and Murray realistic would have that potential with the upside to be a much better runner.
Oklahoma’s weapons are disgusting. There is no other way to put it. Trey Sermon, CeeDee Lamb, Grant Calcaterra… the list goes on and on. Even the Oklahoma offensive line is incredible. In this one, I want to focus on Marquise Brown. I’m always skeptical of small wide receivers. They normally don’t work. Have you seen John Ross? However, teams need to start replicating what the Chiefs have. Marquise Brown is flat-out unbelievable. 11 catches on 11 targets, 243 yards, and two touchdowns are crazy, even for a Big 12 game.
I have bought into Hollywood Brown. There’s just too much talent here. The speed is off the charts. Route runner is there. There’s a Tyreek Hill element here. Every 5 seconds it seems like he caught another 50-yard pass. That makes everyone else better on the offense. I want to see what he runs but I would have a hard time believing that he will fall into anything higher than 4.35. I also learned that he is related to Antonio Brown?!? Yeah, I’m in.
Okay, now to West Virginia. First, I’ll say that I don’t buy Will Grier. I can’t get rid of the stain of his Florida days. He also tested positive for PED’s so he’s going to get tested basically every day in the NFL. I will admit that he is better than I thought he was. Still, I don’t know who you can draft that guy as anything more than a backup. Grier can stand in the pocket and make throws. There’s no doubt about that. I just don’t see a superior talent that you can draft in the first round. 32/49, 539 yards, and 4 touchdowns are crazy but it’s Oklahoma’s defense. That’s a hot knife through butter so don’t get too worked up.
I also wanted to check out David Sills. This is an interesting convo here. 8 catches, 131 yards, and two touchdowns was a highly productive game. That wasn’t a big surprise with the defense in this game. From what I saw, Sills is a big target that can get open. I also saw a guy that struggles with press coverage. I’m not sure how physical he is at the point of attack and he still appears to be a raw route runner. That’s not a surprise coming from a former quarterback. When you can scheme free releases like this one below, Sills can be very effective. I’m very skeptical of this one. I just don’t see how you can justify anything more than a late round draft pick on him.
Washington at Washington State
Snow game! This one was so much fun to watch. We don’t get many of these anymore. Especially with the environment going to hell. Starting first with Washington. I don’t buy Myles Gaskin. I just don’t There’s just no pop with him. No explosion. No twitch. I don’t care that he ran for 170 yards. Washington State has next to no NFL guys every year. It’s another Bishop Sankey situation.
What did surprise me with Washington is that they may have some real perimeter players on both sides of the ball. Byron Murphy had an interception in this one and the Huskies have produced real secondary guys in the past. Hunter Bryant had a big-time game too reeling in over 100 yards. Keep an eye on those two moving forward.
Michigan at Ohio State
Yikes. Michigan fans need to go hibernate. Michigan was favored by 4.5 and they lost 62-39. Let’s start with the bums at Michigan. Shea Patterson sucks. He just does. There have been rumblings that Patterson may enter the Draft early. That would be beyond idiotic. At this point, I don’t believe that Patterson actually thinks he is good. 20/34, 187 yards, 3 touchdowns, and an interception doesn’t tell the whole story of how bad he actually is. The guy can’t throw the ball from the pocket. When he throws the ball, it’s always 10 yards underthrown. This is a worse version than Johnny Manziel and should be considered totally undraftable.
Michigan really doesn’t have any NFL talent on offense but they should on defense. They gave up 62 points. Totally unacceptable. This defense got exposed because they are slow. I didn’t necessarily see that coming. Michigan plays at their best in press and they could not catch the Ohio State receiving core. They were simply too fast and did whatever they wanted. Now I’m curious what those Michigan guys will run because this is a serious red flag. Is Devin Bush a 4.8 guy? Are the secondary guys statues? Michigan also had no sacks and next to zero pressure. Awful games for Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich’s stock.
Ohio State showed that they have a hell of a lot more talent then Michigan and they finally came ready to play. It was a nice game for Dwayne Haskins. He still reminds me a ton of Cardale Jones. I’m not sure if he is better or worse yet. I want to talk about Parris Campbell here because he put on a show. This guy is just a playmaker. Give him the ball and he can take it to the house. It fit the theme. Michigan was just too slow and the fast guys on Ohio State took advantage. 5 catches for 114 yards and a score says it all. Check out this 75 yard rushing touchdown. I’m not sure how high you can draft him but he’s a guy that can stretch the field and becomes a decoy for defenses to pay attention to at all times.
Also keep an eye on the Ohio State linebackers. Malik Harrison and Tuf Boreland had really great games. the NFL is trending this way. Undersized linebackers that can run side line to side line. Harrison had a fantastic game upping his status.
Florida at Florida State
I didn’t pay a ton of attention to this game with Ohio State – Michigan on at the same time. Florida State is a flat out joke with Willie Taggert in charge. One player that stood out in this game for Florida is Jachai Polite. The Florida pass rusher had 2.5 sacks and forced fumble in this one and was constantly in the backfield. What I liked to see is how quick when the ball is snapped. The quick get off really impressed me. Polite is also appears to be very powerful and dominates with his hand. Polite now has 11 sacks on the year. 3-4 teams are going to love this guy and I think he has a real chance to go in the first round. I think there is a really high ceiling here because all of the tools and measurables are there.
Auburn at Alabama
The classic Iron Bowl wasn’t very entertaining. Alabama could beat the Nate Peterman Bills so Auburn didn’t have a prayer. I’ll run through this one quick. Jarrett Stidham is terrible. I said that before but he is becoming more and more embarrassing. 13/30? Really? Undraftable.
Alabama didn’t kill them with the run game which speaks volumes about Derrick Brown and Dontavius Russell. Both Auburn defensive tackles are going high in the draft. Brown is flat out nasty. Russell will wind up a steal in the mid rounds.
Alabama just keeps doing Alabama things. They can’t be touched. Anfernee Jennings is starting to come on the scene. He had an interception and a sack in this one. Quinnen Williams is also locking in a top 5 pick. He might be the most dominant defensive player in college football.
