Nov. 12-18
It’s nearly Thanksgiving, which means it’s time to look at what players are rising and falling, in the eyes of draft analysts, with our third mock review for the 2023 class. We got things started in July, then followed up in September before pulling together our seven services’ work today. We’ve been tracing draft analysis since the 2018 selection meeting.
So what did the pundits say since September? Let’s dig in.
The unanimous picks: The players on all seven boards are Alabama QB Bryce Young (average draft slot 1.57); Alabama DE Will Anderson (2.14); Ohio St. QB C.J. Stroud (4.14); Georgia DT Jalen Carter (4.71); Clemson DE Myles Murphy (7.0); Kentucky QB Will Levis (8.86); Northwestern OT Peter Skoronski (10.7); TCU WO Quentin Johnston (12.0); Ohio St. OT Paris Johnson (12.3); and Texas OH Bijan Robinson (16.9).
Skoronski, Johnston and Johnson are new to the all-boards list, while Georgia DC Kelee Ringo (snubbed by Walter Football), Ohio St. Jaxon Smith-Njigba (just five of seven boards this time), Clemson DT Bryan Bresee (also snubbed by Walter) and LSU WO Kayshon Boutte (just three boards, with just one listing him in the top half) all bowed out since September.
No. 1: Last time we checked, Anderson was the near-unanimous top pick; only Pro Football Focus listed him at No. 2. This time around, Young is the guy. Pro Football Network (PFN), ESPN’s Todd McShay and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler were the only three services who didn’t have him at No. 1, and PFN and ESPN had him second (Brugler has him third). Young has clearly surpassed Stroud as QB1, at least for now, after Stroud was a cut above in our last two surveys. In fact, Stroud was the consensus No. 1 overall entering the season. As for Anderson, he remains at the top for McShay and Brugler; Walter Football, on the other hand, has dropped him to No. 4 after rating him No. 2 in July and No. 1 in September.
Mixed reviews: The player on all seven boards, but who had the widest gap in opinions, was Northwestern’s Skoronski. The needle is definitely pointing up for the Wildcat after he was only listed by six services last time. However, he’s ranked 30 by PFN but 3 CBS’ Chris Trapasso. Meanwhile, Levis is hanging in there despite Kentucky’s 6-4 record and some lackluster performances of late. He’s still holding off Florida’s Anthony Richardson (two boards, with The Draft Scout’s Matt Miller listing him at 12), Stanford’s Tanner McKee (one board; PFF has him at 17) and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker (one board; Miller has him at 30).
Playing it safe: McShay was the only pundit without a single player who wasn’t on anyone else’s board. In fact, only one of his top 32 players, Iowa DE Lukas Van Ness, was only on two services’ lists.
The outlier: When it comes to going it alone, Walter Football always delivers. Florida DT Gervon Dexter (17), Texas DT T’Vondre Sweat (20), Notre Dame OC Jarrett Patterson (22), Tennessee WO Jalin Hyatt (26), Miami (Fla.) OT Zion Nelson (27), TCU OG Steve Avila (29) and Tennessee WO Cedric Tillman (30) made only one mock: Walter’s. By the way, Sweat, Patterson, Hyatt and Avila didn’t appear on any of the seven pundits’ mocks in September.
New around here: Players making their mock draft debuts were Alabama DC Brian Branch, Penn St. OT Olumuyiwa Fashanu and Florida St. DE Jared Verse (five boards each); Oregon DC Christian Rodriguez (four boards); Texas A&M DC Jaylon Jones and Florida OG O’Cyrus Torrence (three boards); Maryland OT Jaelyn Duncan, Mississippi St. DC Emmanuel Forbes, SMU WO Rashee Rice, Georgia TE Darnell Washington and Van Ness (two boards each); and Syracuse OT Matthew Bergeron, Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker, Arkansas OB Drew Sanders, Michigan DT Mazi Smith, USC DT Tuli Tuipolotu, Avila, Hyatt, Patterson and Sweat (one board each).
Make sure to check out all the names, services and draft slots by checking out our review for yourself here. When you’re done, check out what we saw, heard, read and said about the business of college and pro football this last week before Thanksgiving.
Catching Up: Theo Young spent three years scouting for Buffalo under GM Buddy Nix (2011-13). We caught up with him this week.
· Where are you living and what are you doing now? “I’m athletic coordinator and head football coach at Stephen F. Austin High School in Houston(, Texas). I’ve been head coach about six or seven years. I started here as the d-line coach, then I got the head job and went from there.”
· Do you miss the job? What do you miss most? “I tell you what, I miss giving a young man in college a chance to participate in the NFL, because when you hear their background stories, you want to give them a chance to change their lives, and I think scouting does give someone a chance to change their life, especially the (undrafted) free agents, and especially if they have the ability and they work hard. That’s one thing I do miss from scouting.”
· Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues? “I do. I do keep in touch with two or three of them, see how they’re doing, see how their families are. It’s not a once a month, maybe every holiday season, but I do stay in touch with them to see how their family is doing.”
· Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)? “I’ve been to maybe a couple college games in town, but not the pro games. I may just see them at a little (viewing) party, but I don’t go, unless someone wants to give me some tickets down the road (laughs). I just don’t go. I’m kinda busy during the football season until it’s over with, so that’s one of the reasons.”
· Are there any players you love to watch and/or feel close to due to your work in the game? “I look at the Bills games, and I enjoy looking at their (players) and what they’re doing right now. If I’m not working, I look at a few games, and I have a few teams. I still push for the Steelers and Buffalo. There are certain people I see and say, ‘oh, he’s over there now?’ But it’s not like I look at them online and see where they’re at. I saw (Chargers DT) Christian Covington recently. He was at Rice, then the Texans. That’s one I remember because he was a Houston guy. But I wish all of them the best. Get it while you can, because you never know what’s gonna happen. I try to preach it to the guys here. Think education first, because anything can happen to you down the road. If something happens, you have a head on your shoulders because you went to school.”
Review the latest from other former NFL scouts and executives by accessing our Catching Up archive here. Want to hear from a former scout, or know someone who may be interested in being interviewed? Let us know.
Look before you leap: By now, if you’re new to the business of player representation, you’re in conversation with the players who may be your clients during the 2023 draft season. You may also be struggling mightily to figure out if the prospects you’re recruiting are actually prospects. If so, maybe we can be of service. Former Titans scouting executive Blake Beddingfield has been writing scouting reports for interested contract advisors (and others) for the past five years-plus. All we need is a name, position and school, and we’ll do the rest. In 48 hours, maybe sooner, we’ll get you a one-page report with strengths and weaknesses, a player outlook and draft projection. Need to see samples? No problem, just let us know. Ready to get started? Let’s do it.
Rep Rumblings: This week, we had four reports. On Monday, we had a few pre-XFL Draft notes, we noted a whole lot of Senior Bowl invitees (and a handful of Shrine Bowl invites, as well), we noted another possible all-star opportunity on the horizon and more. Tuesday, we reviewed The Other Alternative League’s coaches and personnel directors heading into Season 2 for the USFL, formally invited ITL members to a last-minute Rookie Agent Zoom, passed along some signing buzz, looked at a new development for one of our training partners and more. On Wednesday, we looked at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl’s latest announced invitees as well as what we’ve seen and heard on the Senior and Shrine lists, as well. We also had a couple of observations on Day 1 of the XFL Draft. Finally, on Thursday, we had more all-star invites, speculated on a top prospect’s agent preferences, and looked at the new coach in Charlotte. Make sure to keep up with everything that’s happening in the game by reading our daily reports. Check them out, going back 10 years, here.
That’s a wrap: Congratulations to all XFL teams after the league completed its draft as it prepares to resume play in 2023. Check out all the picks here. We’re excited to see the league’s continuing evolution as the Feb. 18 league kickoff draws slowly nearer. Don’t forget: the drafting isn’t over, as the league will have a supplemental selection meeting in mere weeks. Make sure to check out all the details on the league, straight from league officials Doug Whaley and Russ Giglio, by watching the recording of our Zoom session earlier this month.
Next week: The last full week of November offers one last chance to catch your breath before the offseason rush gets started. Here’s what we’ll be working on.
· The Know Your Scouts series wraps up this week as we analyze the front offices of the Seahawks, Steelers, Texans, Titans and Vikings.
· We’re hoping to launch our Signings Grid for the 2023 NFL Draft. It’s one of our most popular annual features because we list not just names and all-star berths but also agencies signed with, combine yes/no, and training facility. It’s something we’ll work on for the next three-plus months.
· We will not, however, host a Rookie Agent Zoom this week. We’ll resume our schedule in December. Our next two sessions will focus on all-star games (we’ll be joined by several game directors) and combine/pro day prep (we’ll host our training partners).
· There’s plenty to talk and think about when it comes to the football biz this time of year, and we’ll write about it on our Succeed in Football blog.
· We’ll have the latest all-star invites, agent happenings, scouting moves, search firm developments and maybe even signings in our Rep Rumblings.
· We’ll list the Agents by Total Clients for November, and we hope to also log the Agent Changes for the month, as well.
· Former Jets college director Mike Hickey will be the subject of our Catching Up interview for the Friday Wrap.
That should do it. Get your rest and satisfy your appetite this week, because the truly busy season is just around the corner. Let’s tackle it together.
