College Football 2023 Stock Up, Stock Down Week 12: Beau Brade, Jabbar Muhammad, Nate Wiggins & More
Today, we’ll look at more than 20 of the 2024 NFL Draft prospects who helped their stock in Week 12 of the college football season
The year is setting up to go out on a high note after many excellent performances by key 2024 NFL Draft prospects. The regular season wraps next weekend, giving prospects limited time to finalize their resumes for the pre-draft process. Today, we’ll look at more than 20 of the top stock up candidates from Week 12 of the college football season.
Only draft-eligible players appear in this series. I tried to avoid picking prospects from blowouts or “tune-up” games against lesser competition. All heights and weights are unofficial unless specified.
Feel free to tell me in the comments or on Twitter @Sam_Teets33 if you saw a player that deserves to be on this list.
Stock Up: Beau Brade, S Maryland
Brade is part of a deep Big Ten safety class that includes Rod Moore, Tyler Nubin, Josh Proctor, Lathan Ransom, and Dante Trader Jr. It was Brade’s day to shine when Maryland faced an uphill battle against Michigan. He amassed 11 tackles, including one for loss, and nearly intercepted J.J. McCarthy.
Brade showed off his closing speed on a near-interception in the first quarter. Unfortunately, he just couldn’t squeeze it while fully laying out for the pass breakup. Brade is a well-built, physical safety who doesn’t mind working downhill in the run game. He made an excellent play on Donovan Edwards in the backfield, firing off the edge to make a nice form tackle.
Brade now has strong performances against Ohio State and Michigan, which will put him firmly in the conversation for a third round pick. He reads the quarterback’s eyes to anticipate throws and is quick to close on short passes. Brade is awesome at the catch point. His physical play jars potential receptions loose, and he times his contact at the catch point well.
Stock Up: Jabbar Muhammad, CB Washington
Muhammad had a career game against Oregon State. The Oklahoma State transfer was arguably the best defender in an exciting and crowded night window of college football. He allowed no receptions despite being targeted six times by D.J. Uiagalelei. Muhammad finished the week with two interceptions, four passes defensed, and a fumble recovery.
Right before the half, Muhammad was the beneficiary of a long tip drill interception. His second pick was more skilled. He jumped an in-breaking route out of off-man coverage. Muhammad has a lean frame with excellent arm length to contest at the catch point.
On this red zone rep, Muhammad stayed on top of the receiver, recovered quickly after slightly biting on the post fake, accelerated through the stem to remain attached to the receiver, and elevated at the catch point to knock the ball away without giving the receiver a chance to make a play on the ball.
Stock Up: Mike Sainristil, NB Michigan
I gave Sainristil a third round evaluation back in May, and he has more than justified that grade. The nickel corner has four interceptions, including two pick-sixes, four passes defensed, and three tackles for loss this season. His size (5'10", 182 lbs. unofficially) will be a sticking point for many NFL teams, but he plays larger than that and is one of the smartest, most instinctive defenders in the entire draft.
While Michigan’s offense struggled to get in gear, Sainristil put the Wolverines in position to advance to next week with an undefeated record. He intercepted two passes in the win, one of which led to a Michigan touchdown.
Sainristil’s first interception of the day came from zone coverage. He lined up over the slot receiver but rotated toward the sideline post-snap and undercut a comeback route. On his second interception, Sainristil held inside leverage on the nine route. He drifted inside, baiting Taulia Tagovailoa into the throw before flipping around, locating the football, and boxing out the receiver as he high-pointed the ball at the catch point.
Sainristil doesn’t have elite speed, but his anticipation, awareness, processing speed, and quick trigger mitigate this concern.
Stock Up: Javon Solomon, Edge Troy
Over the past two weeks, Solomon has nine pressures, including seven sacks. That’s an insane pressure to sack conversion rate, even against weaker teams like the University of Louisiana Monroe and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. After applying pressure on 17.31% of his pass rush attempts in the past two games, Solomon is now applying pressure on 13.51% of his attempts this season.
Solomon is undersized, unofficially listed at 6'2", 249 lbs., but he is an explosive edge rusher capable of converting speed to power or rocketing around the edge before finishing with a rip move. He showed off all these skills on back-to-back sacks in the second half on Saturday. Solomon also has a combination of hand swipes and a relentless motor to hunt the quarterback.
Solomon’s speed is difficult for tackles to handle in wide alignments. He’s probably more of a scheme or role-specific player in the NFL, but his athletic profile and production over the past three years are impossible to ignore.
Solomon was a member of Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List over the summer. According to the annual list for The Athletic, Solomon bench presses 420 pounds, deadlifts 615 pounds, squats 600 pounds, and only has seven percent body fat. He also reaches up to 21.63 miles per hour.
Solomon’s teammate, Richard Jibunor, is a quality player too. He has already set or tied his single-season career highs in tackles (49), tackles for loss (13.5), sacks (nine), and forced fumbles (three) and is applying pressure on 12.1% of his pass rush attempts.
Stock Up: Nate Wiggins, CB Clemson
As long as Wiggins holds serve through Clemson’s game against South Carolina (and star receiver Xavier Legette) and a potential bowl game, he will firmly lock down the top cornerback spot in the 2024 NFL Draft. I viewed Wiggins as an excellent zone corner entering the year, but he has balled out in man coverage this season, showing real growth in his second year as a full-time starter.
Wiggins is a fast, loose cornerback with long arms and great ball skills. He doesn’t take many snaps in press coverage but can fill any other coverage role thanks to his natural athleticism and developing instincts.
When matched up against North Carolina’s Devontez Walker, Wiggins allowed four receptions for 70 yards (including a 43-yard reception early in the first quarter) on ten targets. Wiggins also intercepted a pass and broke up another while going against the Kent State transfer. You can see his route recognition and closing speed on the interception.
Wiggins also made the hustle play of the game, chasing down star sophomore running back Omarion Hampton and forcing a fumble before the big back could score a touchdown. The score would’ve put North Carolina up 14-0 in the first quarter. Wiggins showed off his speed on the chase down play, making up almost five years of distance in the play’s final 40 yards while accelerating past teammate Andrew Mukuba.
Against Walker and Florida State’s Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson this year, Wiggins allowed four receptions on 14 targets for 70 yards and two first downs.
Stock Up: Carson Beck, QB Georgia
Beck has emerged as a potential top five quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft. There’s still a strong likelihood that he returns to Georgia for his second year as a full-time starter, but he might want to reconsider if he continues playing like he did on Saturday. More of those performances, especially in the College Football Playoff, will help his draft stock spike.
The Tennessee game wasn’t perfect for Beck. A lucky penalty on the defense overturned a would-be interception in the first quarter. While under pressure, Beck stepped up in the pocket and overthrew Brock Bowers, resulting in the interception. Beck’s control of the pocket and decision-making under pressure are two areas in which he must improve.
Beck is in complete control in a clean pocket. His ball placement and touch are rare for a first-year starter. The redshirt junior is also throwing with anticipation, something even veteran college quarterbacks don’t achieve consistently. Beck trusts his targets and feels confident in his processing to begin throwing the football before the target exits their break, which is a huge feather in his cap.
Beck throws with good velocity over the middle of the field and to the sidelines to split defenders and beat tight throwing windows. He understands leverage well and leads his targets to space and away from defenders. This pass to Mekhi Mews forces the receiver to turn around, but it also gets him facing downfield instead of toward the sideline, increasing his potential to generate yards after the catch.
Beck’s control of the pocket must improve, but he knows to step up when facing outside pressure and has enough mobility to break the pocket and find receivers on extended plays.
Stock Up: Kingsley Suamataia, LT BYU
Suamataia has had a somewhat disappointing season. The BYU left tackle entered the year with the physical potential to catapult himself into the first round discussion. He hasn’t done that but still remains a solid second round-worthy pick. After a difficult stretch of games, Suamataia was one offsides penalty away from a clean sheet against Oklahoma’s Rondell Bothroyd and Ethan Downs.
Suamataia is in his second season as a starter and first year playing left tackle full-time. The redshirt sophomore has a thick, powerful frame with long arms. His hands are violent and powerful with good pop. On this rep, he swipes down Josh Kelley’s hand to knock the Oklahoma defender off balance.
Suamataia must watch his balance in the run game, but he easily sealed Oklahoma’s smaller defenders to create running lanes through the B-gap. Despite his size, Suamataia also has the mobility to climb to the second level and block linebackers.
Suamataia needs to improve his pad level and recognize stunts quicker. These are elements of his game that will get better with experience and adjusting where he carries some weight.
Suamataia was another member of Bruce Feldman’s 2023 Freaks List. The tackle reached 21.5 miles per hour last year, and BYU sports scientist Skyler Mayne predicts he will run in the 4.8s in the 40-yard dash.
Stock Up: Ron Stone Jr., Edge Washington State
Stone is half of a star pass rushing duo for the Cougars that includes Brennan Jackson. They are both team captains this season. Stone is coming off his best performance since he took Jack Nelson’s lunch against Wisconsin earlier this year.
Stone is an explosive pass rusher capable of threatening tackles vertically before working back inside with a spin move or deploying a two-handed swipe to clear a path around the corner. He has enough bend to flatten his rush and finish plays around the arc. Stone is a high motor defender who makes plays with his second effort.
Stone is applying pressure on 14.1% of his pass rush attempts this season. He has five games of five or more pressures, all against Power Five opponents. Stone has set or tied his single-season career highs in pressures, sacks, and forced fumbles.
Stock Up: Will Shipley, RB Clemson
Clemson’s defense came up big against North Carolina, but Shipley’s performance was also key for the upset win. The junior has dealt with a lot of injuries throughout his career, but he looked completely healthy on Saturday for perhaps the first time since Clemson’s season opener against Duke.
Shipley carried the ball 18 times for 126 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 53 yards. He lost another fumble in the red zone, but the turnover wasn’t costly in the end. Shipley produced 85 yards after contact, three forced missed tackles, and three runs of ten or more yards.
Shipley has good acceleration and speed to break big plays, and he showed off his footwork and wiggle by making Don Chapman miss in the hole on a 19-yard run. That burst and elusiveness carried over to a 31-yard run that left at least one North Carolina defensive back stumbling. Shipley even hit the breaks and threw Power Echols on a 17-yard reception to end the third quarter.
Those weren’t Shipley’s biggest plays of the day. He broke through for a 33-yard touchdown run on a delayed handoff. On that play, he punished Cedric Gray for taking too steep of an angle and hit a sharp cut to blast through a Kaimon Rucker arm tackle. Later in the game, Shipley beat a safety on a route down the middle of the field. It should’ve been a touchdown, but Cade Klubnik underthrew the ball and forced Shipley to work back to it through contact.
Stock Up Week 12 Honorable Mentions
Laiatu Latu, Edge UCLA
Latu has made his case to be the top edge rusher selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. All of the question marks about him as a prospect are things he can't control at this point. For my money, he is the best pass rusher in the country and should win every end-of-year award possible. Latu totaled nine pressures, including two sacks, against Caleb Williams and USC.
Latu has only dipped below producing pressure on ten percent of his pass rush attempts in two games this year. He is applying pressure on 21.1% of his pass rush attempts for the entire season and leads all FBS defenders with 60 pressures.
Latu can beat you inside with his quick and violent hands, swim moves, or by shooting the gap. He can beat you outside with swipes, clubs, and rips. Even when he doesn’t bend around the edge but provides outside pressure, he forces the quarterback to step up right into the teeth of the Murphy twins. Tight ends lack the strength and technique to block him.
Latu is relentless and will battle through multiple blockers on his way to the quarterback. His motor and effort to make even the smallest plays are impressive. Check out this play. Latu splits the right guard and tackle but fails to corral Williams in the pocket. He gets back up after stumbling and runs 15 yards to tackle Williams for roughly a two-yard gain for USC. Coaches will love that.
Brenden Rice, WR USC
If Rice plays in USC’s bowl game, he has a great chance to become the third Trojan receiver over the past two years to cross the 800-yard mark, joining Jordan Addison and Tahj Washington. Rice has 791 yards this season after catching eight receptions on 11 targets for 147 yards and a touchdown against UCLA. His 12 total touchdowns are the most by a “skill player” in the Lincoln Riley-USC era.
Rice has good size (6'3", 210 lbs.) and runs crisp routes to create separation at the intermediate level. However, the most impactful part of his game this season has been his ability to stretch the field vertically. As displayed by his 74-yard touchdown against the Bruins, Rice has the linear speed to stack defenders.
Rice is tied with Troy Franklin and Jimmy Horn Jr. for the most touchdowns in the Pac-12 on receptions where the ball traveled 20 or more yards downfield (six).
Jarrian Jones, NB Florida State
Jones played outside corner through his first four seasons before Florida State asked him to bump into the slot for 2023. The move has been profitable for Jones as it has opened more opportunities to blitz and showcase his physicality against the run. I haven’t written a full report on Jones yet, but I will be taking a look at his tape soon.
After making the game-sealing interception against Miami last week, Jones cut in front of a slot drag route in the third quarter against Alabama for his third pick of the year. Earlier in the game while Florida State trailed 13-3, Jones forced and recovered a fumble on a sack from the slot. The Seminoles scored a touchdown two plays later.
Jack Sawyer, Edge Ohio State
Outside of beating up on Western Kentucky, Saturday’s game against Minnesota was by far Sawyer’s best in 2023. It was probably the best game of his career and came at a great time for a talented player trying to build momentum for the draft after not being a significant factor through the first half of the year.
Sawyer produced five pressures, including a sack, on 14 pass rush reps against Minnesota. He also finished with 3.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. It was his second game with five or more pressures in 2023. He is producing pressure on 11.25% of his pass rush attempts this season, but that number jumps to 12.88% when focusing on just the past six games.
Sawyer’s strip-sack came after beating tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford. Sawyer put the big tight end on skates thanks to his hand placement and leg drive before redirecting into the pocket. He was a tone-setting presence for the Buckeyes during a game where JT Tuimoloau was largely a non-factor.
Ohio State likes using Sawyer in wide alignments, which frees him up to make plays against the run as a crashing defender. His IQ and impact in run defense have improved over the course of this season.
Malachi Corley, WR Western Kentucky
The YAC god was back in action Saturday night. After a few quiet weeks, Corley snagged ten of 11 targets for 171 yards and a touchdown, including 86 yards after the catch and five first downs. He showed off his speed on this 75-yard score.
A lot of Corley’s production at Western Kentucky comes on short passes or schemed up plays, but he has the combination of agility, contact balance, creativity, and speed to give defenses fits once the ball is in his hands. He is working on developing a more complete downfield route tree.
TreVeyon Henderson, RB Ohio State
The crowd of people calling for Henderson to be the top running back drafted is getting loud again now that the Ohio State star is back to full health. Henderson carried the ball 15 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes for 26 yards against Minnesota. He produced 111 yards after contact, two forced missed tackles, three runs of ten or more yards, and six first downs.
Henderson might have the best open field speed of any running back in the 2024 class. He’s a big play machine capable of ripping off long runs, like this 75-yard sprint against the Golden Gophers. A field-level view of the play shows the quick cuts and lateral agility Henderson used to set up the play.
Chop Robinson, Edge Penn State
After a slow start to the year that had some people questioning his first round projection, Robinson caught fire. He applied four pressures on 14 pass rush reps against Rutgers, amassing two tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. The forced and recovered fumble happened on this explosive pass rush rep where Robinson swiped the right tackle’s hands before blasting around the edge.
Since the start of Week 3, Robinson is applying pressure on 22.43% of his pass rush attempts. The Maryland transfer is a rare athlete with the first step and bend to immediately beat tackles.
Joshua Cephus, WR UTSA
Zakhari Franklin transferring and De'Corian Clark’s injury opened a lot of targets for Cephus. The 6'3", 185 lb. fifth-year senior is taking full advantage of the situation. He caught nine of 12 targets for 163 yards against USF to become UTSA’s all-time leader in receiving yards, surpassing Franklin.
Cephus created 72 yards after the catch and forced three missed tackles as UTSA advanced to 7-0 against fellow American Athletic Conference programs. The play of the night was Cephus’ 64-yard touchdown that bumped him ahead of Franklin. Cephus pairs his excellent size with good ball skills to high point the football.
Devin Neal, RB Kansas
Neal continued his crusade against the Kansas record books with an 18-carry, 138-yard, three-touchdown performance against Kansas State. The outing included 104 yards produced after contact, 12 forced missed tackles, five runs of ten or more yards, and seven first downs. It was his third game this year with more than 130 rushing yards.
Neal got the scoring going for Kansas with a 36-yard touchdown run, showing off his acceleration and wiggle to make defenders miss one-on-one in the hole. Neal’s speed to erase angles, elusiveness, sharp cuts, and explosiveness make him one of the more intriguing weapons in the 2024 class who hasn’t received a lot of media attention.
Michael Pratt, QB Tulane
Some analysts don’t view Pratt as a top 100 pick, which is weird considering his accuracy, ball placement, and ball security. He fits the trends of certain NFL schemes and will be gone long before the end of the third round.
On Saturday, Pratt became Tulane’s all-time leading passer on a throw that traveled roughly 40 air yards and hit his receiver in stride. The receiver jumping and defensive back diving prevented the play from being a walk-in touchdown.
Pratt doesn’t have an elite arm, but he puts good zip on intermediate throws to the sideline and routes over the middle of the field. Speaking of good velocity, check out this touchdown pass on the move.
Moose Muhammad III, WR Texas A&M
Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies pulled back on Muhammad’s involvement in the offense. His production is WAY down compared to last year. Even though it was against Abilene Christian, it was no coincidence that as soon as Fisher was axed, Muhammad had a big day. He set or tied season highs with seven targets, four receptions, 104 yards, a touchdown, and three first downs.
Muhammad doesn’t have elite burst off the line, but his ball skills are something else. Check out this one-handed, fully extended grab over the middle of the field. Muhammad excels at high-pointing the football, even if defenders are darting around in front of him. He also appears to track the ball well downfield.
Muhammad is a prime candidate to return to school and reach his full potential under Texas A&M’s next head coach.
Jared Wiley, TE TCU
In a game where Baylor passed for 199 yards and one touchdown, Wiley caught all seven of his targets for 178 yards and two touchdowns. The massive 6'7", 260 lb. fifth-year tight end rumbled for 109 yards after contact and six first downs. Wiley has good speed for his size, which he showed off on his 81-yard and 28-yard touchdowns.
Wiley has the speed to be a zone beater up the seam and the catch radius to punish defenses in the red zone. His combination of athleticism and unteachable traits will make him an interesting day three selection.
One Sophomore to Highlight
Damien Martinez, RB Oregon State
For the second straight week, I forgot the classification for a sophomore. Anyway, here’s what I think about Martinez.
Martinez is a thundering 6'0", 232 lb. running back, but he isn’t all power. He hit 20.7 miles per hour on a 59-yard touchdown run against Stanford earlier this year. That combination of burst and power makes Martinez the steady hand of Oregon State’s offense. He was the key to winning the possession battle 37:27 to 22:33 against Washington, which prevented the high flying Huskies offense from gaining any momentum in the second half.
Martinez finished the 22-20 loss with 26 carries for 123 yards and two scores and two receptions for 44 yards. One of his longer runs of the night featured a nice hit-stick on a defensive back.