The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released its first rankings ahead of Week 10. The drama from the initial release boiled down to some surprising finishes and shortcomings by playoff hopefuls. Two undefeated teams suffered their first defeats while Cincinnati held on for dear life. We didn’t get many ranked matchups, but it was a great weekend of college football.
Let’s look at the 2022 NFL Draft prospects that boosted their profiles the most during an action-packed Saturday. We’ll also discuss some players that saw their stock take a hit.
Please keep in mind that this article only includes players eligible for the upcoming draft. True freshmen and sophomores don’t qualify, so don’t complain about not seeing TreVeyon Henderson.
Information on height, weight, and sacks comes from ESPN.
Feel free to tell me in the comments or on Twitter @Sam_Teets33 if you saw a player over the weekend that belongs on this list.
UP: David Bell, WR Purdue
Bell and Purdue know how to author an upset. The 6'2", 205 lb. junior recorded 11 receptions for 240 yards and a touchdown when the Boilermakers took down No. 2 Iowa. He nearly repeated the performance, hauling in 11 receptions for 217 yards and a score against No. 3 Michigan St. That takes Bell to 1,003 receiving yards on the season.
Drake London getting hurt opened the door to several receivers winning the Biletnikoff Award, which goes to the receiver with the most outstanding season. Bell is front and center in the conversation.
DOWN: Malik Willis, QB Liberty
Willis began seeing green grass and causing damage with his legs in the second half, but it was already too late for Liberty. He threw three interceptions for the third time this year. One of the picks wasn’t Willis’ fault, but the other two fell squarely on his shoulders and occurred in potential scoring situations.
Willis finished the game with 16 completions on 25 attempts for 173 yards and 27 carries for 71 yards (2.6 yards per attempt) and a touchdown. Ole Miss dominated Liberty’s offensive line. Willis took nine sacks, and many of his short carries were almost sacks.
Fans should understand the distress Willis played under throughout Saturday afternoon, but he’s far from the first high-ranking prospect to face such conditions. Ultimately, the Auburn transfer came up short in the supposed battle between QB1 and QB2.
Matt Corral is the draft’s top quarterback. That’s an unquestionable fact, for this week at least.
UP: Kalil Pimpleton, WR/PR Central Michigan
Pimpleton is only 5'9" and weighs 175 lbs., but he’s a dynamic player capable of impacting the game in several ways. The junior recorded his fourth 100-yard game this season in a win against Western Michigan. Pimpleton caught five passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, but his real highlights came on special teams. He returned three punts for 166 yards and two touchdowns, including a 97-yard score.
DOWN: Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, CB TCU
Hodges-Tomlinson hasn’t matched the production from his 2020 breakout campaign. He only allowed 16 receptions on 49 targets for 192 yards and two touchdowns last year. Unfortunately, the 5'9", 177 lb. corner has allowed 18 receptions on 35 targets for 304 yards and two touchdowns this year. Both of those scores came this week against Baylor.
Hodges-Tomlinson has three passes defensed, two interceptions, and a defensive touchdown this year.
UP: Tyree Johnson, EDGE Texas A&M
Johnson is on a tear midway through the season. He has 14 pressures and seven sacks in his last four appearances. Saturday’s game against Auburn proved fruitful for the 6'4", 240 lb. senior. He recorded two tackles, five pressures, two sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
Johnson’s size might raise questions at the next level, but he’s played well in four consecutive SEC matchups.
DOWN: Myjai Sanders, EDGE Cincinnati
Sanders hasn’t had the senior year he was looking for. According to ESPN, the 6'5", 255 lb. edge rusher only has one sack this season. Sacks aren’t everything, but he’s not getting many quarterback hits either. Overall pressures matter, but sacks and hits hold extra value. Sanders only recorded three low-value pressures and three assisted tackles against Tulsa.
UP: Devin Lloyd, LB Utah
Nakobe Dean is my top linebacker for the 2022 class, but Lloyd is hot on his heels. The 6'3", 235 lb. junior had a fantastic game against Stanford. He amassed nine tackles, five tackles for loss, a sack, and a pass he intercepted mid-air at the line of scrimmage and returned for a touchdown. Lloyd allowed one reception on two targets for negative five yards.
Fellow Utah linebacker Nephi Sewell also had a good game.
DOWN: Nicholas Petit-Frere, OT Ohio St.
For the second week in a row, Petit-Frere finds himself trending in the wrong direction. Penn St. rattled the left tackle in Week 9, amassing six pressures against the future first-round pick. Nebraska must’ve paid close attention because the Cornhuskers recorded three pressures and a sack against Petit-Frere. It’s the second time he allowed over two pressures in a game this year.
The sack Nebraska earned against Petit-Frere was the first he allowed since his 2018 freshman season.
UP: Storm Duck, CB North Carolina
Duck entered 2021 with high aspirations, but injuries robbed him of all but two games ten weeks into the season. His second appearance came against undefeated Wake Forest. Duck’s NFL dream is alive and well after his performance against the red hot Wake offense. Sam Hartman targeted Duck nine times, but he only allowed three receptions for 18 yards and two yards after the catch.
DOWN: Jake Haener, QB Fresno St.
Haener is in the midst of his best season, but the former Washington transfer can’t shake his occasional catastrophic performances. The senior threw three interceptions and completed under 58% of his pass attempts in a 40-14 loss to Boise St. Hawaii picked Haener off four times in one of Fresno State’s other losses this season.
UP: Neil Farrell Jr., IDL LSU
Farrell wasn’t on many radars last year despite being draft eligible. However, the 6'4", 325 lb. senior is taking his game to a new level in 2021. He tallied seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and a sack against Alabama, which only built on an outing against Ole Miss where he had three tackles for loss and a sack.
Farrell is one of the sturdiest interior presences in college football this season.
DOWN: Ty Fryfogle, WR Indiana
Fryfogle quickly crashed out of the draft conversation after building top-100 momentum in the offseason. The senior hit a new low this weekend, failing to catch a pass against Michigan. He’d previously only caught one pass against Ohio St. and Cincinnati but hadn’t gone catchless in an outing this year.
In 2020, Fryfogle had an impressive three-game run against Michigan, Michigan St., and Ohio St. He recorded 25 receptions for 560 yards and six touchdowns. That kind of stretch isn’t coming this year.
UP: Jahan Dotson, WR Penn St.
If you thought David Bell had the best receiving performance of the weekend, think again. Dotson had a strong showing last week in Penn State’s loss to the Buckeyes, but he took things to another level against Maryland. The senior snagged 11 passes for 242 yards (22 yards per reception) and three touchdowns.
Dotson had nearly three times as many receiving yards as any other player in the Maryland game.
At 5'11", 184 lbs., Dotson has the speed to stretch the field, making him unique in the 2022 class.
DOWN: Isaiah Likely, TE & Jaivon Heiligh, WR Coastal Carolina
Likely’s production took a huge hit when the Chanticleers announced quarterback Grayson McCall is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. The star tight end felt his quarterback’s absence immediately, finishing with only three receptions for 23 yards against Georgia Southern.
The blow to Heiligh’s stat line was even worse. After recording back-to-back 100-yard games, the senior didn’t record a catch on his four targets.
UP: Zach Harrison, EDGE Ohio St.
Harrison’s inconsistency could hold him back in the draft process, but the junior’s ceiling could turn him into a top-20 selection. Harrison was in his bag against Nebraska. He finished the game with five pressures, a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Harrison has three sacks this year and three games with five or more pressures.
DOWN: Jayden Daniels, QB Arizona St. & Kedon Slovis, QB USC
Daniels and Slovis squared off on Saturday night in a game that was defined by bad quarterback play. Daniels continued proving he’s far from an NFL prospect by throwing two interceptions for the second straight week. He has seven passing touchdowns and seven interceptions this season.
Slovis didn’t fare much better. He completed 16 of 28 pass attempts for 131 yards and an interception. The former freshman prodigy split time with four-star freshman Jaxson Dart. Slovis has 11 passing touchdowns and eight interceptions this year.
After looking phenomenal as freshmen in 2019, Daniels and Slovis aren’t even draftable this year. They’ll likely return to school and hope to turn their careers around.
UP: Sam Williams, EDGE Ole Miss
Williams is the leader of a defensive front that hounded Malik Willis for nine sacks and 29 pressures. The senior finished Saturday with a season-high eight tackles, seven pressures, two sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Williams is part of a deep edge class, but he’s separating himself statistically. He has 10.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries this year.
DOWN: Tanner Morgan, QB Minnesota
Remember when Minnesota went 11-2 and Morgan threw for 30 touchdowns in 2019? That feels like a decade ago. The football landscape and world have changed so much since then. So has Morgan’s draft stock. He’s almost undraftable at this point, and his performance against Illinois only made things worse.
Morgan completed 15 of 27 passes for 180 yards and two interceptions against the Fighting Illini. He has 13 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions over the past two years.
One for the Road
Cam'Ron Kelly, S North Carolina
Kelly is responsible for the Tar Heels handing Wake Forest their first loss. The junior intercepted Sam Hartman twice after the Heisman Trophy candidate only threw three interceptions in his first eight games. Kelly has four interceptions and two passes defensed this year.
Honorable Mentions
Damone Clark, LB LSU
Travis Dye, RB Oregon
Hendon Hooker, QB Tennessee
Aidan Hutchinson, EDGE Michigan
Zion Johnson, IOL Boston College
Phidarian Mathis, IDL Alabama
Thayer Munford, IOL Ohio St.
Lew Nichols, RB Central Michigan
A.T. Perry & Jaquarii Roberson, WRs Wake Forest
Kenny Pickett, QB Pittsburgh
Wan'Dale Robinson, WR Kentucky
Alontae Taylor, CB Tennessee
Jameson Williams, WR Alabama
Mykael Wright, CB Oregon