It’s crazy to think we are approaching the halfway point of the college football season. So many great storylines have occurred this year, devastating injuries, shocking reports and even more incredible seasons. While the 2014 NFL Draft may still be months away every week matters and that’s the case again this week. Some marquee names stood out this week especially at the quarterback position. Here are your risers and fallers after another week of college football action.
Risers:
Marcus Mariota Quarterback, Oregon Ducks
It was a great week for the Oregon Ducks and a big reason for their undefeated start is Mariota. He began the season as a dark horse Heisman candidate and months later is quickly emerging as a potential favorite and could be a top-10 pick in May.
The redshirt sophomore quarterback dealt with questions early this season about potentially being a beneficiary of the system and talent around him. Plenty of quarterbacks like Darron Thomas and Dennis Dixon looked like stars in Oregon’s system but could barely make it a year on an NFL roster. Oregon certainly is loaded with talent and this is a perfect fit for Mariota’s skillset but he is proving once again why he is a legitimate prospect. We all know what Mariota can do when he tucks the ball and runs, he has the speed of a wide receiver and has shown it all this year, which is proven by his 10.4 yards per rush on 41 carries. But where Mariota really is starting to stand out is as a passer and against Washington this past week we saw the perfect placement, arm strength and pocket awareness that are needed from an NFL quarterback. Even with multiple drops including one early in the game that would have been an easy touchdown, Mariota still managed to complete 24 of his 31 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns. He is only 19 and not even has plenty of room to grow and mature. He needs to improve reading the defense, reacting to pressure and needs to become more consistent with his accuracy, but Mariota has shown the tools to be a top quarterback in the NFL.
Johnny Manziel Quarterback, Texas A&M Aggies
The most scrutinized yet loved college football player entered the season with plenty of doubt surrounding his future in the NFL. But now almost midway through the 2013 season, Manziel is starting to look like a legitimate NFL quarterback prospect.
Coming into the season Manziel had plenty of questions to answer about his ability as a passer and if he could be an NFL quarterback. Many of his big plays in college were on runs or breaking out of the pocket and just slinging the ball down the field. But this season we have seen a different side of Manziel, a player who really has focused on becoming a better quarterback. This year he has carried the ball just 67 times, cutting down his carries from 15 to 11 this year. He is throwing the ball more and completing more of his passes with a jump in his percentage from 68 in 2012 to 73.2 percent in 2013. Manziel is staying in the pocket more and is no longer just going with his first read, he is using his eyes to move the corner one direction then look to the other side and hit his wide receiver in stride. His ability to stay in the pocket and make sharp throws is really a nice thing to see for his potential NFL chances after last year when he would just run around. Manziel still has plenty of questions to answer about
Vic Beasley Defensive End, Clemson Tigers
There may not be any player in college football who has helped his draft stock more than Beasley. On a team that has been highlighted by Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins, Easley has been a true breakout performer this season and he continues to dominate every week.
Beasley has simply been a monster this season and an unstoppable force for opposing teams to try and game plan against. He has become the type of pass rusher who the opposing quarterback has nightmares of the night before the game. In six games this season Beasley has compiled nine sacks. The only game he didn’t get a sack was against South Carolina State in a game where Clemson was blowing them out and rested some of their star players. Easley has gone from a player to wasn’t even in draftnik’s top-50 prospects before the season and he has now climbed his way up and emerged as a potential first-round pick. The Tigers are the third ranked team in all of college football and while Boyd and Watkins have been big this season, no player has had a more breakthrough impact than Beasley.
Fallers:
Brandon Coleman, Wide Receiver Rutgers Scarlet Knights
One of my favorite wide receiver prospects entering the 2013 season was Coleman, a player who was gifted with rare size and really looked like he would be a first-round pick in May. But now as Rutgers season is underway and the team is off to an impressive 4-2 start, Coleman hasn’t been the player many expected him to be.
After an impressive junior season in 2012 in which he caught 43 passes for 718 yards and 10 touchdowns, everyone was ready to see Coleman take another step forward and have a breakout year. Things were looking great for Coleman to begin the year in a high-scoring opening loss to Fresno State. Coleman finished the night with nine receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown and it was just the kick-start he needed to begin a big senior season. But since that first week, Coleman has just 11 receptions in five games for 192 yards and he hasn’t found the end zone.
He has averaged a pedestrian two receptions per game for 38.4 yards per game, meanwhile the Scarlet Knights have gone 4-1 during that stretch. Coleman did undergo a minor knee surgery in the offseason and hasn’t looked as explosive this year, but it’s hard to put all of the blame on the knee. If Coleman is hurt and fighting through the pain he certainly isn’t doing his draft stock any favors as he really looks slow and is letting an opportunity slip by to improve he is developing his route-running, technique and becoming a more consistent player. I love Coleman’s talent and believe he can be a starting wide receiver in the NFL, but right now his draft stock is slipping.
Seantrel Henderson Offensive Tackle, Miami Hurricanes
Unfortunately, there are some cases where a player is supremely talented with the chance to be an excellent starter in the NFL but they just don’t seem to want it bad enough. Henderson is just another example of that and right now his future in the NFL is in serious jeopardy.
There is no question that based off physical skill and size, Henderson would be a first-round pick and a starter in the NFL. But a lack of maturity, focus and struggles with consistency have cost him throughout his career. Henderson was a former top national recruit out of Minnesota and was an immediate starter for the Hurricanes as a freshman. His technique still needs a lot of work as he stays high and doesn’t get a low pad level on his man, and his motor isn’t running on every play.
He was benched this season with the hope that it could send him a message and he would step up the following week but it just hasn’t happened. Henderson was suspended for violating a team rule and apologized to his team but now that he has returned he is no longer the starting right tackle. Henderson has so much talent and if he commits himself to improving he can be a starter in the NFL, but until we see the desire is there and he can play more consistently no team will invest a high draft pick in him.
Donte Moncrief Wide Receiver, Ole Miss Rebels
Speaking of inconsistency there has been plenty of that going on this year for the Ole Miss Rebels. After winning their first three games the team dropped the next three with all of them coming against fellow SEC opponents. As the team has struggled so has Moncrief, a star receiver who many were high on before the season but has failed to produce on a weekly basis.
In six games Moncrief has found the end zone in three weeks so he is doing a nice job making some plays and putting points on the board. He was big two weeks ago in a loss to Auburn tying a season high with six receptions while picking up 122 receiving yards and two touchdowns. It was his first 100-yard game of the season. It was an excellent day for Moncrief as he constantly beat coverage and brought in some beautiful passes. But as nice of a performance as it was, it helped enhance his statistics for the season that has really been mediocre. In the five other games he has failed to crack the 75-yard mark, and his worst performance came last week against Texas A&M. Moncrief was shut down by the Aggies secondary and held to just one reception for three yards. Some of the blame early in the season can be put on quarterback Bo Wallace but when watching Wallace last week against the Aggies he wasn’t the problem as he threw three touchdowns and threw for over 300 yards.
There just hasn’t been the consistency you would like to see from Moncrief and in a wide receiver class where guys like Mike Evans and DeVante Parker are improving their stick, there isn’t room for error.