Football
College football’s rivalry week lived up to the billing. There were a handful of truly excellent games with some outstanding performances across the country. Here were my NFL Draft takeaways.
- I will keep telling you about Donovan Ezeiruaku. The Boston College edge defender has been one of the more dominant pass rushers in the country and that was before he single-handedly wrecked Pittsburgh this weekend. Ezeiruaku had 3.5 sacks and was just relentless all day. The senior defender finishes the season with 16.5 sacks and looks towards the NFL where he will be a really, really good pass rusher.
- Mason Graham is something special. Look, I am not going to sit here and talk about how stupid Ohio State’s game plan was for the Wolverines. Plenty of people are doing that. What I will say is the Buckeyes potent rushing attack was rendered basically useless by Mason Graham on Saturday. Ohio State rushed 26 times, averaging less than three yards a carry. Mason Graham dominantly handled the inside of the Buckeyes line, making tackles on OSU runners and freeing up space for his teammates to make plays. The Wolverines have quite a few future impact NFL players on their front seven, but Graham showed he’s the best of the group with his performance in Columbus.
- Speaking of Ohio State, Kyle McCord is an NFL quarterback prospect. The former Buckeye led Syracuse to an impressive upset over Miami where McCord threw for almost 400 yards and three scores. It was a gutsy, playmaking performance and the kind he’s been delivering for The Orange all year. McCord currently leads the nation in passing yards. While he has no outstanding tools, he possesses a really good combination of accuracy, decision making, and poise. I don’t think he is a top prospect by any means, but he looks like the type of player who will have a long NFL career as a spot starter.
Players of the Week
Travis Hunter, Colorado: Travis Hunter picked off another pass last Friday and that wasn’t close to the most impressive thing he did. The do-it-all phenom caught 10 passes for 116 yards and three touchdowns. For those keeping track at home, that puts Hunter at 92 receptions on the year for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns. Hunter is fifth in the country in catches and yards while he is second in touchdown receptions. Oh yeah and he’s picked off four passes this season. It’s hard to really fathom how impressive his 2024 campaign has been. Unless Colorado has a surprise playoff berth, we may have seen the last of Hunter in a Buffs uniform. Next stop might be the first overall pick in the 2025 draft.
Abdul Carter, Edge Defender, Penn State: The Nittany Lions moved past Maryland with ease on Saturday, beating the Terps 44-7. Maryland’s inability to move the ball was due in part to Abdul Carter, whose two sacks on the day were only a part of his overall dominance. Carter is up to 10 sacks on the year and seemingly gets better with each passing week. It’ll be fun to see how he can impact games in the postseason but he has locked down a top ten draft selection this spring.
Read More Ben Natan