Week 3 of the college football season is in the books. Which prospects boosted their draft capital? And which saw it take a tumble? Here are five prospects who saw their stock shift after this weekend.
Stock UP: Michael Penix Jr – QB, Washington
Penix has been on an absolute tear through the first three weeks of the 2023 college football season. He was already regarded as one of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s class over the summer. If he keeps playing like he is right now he could easily enter that closely fought QB3 spot behind Caleb Williams and Drake Maye.
Every single one of Penix’s numbers against Michigan State is incredibly impressive. He completed 77.1% of his passes. He averaged a ridiculous 14.3 yards per attempt and threw for four touchdowns. Despite being pressured on almost a third of his dropbacks, he didn’t take a single sack. This was a hugely impressive showing from the Huskies’ signal caller.
https://twitter.com/pac12/status/1703221043647697311
Stock UP: Tory Horton – WR, Colorado State
The battle between Colorado and Colorado State was must-watch TV for obvious reasons. Whilst the Rams weren’t able to come away victorious, they had a number of players who looked excellent in this close-fought affair. Horton was certainly one of them.
The former Nevada receiver was named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List before the season and you can see why. He was targeted 17 times in this game, hauling in all 15 catchable targets. He converted that into 134 yards and a touchdown, averaging an impressive 6.3 yards after the catch.
Stock UP: Daquan Evans – CB, USF
After a 2022 season that was hampered by injuries, Evans has started the season with a bang. He announced himself on the national stage this weekend with an outstanding performance against Alabama. Whilst USF wasn’t able to come away with the win, you can bet that Evans will have turned the heads of plenty of scouts.
He delivered on the biggest stage, showing a newfound ability as a blitzer. Having only rushed the passer 10 times in four seasons, Evans logged 21 pass-rushing snaps in Week 3. He turned that into seven pressures, with three of those resulting in pressures. His five defensive stops were tied for the most amongst corners in Week 3 and he also chipped in with a hugely impressive pass breakup.
https://twitter.com/CamMellor/status/1703163384030511446
Stock DOWN: Phil Jurkovec – QB, Pittsburgh
Jurkovec has been on the NFL Draft radar for a long time. He transferred to Pittsburgh ahead of the 2023 season, reuniting with Frank Cignetti who called plays during Jurkovec’s best spell at Boston College. There may have been some lingering optimism that Jurkovec could get things back on track in 2023, but that would seem to have been misplaced.
After a poor showing against Cincinnati in Week 2, things got even worse in Week 3 against West Virginia. Jurkovec completed just eight of his 20 passes for 81 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per attempt. He didn’t throw a single touchdown pass but threw three interceptions, leaving him with a passer rating of 12.7 on the day.
Stock DOWN: Brevyn Spann-Ford – TE, Minnesota
Prior to the 2023 season, Spann-Ford was widely considered to be one of the best returning senior tight ends. He was coming off an impressive 2022 campaign that saw him finish with 497 yards and two touchdowns on 42 targets. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to continue that kind of form into this season.
In Minnesota’s Week 3 game against North Carolina, Spann-Ford finished with just two catches for six yards on his five targets. This included two drops. This was only slightly better than his performance in Week 2 where he had two catches for five yards against Eastern Michigan. So far this season, Spann-Ford has dropped four of his 13 catchable targets. He’ll need to knock off this rust pretty quickly to arrest his falling draft stock.
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