Author: Brad McDaniel

POSTS BY brad mcdaniel

Last week was pretty busy for both Rivals and 247sports. Rivals released their Rivals250 for the 2022 class, while 247 released the first 100 of their Top247 for the class of 2023. With high school football returning in some states, I thought it might be worthwhile to dive into these two rankings updates.

Full disclosure, we rarely use Rivals around here. It also seems like they are so far behind 247. This week is just one example of that. 247 has already gone through enough freshmen film to put together a working list of 100 players at the same time Rivals is trying to catch up on the 2022 guys. Anyway, Rivals put in the work, so let’s take a look at the highlights of their 2022 rankings updates.

August 24, 2020

(Brad) My Guys: 2023 Eligible

I’ve already staked my claim to several players in the 2021 and 2022 classes. Today, we’ll talk about the 2023 class – the incoming freshmen. Obviously, none of these guys have played a down yet, so they are all longshots to hit. Since it’s impossible to watch every incoming freshman, this list will likely grow, but here are the players that I’m on as of August 2020.

August 18, 2020

(Brad) My Guys: 2022 Eligible

I noticed I got carried away with my 2021 guys, but they’ve been in college longer so I’ve had more time to find things about them that I love. I’ll try to dial it back with the 2022 draft-eligible class. Here are My Guys in no particular order.

August 10, 2020

Let’s Watch Bo Nix vs Alabama

Bo Nix caught a lot of flack last year, some of it deserved, most of it not. He was a 19-year-old true freshman starting in the SEC. His first college season gave us several ups and downs, and it posed several questions he and the Auburn staff will have to answer going forward. Facing the second-toughest schedule in the nation, Nix bookended the regular season with wins over then-11th-ranked Oregon and 5th-ranked Alabama on his way to winning SEC Freshmen of the Year (over Derek Stingley, Jr).

August 3, 2020

(Brad) My Guys: 2021 Eligible

We see people planting flags on Twitter every day. There are discussions about who was first on a player every draft season. We all have our favorite players. That’s part of the reason we play Devy. It’s easy to fall in love with a player AFTER he proves himself as one of the top talents at his position, but I like to pick My Guys early, usually as they are making the transition from high school to college. Watching as many incoming freshmen as we do for our annual Devy Watch publication gives us an incredible head start on each class and helps us find guys we are willing to pound the table for earlier than normal.

July 27, 2020

Scouting Report: Sam Howell, QB, North Carolina

This isn’t going to be a traditional scouting report. You all know who Sam Howell is. You watched him lead the ACC with 3,347 passing yards in the regular season. You watched him break UNC’s school record and set a new freshman FBS record with 38 passing TDs. Instead, I want to highlight a couple of areas where Howell is superior to most freshman QBs and pinpoint one aspect of his game that was lacking and why. Throughout the 2019 season, 18 QBs attempted more passes than Howell. Only two of them (Joe Burrow, Anthony Gordon) threw more TD passes. Only three of them (Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Chris Robinson) threw fewer interceptions than Howell’s seven.

July 14, 2020

Prep Evaluation: QB Sam Huard

I know this is a dangerous comparison, but watching Huard throw the deep ball, as a junior in high school, is the football equivalent of Ken Griffey, Jr.’s swing – both left-handed, both graceful and pleasing to the eye.

July 8, 2020

2020 Elite 11 Finals

I can only assume the 2020 Elite 11 Finals took place in Murfreesboro, TN (just outside of Nashville) due to a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and Trent Dilfer coaching high school football in middle Tennessee now. Whatever the reason, the event took place right down the road from me so I was able to attend. Given the circumstances, the event had a much different feel than it normally does. The media was not allowed on the field and access to the players was restricted. Due to a new ordinance from Tennessee’s governor, 7 on 7 was not allowed Wednesday, so the Elite 11 staff replaced that with an accuracy gauntlet. None of the top WR prospects were there anyway so local kids and kids within driving distance caught passes from the QBs. With the way the year 2020 has unfolded, we’ll take whatever we can get.

July 1, 2020

2020 Devy Watch: By the Numbers

Volume 2 of Devy Watch 2020 published over the weekend, and I thought it would be fun to take a by-the-numbers look and see if there were any trends to uncover. If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, you can grab it here. In addition to over 250 ranked players and profiles, vacated production, breakout age, market share, and dominator rating leaders, Volume 2 adds Projected Futures, an industry superflex mock draft, and over 180 pages of college head coach and coordinator changes and how they’ll impact the college fantasy football landscape.

June 4, 2020

May Evaluation Period: WR JoJo Earle

JoJo Earle is a 4-star WR who committed to LSU over Alabama, TCU, Ohio State, and Oklahoma. At 5’9″ and 170 pounds, Earle is undersized, but he’s a playmaker. Earle preps at Aledo High School in Texas, where he plays for a perennial state championship contender. He’s the #78 overall player nationally, the ninth-best player in Texas, and the #12 WR in the country.

May 28, 2020