Welcome to “I Got 5 On It”, each week I’ll be picking five news-worthy subjects based around college football to cover. Ranging from views on Devy prospects, general college football talk, interesting stats, and a little bit of hip-hop music mixed in now and then.
1. QB Deep Throwers
Last week we looked at balls that traveled at least 20 yards in the air. Let’s venture down the lane of balls that traveled 10 yards or more in the air.
The top of the list is very similar to last weeks with Sam Howell and Kaleb Eleby topping the list. Eleby is on a much smaller sample size due to the MAC kicking off late and without a doubt Eleby faced the weakest competition of the entire group. Phil Jurkovec rounds out the bottom with little shock. He’s just not that advanced of a QB right now. He’s got great size and mobility within the pocket that makes him a menace to sack. As a passer he excels outside of structure when he’s able to use his size and escapability to freelance a big play. Jurkovec no doubt flashes. Flashes being the key word. Out of every 10 plays he’ll have two highlight reel type of plays but the other eight plays in the ten play sample are just average. He’s got a long way to go before he’s truly a first round QB and not just some upside price to get a coach fired. That brings us to Desmond Ridder, he’s just not that good of a QB right now either. He’s not accurate but he can make major “wow” plays with his legs. If you aren’t an accurate passer in college that isn’t just miraculously going to happen against better competition in the NFL. It wouldn’t shock me to see an NFL team waste a first round pick on Ridder’s upside (shit, EJ freakin’ Manuel went first round) but the odds of Ridder hitting that upside are slim at best. Let somebody else in your league waste the roster space. The only real surprise on this list was that Spencer Rattler graded out just below average. I believe Rattler has the most talented arm of anybody in the country right now. Rattler does come in the top four with a 56% completion rate that was severely hampered by 14 drops. Rattler has as much room for improvement as any QB on this list. He finished third in the nation in “Big Time Throws”.
In doing all this research for passes down the field one surprising NFL Rookie graded out quite well. Feleipe Franks graded out third best in the nation in 2020 only behind Kaleb Eleby and Mac Jones. He even finished second in the nation at “Big Time Throws Rate” (PFF describes a big-time throw as a downfield throw or pass into a tight window on a high-value offensive play opportunity that shows excellent timing and accuracy.) only behind Devin Leary. Franks might not be the worst option to snag very, very late in a Superflex league. Probably can even just snag him on waivers at this point.
2. Devy ADP Movers
No surprise to see Malik Willis top the list. Nobody cared about him two months ago now the 2022 NFL Draft Mocks have him going ridiculously too high. He’s now a coveted asset apparently. Tyler Allgeier is another prospect that I don’t get the hype surrounding him. He’s a big powerful back that I don’t think has the athletic ability to be a difference maker in the NFL. Zay Flowers is the only name on the list that I agree with being a mover. He’s finally getting some recognition after being an afterthought during the first few months of mock drafts. We got six tFR among the top ten moves. No surprise, it’s that time of the year where we have to overdraft freshmen. When half these kids barely play this Fall you’ve already lost a ton of value. Just take a look at Julian Fleming from last offseason. I bet the people who used a very high draft pick on him last year wish they could do that one over again.
3. Devy ADP Movers
I’m glad people are finally starting to see that Trey Sanders and Jadon Haselwood aren’t worth top picks any longer. Yes they were very highly ranked recruits but its time to “Just let it gooo”. Neither have accomplished anything on the field in there careers to warrant even being considered assets at this point. I really can’t argue much with who’s dropping at this point. The Max Borghi hate some become a bit extreme but I haven’t been drafting him either. Charlie Kolar dropping doesn’t make a lot of sense but I’m only willing to draft a handful of Devy TEs at this point.
4. Rising Senior Spotlight
The Colorado native is the second big-time back to commit to the Sooners in this current cycle. Sawchuk ranks as the 247 Composite Ratings 2nd best back at the moment. In seven games in 2020, Sawchuk rushed for 131-1239-17 and added another 9-71 as a pass-catcher. Despite his lack of receiving stats, he’s compared to Christian McCaffery by 247, who attended the same high school in Colorado. Sawchuk has elite speed and has a 10.62 100-meter time on his resume.
Sawchuk is a home run hitter with excellent acceleration. He should pair nicely with the OU offense that loves to create space. He’s a smooth and gifted athlete. Making everything on a football field just looks easy. He’s a patient runner who does a great job of letting his blocks develop. Displays some power at the high school level but that won’t be his bread-n-butter in college. Sawchuk will need to add some mass before he’ll be able to overpower college defenders.
Sawchuk is an exciting prospect who should fit great into Lincoln Riley’s offense. Even with the expected departures of Eric Gray and Kennedy Brooks, OU has a bit of a logjam with it’s backs. Shoot, Sawchuk isn’t even the only highly ranked back in OU’s class so far. Raleek Brown is amongst the nation’s premiere at the position as well. Sawchuk might not see major playing time until his two but most likely three year on campus.
5. Freshman Spotlight
Moving forward until next Fall, when we have some game action again, I’ll be highlighting an incoming freshman each week in the 5 spot. The Texas native, Behren Morton signed with his in-state Red Raiders as the highest rated player in the class. The four-star was rated as the 10tb best QB in the past recruiting class. Morton threw for 3,600 yards, 37 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He added another 127-897-19 as a rusher. From March of 2019, Morton has a 4.70 40-yard time at 173lbs.
Morton has average size, listed at 6’3” and 185lbs by Texas Tech. Delivers his passes with a good zip and are on a frozen rope. Has a bit of a swooping throwing motion but it’s a pretty quick release for having the swope. Despite his impressive high school rushing numbers, Morton looks like a slightly above-average rusher in college. Numbers appear to be inflated due to the competition he plays. He still has plenty of rushing ability to add some rushing upside for C2C or CFF.
Morton looks primed to be a starter once Tyler Shough departs. Which will probably be after 2022, Shough isn’t good enough to head to the NFL after the 2021 season. The dude transferred from Oregon because he was about to lose his job to Anthony Brown, that doesn’t scream “Hey, leave early for the NFL Draft”. With the keys to the Red Raiders offense being handed off to him as a rSO in 2023. This would still give you two years of good college production for your C2C squads. I’ve grabbed Morton in both of my C2C supplemental drafts this offseason. With some luck or a bad decision by Shough, he might be starting a bit sooner.
