After week 8 of the college football season the verdict is in and that is that The Year of the Quarterback has proven to be a complete fallacy other than the fact that there are a number of QB PROSPECTS, but no sure fire FRANCHISE QBs at this point. Week 8 has also proven another fallacy in pre-season hype in that all of the players who have garnered Stock Up honors this week had no pre-season hype at all, with the exception of Mike McGlinchey.
STOCK UP:
HOLTON HILL - CB - 6-1 200 - JR. - TEXAS - offering a nice blend of size and speed for the position Hill, who has played well so far this season, was at his best lined up against All-American WR James Washington of Oklahoma State. Hill proved not only to be a sure tackler on stopping quick outs for no gain but took Washington out of the game in stalking him all over the field. Oklahoma State barely scratched out a 13 - 10 victory but through no fault of Hill as he held Washington to 4 catches for 32 yards 0 TDs and a long of 14 yards.
KRIS BOYD - CB - 6-0 195 - JR. - TEXAS - another no-name heading into this season, Boyd has also played very well heading into the Oklahoma State game and was also at his best in this game as he to proved to be a sure tackler and strong in pass coverage. The Texas coaches have praised his press cover skills while also noting that he could improve his zone coverage by learning to peek at the QB more often.
NICK NELSON - CB - 5-11 204 - JRr - WISCONSIN - another of the unheralded players heading into the 2017 season other than being praised by the Wisconsin coaches for his play in the spring. Nelson too has been playing well all season long and he capped his outstanding play in the win against Maryland by shutting down the Terps star receiver, D. J. Moore. Moore had 3 receptions for 44 yards 0 TDs with a long of 38 yards, BUT that 38-yarder was not against Nelson as it was on the other side of the field. All 3 of the CBs mentioned herein have greatly enhanced their draft status as a result of their play through Week 8 of this season.
MIKE McGLINCHEY - LT - 6-7 315 - SRr - NOTRE DAME - having mentioned him in a Stock Down report earlier this season, it is only fair to report on his outstanding play in the blowout win over USC. His run blocking was terrific and he just might be the best run blocker of all the tackles in the land. He moves people and creates gaping holes and was truly dominant. Orlando Brown of Oklahoma is also dominant in run blocking at times due to his massive size and nastiness, but McGlinchey gets my vote for his performance against the Trojans. He was also solid in Pass Blocking. McGlinchey, who wears size 17 shoes, is also very tall at 6-7 with long legs and long legged players many times have a problem with leverage but that was not the case for Mike. If he can show that he can adjust quickly to a quick inside move or spin move on Pass Pro and stay with the speed edge rushers, he will be the first Tackle off the board in the 2017 NFL Draft.
BRENDAN MAHON - RG - 6-3 318 - SRr - PENN STATE - Mahon is another who has had a good season and this continued against Michigan and it's All American DE Maurice Hurst, who was credited with 1 Tackle in the game which was a Sack. Mahon at times alone handled Hurst and at other times teamed with Sophomore Center Connor McGovern to drive Hurst out of the play or stymie him at the line of scrimmage on pass plays.
While Ohio State and Clemson are thought to have the best defensive lines in the country, the Hokies offer up a formidable group in their own right and helped demolish the hapless North Carolina team 59 to 7. Virginia Tech is now 6 and 1 on the year with only a loss to Clemson blotting their record and, while some of their wins were against weaker opponents, this young team appears to be putting it all together. Beating Boston College 23 to 10 on October 7 might be a harbinger of things to come as BC, while not having a great season, has beaten Louisville 45 to 42 and Virginia 41 to 10 since its loss to Virginia Tech.
STOCK DOWN:
JAMES WASHINGTON - WR - 6-0 205 - SR. - OKLAHOMA STATE - this speedy receiver who has been putting up terrific reception numbers was held in check by HOLTON HILL (see above); and this is the second time this season (TCU) that he has been held down, which raises the concern as to whether he can perform against quality opponents.
MASON RUDOLPH - QB - 6-4 230 - SR. - OKLAHOMA STATE - while his stats of 25 of 38 in the 13 - 10 win over Texas were not bad, many of those throws were of the very short variety and do not reflect that Rudolph had trouble finding open receivers and in making good throws. He missed seeing an open receiver for a TD, threw into coverage and was very lucky that he wasn't picked off a couple of times. This game in addition to the TCU game is the second negative performance and, as with James Washington, raises doubts as to whether he can perform against quality opponents.
JOSH ALLEN - QB - 6-5 - 222 - JRr - WYOMING - while Allen still has all of the traits in that he has good size, a great arm, can throw on the run and run well enough to keep a drive alive, his performance in the 24 - 14 loss to Boise State cannot be easily explained away. Being 12 of 27 for a 44.4% completion percentage with 1 TD and 2 Interceptions cannot all be blamed on his not having a strong supporting cast. There are too many throws off the back foot or off balance and too many misfires that show that he needs a lot of work, which is hard to get in the NFL if a player is not getting first team reps.
MAURICE HURST - DT - 6-2 280 - SRr - MICHIGAN - had his worst output of the season against Penn State (see Brendan Mahon above).
