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2023 NFL Draft Prospects: Five Players Rising After Week 5

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2023 NFL Draft Prospects: Five Players Rising After Week 5

Sports Illustrated

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2023 NFL Draft Prospects: Five Players Rising After Week 5

Richard Johnson - 

Here are five of the top players in college football, including a Kent State wide receiver who broke a 25-year-old school record for yardage.

It’s never too early to look to the future. With that in mind, we at Sports Illustrated have our eyes on who’s up next and who you should keep in mind for the 2023 NFL draft with five players each week who stood out in college football.

Lisa Scalfaro/USA TODAY NETWORK© Provided by Sports Illustrated

Dante Cephas, WR, Kent State

His 246 yards broke a school record that had been held since 1997, with 230 of those yards coming in the second half. Both the yardage and 13 catches are single-game highs in FBS this season. But it’s not just against MAC teams that Cephas has stood out this season. His six receptions for 106 yards against Washington on Sept. 3 show he’s got what it takes against high-level secondaries as well.

Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College

The Eagles have struggled to find offense this season, but as Flowers goes, so goes this BC unit. He dominates the team’s target share. No Eagles pass catcher has more than 24 targets this season besides Flowers’s 47. He finished the Louisville win with five catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Former NFL quarterback Mike Glennon compared Flowers to Texans wide receiver Brandin Cooks.

Clark Phillips III, DB, Utah

He was so good on Saturday that you would be forgiven if you thought he was a wide receiver while he’s high pointing balls like this:

Phillips had three interceptions, including a pick-six. In a stingy Utah defense, you can bet Phillips possesses plenty of physicality and man-coverage prowess.

A.T. Perry, WR, Wake Forest

If your team needs a long-armed receiver, perhaps it shouldn’t look much further than Perry, whose 6'5" frame and massive catch radius often give him an advantage. He has plenty on the highlight reel showcasing him catching deep balls from QB Sam Hartman over his career, and a big day against FSU last Saturday showed he can break off yards after catch in smaller chunks as well. He’ll need to add some weight (he weighs 205 pounds), and there will be questions about his age (he’ll turn 24 as a rookie if he enters the 2023 NFL draft), but his Instagram handle doesn’t lie: “alwaysopen.9.”

Isaiah McGuire and Trajan Jeffcoat, Missouri

Missouri’s defense has been much maligned the past couple of seasons, but Jeffcoat and McGuire showed up in a big way in the Tigers’ near upset over Georgia. They took it to the Dawgs’ underrated offensive line, hassling QB Stetson Bennett. Jeffcoat finished the game with one sack, one hurry and 1.5 tackles for loss while McGuire had one hurry and .5 TFLs.

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AFJF

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3 hours ago, jetsons said:

2023 NFL Draft Prospects: Five Players Rising After Week 5

Sports Illustrated

FollowView Profile

2023 NFL Draft Prospects: Five Players Rising After Week 5

Richard Johnson - 

Here are five of the top players in college football, including a Kent State wide receiver who broke a 25-year-old school record for yardage.

It’s never too early to look to the future. With that in mind, we at Sports Illustrated have our eyes on who’s up next and who you should keep in mind for the 2023 NFL draft with five players each week who stood out in college football.

Lisa Scalfaro/USA TODAY NETWORK© Provided by Sports Illustrated

Dante Cephas, WR, Kent State

His 246 yards broke a school record that had been held since 1997, with 230 of those yards coming in the second half. Both the yardage and 13 catches are single-game highs in FBS this season. But it’s not just against MAC teams that Cephas has stood out this season. His six receptions for 106 yards against Washington on Sept. 3 show he’s got what it takes against high-level secondaries as well.

Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College

The Eagles have struggled to find offense this season, but as Flowers goes, so goes this BC unit. He dominates the team’s target share. No Eagles pass catcher has more than 24 targets this season besides Flowers’s 47. He finished the Louisville win with five catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Former NFL quarterback Mike Glennon compared Flowers to Texans wide receiver Brandin Cooks.

Clark Phillips III, DB, Utah

He was so good on Saturday that you would be forgiven if you thought he was a wide receiver while he’s high pointing balls like this:

Phillips had three interceptions, including a pick-six. In a stingy Utah defense, you can bet Phillips possesses plenty of physicality and man-coverage prowess.

A.T. Perry, WR, Wake Forest

If your team needs a long-armed receiver, perhaps it shouldn’t look much further than Perry, whose 6'5" frame and massive catch radius often give him an advantage. He has plenty on the highlight reel showcasing him catching deep balls from QB Sam Hartman over his career, and a big day against FSU last Saturday showed he can break off yards after catch in smaller chunks as well. He’ll need to add some weight (he weighs 205 pounds), and there will be questions about his age (he’ll turn 24 as a rookie if he enters the 2023 NFL draft), but his Instagram handle doesn’t lie: “alwaysopen.9.”

Isaiah McGuire and Trajan Jeffcoat, Missouri

Missouri’s defense has been much maligned the past couple of seasons, but Jeffcoat and McGuire showed up in a big way in the Tigers’ near upset over Georgia. They took it to the Dawgs’ underrated offensive line, hassling QB Stetson Bennett. Jeffcoat finished the game with one sack, one hurry and 1.5 tackles for loss while McGuire had one hurry and .5 TFLs.

Nice list.  Watched all of those guys last season except Philips and McGuire but watched him today against Georgie and thought he looked fantastic.  Pulled a few of his highlights along with Jeffcoat.

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Beerfish

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1 hour ago, nycdan said:

At the moment, I'm pretty much only interested in OL and LB with regard to the Jets' next draft.  Having said that, I hope there are lots of sexy WRs to keep the other teams occupied.

oline, LB I agree are the top priorities.  Tackle and an actual fast athletic linebacker are huge needs.

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2 hours ago, nycdan said:

At the moment, I'm pretty much only interested in OL and LB with regard to the Jets' next draft.  Having said that, I hope there are lots of sexy WRs to keep the other teams occupied.

That's where most of my attention has been.  LB and OL.  Obviously watching a bit of everything, but in looking at which games to watch, it's those two positions that I'm basing my decisions on.  And from the Mizzou/UGA game mentioned above.  Was actually going through video clips when I saw this thread.  Here's McGuire with the TFL on backside pursuit.
 

 

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BCJet

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On 10/5/2022 at 11:37 AM, Beerfish said:

oline, LB I agree are the top priorities.  Tackle and an actual fast athletic linebacker are huge needs.

The 2 mock drafts I looked at had a bunch of CB, WR and DL in the first round which is great for us.  I know we as fans constantly want trade downs, but I would love for JD to move back from where ever we are in the first round and be able to make multiple picks in the 2nd and add additional mid rounders.  We can easily draft a starting off ball LB and center in the 2nd round this year given the depth of the position.

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2 hours ago, Darnold Schwarzenegger said:

Would also love taking a wr at some point in the draft. Maybe 3rd or 4th rd. I know we have Wilson and moore but think we could use another wr

Take a WR in the top 100 every year for the foreseeable future.  The good ones command franchise QB money.  Better have somebody in the pipeline because if you're drafting well, you can't keep em all.

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BurntDice

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On 10/5/2022 at 9:57 AM, nycdan said:

At the moment, I'm pretty much only interested in OL and LB with regard to the Jets' next draft.  Having said that, I hope there are lots of sexy WRs to keep the other teams occupied.

As of now I think drafting a DT highish would be a good idea. Q will get paid soon and having a solid rookie deal guy next to him seems smart cap wise. Saves money instead of paying jags 5+ mil a year.  Gives flexibility to get rid of JFM, Rankins, etc if needed. 
 

I’m looking at LT, C (day one starter hopefully) DT, LB, FS in the first few rounds. 
 

I usually wait until around Christmas time to start really digging into the prospects, so not sure how the draft is shaping up with strengths/weaknesses.

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