College Football:NFL Draft Prospects Who Must Step Up Week 1

1 of 9

Sep 12, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (9) celebrates with fans after scoring on a 41-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter against the Idaho Vandals at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

The wait is over! College football is back in a big way this Labor Day weekend with a plethora of games with playoff implications. This also means prospects for the 2017 NFL Draft will finally have new game film to dissect.

The draft may be more than seven months away, but it’s never too early to start watching these future NFL players. Whether you’re anxiously awaiting Oklahoma at Houston, UCLA at Texas A&M, LSU versus Wisconsin at Lambeau Field or USC versus Alabama in Dallas, there are plenty of prospects to keep an eye on; and that’s just Saturday.

Texas hosts Notre Dame Sunday night, while Ole Miss and Florida State battle under the lights on Monday.

While one game won’t make or break a prospect’s hopes of being drafted, there are certainly games that carry more weight than others. Whether it’s a critical one-on-one matchup or a small-school prospect getting a chance to play on the big stage, these are the games scouts tend to base their reports off of. For these nine prospects, opening weekend is especially critical to their draft stock.

Next: Corey Davis

Home/NFL Draft