College Football Game of the Week: #5 Michigan State @ #18 Iowa
By Editorial Staff
College Football is officially here and the writers at NFL Mocks could not be more excited to start evaluating some NFL Prospects. You can count on at least 1 article a week that will highlight a big time College Football game a week. The article will focus on identifying some of the top prospects from each team and the key match-ups within that game.
This is a very important game that could very well decide who the Big 10 Champion will be. Michigan State escaped an upset bid by Northwestern only to travel to Iowa to face a tough Iowa team. For Michigan State this is the game that could propel them to the Big 10 title and possibly a National Title Game. You can watch the game Saturday on ABC at 3:30pm.
Iowa
- The top prospect on this Iowa team is defensive end Adrian Clayborn. There are a lot of people who have Clayborn ranked among their top 10 players eligible for the draft. I have Clayborn rated a little lower than most, mainly because I question his pass rushing skills. However, he is a very good player that should enjoy a good NFL career. This game will test his ability to stop the run as Michigan State will try to pound it out on the ground.
Adrian Clayborn Scouting Report
- Defensive Tackle Christian Ballard has impressed all season and some will argue he has out played Clayborn. Ballard is a good athlete that is quick off the ball and is a very strong run defender. He makes a lot of plays in the backfield and does a nice job collapsing the pocket in passing situations. Ballard has been playing second fiddle to Clayborn but not for much longer, he has a bright NFL future!
- A guy that has improved his stock a lot this season is quarterback Ricky Stanzi. In the past Stanzi has struggled with inaccuracy and his decision making but so far this season he has shown a big improvement. So far Stanzi has 16 touchdowns with only 2 interceptions, last season he had 15 interceptions.
Michigan State
- Michigan State has one of the most productive players in College Football in Greg Jones. Jones is a sideline to sideline linebacker that has a great nose for the ball. There are some questions about his size and top end speed but we feel that Jones will be a very productive NFL linebacker.
- Kirk Cousins is a legit NFL prospect that still has 1 more year of eligibility. I highly doubt that he will be leaving early but he is a name to watch for next season. Cousins is a very accurate quarterback that makes good decisions, I want to see him win a game with this arm.