2018 NFL Draft: Week 5 Prospect Stock Report

Stock Down: Offense

Derrius Guice (RB – LSU): While Saquon Barkley is tearing up college football, Derrius Guice, who was neck-and-neck with Barkley entering the season, is dealing with a nagging knee injury that kept him out of LSU’s loss to Troy in week five. Even when he has seen the field, Guice has been largely ineffective this season.

In three games versus FBS competition, Guice has carried the ball 50 times for 212 yards. While he may return to last season’s form at some point this year, the gap between Barkley and Guice may be too much for the LSU back to overcome.

Guice is expected back in week six as LSU takes on Florida in conference play. The Tigers will need him to produce, however it won’t be easy. Guice will faceoff against three of the top 20 defenses against the run over the school’s final seven games.

Alec Eberle (C – Florida State): For the second week in a row, Florida State true freshman quarterback James Blackman took a beating. After being sacked four times against North Carolina State in his first start, Wake Forest sacked him five times. As the leader of the Seminoles offensive line, center Alec Eberle has seen his 2018 NFL Draft stock take the biggest hit.

When starting quarterback Deondre Francois went down with a season-ending injury, the offensive line had to step up. The opposite has happened and Blackman, a 169-pound QB, will have his toughness tested.

Eberle has had trouble with sacks and penalties throughout his career, but this season his play, and that of the offensive line, has cost Florida State games. The Seminoles are 1-2 and still have the bulk of the ACC schedule remaining. Eberle needs to step up or risk be passed over in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Clayton Thorson (QB – Northwestern): Like Trevor Siemian, another former Northwestern quarterback, Clayton Thorson is an underrated prospect who was a late-round darkhorse entering the season. He’s had a couple rough outings this season, but his performance against Wisconsin should put to rest any talks of him declaring early for the 2018 NFL Draft.

Thorson had an up-and-down game against the Badgers, but his struggles late with the game on the line are a major concern. His accuracy and awareness cost the Wildcats an opportunity to pull off the upset. He consistently missed wide open receivers and missed multiple reads both pre and post snap. He was sacked eight times in the game, the most egregious coming with less than a minute remaining in the game.

As seen in the play above, there is no need for Thorson to take a sack in that situation, especially after he had scrambled from the left hash well outside the pocket. His mental processing skills need a ton of work before he is ready for the NFL and that means another season in college.