2020 NFL Draft: Top prospects in Cincinnati vs. UCLA

The 2019 college football season is officially underway and Thursday night’s matchup between UCLA and Cincinnati features some solid 2020 NFL Draft prospects.

The 2019 college football season is underway with the big Miami vs. Florida game already in the books and plenty more on the slate for Thursday night action.

There are 2020 NFL Draft prospects playing all over the country but the Cincinnati Bearcats vs. UCLA matchup has a few intriguing guys worth keeping an eye on.

The Bearcats open this game up as favorites against the Bruins, and one major reason is their junior running back Michael “The Truck” Warren, whose breakout sophomore campaign has the NFL world’s attention.

Warren is a tackle-breaking machine and he’s only going to get better and better as the game slows down for him.

Look at some of these outrageous numbers from his sophomore campaign.

Attempting to tackle this guy above the waist is futile. It usually takes a couple guys to get him below the waist, anyway.

He absolutely dominated UCLA last year with 142 yards and three touchdowns. Although Warren’s greatest strength is running between the tackles, he runs with good patience and is not simply a bull in a china shop.

He’s got plenty of nuance to his game already and we’ll get the chance to see how much he’s grown over the course of the offseason.

One of the guys who will be attempting to stop Michael Warren is UCLA senior linebacker Krys Barnes.

Barnes had 50 tackles as a sophomore but broke out in a big way as a junior with 85 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and six pass breakups.

Barnes plays with great intensity out there for the Bruins and as the NFL continues to seek players who can truly play all three downs and work in coverage as well as against the run, Barnes is a player worth keeping an eye on.

He looks like a day three pick right now but if he can take his game to the next level and process a little more quickly out there, he’s going to bump up to day two.

Entering his junior campaign for the Bruins, Holmes’ availability for this game is in question due to injury, but he’s got perhaps the most enticing NFL talent of any prospect in the game.

In his first two seasons at UCLA, Holmes has six interceptions (three in each season) and two touchdowns on runbacks. He also has 87 total tackles and 11 pass breakups.

In addition to being a high-upside cornerback prospect, Holmes is also valuable in the return  game for UCLA. After returning 33 kicks for 715 yards his freshman season, he only returned four kicks as a sophomore and, of course, took one back for six.

This guy can get his hands on the football, and not only that, he can make huge plays with it when he gets it.

If he plays in this game against Cincinnati, he might be the guy most worth watching as far as 2020 NFL Draft prospects go.