Week 3 CFB: 2023 NFL Draft Prospects to Watch

Week three is here! The matchups may look lackluster on paper, but there’s still plenty to be excited about this weekend. Here is a primer for the best NFL Draft matchups for the third week of the college football season.

•Spencer Rattler vs. Georgia Defense

Spencer Rattler is running out of “lives” when it comes to his NFL Draft stock. Rattler has done very little to change the tune around him as a prospect, as he’s shown multiple times that he lacks the mental processing to succeed at quarterback.

Rattler will get one last opportunity to flip the way he is viewed, but it is not going to be easy. The Gamecocks host the defending National Champions — the Georgia Bulldogs.

Georgia lost half of their starters on defense, but there’s a real argument to be made that Jalen Carter was the best of the bunch in 2021. Similarly, the best cornerback on the roster, Kelee Ringo, is a fixture in CB1 discussions.

With the return of Carter and Ringo, two virtual locks for the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, Georgia is a heavy favorite to go back-to-back. It should be a long day for Rattler and the hometown crowd.

•Sean Tucker vs. Purdue

I’ve wanted to write about Sean Tucker for a while now, and with a lackluster slate of early games this weekend, my sights will be set on Purdue traveling to Syracuse for a Noon ET kickoff.

The Boilermakers dropped the opening game to their conference rival Penn State Nittany Lions. While they got torched through the air, Purdue held up firm in the run game. They did not allow a single ball carrier to average more than 4 yards per carry on the day.

2023 NFL Draft Prospect Watch: Best Matchups from Week 3 of the CFB Season

Sean Tucker, lead back for the Orange, toted the rock 48 times in his first two games of 2022, totaling 212 rushing yards and a touchdown in each game. This is not all that the explosive running back brings to the table for Syracuse. He also had 10 catches for 101 yards and another touchdown through the air.

Purdue will never be mistaken for a powerhouse on the football scene, but they do play well against opposing running backs. This will be a good test for 2023 NFL Draft hopeful, Sean Tucker. Tucker is going to have a lot of fans during the draft cycle next spring. Just look at how exhilarating he is with the ball in his hands.

•Jaren Hall vs. Bo Nix

Bo Nix fits a big chunk of the negatives that the aforementioned Spencer Rattler exhibits. Nix’s arm talent has never been in question, but the things that go on between his ears hamper him more often than you’d like to see.

During his time with Auburn, Bo Nix was a true enigma. Some weeks, the Tigers were only competitive because of Nix. Other weeks, he was at the forefront of the discussion centered around why the team lost.

More of the same happened in week one against the Georgia Bulldogs. It’s tough to criticize Nix too much, given the talent he faced, but strictly looking at him as an NFL Draft prospect, painted an awful picture.

Jaren Hall, on the other hand, is coming off of the biggest upset of his career. Hall spearheaded a key victory against the Baylor Bears last weekend. The Cougars won the contest in double overtime, marking only the third time BYU has beaten a top ten team in Provo.

Hall and crew will be on the road this time around, as they head to Eugene to take on Bo Nix’s Oregon Ducks. Hall is just beginning his ascension up the draft board, and Nix is looking to reverse course and work his way back up boards. Saturday afternoon will be telling for both.

•Joey Porter Jr. vs. Derrick Hall/Colby Wooden

I have been banging the drum for Joey Porter Jr. for some time now, and on Saturday he’s going to have a chance to showcase his talents against an SEC opponent. Porter Jr. ranks among the best in the country at cornerback thus far, posting six pass breakups which is good for second in the nation.

Auburn is a mess at quarterback, to put things mildly. They’ll surely lean heavily on running back Tank Bigsby, but when dropping back to throw, whoever is playing quarterback must be aware of Porter Jr. and his location on the gridiron. I expect a ton of tackles for Porter Jr. and wouldn’t be surprised if he intercepts a pass or forces a fumble.

While they’ll never be on the field at the same time as Porter Jr., Auburn’s Derrick Hall and Colby Wooden will be aiming to disrupt Penn State’s flow on offense.

Hall is more of a standup pass rusher, using his quick first step and second effort to climb blocks and make his way into the backfield. He recorded a sack in week one, and if not for the weird sack rules of college football, he’d have had another in week two versus San Jose State.

Wooden is a bigger human being and much of his damage is done with a hand in the dirt. Wooden oftentimes gets off the line quicker than anyone else in the Auburn front-seven and is one of the strongest players in the country. Pressure from the interior is something that is coveted by NFL coaches, so keep an eye on No. 25 for the Tigers.

•Kayshon Boutte vs. Emmanuel Forbes

Entering the 2022 season, Kayshon Boutte was expected by many to fully break out and challenge Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jordan Addison for the WR1 mantle in the 2023 NFL Draft. Unfortunately for Boutte, LSU endured a disastrous start to their season against Florida State.

Not only did the team lose, but many players — including Boutte — looked dejected and uninspired. New head coach Brian Kelly’s message clearly did not resonate in the locker room early on, but things began to shift in the Tiger’s week two game versus the Southern Jaguars.

He is going to have his work cut for him this weekend with Mississippi State’s star cornerback Emmanuel Forbes coming to town. Both guys expect to see each other on Sundays in the future, but we get a taste of the matchup Saturday evening in Death Valley.

Forbes is coming off of a stellar performance against the Arizona Wildcats. He intercepted a pass midway through the third quarter, helping his Bulldogs grab a 39-17 victory.

Forbes is a shutdown cornerback in every sense of the term. What he lacks in stature, he makes up for with elite athleticism and a natural instinct for the cornerback position. I firmly believe Boutte is a WR1 in the NFL, and I am beginning to feel the same about Forbes being a CB1. I cannot wait for this one!

•Tyler Van Dyke vs. Antonio Johnson

Tyler Van Dyke possesses many traits necessary for being a quarterback in the NFL. He has a strong arm that reaches every level of the field, confidence in droves, and he’s shown an ability to put the team on his back and carry them through adversity.

Van Dyke is the most gifted passer that Miami fans have watched in at least two decades, and honestly, by the time he’s done in 2022, there’s a possibility that TVD is the best to come through the Hurricanes program since their special run in the 80s and 90s. His high-end traits with top-tier production speaks for itself.

That being said, Van Dyke has not been challenged much in the ACC when it comes to the elite defenses. He still lacks polish when it comes to consistent ball placement and his mindset to make the “home run play” hurts the team at times. A difficult test will come this weekend when Miami travels to College Station.

Texas A&M dropped a game at home to Appalachian State, causing a ruckus around the college football world. While App State is better than most care to admit, it’s still an inexcusable loss for a team littered with five-star recruits throughout the roster.

Antonio Johnson is the leader of the Aggie’s unit, and you can guarantee that he’s going to do everything in his power to bounce back this week. Johnson is a new-age slot defender who excels in coverage and as an extra defender in the box. Push comes to shove Saturday evening, we’ll see how much fight Jimbo Fisher’s unit has in them.

•Jake Haener vs. Jordan Addison

Jake Haener is one of the best-kept secrets in the 2023 NFL Draft class. The underrated signal-caller eclipsed 4,000 yards in 2021 while completing over 67% of his passes in the process.

His 4,096 passing yards last season ranked behind only Derek and David Carr for the most in a single season in program history. The same is true for his 33 touchdown passes. At one point Trent Dilfer was the best alum at quarterback for Fresno State, but that is no longer the case.

Haener opted against entering the 2022 NFL Draft, even after such a great season. He cited unfinished business — both personally and team-wise — as the core reason. His first two games of this season saw Haener throw for 737 yards and three touchdowns, with an even higher rate of accuracy.

The USC Trojans, as high-powered as they are on offense, are extremely susceptible to allowing loads of points on the defensive end. Haener should be able to expose their weaknesses and firmly place his name on the radar for the 2023 NFL Draft.

Speaking of the 2023 NFL Draft, there’s a wide receiver on USC that’s currently making a strong case to be the first wide receiver taken next April. Jordan Addison won the Biletnikoff Award in 2021 by serving as the top option to former Pitt quarterback, Kenny Pickett.

As we all know, Addison followed Pickett out the door but rather than enter the draft, the star wide receiver put his name in the transfer portal and made his way out to the west coast to suit up for the Trojans.

This decision only boosted his name into the mainstream even more so than it already was. Serving as the top pass-catching option in a Lincoln Riley offense has been lucrative for many wide receivers in the past, and the same is going to happen for Addison.

Quarterback Caleb Williams currently should be the favorite to hoist the Heisman at season’s end, and Saturday night can be another step towards that. Addison has a chance to win his second straight Biletnikoff, which would be the first time that’s ever happened in the history of the award.

Stay up late for this one, you will not regret it!