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(UPDATED 7:33pm ET) Got behind on making dinner, and these carnitas don't play for no man.
Let's keep this going into a fine evening of college ball (that LSU-Georgia game was awesome. Sorry if you missed it.)
Let's put the last week of college football behind us. The schedule, as you likely heard, was horrible. But hey, unless you died between two Saturdays ago and today, you made it. And if you're reading this, you're one of the people who didn't die. If you did die, man. Sorry. That sucks. Maybe next time.
But let's not put Thursday behind us. The Rams were "disgusting." And as Van coolly laid out, this team is very un right now. If somehow you've avoided college football for whatever reason to this point in your fandom and you're still unmoved at the capability to see tomorrow's Rams today as well as the opponents they'll be facing...well good on you. You've got free time. Use it well.
For those of us however who love this sport top to bottom and see the connections drawn between high school recruiting all the way to the Super Bowl, well, Saturdays like today are worth savoring.
Plus hey, we're not dead and that's swell too.
On to some college football for the living!
Here are your game day draft notes from Mocking the Draft.
And here's your full TV schedule from the mothership.
#11 Oklahoma St. at West Virginia (12:00 p.m., ESPN)
#12 South Carolina at UCF (12:00 p.m., ABC)
#15 Miami at South Florida (12:00 p.m., ESPNU)
Well, not great matchups to be sure. But there's college football landscape implications (see the first of those three), huge draft implications (the second) and a mix of the two (the Sunshine State latest of the three).
Oklahoma State is, much unlike their Dana Holgorsen-influenced offensive era with Dez Bryant and Justin Blackmon and Brandon Weeden and Kendall Hunter tearing up the field, getting it done with defense these days. With CB Justin Gilbert providing great cover at the back, the Cowboys have a day two prospect that deserves NFL eyes. Ironically despite how horrible West Virginia is this year (they're horrible -- really horrible), the most applicable prospect in this game might be WVU RB Charles Sims. Sims transferred over from Houston, but I doubt this was the year he was expecting team-wise. He'll likely have his stock dragged down by the lack of talent around him. Don't get it twisted. He's an NFL RB.
Jadeveon Clowney is a football player. We'll address this after the season in larger degree, but at this point all you really need to know is that he is a good one. If you're looking for a big prospect you might not have heard of yet, get in on South Carolina DT Kelcy Quarles. FS Brison Williams is a player too. Massive RT Corey Robinson is impossible to ignore given the Rams' depth chart at RT right now as well. As for UCF...well, South Carolina should shine today. Look for reasons why not if the future NFLers on the Gamecocks don't show up.
Now we get to the early game I'll be watching. Rams fans need to be tracking Seantrel Henderson now, a name I brought up on Turf Show Radio this week with Dan Kadar from Mocking the Draft. Highly touted out of high school, Henderson has yet to make good on the hype. Off field concerns combine with on field disappointments...and yet, you can't deny talent. He's a mammoth human with movement skills for his size. Ray Ray Armstrong has impressed as a Ram despite a disappointing career as a Hurricane, so get your look in now. And I'll admit -- I was skeptical about Stephen Morris going into this season. I've been somewhat turned around. I know some are pumping him high into the 2014 NFL Draft; I'm certainly not there. But he makes NFL throws with confidence, and there are prospects who despite their savvy and experience can't do that. As for USF, if you're disappointed by Jadaveon Clowney, you have to be more disappointed by Aaron Lynch. As a true freshman at Notre Dame, Lynch racked up 5.5 sacks on an improving defense and had the NFL world absolutely turnt on where he was going. A transfer to USF later, he hasn't picked up where he left off. I'll likely be watching this one to see if it's a matter of offensive lines offering specific focus his way or if the rust has collected. Someone who is showing up is LB Devekeyan Lattimore. Dede's got experience inside and out, and while he's a day three guy right now, he's the low ceiling impact prospect that somebody could be really happy with three, four years from now.
Paragraphs are your friend.
#14 Oklahoma at #22 Notre Dame (3:30 p.m., NBC)
Now we're cooking. OU's CB Aaron Colvin, WR Jalen Saunders and FB/ATH Trey Millard along with Notre Dame's NT Louis Nix, DE Stephon Tuitt, G Zack Martin and OLB Prince Shembo...that's seven guys who could be gone before Day 3 of the 2014 NFL Draft starts. That's too bad, because I'm definitely watching...
#6 LSU at #9 Georgia (3:30 p.m., CBS)
*drools
This is it, kids. For LSU, DT Anthony Johnson, OL La'El Collins and SS Craig Loston lead the pack. WR Jarvis Landry though is really starting to show up and while Georgia RB Todd Gurley, Alabama RB T.J. Yeldon and South Carolina RB Mike Davis lead the 2016 SEC RB class, don't overlook LSU RB Jeremy Hill. You'll have to overlook his off-field stuff, but on the field he's a talent (quick shoutout to Arkansas RB Jonathan Williams - watching this dude too). And look. If you don't enjoy someone like FB J.C. Copeland, listed at 6'1", 270 lbs., playing offense at FB and finding ways to look less like a slow offensive piece and more like a OHMYGODTHATHUGEMANISRUNNINGTOOFASTFORBEINGAHUGEMAN, well...we enjoy different things. Get him the ball, Les.
As for Georgia, I'm a huge fan of QB Aaron Murray. I had him as the #1 overall pick in my 2014 NFL Mock Draft. Rams fans need to get a look at this offensive line. LT Kenarious Gates, RG Chris Burnette and especially LG Dallas Lee should all factor next April.
More to come in the late menu, but this should be plenty to introduce even the greenest draft interest.