DRAFT NEWS

Now that college athletes can be legally paid - and paid extraordinarily well - the expectations have also risen to the point where a preseason favorite for the national title, a team that was one possession away from playing Ohio State for the title last season, stumbled to a 3-3 start, lost a potential first-round pick QB to a season-ending knee injury, and fired their head coach. Penn State will be paying ex-coach James Franklin $49 million to go away, a lot of money for a

Last Saturday, draft boards shifted across the NFL when potential top overall selection of the 2026 NFL Draft, QB Drew Allar of Penn State, was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered against Northwestern. Although the injury is quite unfortunate timing for Allar, the truth is that he was already spiraling down draft boards prior to his injury due to his inconsistent play, and this only hastens his fall.

As the leaves begin to turn, we are getting a better sense of the quality and depth of the upperclassmen who are likely to populate the top of NFL draft boards next April. To say the QBs have under-performed would qualify as an understatement at this point in the season. Only Carson Beck has played like a first round draft pick through the first third of the season.

Last weekend, several playoff contenders suffered tough losses and two of the favorites to win the national championship, Texas and Penn State, lost their second game of the year and find their playoff prospects in critical condition with just over half the season remaining. A trio of games lead the national slate this weekend and feature some of the top prospects in the nation including Kadyn Proctor, Parker Brailsford, and Deontae Lawson (Alabama), Brett Norfleet and Zion Y

The top QB prospects potentially available in next April's draft continue to under perform so far this season. On Saturday, both Penn State's Drew Allar and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier failed to play up to expectations and failed to elevate their performance in crunch time as both teams suffered conference losses. The prospective 2026 NFL Draft QB class no longer looks like it is loaded with franchise QBs as every top prospect, except for Miami's Carson Beck, has seemed to regres

Last weekend’s games were dramatic, down-to-the-wire affairs that will have a huge influence on the conference title and national playoff races. Oregon, Alabama, and Ole Miss all earned impressive victories last weekend and have an inside track to a playoff berth this December. Three games this Saturday – Miami at Florida State, Vanderbilt at Alabama, and Texas at Florida - will factor into conference title races and feature several potential first-round picks next April.

It's mock draft time here at SNS! Although the leaves are only beginning to turn, certain patterns are already setting in about the 2025 NFL season. Four teams clearly need an upgrade at QB - New Orleans, Miami, NY Jets, and Cleveland - but the quality of the 2026 QB class is in question by the performances put on film by the projected top prospects Drew Allar, Garrett Nussmeier, Carson Beck, Cade Klubnik, and Arch Manning so far this season.

The first Saturday of the fall brings on one of the best days of conference action on the schedule as three key match-ups in the Big Ten and SEC figure to go a long way in determining conference titles – (6) Oregon at (3) Penn State, (4) LSU at (13) Ole Miss, and (17) Alabama at (5) Georgia. This Saturday is an important day that scouts will be referencing in the ramp up to the 2026 NFL Draft next year.

Typically, guards and centers are a low priority for pro personnel departments during the NFL Draft process. But turn on the TV on a fall Sunday and you will see the teams that win are the ones who can run the ball and control the line of scrimmage (LOS). Although not a sexy pick, drafting quality IOL in the middle to late rounds is key to running the ball, establishing the play action offense, and controlling the clock. Last weekend, SNS observed four guards who look like lo

As non-conference play ends for most college teams, conference games enter the spotlight in week four as three games in the Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC kick off races to their conference titles and an automatic berth in the 12-team playoff in December. There are several intriguing NFL prospects playing key roles on playoff contenders Illinois, Indiana, Texas Tech, Utah, Auburn, and Oklahoma and it is likely that a few names will rise to the top of draft speculation as the leaves

NFL college scouts entered the 2025 season eyeing five primary QB prospects to be possible first round draft picks next April - Arch Manning (Texas), Cade Klubnik (Clemson), Garrett Nussmeier (LSU), Drew Allar (Penn State), and Carson Beck (Miami, Fl) - and after week two, a sixth name has proven he needs to be added to this list - Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson.

As we enter mid-September, major conference games start to dominate the schedule with a pair of SEC games matching up playoff contenders leading the national slate of premium games scheduled for this weekend – Georgia at Tennessee and LSU at Florida. And on Saturday night, the Texas A&M Aggies travel to South Bend to seek revenge for last season’s loss to the Irish.

Texas QB Arch Manning entered last week's Ohio State game the Vegas betting favorite to take home this year's Heisman Trophy and left the game with more questions than answers. But the issue that was staring everyone in the face is that Manning is very inexperienced...

Week one provided four days of intriguing and competitive college football games and week two pales in comparison but that is not to say that there are not some interesting games scheduled for this weekend. The headliner is Michigan paying a visit to Norman, Oklahoma to play the Sooners. This UM-OU game features several high-level NFL prospects that will soon star on Sundays.

This column will be discussing draft eligible players - prospects at least three years out of high school - but anything that happens in the NFL and college football could be discussed here. The goal is to bring you, the reader, a fresh perspective on the development of the next batch of NFL superstars while they are learning the craft in the multi-billion dollar world of collegiate athletics. SNS readers are informed and that makes you a smarter fan and better at fantasy foo

Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of the summer and simultaneously the official first weekend of college football where all 136 FBS college football teams are in action! There are several intriguing games on schedule this weekend (through Labor Day!) including, Texas at Ohio State, Alabama at Florida State, LSU at Clemson, and Notre Dame at Miami, Fl.

Admittedly, conducting a 2026 NFL Draft mock draft prior to NFL season beginning, let alone when teams are still in process cutting their roster down to 53 players, is somewhat futile but still a fun exercise to see how next year's draft class stacks up. The QB class could potentially be one of the better classes to enter the league in years with Arch Manning, Drew Allar, Cade Klubnik, Garrett Nussmeier, and Carson Beck projecting as first-round picks next spring.

The first ever ranked match-up to take place in week zero kicks off what should be an exciting season of college football as Big 12 rivals and two of the favorites to win the conference and earn an automatic berth in the college football playoffs face off.

It is a very rare occurrence that a kicker gets drafted before the third day of the NFL Draft – the last kicker to get drafted on the second day of the draft was Michigan kicker Jake Moody who went to the 49ers with pick #99 in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. No kicker or punter is projected to earn a Top 100 grade next spring although there may be as many as five specialists who earn a draftable grade for the 2026 NFL Draft.

Safety is a position that is often overlooked and undervalued in the NFL. NFL GMs tend to place the highest priority in the NFL Draft on QB, OT, WR, EDGE, IDL, and CB. In other words, positions that either support the QB or positions that directly attempt to stop the QB typically take priority early in a draft for an NFL squad. Saturday selections (rounds 4-7) are generally used on RBs, TEs, IOL, LB, Safeties, Kickers, and Punters. But the 2026 Safety class looks to potential