Good morning New York Giants fans!
Happy Saturday and welcome to Week 7 of the college football season. This is a week in which we’ll be circling back to check in on some teams that we’ve already looked at this year. NFL scouts routinely visit the same schools in their area two or three times in a season to get a look at prospects against different opponents. It also gives them an opportunity to get a feel for their development over the course of a year.
And we’ll be doing that for the same reasons. We’ve looked at three of today’s highlighted teams already this year, but that also gives us a good baseline to look at their opponents.
This year has been a chaotic one for college football, but we also have some great opportunities to look at some under-the-radar prospects against good competition.
(17) Illinois vs. (1) Ohio State
Fox – noon
We just looked at Ohio State two weeks ago (Week 5, against Washington), but we haven’t checked in on Illinois since Week 1 and this is a great opportunity to do so.
I’ll start out by saying that my usual advice applies for stacked teams applies to Ohio State in this game. Watch, enjoy, and take note of which players jump off the field. There will be NFL players at pretty much every position for the Buckeyes. Giants fans might want to pay attention to WR Carnell Tate, given the current state of the receiving corps.
Players to watch
(17) Illinois
- Luke Altmyer (QB – 9)
- J.C. Davis (OT – 74)
- Tanner Arkin (TE – 85)
- Gabe Jacas (EDGE – 17)
- Xavier Scott (DB – 14) * Scott is listed as questionable for the game
(1) Ohio State
- Carnell Tate (WR – 17)
- Max Klare (TE – 86)
- Kayden McDonald (iDL – 98)
- Arvell Reese (LB – 8
- Sonny Styles (LB – 0
- Davison Igbinosun (CB – 1)
- Caleb Downs (S – 2)
(3) Oregon vs. (7) Indiana
CBS – 3:30 p.m.
Once again, we just checked in on Oregon in Week 5 (against Penn State), but we haven’t looked at Indiana yet this year. This is a fantastic opportunity to look at Indiana against one of the top teams in the country. This is going to be “must watch” scouting tape for the Hoosiers, so it’s a good idea to get a familiar now.
This could also be a preview of the 2026 NFL Draft, as both Oregon red-shirt QB Dante Moore and Indiana junior Fernando Mendoza are in the running to be the first player off the board in April. I don’t like to predict red-shirt sophomores as draft prospects until they declare (and I tend to prefer they stay in school for more development before they go to the NFL), but Moore has been generating a ton of buzz this year.
Players to watch
(3) Oregon
- Dante Moore (QB – 5)
- Isaiah World (OT – 76)
- Kenyon Sadiq (TE – 18) *questionable
- A’Mauri Washington (iDL – 52)
- Matayo Uiagalelei (EDGE – 10)
- Dillon Thieneman (S – 31)
(7) Indiana
- Fernando Mendoza (QB – 15)
- Pat Coogan (OC – 78)
- Carter Smith (OT – 65)
- Elijah Sarratt (WR – 13)
- Mikail Kamara (EDGE – 6)
- D’Angelo Ponds (CB – 5)
Texas vs. (6) Oklahoma
ABC – 3:30 p.m.
Of course we have to talk about the Red River Rivalry game. This could have been one of the biggest games of the season and THE biggest game of the day. In some ways, it still is one of the biggest games — it’s certainly one of the biggest rivalry games on the schedule, even with Texas falling off a cliff this year.
Arch Manning has been nothing short of a colossal disappointment this year, and has completed just 60 percent of his passes for 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Really, it’s not a terrible performance for a player in his first year as a starter and who attempted just 95 passes since high school, 3 years ago. But for a Manning who was expected to be The Next Andrew Luck… He’s fallen well short of expectations.
That said, Texas still has plenty of NFL talent on their roster, and Oklahoma has a very talented team in their own right. QB John Mateer will likely be in the conversation at the top of the QB depth chart this spring, and they have good players on both sides of the ball.
Players to watch
Texas
- Arch Manning (QB – 16)
- Trevor Goosby (OT – 74)
- D.J. Campbell (OG – 52)
- Jack Endries (TE – 88)
- Anthony Hill Jr. (LB – 0)
- Malik Muhammad (CB – 5)
- Michael Taafe (S – 16)
Oklahoma
- John Mateer (QB – 10)
- Jaydn Ott (RB – 0)
- Deion Burks (WR – 4)
- Gracen Halton (iDL – 56)
- R. Mason Thomas (EDGE – 32)
- Sammy Omosigho (LB – 7)
- Robert Spears Jennings (S – 3)
(9) Texas Tech vs. Kansas
Fox – 7:30 p.m.
We’re circling back for a second look at Texas Tech as well after a first look back in Week 4. The Red Raiders have a potent pass rushing duo, and while the Giants don’t really need more pass rushers, it’s a good position group to get a feel for. Not only are they fun, but Texas Tech also has very good defensive tackles and linebackers who could appeal to the Giants.
Giants fans could also look at the Jayhawks’ interior offensive line for potential late-round values in center Bryce Foster and guard Kobe Baynes. Wide receiver Emmanuel Henderson could be interesting as well after transferring from Alabama to Kansas.
Players to watch
(9) Texas Tech
- Davion Carter (OG – 56)
- Skyler Gill-Howard (iDL – 0)
- David Bailey (EDGE – 31)
- Romello Height (EDGE – 9)
- Jacob Rodriguez (LB – 10)
Kansas
- Jalon Daniels (QB – 6)
- Bryce Foster (OC – 61)
- Kobe Baynes (OG – 70)
- Emmanuel Henderson (WR – 2)
- Dean Miller (EDGE – 5)
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