Matt Miller’s Week 2 NFL Scouting Notebook

If Week 2 of the college football season left you disappointed (sorry, Oklahoma State fans), the schedule this weekend is a scout’s dream. Ohio State at Oklahoma. Florida State taking on Louisville and Heisman front-runner Lamar Jackson. Alabama’s defense against top senior quarterback Chad Kelly.

Get your chores done early and park your fanny on the couch all day, because this will be a good one.

This week’s Scouting Notebook takes a look at those matchups and lists the best players to watch in each game. We’re also going to highlight:

The most overrated player in college football Is Lamar Jackson a quarterback or wide receiver? A way-too-early mock draft with the updated draft order Why isn’t Jared Goff playing? … and a look back at the Alex Smith-to-Chiefs trade

      

The Scout’s Report

—Who is the most overrated player in college football? That would be USC wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, according to multiple NFL scouts I polled over the weekend. Smith-Schuster did have a monster block in USC’s Week 2 win over Utah State, but scouts are concerned about the lack of production in the NFL from Trojans wide receivers and the fact he doesn’t have top-end speed to separate from defenders. 

—Louisville’s Lamar Jackson looks like a legit Heisman candidate as a true sophomore, but do NFL teams see the dual-threat quarterback as a pro quarterback? I asked three NFL scouts who handle the Louisville area what Jackson looks like to them. All three responded that they’re listing him as a quarterback but noted that he’s not draft-eligible until 2018. 

Jackson’s body is more of a wide receiver build, but his explosive and exciting playmaking skills will turn heads at the quarterback position. My take: Jackson has to become more accurate and add weight to be considered an elite quarterback prospect.

—The Alabama defense is once again loaded with NFL talent, and scouts are buzzing about just how good this crew could be with five possible first-rounders. Jonathan Allen (DL), Reuben Foster (LB) and Marlon Humphrey (CB) have the potential to be the best players at their respective positions, with edge-rushers Tim Williams and Ryan Anderson not far behind them. 

—Why isn’t No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff playing? As one NFL scout told me, “They can’t put him behind that line.” Is that the case, or have the Rams already ruined a promising quarterback prospect with their handling of him? We talked about that in this Insider Buzz video.

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—Who are the top senior quarterbacks in the 2017 class? Scouts I talked to this week all listed the same two players: Iowa’s C.J. Beathard and Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly. One scout said, “Kelly has the better arm and athleticism, but Beathard is a winner and has no issues off the field.”

—Missouri pass-rusher Charles Harris came into the season with serious hype as a first-rounder, but one scout I spoke to who recently traveled through the school says he’s disappointed by new defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross’ scheme. The scout said, “Harris isn’t even asked to fire off anymore. He’s playing patty-cake with tackles trying to occupy gaps.”

If Harris’ numbers are down this year, it seems like scouts will assign the blame to the scheme and not the player. 

—The small linebacker is becoming trendy for 4-3 defenses in the NFL, and scouts are taking notice of Tennessee’s Jalen Reeves-Maybin (6’0″, 230 lbs). A visiting director of player personnel told me Reeves-Maybin is “Telvin Smith Jr.” and has the tools to be a rookie starter as a weak-side linebacker. 

—”[Ohio State] has some players, but that defensive end [Sam Hubbard] is the one we’re excited about. He’s got an NFL body as a [redshirt] sophomore.” That’s what one NFL defensive line coach told me this week when discussing the top-end talent in the edge group. Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett and Auburn’s Carl Lawson get a lot of love, but teams are raving about Hubbard privately.

— A longtime source of mine who has been scouting for almost 20 years made his way through Northwestern recently and said linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. is the “best one you guys aren’t talking about yet.” Walker was an AP All-American last season as a redshirt sophomore.   

— Vanderbilt isn’t known for its football program, but a player standing out each time I watch is linebacker Zach Cunningham. Keep his name in mind as draft season heats up. At 6’4” and 230 pounds, Cunningham has a long, lean frame but is experienced at inside linebacker and rushing off the edge.

      

5 Names to Know

5. RB Kalen Ballage, Arizona State

The stats last week: 15 touches, eight touchdowns. 

If you stayed up late Saturday night to watch Arizona State take on Texas Tech, you saw Ballage dominate the Red Raiders defense with eight touchdowns while running over and around any and every defender who got in his way.

Ballage, who is 6’3″ and 230 pounds, put himself on the map as a draft prospect with his performance. The biggest question will be if he can wrestle RB1 carries away from teammate Demario Richard.

       

4. RB Joe Mixon, Oklahoma

I have to give credit to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah for being the first analyst I heard praise Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon when most of us were caught up in Samaje Perine. It’s Mixon, though, who is the best NFL prospect in that backfield.

The off-field stuff will be interesting—Mixon was charged with assault after punching a woman in the face and breaking several bones in her face. The victim has sued him in civil court after he received a one-year deferred sentence and 100 hours of community service.

Flash back to last week’s column, where an anonymous scout told us the biggest red flag is a player who puts his hands on a woman, and you see the situation that scouts and teams will face when evaluating Mixon’s talent. 

         

3. QB Davis Webb, California

A graduate transfer from Texas Tech, Davis Webb wowed scouts this summer …

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