2023 NFL Draft: 5 Players Who Could Explode This Season Pt. 4
We've got a little bit of everything in this week's episode - from offense to defense, quarterbacks to safeties. Five talents at varying positions who already have the foundations of a strong draft grade. A 2022 campaign will only benefit these five further as we prepare for the 2023 NFL draft.
QB Tyler Van Dyke, Miami
Van Dyke took over as the starter for the Miami Hurricanes in 2021. D'Eriq King had gone down with a shoulder injury, and Van Dyke stepped in. He never looked back and ended the season with twenty-five touchdowns and only six interceptions.
After a disappointing outing against North Carolina in Week 7, in which the 'Canes lost 45-42, Van Dyke turned it on. He threw twenty touchdowns in the six games that followed and has those around the Miami Hurricanes program excited that they might once again have a first-round draft pick at quarterback.
Van Dyke possesses a great blend of size and speed, with a powerful throwing arm. In just his first year as a starter, Van Dyke has won over the Miami Hurricanes crowd. He throws a beautiful back-shoulder fade and can place the ball in some really tight situations.
If the junior talent can keep up his level of momentum and build on it further in 2023, he could be one of those quarterbacks that emerges out of nowhere as a first-round pick.
CB Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, TCU
TCU's secondary has produced a lot of fine talent in recent years. Hodges-Tomlinson is a smaller bodied corner with an athletic profile that jumps off the page. He might be five-foot-nine, but he's a menace with the football in the air, and a strong 2022 could propel him through the roof ahead of the 2023 draft.
In the 2020 season, the young corners second year of college football, and first as a weekly starter, Hodges-Tomlinson showed out. He ranked second in the nation for pass break-ups with an outstanding fourteen. The highlight tape shows his ability to close on wide receivers and disrupt the catch repeatedly, with 4.4 type speed and athleticism.
Unfortunately, 2021 wasn't the year that draft scouts had hoped it would be for the TCU corner. He'll be looking to regain his 2020 statistics and performance on gamedays in the hopes of reaffirming what we believed he could be just a season ago.
Safety Tykee Smith, Georgia
Smith followed his defensive backs coach Jahmile Addae from West Virginia to Georgia ahead of the 2021 campaign. Smith was touted as one of the best up-and-coming safeties in the nation and planned to slot into a dominant Georgia Bulldogs defense.
Unfortunately, injuries stole that opportunity from him. A foot injury meant that Smith missed the first five games of the year in 2021. He made it back for Week six against the Auburn Tigers, but only on a limited basis, which turned out to be the only action, he would see all year. Smith tore his ACL in practice before he could play another game, and was ruled out for the season.
In 2022, Smith is looking for a comeback season. After winning the National Championship the Georgia Bulldogs lost eight starters on defense and will be looking to regroup. Smith plans to be one of the key starters and remind the nation just how good he was in West Virginia.
WR Josh Downs, North Carolina
What a 2021 campaign this young man had. Downs went from five targets as a freshman, to 139 targets as a sophomore. The Tar Heels had emptied their wide receiver room into the NFL, and quarterback Sam Howell needed a reliable target. Downs was exactly that.
The now junior wide receiver caught 98 passes for 1,273 yards and eight touchdowns. You only need to turn on the tape of his Week three game against Virginia in 2021 to see what he's capable of. In that game, Downs caught 8 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns, helping UNC to a 59-39 victory.
He makes the list because he's not yet one of the bigger names amongst an elite-level group of wide receivers in the 2023 draft pool. It's set to be a phenomenal year for the position, but Downs could really emerge as one of the best of the best.
Keep an eye on him this season. He's a lively athlete who shows excellent ability with the ball in his hands, possessing elite athleticism. Downs is certainly an individual who could see an overwhelming increase in draft stock this year.
TE Arik Gilbert, Georgia Bulldogs
A once-five-star high school recruit and number one high school tight end in the country, Gilbert has had one turbulent ride in the world of college football. Originally signing with LSU, Gilbert caught thirty-five passes and two touchdowns as a freshman, before opting out of the season with two games left to play.
He then transferred to the Florida Gators, before changing his mind and heading back home to Georgia to play for Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs.
While the circumstances are widely unknown, Gilbert didn't suit up for the Bulldogs during the 2021 campaign. He was largely with the team, and able to celebrate the National Championship accordingly, but he didn't play. Gilbert hasn't featured in a college football game since December 2020.
This year, we hold our breath to see if the former high school standout is still the player he once appeared to be. If he can put it together and have a great year on a good football team, we could all be talking about him once again come the end of the year.
