2023 NFL Draft: Week 13 Stock Report

The college football regular season is in the books, but this is just the beginning of the insanity that is bowl season. For our final stock report let's see who our top performers were and who let us down.

Author:
Bobby Greco
Publish date:
Nov 28, 2022 10:21 AM EST

In this story:

Michigan Wolverines

Texas Longhorns

Kansas State Wildcats

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The college football regular season is officially in the books, yet you could say the insanity is just beginning. We have reached the point of the season where your destiny is out of your hands as the committees are coming together and figuring out what teams will be playing each other in bowl games and who will win the awards.

The last week of regular season football did not let us down either and was the definition of “Rivalry Week.” It was also a microcosm for the entire season because it was wild. Friday gifted us with four super competitive games that came down to the wire. Two of these contests were prove-it games, and it is safe to say those teams proved precisely who they are. We saw Tulane take down defending conference champion Cincinnati and Florida State held on to an extremely hard-fought battle with their cross-state rival Florida Gators.

What about the “Top Four”? That must be cleared up now, right? Not at all. With the results we saw, the committee will have a lot to talk about. Has TCU done enough to be a safe pick for the playoffs, and which one-loss team has the advantage, USC or Ohio State?

With all that being said, how did our stocks shape up? This will be the final stock report of the season, so we will take a broader look at things and see who our top performers were and who let us down a little. Though the regular season and stock reports are ending, don’t fret because, as the Carpenters would say, “We’ve only just begun.”

Top Performers

Premier Running Backs:

As stated several times in past stock reports, this was undoubtedly the year of the running back. There were so many top-tier players that it was impossible to mention all of them.

We had Heisman-caliber players like Blake Corum, who ran Michigan to their second consecutive undefeated season. If it weren't for keeping him out of the Ohio State game, he probably would have been the favorite to win the Heisman.

Then you have other elite prospects like Bijan Robinson and Deuce Vaughn; both players have mind-boggling skill sets. Robinson's mix of power and speed is extremely rare, which is why despite an up-and-down season, he is still the top prospect. Vaughn is an anomaly of an athlete; he is a small player but possesses an unreal burst and acceleration that allows him to pull away from any defense. Don't be fooled by his size, though, because he will show you his power and put you on your back.

This doesn't even include players like Mohamed Ibrahim, whose talent has been overlooked because his team didn't have a great season.

Two Tight Ends:

This isn’t the second day of Christmas; it’s just two of the top pure tight-end prospects we have seen in a long time. Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer and Utah’s Dalton Kincaid are two of the best all-around tight-end prospects that there can be. These prospects are not only great route runners and receivers but also outstanding blockers.

Since his freshman season Meyer has had us drooling at his abilities as a pass catcher, but what goes unspoken much of the time is just how important he is to the Irish run game. His ability as a blocker was a major key to Notre Dame’s success during his career, then you add his receiving skill, and it’s easy to see why he got the nickname “Baby Gronk.”

On the other hand, Kincaid took some time to develop, but he has a very comparable skill set to Mayer and took advantage of his final season and made it his arrival on to the scene. After transferring from the University of San Diego, Kincaid has flourished as a top tight-end prospect who can do anything asked of him, single-handedly winning games for the Utes. Turn on the USC tape to see Kincaid dominate the Trojans and keep them from an undefeated season.

Tulane Linebacker Authority:

Suppose you have followed along with this series of articles. In that case, you already know my feelings about Tulane middle linebacker Dorian Williams, one of the most underrated college football players. I would be remiss, however, to ignore the other Tulane middle linebacker Nick Anderson, who is also a force opponents have to deal with.

Williams and Anderson accumulated 100 tackles, giving Tulane one of the top run defenses. Both players are stout at the point of attack and have sideline-to-sideline athleticism.

Anderson is a similar prospect as Kansas City Chief Nick Bolton was coming out of college. Like Bolton, Anderson will make an impact for whatever team drafts him, though he will need to prove himself in coverage.

Williams's ability to do a little bit of everything makes him a higher-rated prospect. He is a tackle machine and is still reliable in coverage, and he can even be an effective pass rusher. It is not a stretch to view Williams as a poor man's Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys.

Underperformers

Hot Starters:

When it came to the beginning of the season, no teams caught our attention like Syracuse and Kansas. Syracuse jumped out to a 6-0 start, while Kansas started 5-0. Unfortunately, both teams only got one more win for the rest of the year.

Syracuse was highly disappointing down the stretch because they looked unshakeable at the beginning of the year, winning multiple close games. We even talked about some of their players being top prospects at their respective positions. However, since giving away a fourth-quarter lead to Clemson, things haven’t been the same. They ended up losing five straight and got steamrolled in these games too.

Though Kansas didn’t at all finish the season they would have wanted, there is a little silver lining for them; nothing was expected of them. Kansas has been irrelevant in the college football landscape for a few years now, so it was a huge deal that they won their first five games. They did run out of juice, though and reverted to their old ways the second half of the year. In all the losses, Kansas played sloppy, undisciplined football and gave up a minimum of 35 points each game.

However, this season is something to build on for Kansas because it shows major progress. On the other hand, Syracuse has to figure some things out, they showed so much potential in the beginning, and it truly seems they are a couple more good recruits away from having a contender. They can not let one bad moment ruin the season and need to become mentally stronger to continue building up the program; some team bonding and soul searching would help.

QB DJ Uiagalelei, Clemson:

There may not have been a player with more pressure on him to start the season than Uiagalelei. After a disastrous 2021 season, it wasn't guaranteed that he would be the starter when this year began. He got the chance, though, and came out the gates hot.

We saw a confident and consistent quarterback in the first half of the season. He was accurate and spread the ball around, making decisive decisions. That all changed when his team started playing more familiar opponents.

When up against teams he had played before, we saw the 2021 version of him. He started holding the ball way too long and committing ugly turnovers, and he was even benched in multiple games. This is a player with all the physical attributes you want in your starting quarterback, but he hasn't quite put it all together yet.