College Football Stock Report: Risers and Fallers from Week 4

Zach Dietz has your latest look at college football's risers an fallers after four week of the CFB Season.

Author:
Zach Dietz
Publish date:
Sep 30, 2021 4:59 PM EDT

The month of September has truly flown by, and the same can be said regarding the college football year, as we’re heading to Week 5 already!

Outside of Alabama and Georgia, there’s not another team that looks like they have the overall talent to win it all, and the race for the last two spots in the College Football Playoff over the year will be fascinating to see.

Will Oregon return for the first team since the Marcus Mariota days? Who’s going to represent the Big Ten, Iowa, Penn State, or Ohio State?

Regardless, this season has been very wonky, to say the least, and just like every week, we have individual players who are boosting their draft stock while others flounder. Who are those guys this week?

Here is our Week 4 NFL Draft stock report.

STOCK DOWN | QB Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma

I’ll be the first to admit: I wasn’t the highest person on Rattler coming out of summer scouting. His inconsistent ball placement and risky playstyle had him as my initial QB3, but I also understood the immense talent that he possessed and was looking forward to seeing him play this year for the Sooners. I have been utterly shocked by his play so far, and not in a good way.

The Oklahoma Sooners offense, which was touted as one of the best in the country, has struggled in basically all of their games this year (no, I’m not counting their 76-0 stomping of Western Carolina).

They are fortunate to be 4-0 as their average margin of victory against Tulane, Nebraska, and West Virginia has been a shockingly low five points, and it’s mainly due to the stagnated development of Rattler.

Has he been bad by any stretch? Not at all, but he’s certainly not playing at the level we expected. He has a 7:3 TD:INT ratio and a 76.9 QBR, which is 21st in the nation.

The same mistakes from early last year have crept up on Rattler in 2021 - failing to step up in the pocket, taking silly sacks, and not going through his reads properly.

Now, maybe he turns it around, and this is the same scenario as last year. It’s silly to write off a player who was the near-consensus top-3 lock just a month ago this early, but the lack of development with upgraded weapons and protection will undoubtedly scare some teams.

And with guys such as Malik Willis and Matt Corral playing exceptionally well this year, Spencer Rattler may have an uphill climb to get back into the discussion for being the first quarterback off the board in the 2022 NFL Draft.

STOCK UP | QB Tanner McKee, Stanford

It may seem a little ornery to add a player, especially a quarterback, to the stock-up delegation after his team lost over the last weekend, but make no mistake, Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee has the potential to skyrocket up draft boards.

A true sophomore, McKee is eligible for the draft as he’s over 21 and has been in college for three years--the first two were spent on an LDS mission. Named the starting gunslinger for the Cardinal before the year started, McKee has been nothing short of fantastic.

With a 67.6 completion percentage and eight touchdowns to go with zero turnovers, McKee is playing clean, efficient ball. Even in the aforementioned loss to UCLA this past weekend, he threw for 293 yards and three touchdowns.

After diving into the tape for the first time, McKee is a very well-rounded player who has the arm to make all of the throws. His ball placement and anticipation are eye-opening--his timing is excellent, and he doesn’t put his receivers in any risky situations.

He’ll obviously get some comparisons to former Stanford QB Davis Mills, the Texans' third-round pick from 202, but McKee has a better arm and handles pressure more easily.

It’s a long year, and he would hypothetically only have one with good production, but McKee's traits and skills can do wonders for his stock, especially in a wide-open quarterback class.

STOCK UP | WR Treylon Burks, Arkansas

Typically, six-foot-three, 225 pound wide receivers aren’t supposed to be yards after the catch superstars and deep threats. Well, Treylon Burks isn’t your run-of-the-mill wideout. He’s arguably the best guy at his position for the 2022 NFL Draft, and he looks like he’s getting better.

Playing for an Arkansas team that is currently undefeated in the SEC, Burks has built a great rapport with new starting QB K.J. Jefferson and has picked up where he left off last year. A genuinely fantastic athlete for his size, Burks has used all of his abilities to ball out in 2021, including a massive 6-167-1 stat-line in the Razorbacks' most recent win against No. 7-ranked Texas A&M.

If we look at his last two games including the A&M one, Burks has nearly 300 receiving yards and two scores total. Even crazier than that… It took him all of NINE catches to get those numbers. With his post-reception abilities and separation skills against all types of coverages, Burks is in a prime position to be the first receiver selected next April.

Think of a larger version of Deebo Samuel - unless you’re playing against him, because NOBODY would want to imagine what that type of animal that would be on the football field.

STOCK DOWN | CB Sheridan Jones, Clemson

It feels like every week now we’re bagging on the Clemson football program, but they just keep doing it to themselves. Now officially out of the CFP race after falling to 2-2 this past weekend, the Tigers main issue has been their anemic offense.

On the other side of the ball, however, they have another slew of guys underperforming relative to expectations, including starting cornerback Sheridan Jones.

A player who was supposed to take a leap opposite likely first-round pick Andrew Booth this past season, Jones has looked extremely poor in the two games he’s appeared in.

With only four total tackles on the stat sheet and zero pass breakups and interceptions combined, Jones isn’t much of a factor when it comes to playmaking. He’s a solid athlete whole excels mostly in deep zone coverage, but he’s looked lost playing man and does not have the physicality to hang with stronger receivers.

Jones still has plenty of time to make an impact for this Clemson defense, but as it stands right now, he’d likely be a Day 3 pick if he decided to come out. It feels like a theme with some of these players I’ve mentioned, but he probably needs another year of seasoning.

STOCK UP | S JaQuan Brisker, Penn State

One of the more underrated position groups in this upcoming draft class is the touted group of safeties. We all know the big name in the class Kyle Hamilton (arguably the best overall player in the world), but many other players have been improving their play to fill out the rest of the position group.

A senior from Penn State, JaQuan Brisker, has shed his “box safety” label so far during the 2021 season. Through four games, Brisker has one interception plus another two passes defensed, and he’s on pace to set career highs in those categories, and that’s not including tackles.

Blessed with great athleticism and a strong frame, Brisker has played more loosely this fall, and it’s showing in his coverage ability--he currently owns an 88.9 coverage grade by PFF, a mark that is number one out of all Power 5 players. If Brisker can keep his elite all-around play up, he has a fantastic shot of being a top-50 selection this spring when it’s all said and done.

STOCK DOWN | ILB Henry To’oTo’o, Alabama

You don’t need me to tell you that the Crimson Tide is an absolute juggernaut once again and look like one of two favorites to win the College Football Playoff. The team is littered with ridiculous talent across the board, but the inside linebacker position looks like a weak spot.

Next to highly touted junior Christian Harris is Tennessee transfer Henry To’oTo’o, who operates as somewhat of a thunder to Harris’ lighting. The issue is, To’oTo’o isn’t a great athlete by any stretch and is having a rough year in run support.

With only five INTs + PBUs through his three-year collegiate career so far. He can’t be classified as a playmaker. He takes lazy angles, and despite some improvements in coverage in the short area of the field, a player who has this poor closing speed and some shoddy technique have a minimal ceiling in terms of his NFL career.

With only five INTs and PBUs through his three-year collegiate career so far, he can’t be classified as a playmaker.

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College Football Stock Report: Risers and Fallers from Week 4