Jets Prospects to Watch for in College Football’s Week Zero Slate
While the 2022 NFL season has yet to kick off for the New York Jets, it’s never too early to get a peek at the next crop of talent making its way to the pros next April.
College Football is back this weekend with a strong slate of Saturday games, with 11 FBS matchups on the board starting with Austin Peay at Western Kentucky at noon eastern time and ending with Vanderbilt traveling to take on Hawaii at 10:30 p.m. eastern time.
We won’t see the crème de la crème of college football, with just six teams belonging to Power Five conferences taking the field, but there are still some tantalizing athletes to be seen as they attempt to grow their draft stock.
Here are a few names to keep your eyes on.
Peter Skoronski, OT, Northwestern
The highlighted matchup of the week takes place all the way in Dublin, Ireland, with the Northwestern Wildcats “host” the Nebraska Cornhuskers at 12:30 p.m. eastern time.
Leading the way for the Wildcats is 6-foot-4, 310-pound offensive tackle Peter Skoronski — grandson of former Green Bay Packer tackle Bob Skoronski and preseason consensus first-round prospect.
There are some who think he may need to transition to guard once in the NFL because of his inconsistency defending speed rushes, but he’s one of the most fundamentally sound tackles of this draft class and has a strong center of gravity in his blocking sets. Additionally, his ability to move vertically in the run game and climb to the second level makes you confident about how he’d be used in the Jets outside zone run scheme.
With the 2022 Jets offensive line featuring two starting tackles above the age of 30, with one in Duane Brown being much closer to the age of 40, the team needs to get back to re-prioritizing the offensive line in early rounds. Mekhi Becton’s season-ending knee injury only furthers the concern about his reliability on the field, making this position a need to address this upcoming offseason.
Robert Scott Jr., OT, Florida State
Should the Jets choose to wait until the middle rounds to address the offensive line, they may fancy themselves in Florida State’s two-year starter at left tackle in Robert Scott Jr. — who will see his first live action this season against Duquesne at 5:00 p.m. eastern time.
Scott moves extremely well for a 310-pounder and best projects for NFL offensive lines boasting zone running schemes. His lower-body mobility hinders his overall pass protection skills, and he sometimes can struggle to react mentally on certain pass-rush moves, but he’s extremely consistent when it comes to moving defenders past the line of scrimmage in the run game and has a solid anchor in the pass game.
Scott, like many college prospects, may be best suited as an interior player by the time he hears his name called in late April, but he certainly equips traits to be a solid tackle and should slowly see his stock rise from September through the regular season.
Ochaun Mathis, EDGE, Nebraska
We’ll finish off at a position that may not be the most pressing need for the 2023 New York Jets, but one that head coach Robert Saleh loves to use plenty of. Nebraska’s premier edge rusher this season is TCU-transfer Ochaun Mathis, a 6-foot-5, 257-pounder with quick feet and a violent finish to his game.
An ideal fit for an NFL Cover-3 defense, Mathis is a dynamic athlete with a terrific first step. His great length helps not only set the edge in the pass game but also bringing the quarterback down from a distance. He’s not a fully developed run defender and does need to add more strength to his body, but has the build where you could see him turn into a three-down player as he matures in the pros.
Mathis is a strong day two candidate for the 2023 NFL Draft as the season kicks off, but his high upside could really send him upward with a strong senior season. The Jets may not have a need for him if all goes well this NFL season, but he certainly fits the profile of what general manager Joe Douglas and Saleh look for in an edge rusher.
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