• Travis Hunter remains a top-three prospect: Colorado‘s two-way star put together another standout performance in his team's thrilling win over Baylor.
• Josaiah Stewart climbing the edge rusher rankings: The Michigan defender was outstanding against USC, propelling himself up the edge rusher draft board.
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Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Week 4 in college football gave us some big-time players stepping up in big-time games. With plenty of players making waves in the 2025 NFL Draft pool, here are some of our top standout performers.
Travis Hunter continues to solidify himself as a top-five prospect
Colorado’s do-it-all athlete Travis Hunter continues to impress – even though the bar was already so high. This past week against Baylor, he recorded seven receptions for 130 yards and forced the game-winning fumble as a cornerback in overtime. This week marked Hunter's fourth straight 100-yard receiving game. He now has the sixth-most receiving yards in the FBS at 472. For the season, Hunter has an 83.6 PFF receiving grade, an 86.3 run-defense grade and an 85.5 coverage grade. He simply has absurd production and grades given his versatility.
He remains a top-three prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft, and I made the case for why I believe Hunter should focus his primary effort at cornerback in the NFL last week.
Josiah Stewart puts on pass rush show
Even for a program as stacked as Michigan, it’s never easy to replace all the talent they've lost to the draft in recent years. Heading into 2024, the Wolverines had to replace Braiden McGregor and Jaylen Harrell on the edge. One of the players they were hoping would step into one of those spots was Stewart. The senior was a three-star edge recruit in the 2021 recruiting class who spent his first two seasons of college ball at Coastal Carolina. He transferred to Michigan prior to 2023 and played well as a rotational edge rusher last season. This year, he’s earned a full-time starting spot, and his game against USC this past week was his best performance yet. He recorded an elite 94.9 pass-rush grade with eight pressures, two sacks and a 31.4% pass-rush win percentage. He flashed top-50 potential with his speed rush abilities this past weekend.
Cade Klubnik’s redemption tour rides on
Over the last three years, Clemson’s former five-star quarterback recruit, Cade Klubnik, had not recorded a single-game passing grade above 72.2. However, over the last two weeks, he has recorded back-to-back elite passing grades above 90.0, including this week against N.C. State. It was a rough start against Georgia to start the season, but Klubnik has settled in nicely. He has recorded six big-time throws with no turnover-worthy plays over the last two games, flashing nice mobility to go along with some good arm talent. His stock was rather low after the UGA game, but it is trending back up now.
Kaleb Johnso and Kalel Mullings strengthen an already deep running back class
The 2025 running back class is loaded. We already know names like Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, Ollie Gordon II and Quinshon Judkins. Nonetheless, it seems like we are adding more names to the list of potential top 100 running backs every week. This week, we have Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson and Michigan’s Kalel Mullings.
Johnson, a 6-foot and 225-pound junior, rushed for 206 yards with 136 yards after contact this weekend. He rushed for over 800 yards as a true freshman back in 2021, and after missing some time due to injury last year, he’s on pace for his best season yet. His blend of speed and power at his size makes him tough to bring down at first contact and give him the ability for explosive plays in space.
Mullings has had quite the winding road to find a consistent contributing role. The fifth-year senior was a four-star recruit and the 2019 Gatorade Player of the Year in Massachusetts. He was initially a linebacker, starting his career at Michigan in 2021 and 2022. He made the move to running back in 2023 and played as a reserve while also playing special teams. This year, he’s earning more carries than ever, and he recorded career highs in carries (17), rushing yards (159) and rushing touchdowns (two) this past week against USC. Due to his experience at linebacker, he has a good feel for blocking and cut back lanes while blending that vision with a bruising, determined run style.
Another elite week from TE Harold Fannin Jr.
Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr. looked unguardable once again this week, recording his second straight receiving grade above 90.0 and his third straight game with a receiving grade above 85.0. He hauled in eight catches for 145 receiving yards and another touchdown this weekend. At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, he is more of the “big slot” tight end who has good explosiveness and strong hands to make a name for himself in the 2025 tight end class.
LB Eric Gentry is building solid draft report as a senior
It has been a bit of a journey for the edge/linebacker hybrid defender to become a notable draft prospect once again, but here we are. The 6-foot-6 and 215-pound outside linebacker earned an elite 90.7 pass-rush grade last season, and this past game against Michigan earned a 92.5 run-defense grade. He started his career at Arizona State, where he was named to PFF’s 2021 Freshman All-American team. His lighter-weight profile affected his play the following year, so he transferred to USC. Over the last two years, he has become more comfortable with his strengths and weaknesses, and he is having his most consistent season yet. His unique measurables still present pros and cons, but it’s nice to see him playing his best ball as a senior.
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