It’s the final weekly prospect review of the season, and somehow it ends with a running back in the top spot.
While I’ll have one final top prospect performance article highlighting the top individual performances we saw all season, most of my energy for the next month and a half will go toward creating the PFF draft guide.
1. RB Trey Sermon, Ohio State
It was the kind of game we had been waiting to see from Sermon his entire career. His mixture of size and elusiveness has always been elite, but he’d garnered more than 20 carries only once before in his entire college career (2018 vs. Texas Tech when he ran for 206 yards on 26 carries). It’s safe to say that changed Saturday.
OHIO STATE SINGLE GAME RUSHING RECORD FOR TREY SERMON, 331 YARDS 👑😍 pic.twitter.com/j1WikT6PDo
— Barstool Ohio State (@BarstoolOSU) December 19, 2020
He broke the Ohio State record with 331 rushing yards on 29 carries, including 196 after contact. Sermon broke an unbelievable 17 tackles in the process. You won’t find a more impressive rushing performance this season.
2. QB Mac Jones, Alabama
Another week of lights-out, efficient football for the Alabama signal-caller. His 33-of 43 for 418 yards, five scores and one pick stat line would be a career day for most quarterbacks, but it was only Jones’ fifth-highest-graded passing performance on the season.
Mac Jones to Najee Harris!@AlabamaFTBL is ROLLING in the #SECChampionshipGame pic.twitter.com/jOxGwEsHGV
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) December 20, 2020
Jones’ numbers are starting to creep into an unheard-of territory in college football. While he doesn’t quite have the volume that Joe Burrow had last season, Jones’ 94.3 passing grade is just a smidge better than the 94.1 mark Burrow finished with in 2019.
3. TE Kyle Pitts, Florida
Even if you take away the tight end designation and evaluate Pitts as a receiver alone, what he did this season is still nothing short of remarkable. He averaged 96 yards and 1.5 scores per game over the course of the season while not dropping a single pass on 65 targets.
This is the last catch of Kyle Pitts' college career.
Legend.pic.twitter.com/SuWJdsUd5a
— Connor O'Gara (@cjogara) December 20, 2020
Pitts is a different breed from any tight end prospect we’ve seen since we started college football grading in 2014. His ability to win from any alignment will be highly coveted come April.
4. EDGE Tyreke Smith, Ohio State
We'd been waiting all year for Smith to make a splash, and similar to Sermon, he finally delivered in the Big Ten title game. After a bit of a slow start to the season, Smith racked up nine pressures on 29 pass-rushing snaps against Northwestern, including four hits.
While his 80.2 pass-rushing grade this season wasn’t quite the leap we had hoped for heading into the year, he can still make himself some money in the College Football Playoff.
5. WR Simi Fehoko, Stanford
Standing at 6-foot-4, 227 pounds with reported 4.3-second speed, Fehoko is one of the most physically imposing receivers in the country. Stanford coaches must have liked the matchup Fehoko presented against UCLA on Saturday, as the receiver saw a ridiculous 23 targets. He hauled in 16 of them for 230 yards and three scores on the day.
𝔾𝕖𝕥 𝕠𝕗𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟'𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙.
🚂 @Simi_Fehoko pic.twitter.com/VGixu2zUrn— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) December 20, 2020
While he’s more of a straight-line player than a true nuanced receiver, the physical tools he brings to the table are undeniable.
6. EDGE Nik Bonitto, Oklahoma
As evaluators get to watch more of Bonitto’s tape this year, I predict he’ll rise up draft boards. He’s not only one of the most explosive pass-rushers in the country, but he's also easily the most productive this season.
On 162 pass-rushing snaps, Bonitto has an incredible 45 pressures. It was more of the same against Iowa State in the Big-12 championship; he posted six pressures on 19 pass-rushing snaps.
Nik Bonitto and Brian Asamoah. #SpeedD https://t.co/1XVToj6VIO
— 𝕺𝖐𝖑𝖆𝖍𝖔𝖒𝖆 𝖛𝖘. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 (@soonergridiron) December 19, 2020
While undersized, Bonitto has a unique combination of bend and burst that makes you think he can still work in the NFL. The recent success of Brian Burns — a similar edge player — will help Bonitto's cause.
7. WR Tre Walker, San Jose State
While it’s yet another incredibly deep receiver class, don’t sleep on the San Jose State product. After 1,161 yards last season, Walker notched 544 yards in seven games this season — including 137 against Boise State.
THANK YOU FOR THE FLAG BUT WE WILL DECLINE
TOUCHDOWN SPARTANS, @NickStarkel to @BambinoTre pic.twitter.com/U9iZSk3wYd
— San José State Football (@SanJoseStateFB) December 19, 2020
He’s a very sudden, crafty route-runner, though he is undersized and has struggled with drops. He’s dropped 13 passes on 130 catchable the past two seasons but has also broken 28 tackles over that span.
8. QB Kyle Trask, Florida
It wasn’t a perfect performance, but when you light up a Nick Saban-coached defense for 400-plus passing yards, you deserve a spot on this list. Not only did Trask rack up the yardage, but he did a lot of it through the air as opposed to after the catch. He finished with seven big-time throws in a game that scouts will no doubt pore over all spring.
TOUCHDOWN GATORS.
Florida responds with a 52-yard touchdown from Kyle Trask to Kadarius Toney.#SECChampionship pic.twitter.com/MVKU3CM2ih
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) December 20, 2020
9. LB Kana’i Mauga, USC
Mauga has always had the explosion to play linebacker in the league, but he has far too often looked like a chicken with his head cut off for the Trojans.
INTERCEPTION! @kanai_mauga ????#Pac12Championship#FightOn ✌️ pic.twitter.com/46mbROLqPo
— USC Football (@USC_FB) December 19, 2020
Against Oregon in the Pac-12 title game, however, Mauga looked like a distinctly different linebacker. He was sticking backs left and right en route to seven defensive stops. He also added a pick and a pass-breakup for an all-around excellent day.
10. QB/S Shawn Robinson, Missouri
While he may not have a ton of tape just yet, Robinson deserves a shoutout for his performance over the weekend against Mississippi State. On two targets, he didn’t allow a single catch while breaking up one pass and picking off another.
TURNOVER ROBE TIME: #Mizzou QB Shawn Robinson will finish the season with more interceptions caught than thrown. What a teammate. pic.twitter.com/ZbzpoawB59
— Andrew Kauffman (@A_Kauff) December 19, 2020
That would be one thing if he were, you know, a safety. But for the past four years, Robinson has played quarterback. He hadn’t taken a single snap anywhere else until this past weekend, when he earned a 92.3 overall grade. It was such a good performance that the redshirt junior may want to consider the switch next season.
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