Trevon Diggs - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Trevon Diggs seems too good to be true. He was a starting cornerback at Alabama with great size, athleticism, and proven genetics as you may have heard of his older brother, Stefon. Yet, somehow, he is getting very little buzz as a first round draft prospect. It seems like most experts are not buying in so I wanted to check him out to see if there was a fatal flaw or if this could be a steal to help the Bears solidify their secondary. I decided to be tough on him and watch his game against LSU to see how he would do against multiple first round picks.

He didn’t do any drills at the combine but measured in at 6’1” and 205 pounds with very good length. With that size, he will be able to hang with any receiver.

Here, Diggs is paired up against Ja’Marr Chase, and Chase is really, really good. This makes Diggs looks really, really bad.

That is such a tough route and throw for a cornerback to adjust on, and Burrow and Chase made that touchdown look way too easy. Diggs completely lost track of Chase as he tried to adjust to the ball, and then it’s just an easy walk in the end zone.

One thing Diggs showed repeatedly is remaining physical with receivers.

He is on the tight end, Thaddeus Moss, and he is hand fighting with him the whole way. Moss breaks towards the sideline, and Burrow throws it about as perfect as it can be, but Diggs leaves absolutely no space for a completion, and although it was originally called a catch, it was overturned as Moss was forced to step out of bounds before completing the catch. That physicality showed up in his tackling as well as he did a good job of attacking the hip and wrapping the legs no matter if it was receiver, tight end, or running back.

There aren’t a ton of highlights from this game, but he hung with Ja’Marr Chase, who, if he was eligible would be the first receiver taken in this upcoming draft. Alabama trusted him to cover Chase on an island for a lot of this game and he got beat at times, but it wasn’t a slaughter by any means. It’s tough to judge a corner on a single game, especially against an elite receiver, but overall, I would feel good about the Bears taking a chance on Diggs. If Saban trusts him to cover an elite pass catcher by himself, that’s a pretty good indication of a man’s talent level. I’m not in love, but I dig Trevon.

Previous Scouting Reports
1. Tua Tagavailoa - Alabama
2. Joe Burrow - LSU
3. Jordan Love - Utah State
4. Justin Herbert - Oregon
5. Nate Stanley - Iowa
6. Tristan Wirfs - Iowa
7. AJ Epenesa - Iowa
8. Geno Stone - Iowa
9. Michael Ojemudia - Iowa
10. Willie Gay - Mississippi State
11. KJ Hamler - Penn State
12. Amik Roberson - Louisiana Tech
13. Laviska Shenault - Colorado
14. Trevon Diggs - Alabama

Tua Tagavailoa - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

You know how good Tua Tagavailoa is? I can spell his name without looking it up. He has become such an institution of football that Tagavailoa is like Smith to me. I’m still going to refer to him as Tua for most of the rest of this report, but that is just for convenience of three letters vs. 123456789...10 letters. 

Going into this season, Tua was the presumptive number one pick for the 2020 draft. He again had a marvelous season that was sadly cut short due to a serious hip injury. The medical stuff is scary, especially because he has constantly been nicked up with different injuries. I couldn’t think of another top selection that had this much issue with injuries, and unfortunately, Tua and his team likely won’t be sharing his medical records with me (it wouldn’t actually help, even if they did), so I’m going to base my evaluation on the tape. I will say that if things do look like they are progressing on schedule, I don’t think he’ll drop out of the top five from the overall thoughts on his talent. Still, I wanted to do my own research and check out his games against LSU, South Carolina and the National Championship game against Clemson from his sophomore season.

Here's a very nice throw from Tua, but what is more important is the patience he shows. He sees that his offensive line has the pass rush handled, and he waits. He doesn't rush anything, and eventually he sees his receiver pulling open, and hits him 20 yards down the field.

This is maybe the worst example of his skill with pocket presence, and even on this sack and fumble, you can see him compact his body before the contact as he does still recognize it at the last second. Unfortunately, it was a little too late, but for the most part, he does a great job of feeling pressure while keeping his eyes downfield.

I love how when Tua escapes pressure, it’s not to wildly scramble, his first goal is to climb the pocket so he can still make a play with his arm. He’s a very good athlete so he can run, but his first thought is pass. And even though it’s incomplete, it’s a catchable ball because of how well he moves and sets his feet, he basically had to throw it behind the receiver to avoid the coverage.

This is a very ugly pass, but he does a beautiful job of avoiding the pass rush in order to get the ball off. Again, he not only avoids pressure but keeps his eyes down the field in order to make a play.

Does Tua have small hands? Before that play, he had a bad fumble on the simple act of switching the ball to his outside hand. This is about as minor of a concern as a concern can get, but it is something that could cause more fumbles than you would like at the next level. On the other hand, everything Tua does looks like how you would ideally want it done. His footwork is always precise, his body is in sync, and he always seems aware of his surroundings. That should probably be weighed more heavily than possible small hands.

This is both too easy and beautiful. I have nothing else to add.

Okay, okay, if he's going to keep doing this, I guess I need to say something. I have NEVER seen a quarterback consistently throw a better deep ball than Tagavailoa. It's incredible.

He had so many plays that made me say expletives out loud.

Seriously? Seriously.

Here, not only does he do a great job of stepping up in the opening in the pocket, but he perfectly leads his receiver crossing the field so he can not only catch the ball in stride but also pick up a first down on 3rd and 19.

This pass doesn’t look like much, but it’s incredibly hard to find the right angle to lead a receiver properly on this swing pass, and Tua does it perfectly. 

Here, he looks to the right side of the field which gets the deep safety to drift over that way. Then he quickly sets his feet and nails his receiver crossing over the middle. It's textbook.

On talent alone, Tua Tagavailoa is BY FAR the best quarterback in this draft, and that’s not a knock on Joe Burrow, who is worthy of being a number one overall pick. But Tua isn’t just great for this draft, he may be the best quarterback prospect I have ever seen. I was head over heels in love with Andrew Luck, but on quarterback skills alone, I think I would put Tua ahead of him.

But then there’s the injuries. And not just the hip injury, but the issue he’s had with his ankle and all of these nicks here and there. It’s obviously a big concern, but I can only go off what I see, and if this guy is healthy, he’s a generational talent. I think he should be in consideration for the first overall pick, and I really cannot see a scenario where he drops out of the top five if the hip is making progress. Too often, people try to be too smart and nitpick a guy who has been good for many years in college. There’s no need to overthink this one, Tua is incredible, and if healthy, he will make any team that passes on him regret it.

Ross Pierschbacher - 2019 NFL Draft Scouting Report

I'm kind of surprised there isn't more talk about Ross Pierschbacher, the center out of Alabama. Well, I guess I can understand why there isn't much talk. He plays center, which is about as unsexy as it gets, but he was a four-year starter at Alabama, and I was always impressed with him in the time where I focused on the play of the Crimson Tide's offensive line. Now, is it a little weird that I am focusing on an Alabama offensive lineman, and it's not even the highly touted Jonah Williams? Yes, that is weird, but Pierschbacher is from my home state of Iowa and originally committed to the Hawkeyes so I have kept an eye on him and closely watched his game against LSU to get a better idea of him as a prospect.

On this first play, he is all alone against a nose tackle that has a significant weight advantage on him, but he manages to still get the job done.

FreeGifMaker.me
Even though he is getting pushed back some, he is able to control the defensive lineman where he is never a real threat to get to his quarterback. He does this by getting lower and being underneath the defensive player's pads where even if he is getting pushed back, he remains in control with his hands inside.

Here is an impressive push from Pierschbacher in pass protection.

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On this play, he manages to push the nose tackle all the way around to the far end of his right tackle to give his quarterback plenty of room in the pocket, but the LSU defense left nobody open so the quarterback is forced to scramble late in the play.

And finally, here is Pierschbacher impressing on a run play.

FreeGifMaker.me
He shows good drive in pushing his man off the ball and continuing to turn him down the field to give his running back a clear choice, and at that point, the defender is already five yards off the line of scrimmage.

One thing that I would like to see Pierschbacher improve on is finishing his blocks. He would often do well at the beginning of the block but not fully commit to punishing his opponent until the end of the play. It tightened up some spaces for some of his running backs when he could have kept blowing through the defensive lineman.

With Pierschbacher, you're not getting a human highlight reel like Quenton Nelson. He's going to be fundamentally sound but not a physical freak who is going to blow people away. What he does provide is consistency and a solid presence in the middle of the line. Here is his athletic spider chart from the combine, and it certainly isn't going to blow anyone away.

Pedestrian might be too kind, but if you click over to his comparisons, the name Pat Elflein jumps off the page, and further down is Mike Pouncey. I think the former is a very good comparison as it was a guy who fell in the draft since he wasn't a great athlete but was able to come in immediately and be a good starter who could have a ten-year career.

Pierschbacher is likely a guy who will fall to the middle rounds, but considering he was good enough to be a four-year starter at Alabama and showed the versatility of moving all around the interior of the offensive line, you're going to end up with at least a solid starter with potential for more, but it is a fairly low ceiling.

Previous Scouting Reports:

Noah Fant - Iowa Hawkeyes - Tight End
Dwayne Haskins - Ohio State Buckeyes - Quarterback
TJ Hockenson - Iowa Hawkeyes Tight End
Amani Hooker - Iowa Hawkeyes - Safety
Josh Jacobs - Alabama Crimson Tide - Running Back
Tyree Jackson - Buffalo Bulls - Quarterback
Daniel Jones - Duke Blue Devils - Quarterback
Drew Lock - Missouri Tigers - Quarterback
Kyler Murray - Oklahoma Sooners - Quarterback
Anthony Nelson - Iowa Hawkeyes - Defensive End

Josh Jacobs - 2019 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Breaking the streak of Iowa tight ends, I am going to look at both a different school and a different position by taking a look at Alabama's Josh Jacobs. Jacobs has been getting a ton of buzz, and I wanted to see if whether I should buy into the hype or whether this was just a product of him being surrounded by such talented players that he is being overrated. I took a look at his games against Clemson, Mississippi State, and Tennessee.

The guy is smooth as all hell.

He starts the run by breaking through the leg tackle by a Tennessee linebacker, then jukes the poor safety out of his boots.

Jacobs rarely goes down on first contact.

This is a third down play where he gets met by a linebacker right at the line to gain. If the linebacker wins, it's fourth down. Instead, Jacobs bounces off the linebacker and charges forward for almost ten more yards after the initial contact.

He also doesn't shy away from contact.

He could scamper out of bounds without taking any contact, but what fun is that? Instead he delivers a hit to the safety to gain a couple extra yards on the carry.

But he's also smart enough to not take contact if he doesn't have to.

This is stupid. There are two Mississippi State defenders ready to tackle him for a loss as teh defensive end totally outplays the right tackle and the corner converges on the run. Jacobs is running right for them, and then he just plants his right foot in the ground to cut up field and ends up with a touchdown.

Although this play isn't going to make many highlight reels, it does a good job of showing Jacobs's vision.

A lot of times he is just following a very good offensive line and doing what the play asks, but on this stretch play, he has to make a decision about where to cut up field. While many backs may continue to go outside, looking for a home run, Jacobs sees a seam that he can use to get a first down and does just that.

Now combine the last two plays and you have this one.

Jacobs loses no speed when making his cuts, and it's runs like these that make it very easy to believe in the hype. But I promise the man is not perfect.

His blocking needs work.

I saw this multiple times in pass protection. Jacobs drops his head when trying to block, and it's really tough to hit something you can't see. He at least made some contact by spearing the defender in the chest, but that technique is not a recipe for success.

Luckily, I was rather impressed with him in the other facet of the passing game.

This is obviously a fairly easy catch, but he frames the ball with his hands as opposed to catching it with his chest, and he takes the time to see the ball in, tucks it, and runs to the end zone.

On top of having good technique, he can also make the tough catches.

This is a great adjustment on this ball. He gets turned around but focuses on the ball and makes the play. With these skills, there is no doubt that Jacobs can be a three down back that can hurt you in both the running and passing games.

The most impressive thing about Jacobs is that this was not against inferior competition. Mississippi State and Clemson have a pretty strong argument for being the best two defenses in college football this year, and he was still able to show off his skills against the best of the best. Outside of pass blocking, he basically excels at every other aspect of playing the running back position. On top of that, since he was at Alabama, there isn't a lot of wear and tear on his body which makes him even more appealing. He reminds me of Sony Michel in that he can do everything, and Jacobs has the advantage of not having any significant injury history. Michel was a late first round pick, and I can easily see Jacobs getting taken in the middle of the first round. The running back position may not be valued like it once was, but it's tough to see a situation where this guy doesn't make a team happy by taking a running back early.

Previous Scouting Reports:
Noah Fant - Iowa Hawkeyes - Tight End
TJ Hockenson - Iowa Hawkeyes Tight End

Action Eddie Jackson - The Chicago Bears New Safety

I'm doing some quick looks at the Bears draft picks. The Chicago Bears first move got all the publicity, but the rest of these guys are going to be incredibly important on whether this was a successful draft for the team. Since the Bears did not have a third round pick, we move on to the fourth round where the Bears first selected Eddie Jackson, a safety out of Alabama. I checked out his games against Tennessee and Texas A+M to get a better look at him as a player.

The first thing to note about Eddie Jackson is that he was good enough to start at Alabama. That's a pretty great start for any prospect. He's already got to have a pretty high floor. He's an in the box safety as opposed to a center fielder, and although I didn't see any thumping hits, he certainly didn't shy away from contact. He seemed solid in his role.

Another thing that I was excited to see was that he was also a returner for Alabama, which gives you an idea of his athleticism, which is good since he wasn't able to do any of the speed drills during the combine. And yeah, stuff like this is pretty cool.

I can definitely get behind that.

As for how he performs in coverage, there wasn't a ton to go off of. He seemed solid in man coverage, but gave quite a bit of cushion when he was running a deep zone where there was enough room for receivers to make plays. It's always tough to judge safeties off of limited looks, as that may have been the design of the play.

Overall, you have to love the athleticism, and you have to hope the coverage skills are there enough for him to be a starting strong safety. I mean, he was good enough to start for Alabama, so there's likely less competition to be a starter for the Bears. 

What the Chicago Bears Should Do on Day 2 of the 2017 NFL Draft

Nobody was talked about more than the Chicago Bears last night as they shocked the world and traded up to take Mitchell Trubisky to fill their quarterback need. I thought they gave up a bit too much draft capital to do it, but they at least did it for the right guy. I LOVE Trubisky, and most of the hate came for two reasons: 1. They never saw him play and just thought he sucked, because they have been told by the media that he isn't worthy of a high first round pick. 2. They are overly concerned that he didn't start enough games in college. The first group are just morons; no need to focus on that. For the latter group, I understand the concern, but I think it says far more about the coaching staff at UNC than it does about Trubisky. I wanted to hate Trubisky, but he's got everything I value in a quarterback prospect. Because of that, it was still a great night for the Bears.

Now, for some quick analysis of what the Bears should do on day two. This is important, because they actually listened to me on my advice for their first pick. 

5. Desmond King - Defensive Back - Iowa
Obligatory Iowa advice. But seriously, King is a football player who makes plays. The Bears need all of the help in the secondary, and King is a guy who could fit in a variety of ways. I still think he's a cornerback, but even if you had to make him a safety, he has the instincts to make big time plays.

4. Kevin King - Cornerback - Washington
Dude is a freak of an athlete. Still could use a whole lot of polish at the cornerback position, but the raw materials are there for him to become a stud.

3. Malik McDowell - Defensive End - Michigan State
The Bears still need a defensive end since they passed on Solomon Thomas to fill their quarterback need. This guy is a polarizing prospect, because his production definitely doesn't match his talent, but many blame that more on the scheme of Michigan State as opposed to anything wrong with McDowell. It's a high ceiling, low floor pick, but the Bears don't seem to be afraid to take chances.

2. Cam Robinson - Offensive Tackle - Alabama
I can't believe a three-year starter at the best program in the nation slipped to the second round, but it would be incredibly difficult for the Bears to pass up on Robinson if he is sitting there when they pick. I think this is a guy who gets picked apart because of too much tape on him, but he has all of the tools to be Pro Bowl offensive tackle.

1. Trade Down
It's the least sexy option, but it may be the best moving forward. If they're not in love with one of the guys at the top of round two, maybe trading down, picking up a third and / or fourth rounder might be the prudent choice. The Bears have a lot of holes on this team, so accumulating talent has to be one of their big goals to come out of this draft. And the best news is that they could probably still draft Desmond King and make my dreams come true.

Fair Weather Fans Are 7 Times More Likely To Get Divorced

I am always amazed at people who only like good teams. It used to drive me crazy, because they weren't "real sports fans." As I have grown older and more mature, it has gotten to the point where it only irritates me. It still blows my mind when it comes to colleges, and people only like Duke basketball, of course, that's partially because I thought only old racist white guys liked Duke basketball. But it works the same with Notre Dame football, wait, that's a lot of old racist white guys too. Um, let's go with Alabama footbAwShit, that's loaded with ORWGs too. This wasn't even the point of the post, so let's just get back to my original point that fair weather fans are slightly irritating but nothing to get worked up over.

But they are still irritating, and the fact that they try to celebrate a championship like it really means something to them when they just float in while the team is good is not something that they should get away with, but alas, as just one man, there is nothing I can do. But karma...karma is a bitch, and it will strike down these fair weather fans.

You see, these fair weather fans are strong when things are going well, but they lack the mental fortitude to prosper when things get tough. They just want to move onto something else. This may work in sports fandom, but I'll tell you one area it doesn't work: Marriage.

I believe that fair weather fans are single-handedly pumping up the divorce rate in this country. I mean, based on zero research whatsoever, I will claim that the divorce rate for fair weather fans is seven times higher than it is for those fans that stick with their crummy teams through thick and thin. This is all just a guess on my part as I did absolutely no research, but the numbers don't lie. SEVEN TIMES, that is incredible. But these made up numbers make sense. These fans float along in life, just looking for the best possible situation, but they just bounce around grasping at fleeting happiness while sticking with things gives a far more fulfilling feeling that these people will never experience.

Seven times. That's truly an incredible number. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't made it up myself.

It really makes you think.

The Perfect College Football Playoff

So this year is the first year of the College Football Playoff, and as always, there was much controversy in the method to determine the best team in college football. TCU was ranked 3 going into the final week and won by 52 points. They fell three spots in the rankings. Now Ohio State and Baylor were both impressive as well, but it does seem a tad absurd. Everyone's initial reaction is to expand it to 8 teams, but then we are just arguing over the 8th-10th spots.

I have a much better solution. There is a specific committee that is flown into Dallas every weekend to discuss things, so clearly they must have their shit together. So instead of a 4-team or 8-team playoff, why not just let the committee decide how many teams will be involved. This year, it pretty clearly would have been six teams. The top two teams would get a bye (although it is absurd that Florida State was not ranked in the top two, but I could write a whole post on that), and the other four would battle it out to get it down to four teams. With this strategy, you get in all the best teams without any of the extra riff raff.

Now this would put a lot more stress on the committee, because they would basically be shitting on Mississippi State, but that's okay, as you can definitely draw a line between them and TCU. It works no matter how many teams you put in it. TCU, Ohio State, and Baylor all could have lost and Oregon would have played Florida State for the right to play Alabama in the national title game.

There would be some logistical issues about scheduling the bowls with when and where they would happen, but logistics should not be what stops us from finding the one true college football champion. This is what America needs to focus all of its resources on. The battle of these schools in proving their athletic supremacy is essential to what we stand for as a nation. This is a $100 million idea, and sorry student-athletes, there is no leftover money for you.

Thanks in advance for the check, NCAA.

Scouting the 2014 NFL Draft: AJ McCarron

AJ McCarron is the white sportswriter's dream. A quarterback (because other positions don't matter). A white quarterback (because white people don't have athleticism, so they must survive on grit and determination). A white quarterback who is a winner (you gotta be a winner). A white quarterback who is a winner with an attractive girlfriend (the girlfriend helps them fill out their word count). He's everything they could hope for, and they don't need to watch a single snap to know that he is what is right with quarterbacks. None of this is his fault, unless you want to blame him for having an attractive girlfriend, which I am not about to do. To win multiple national championships, you have to have an incredibly gifted quarterback, ideally one of the best 100 in the world, and AJ McCarron is no exception. But how good is he? Can he be a winner in the NFL? I was curious to find out, so I looked at the BCS National Championship game against Notre Dame, the shootout against Texas A+M, and his less heralded game against Virginia Tech.

One thing that surprised me was how good McCarron was at throwing on the move. He did a few designed rollouts and would occasionally roll out to avoid pressure and he showed really nice accuracy while on the move.

This is a nice ball where he leads his receiver to help him gain additional yardage after the catch.

The biggest issue that I noticed with McCarron is his accuracy, especially on short-to-intermediate routes. He was very inconsistent in properly leading receivers and a lot of times he gave his receiver no chance to make a play. This should be an easy throw as his man has his defender beat towards the middle of the field on the slant. Instead, AJ McCarron misses and throws it behind his receiver.

The only good news is that it was such a bad throw that the defender was unable to make a play on it.

This wasn't a one time issue either as he was very inconsistent on routes that should be routine.

There is no reason for him to be missing his receiver that badly on that short of a throw. Those are both easy throws and necessities to be even a competent quarterback in the NFL. The fact that he can miss this badly on short throws is a huge red flag.

Another question I have about him is his ability to quickly scan the field. He never really had to do this at Alabama, since his first option was almost always open. On the rare times that he wasn't, he usually had enough protection to not be in a hurry. There were a few cases where he was caught holding onto the ball too long in the Virginia Tech game, but from the sideline view, it is really hard to see if this is a vision issue or just very good coverage from the Tech secondary.

This is a great toss by McCarron that shows what type of talent he has with his arm.

This is a really nice throw 20 yards downfield right along the sideline. He actually looks better in that 15-20 yard range than he does in the 5-10 yard range.

He looks a little awkward when throwing this deep ball, but he does a nice job of placing them. He lays this right into the receiver's hands for an easy touchdown.

Still, his deep ball definitely floats a little bit as he doesn't drive through when delivering the ball. He didn't need to on this throw as there was no safety to come over the top. Still he shows good deep ball accuracy that is better than most college quarterbacks.

This was probably my favorite play from McCarron. He does a nice job of avoiding the pressure with a simple step to his left. He also originally was looking left, but after the rusher had passed, he looked to his right and fired a beautiful pass to a wide open receiver for a touchdown.

That is him showing the peak of all of his best qualities, all in one play. When he does stuff like that, it is easy to see why people get excited.

I was a little surprised from what I saw of the McCarron tape. It is surprisingly blah. His arm strength is fine, but it's not great. His awareness was fine, as he moved well in the pocket, but did not seem to do much of a job at scanning the field when his original target was covered. His accuracy was disappointing in the short-to-intermediate routes, yet it was more impressive as he threw it further down the field. Since I can't really decide what type of leader he is unless he somehow reads this post and wants to refute anything (invitation is open, AJ), I can't put much stock in that one way or the other. But when it comes to the package that I see on tape, I come away from it very uninspired. I'm putting him between Mettenberger and Boyd, and I believe he is much closer to the latter. I probably wouldn't feel comfortable spending a pick on him until the 5th round, as his inconsistent accuracy really worries me about his chances of succeeding in the NFL.

Here are my quarterback rankings for the prospects I have looked at so far:
1. Teddy Bridgewater - Louisville
2. Blake Bortles - Central Florida
3. Jimmy Garoppolo - Eastern Illinois
4. Zach Mettenberger - Louisiana State
5. AJ McCarron - Alabama
6. Tajh Boyd - Clemson
7. David Fales - San Jose State
8. Logan Thomas - Virginia Tech
9. Brett Smith - Wyoming
10. Aaron Murray - Georgia

9 Thoughts on Iowa vs. Nebraska

My thoughts going into this Nebraska game is surprisingly confident. Nebraska is a team that needs to run the ball to be successful, and Iowa does an excellent job of shutting the running game down. Iowa's offense started to show some dynamic trends last week, even with the three interceptions. Nebraska is prone to turnovers, so as long as Iowa doesn't badly lose that turnover battle, I see them having more ways to win in this game.

1. Hitchens's interception was just a nice job of dropping into a zone and reading the quarterback's eyes. He really didn't have much of an idea of where the receiver was, but he saw where the quarterback wanted to throw and cut it off before it could get to the receiver.

2. Iowa was busting up Nebraska early on in this game as the offensive line was creating holes and Weisman was punishing defenders who came up to make the tackle.

3. I know I mentioned this last week, but Rudock's increased pocket awareness is a huge development for the Hawkeyes. He is hanging in the pocket and waiting for receivers to work their way open instead of panicking and trying to scramble. On the Hawks first touchdown drive, it got him sacked on second and goal. On third down, it gave him enough time to scan the field and find CJF crossing the field for the touchdown.

4. The defense was not threatened by Nebraska's pass attack which made things a whole lot easier for them. If Ameer Abdullah isn't getting yards on those early downs, Nebraska's offense really provides no threats and Iowa took advantage of that.

5. To start the second half, Nebraska just beat the shit out of the Hawkeyes. There is no other way to put it. They ran it right down Iowa's throat, they handled the pass rush and marched right down the field for a touchdown.

6. There was nothing that filled my heart with more joy than seeing Iowa stop a fake punt.

7. Iowa has done a great job of mixing up their defenses. Everybody has noticed that Iowa has blitzed a lot more this year, but it doesn't end there. Iowa is mixing in zone and man coverage to keep giving quarterbacks different looks. They are letting their corners hang with wide receivers down the field instead of having to decide whether to pass them off to the safeties. Last year, that caused major issues as the cornerbacks were left looking for help from safeties that never came. There is much better communication and coverage from the Hawks defensive backfield.

8. Along that line, Tanner Miller has made such a tremendous step forward from last year to this year. I'm not saying he's an All-B1G talent, but he's gone from bad to solid, and that is not an easy transition to make.

9. I was grumbling a little bit as Iowa only called Weisman runs as they tried to run out the clock, but it set up the bootleg from Beathard, which was a great call as Nebraska sold out to stop Weisman.

Overall, it was one of Iowa's best performances as the defense did not let Nebraska build any momentum, and the offense grinded out enough to keep putting points on the board. There is a decent chance of the Outback Bowl against a member of the SEC. Obviously that can mean only one thing: We Want Bama.

7 College Football Thoughts For Week 3 - Scouting Quarterbacks

1. First off, I was very underwhelmed by Brett Hundley. I know he won the game and by a large margin, but Nebraska's defense is just terrible. Hundley was just locking in on receivers and hesitating for a split second before throwing the ball. If the defense was reading his eyes at all, they were able to break on the ball before it was even in the air. When he actually did scan the field, it was never smooth and looked very robotic.

Hundley did show good mobility throughout the game and he seemed to have decent pocket awareness. One thing that I do wonder is whether he might be better with more pressure. He seemed to hold onto the ball long, because he had no pressure and maybe he would make quicker decisions and throws if he was forced to.

The good news is that he does have a good arm on him. He threw some nice balls and showed good accuracy for the most part. I would have liked to see more routes where he was forced to lead his receivers, but they threw a lot of curls and comebacks throughout the game. His touchdown pass down the near sideline was a thing of beauty.

2. Taylor Martinez...no. In all seriousness, he does a nice job in that offense, and he was pretty accurate early on, but the T-Magic stopped working in the second half. Also, he will always have two games a year where it's just brutal to watch him. Also, the arm strength isn't there for him to be a real quarterback prospect at the next level.

3. Teddy Bridgewater, on the other hand, is fun to watch. He is so smooth. He is able to go through his reads, and is willing to throw the ball away if nothing is there. Kentucky did a really nice job of taking away his first options and not letting him get anything deep, but he was willing to check down and take the gains that were open underneath. On top of that, he does some nice work with his play action where he will really hold that ball out until the last possible moment before keeping it for the pass play. Basically, just about everything about him is fantastic. He leads people  in stride, can throw it down field, it's all there. I love Clowney, but I have a very tough time believing that Bridgewater won't be the first pick in the draft.

4. For Blake Bell, I didn't watch a ton of the game, but man, that guy really floats his balls down the field. That won't work at the next level, but he was pretty damn accurate from what I saw, and if he can keep that up, Oklahoma has a good shot at the Big 12 title. He's not much of a prospect at the next level, but it's still fine to enjoy him for what he is.

5. Johnny Manziel was pretty impressive early on. Showing great accuracy when throwing the ball down the field. He was just tearing up Alabama with man-to-man, because he was either finding an open guy or was able to scramble, because everyone in coverage had their back to him. He was just taking his time and carving things up. His passes were incredibly accurate. It was all good.

Okay, so that stupid throw. It was 3rd and 8, so even if it gets picked, it doesn't really cost them that much, because they were going to be too far out for a field goal. They're looking at a pooch punt or a 4th and 8, which, even though he was rolling, is not an easy conversion. That being said, I think Johnny Manziel is just a madman who doesn't give a shit about anything, and none of that was actually going through his head. He really just wanted to make a play.

His interception in the end zone wasn't that bad. Not a great throw, but it wasn't done out of cockiness, as the CBS announcers stated. He just overthrew it a little and his receiver badly misjudged it. His interception at the beginning of the third quarter was much worse as he forced a ball into coverage, under threw the pass, and paid for it on a tip. His problem was that he was so successful throwing the ball down the field early on that he just kept doing it, and it eventually caught up to him. Also, the breaks just did not go their way, as Alabama really only stopped them with good defense on one drive in the first half. Otherwise, they were hurt by penalties, that first interception, and running out of time at the end of the half.

6. A.J. McCarron is solid in all aspects of the game. The arm strength is not going to wow you, but he knows what he's doing out there. He makes quick decisions in everything that he does. He also does a very good job of reading a defense before the ball is snapped to put him in a position to succeed. The toughest thing about scouting McCarron is he is surrounded by players on offense that are way better than any players he could face on defense. This is just as unique of a situation as trying to scout Marcus Mariota and the offense that Oregon runs to give them an advantage. I don't think he's been as good this year as he was last year, but the core skills are there for him to be successful.

7. I have heard Marcus Mariota rumored as a top QB prospect, and although I like him for the Eagles at the next level, I do not see him as a big time prospect for most teams. He's a fine thrower, but it is tough to put pressure on Oregon, and he showed an extreme lack of pocket awareness against Tennessee. I'll admit to seeing only about five plays from him in that game, but those are my initial thoughts from my limited view of him.