College football is upon us and the first official game of the 2020 college football season will be played this evening at the Crampton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama when Football Championship Subdivision rivals Central Arkansas and Austin Peay square off in a non-conference matchup.
The 2020 Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff is the only game on the slate this weekend, and it pits playoff teams from a year ago with the Governors of Austin Peay (11-4, 7-1 in 2019) who won the Ohio Valley Conference for the first time since 1977 and reached the FCS quarterfinals, losing to Montana State.
Central Arkansas shared the Southland championship with Nicholls State after going 9-4.
Central Arkansas is a five-point favorite and with all of the eyes of the football squarely focused on this game, here’s a rundown of the NFL Draft prospects to watch.
***
1. Robert Rochell (#9), CB, Central Arkansas
An athletic, lanky cover man with ball skills, Rochelle is currently projected in 4th-6th round range after a 2019 season that saw him start all 13 games while leading the team in interceptions (5) for the second consecutive year.
Rochell will have all eyes on him Saturday after he landed on Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks” list as the No. 12 overall player.
Feldman: Get to know this dude. He’s a former track stud from Louisiana who has really blossomed at Central Arkansas. NFL scouts are really intrigued by him. He’s a shade under 6-1 (6-0 7/8) and weighs 197 pounds. His coach Nathan Brown says he’s broad jumped 11-8 (!!) and has vertical jumped 41 inches. His 40 time is 4.38, and his short shuttle is 3.98. His 60-yard shuttle time is 10.98. Those are all big-time numbers. In 2019, he broke up 18 passes and intercepted five others.
DB coaches always instruct to become the receiver when the ball is in the air. @UCA_Football CB #9 Robert Rochell (@scootaa11) took it to heart on this play vs WKU. Rochell has that coveted length #NFL teams desire & is 1 reason why he’s high on the @NFLPABowl list!#BearClawsUp pic.twitter.com/0fWqJt7z6z
— Dane Vandernat (@DVandernat) July 14, 2020
[vertical-gallery id=639461]
[lawrence-related id=639978,639961,639962,639948]