Tag: BYU

Falcons select QB Zach Wilson, Miami EDGE in Draft Wire’s new mock

This 2021 NFL Draft is especially top-heavy at the quarterback position, with three players, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and BYU’s Zach Wilson, projected to go in the top five.

This 2021 NFL Draft is especially top-heavy at the quarterback position, with three players, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and BYU’s Zach Wilson, projected to go in the top five.

Most teams picking that high in the draft would be thrilled about the prospect of landing a potential franchise QB. However, the Atlanta Falcons have Matt Ryan under contract, and a rookie signal-caller surely won’t solve the team’s problems in 2021.

Having Ryan doesn’t mean the Falcons won’t still grab one of the three blue-chip quarterback prospects they’re likely to have a shot at with their first-round selection, though. In Draft Wire’s latest mock draft, Luke Easterling has Atlanta picking Zach Wilson with the No. 4 overall pick.

Prior to the year, Wilson wasn’t considered to be in the same class as Lawrence or Fields. In 2019, he threw for just 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. This season, Wilson threw for 33 touchdowns, 3,692 yards and just three picks, while completing 73.5 percent of his passes.

Check out this highlight video of Wilson playing against Boise State earlier this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uab8plGdqMI

Easterling’s draft extends to the second round, where the Falcons again find a pass rusher that could step in right away. Miami’s Jaelan Phillips is the pick for Atlanta at No. 35 overall.

In 2020, Phillips racked up 45 tackles (21 solo), eight sacks, three passes defended and one interception. Check out some footage of Phillips going up against Virginia Tech below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WilIPXkEvWM

There’s still one game remaining, though, which could alter the 2021 draft order. The Falcons won’t be falling out of the top ten, but even if the pick drops down one or two spots, it could affect whether or not the team takes a quarterback in the first round.

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Is Zach Wilson a legit option for the Jets with the No. 2 pick?

The Jets will have a big question to answer in the 2021 draft if they pick a quarterback, and BYU’s Zach Wilson could be their best option.

The Jets will have a big decision on their hands in April if they own the No. 2 pick. Do they draft a quarterback? Do they trade the pick? Do they draft someone else?

If they go with a quarterback, which one? 

Those questions won’t be answered until draft day, but Joe Douglas will spend a lot of time between now and then evaluating all his options. One of the most intriguing options with the No. 2 pick is BYU quarterback Zach Wilson.

A fringe draft prospect a year ago, Wilson catapulted himself to the top of the board with an electric style of play that fits the current quarterback model. Fresh off his five-touchdown performance in a rout of UCF, Wilson is Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded college quarterback this season. He also ranks top-five in competition percentage, passing yards, yards per attempt and passing touchdowns.

For awhile, Ohio State’s Justin Fields or North Dakota State’s Trey Lance were the best quarterbacks in the draft behind Trevor Lawrence. But between Fields’ inconsistent play and Lance’s limited tape – he only played one game this season because of the coronavirus pandemic – neither has emerged as the consensus No. 2 arm. Wilson, meanwhile, has proven himself as a precision passer and dual-threat playmaker. Now, it’s possible he leapfrogs Fields and Lance in the draft.

Wilson checks off a lot of boxes for what teams look for in a modern NFL quarterback. 

His 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame is a solid foundation for a player at his position and he backs it up with great plays. Wilson is among the best statistical signal-callers in the whole country. He threw for 3,699 yards and 33 touchdowns this season and rushed for 263 yards with 10 scores. Wilson’s 73.1 completion percentage is also astonishing and gives credence to the idea that he doesn’t make many mistakes. He threw just three interceptions this season and only had four turnover-worthy passes on 353 dropbacks – best in the country.

Wilson has great pocket awareness, too. His average time to throw is just 2.74 seconds when blitzed, per Pro Football Focus, and he’s only allowed 10 pressures – including five sacks – while being blitzed on 22.2 percent of his dropbacks. When he’s flushed outside the pocket, Wilson excels as well. He has the second-best PFF passing grade (87.5) when throwing outside the pocket.

The knocks against Wilson are not necessarily his fault. He hasn’t played the best competition during his college career and he floundered against an 11-0 Coastal Carolina team. Wilson dominated every game he was supposed to, though, including Monday night’s Boca Raton Bowl. He lit up a weak UCF defense three times through the air and twice on the ground.

Looking back even further, Wilson wasn’t exactly dynamite prior to this season. Unlike Lawrence and Fields, who’ve looked elite the past two seasons, Wilson only recently broke out. He averaged just 1,980 passing yards, 11.5 touchdowns and six interceptions during the past two seasons.

His fit in a Jets offense is reliant on who Douglas chooses to coach the team. There are going to be flaws in Wilson’s game as he acclimates to the NFL, and they’ll need to be massaged out. A good offensive-minded coach would be able to cut out those mistakes quickly, depending on who is hired.

There is a long evaluation process ahead for Douglas and the Jets that will push the team closer to an answer for the draft. If the Jets miraculously finish the season with the No. 1 overall pick, this question becomes moot: they’ll just draft Lawrence. But if they own the No. 2 pick, there will be a serious discussion as to who the Jets should take, and it very well may be Wilson when all is said and done.

Is Zach Wilson a legit option for the Jets with the No. 2 pick?

The Jets will have a big question to answer in the 2021 draft if they pick a quarterback, and BYU’s Zach Wilson could be their best option.

The Jets will have a big decision on their hands in April if they own the No. 2 pick. Do they draft a quarterback? Do they trade the pick? Do they draft someone else?

If they go with a quarterback, which one? 

Those questions won’t be answered until draft day, but Joe Douglas will spend a lot of time between now and then evaluating all his options. One of the most intriguing options with the No. 2 pick is BYU quarterback Zach Wilson.

A fringe draft prospect a year ago, Wilson catapulted himself to the top of the board with an electric style of play that fits the current quarterback model. Fresh off his five-touchdown performance in a rout of UCF, Wilson is Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded college quarterback this season. He also ranks top-five in competition percentage, passing yards, yards per attempt and passing touchdowns.

For awhile, Ohio State’s Justin Fields or North Dakota State’s Trey Lance were the best quarterbacks in the draft behind Trevor Lawrence. But between Fields’ inconsistent play and Lance’s limited tape – he only played one game this season because of the coronavirus pandemic – neither has emerged as the consensus No. 2 arm. Wilson, meanwhile, has proven himself as a precision passer and dual-threat playmaker. Now, it’s possible he leapfrogs Fields and Lance in the draft.

Wilson checks off a lot of boxes for what teams look for in a modern NFL quarterback. 

His 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame is a solid foundation for a player at his position and he backs it up with great plays. Wilson is among the best statistical signal-callers in the whole country. He threw for 3,699 yards and 33 touchdowns this season and rushed for 263 yards with 10 scores. Wilson’s 73.1 completion percentage is also astonishing and gives credence to the idea that he doesn’t make many mistakes. He threw just three interceptions this season and only had four turnover-worthy passes on 353 dropbacks – best in the country.

Wilson has great pocket awareness, too. His average time to throw is just 2.74 seconds when blitzed, per Pro Football Focus, and he’s only allowed 10 pressures – including five sacks – while being blitzed on 22.2 percent of his dropbacks. When he’s flushed outside the pocket, Wilson excels as well. He has the second-best PFF passing grade (87.5) when throwing outside the pocket.

The knocks against Wilson are not necessarily his fault. He hasn’t played the best competition during his college career and he floundered against an 11-0 Coastal Carolina team. Wilson dominated every game he was supposed to, though, including Monday night’s Boca Raton Bowl. He lit up a weak UCF defense three times through the air and twice on the ground.

Looking back even further, Wilson wasn’t exactly dynamite prior to this season. Unlike Lawrence and Fields, who’ve looked elite the past two seasons, Wilson only recently broke out. He averaged just 1,980 passing yards, 11.5 touchdowns and six interceptions during the past two seasons.

His fit in a Jets offense is reliant on who Douglas chooses to coach the team. There are going to be flaws in Wilson’s game as he acclimates to the NFL, and they’ll need to be massaged out. A good offensive-minded coach would be able to cut out those mistakes quickly, depending on who is hired.

There is a long evaluation process ahead for Douglas and the Jets that will push the team closer to an answer for the draft. If the Jets miraculously finish the season with the No. 1 overall pick, this question becomes moot: they’ll just draft Lawrence. But if they own the No. 2 pick, there will be a serious discussion as to who the Jets should take, and it very well may be Wilson when all is said and done.

Notre Dame firmly behind No. 1 Alabama in latest Amway Coaches Poll

The latest Amway Coaches Poll sees a little movement inside the Top 10, but plenty later on.

Notre Dame concluded their first regular season as a conference member by going undefeated in the ACC, expelling all the chatter about how the Irish would do if they had to go through a conference schedule. The win 45-21 win against Syracuse might seem like a blowout, but the first half left plenty to be desired out of the remaining No. 2 team in the country according to the latest Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports

In a week after the Irish gained ground in votes to No. 1 Alabama, they stayed exactly the same as last weeks poll.

Around the ACC, No. 3 Clemson struggled early against Virginia Tech, but eventually took over in the second half like the Irish did and won 45-10. They remained at No. 3 while No. 10 Miami, FL blasted Duke 48-0 and No. 17 North Carolina did the same to Western Carolina 49-9.

In other movement around the Top 25, No. 8 BYU lost to No. 14 Coastal Carolina, 22-17 in a thriller. Indiana got a huge win over No. 16 Wisconsin, one week after losing their star quarterback Michael Penix for the season, confirming the Hoosiers No. 11 ranking. Four more upsets, No. 15 Marshall,  No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 20 Oregon and No. 23 Washington all lost to unranked opponents.

Here is the full updated Coaches Poll, with the ACC teams in bold and last weeks ranking in parenthesis.

1 Alabama (1)

2 Notre Dame (2)

3 Clemson (3)

4 Ohio State (4)

5 Texas A&M (6)

6 Florida (5)

7 Cincinnati (7)

8 Miami, FL (9)

9 Indiana (11)

10 Georgia (10)

11 Iowa State (12)

12 Oklahoma (13)

13 Coastal Carolina (14)

14 Northwestern (17)

15 USC (16)

16 BYU (8)

17 Louisiana-Lafayette (21)

18 Iowa (24)

19 Tulsa (22)

20 North Carolina (NR)

21 Liberty (25)

22 Colorado (NR)

23 Texas (NR)

24 NC State (NR)

25 Wisconsin (19)

Dropped out: No. 15 Marshall, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 20 Oregon, No. 23 Washington

Watch the wild finish between Coastal Carolina and BYU

BYU came up just short in the final seconds against Coastal Carolina in an epic upset

A last-minute matchup between two undefeated teams gave us one of the most epic finishes of the 2020 college football season so far.

Trailing by five, BYU quarterback (and top draft prospect) Zach Wilson led the Cougars on a potential game-winning drive in the final moments, but their hopes of avoiding an upset ended just a yard shy of the end zone.

Wilson was held to just 240 yards and a touchdown through the air, with an interception, but he added 55 yards on the ground.

But the night belonged to the Chanticleers, who remain undefeated at 10-0, while the Cougars drop their first game of the season.

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The picks are in, ESPN’s College GameDay makes their selections for today’s games

The ESPN College GameDay crew along with special guest, Master’s winner and Coastal Carolina alum Dustin Johnson pick today’s winners.

It looked like Coastal Carolina would be facing Liberty early in the week, but due to COVID-19 issues within the Liberty program, the game had to be adjusted. Their replacement, was No. 13 BYU, setting up a Top 25 matchup. ESPN’s College GameDay had already decided they would travel to Conway, South Carolina and have Dustin Johnson, Master’s winner, who was an All-American at Coastal Carolina as their guest picker. Here are Johnson’s picks along with Desmond Howard, David Pollack, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso’s winner for today’s games.

 

UCLA at Arizona State

Johnson – UCLA

Howard – UCLA

Pollack – ASU

Herbstreit – UCLA

Corso – UCLA

 

San Jose St. at Hawaii

Johnson – Hawaii

Howard – San Jose St.

Pollack – Hawaii

Herbstreit – Hawaii

Corso – San Jose St.

 

West Virginia at Iowa St.

Johnson – ISU

Howard – ISU

Pollack – ISU

Herbstreit – ISU

Corso – ISU

 

Texas at Kansas St.

Johnson – UT

Howard – UT

Pollack – UT

Herbstreit – UT

Corso – UT

 

Clemson at Virginia Tech

Johnson – Clemson

Howard – Clemson

Pollack – Clemson

Herbstreit – NO PICK

Corso – Clemson

 

Alabama at LSU

Johnson – Bama

Howard – Bama

Pollack – Bama

Herbstreit – Bama

Corso – Bama

 

Texas A&M at Auburn

Johnson – TAMU

Howard – TAMU

Pollack – TAMU

Herbstreit – Auburn

Corso – TAMU

 

Indiana at Wisconsin

Johnson – UW

Howard – UW

Pollack – IU

Herbstreit – UW

Corso – UW

 

Ohio State at Michigan State

Johnson – OSU

Howard – OSU

Pollack – OSU

Herbstreit – OSU

Corso – OSU

 

BYU at Costal Carolina

Johnson – Costal Carolina

Howard – BYU

Pollack – BYU

Herbstreit – BYU

Corso – BYU

All of this week’s canceled college football games

Here’s the on-going updated list of the college football games that have been canceled for this coming weekend

College football is getting by in what continues to be the strangest year any of us have ever seen and probably ever will see, God willing.

As the year has gone on the outbreaks of COVID-19 have as well, leaving many to wonder if coaches are finding convenient ways to get out of blowouts and help save their jobs, while others can’t preach safety enough.

What I do know is that as crazy as this year has been, I’m happy that it was at least given a try instead of simply punting on the year.  It’s been far from perfect but we all knew that would be the case when the season was ultimately saved.

With that, here are is your current list of games that have been called off for this weekend, as of December 3, 2020:

Friday, Dec. 4:
Southern Mississippi at UTEP
Boise State at UNLV

Saturday, Dec. 5:
Northwestern at Minnesota
Kent State at Miami (OH)
Maryland at Michigan

Also worth noting and I’ll be doing a piece praising BYU for getting this done as well, is that BYU and Coastal Carolina were able to get a game for Saturday scheduled on short notice after Liberty was unable to play due to COVID-19 concerns.

It’s a huge addition of a game for BYU who hasn’t gotten respect from the College Football Playoff committee to date and it’s a move that makes loud-mouths like myself have to shut their mouth and instead tip our caps in the direction of Provo, Utah.

Panthers pick potential franchise QB at No. 7 in new 2021 NFL mock draft

In a new mock by Chris Trapasso at CBS Sports, the Panthers take BYU QB Zach Wilson.

Teddy Bridgewater’s current contract with the Carolina Panthers is the definition of a bridge QB deal. Hell, it’s in his name. While Bridgewater has had some sharp games so far in 2020, his relatively low ceiling has also been apparent of late and he’s lost his last six starts. While it’s a team game and Carolina’s defense also deserves a lot of the blame, it’s not a good trend for No. 5.

If the Panthers continue their losing ways after the bye week, they could get set up for a high draft pick, which might land them a potential new franchise QB. At the moment, the team is on pace to pick at No. 7 overall in the 2021 draft. That might just be high enough to find one. In a new mock by Chris Trapasso at CBS Sports, the Panthers take BYU QB Zach Wilson.

“HELLO. I would love this fit — Wilson in Joe Brady’s spread offense would be dynamic, and the team will probably look for an upgrade over Teddy Bridgewater for the long term.”

Wilson (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) is in the middle of a sensational season. Through nine games, he already has 2,724 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and two interceptions while averaging 11.5 yards per attempt.

Here is a look at Wilson’s tape this year.

Wilson vs. Navy

Wilson vs. Troy

Wilson vs. Louisiana Tech

Wilson vs. UTSA

Wilson vs. Houston

Wilson vs. Texas State

Wilson vs. Western Kentucky

Wilson vs. Boise State

Wilson vs. North Alabama

No matter what the Panthers do down the stretch, Clemson stud Trevor Lawrence is going to be out of reach. If they do go into the draft looking for a potential QB1, it will come down to the second tier of prospects. Wilson is one, as are Ohio State’s Justin Fields and Trey Lance of North Dakota State.

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College football fans had jokes after ESPN subtly removed BYU’s helmet from their show

Sorry, BYU!

The very first 2020 college football playoff rankings were revealed tonight on ESPN and it felt basically just like any other year for a bit as Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, and Ohio State are in the top four spots in that order.

When these rankings come out there are always schools that feel they got a raw deal from the committee. BYU seems to be that program tonight because the undefeated Cougars were ranked 14th and lots of people were upset by that.

Now, a lot can be said about BYU’s schedule and how they haven’t played anybody. But it appeared like ESPN thought the Cougars would be closer to the top, too, because they had their helmet on a shelf behind Kirk Herbstreit’s head during their show.

Then they quickly made a subtle move after the rankings were announced:

Ouch.

Here are the full rankings:

College football fans had jokes about that BYU helmet:

BYU’s bluff called, dash own College Football Playoff dreams

BYU will have nobody to blame but themselves when they don’t play in the College Football Playoff next month.

It wasn’t likely that BYU would do enough to make the College Football Playoff in 2020 but you can certainly cross it off even as a remote possibility after what transpired Sunday evening.

BYU, who sits at 9-0 overall and is ranked in the top 10 nationally, had their bluff called on Sunday and will now have nobody to blame but themselves when they ultimately don’t make the College Football Playoff this winter.

For context, we actually have to go back a few days to set the stage, as the Pac-12 announced Wednesday that they would allow each conference member to schedule one out of conference game, adding some wiggle-room to only a six-game regular-season schedule for those who don’t make the conference championship game.

When that was announced there was hope an interest that a few intriguing games would be added to the 2020 college football slate, but one that was proposed since the announcement won’t be played and not doing so is making BYU look foolish.

According to reports from several in the college football community, The University of Washington reached out to BYU on Saturday about scheduling a game later this year.

The Huskies are 2-0 on the year with only two games being played to date and only two games currently scheduled for the rest of the year.  Although not viewed as a College Football Playoff contender themselves, they’d certainly offer a chance for BYU to have another name win on their resume that they hope is good enough to earn them a trip to the CFP.

According to Bruce Feldman, BYU essentially said “thanks but no thanks” to Washington’s offer because they’d like to first know where they sit in the first College Football Playoff Rankings that are due out Tuesday evening.

Here’s a hint for everyone in and around Provo, Utah:

You’ll probably be eighth just like you are in both the AP and Amway Coaches Polls and you’ll be behind another Group of Five team in Cincinnati, just like you are in the AP and Coaches.

Even with Heisman contender, Zach Wilson, BYU needs a good amount of help building their resume if they think they have any shot at crashing the CFP party, and not taking Washington up on their offer does them no favors in that regard.

Even if they were to schedule Washington and win they’d still have an uphill battle but passing on an opponent of even that caliber will kill whatever chances BYU had of making the dance.

Ralph Russo of the AP reports that BYU has concerns over potentially being dropped by Washington if another Pac-12 game was to be made available to them on the same date.

Let me just ask, though:  what if there wasn’t a Pac-12 team that suddenly became available to play for Washington?

It makes BYU look laughable as they tweeted a picture of Wilson on November 20 wearing a bandana that read: “any team, any time, any place”

Except for if they’re a Power Five team who has a history of winning.

Then they’re not for that.

Remember this if and when BYU finishes the season undefeated yet you hear moans that they didn’t get a fair shake about playing in the College Football Playoff.

They’ve got nobody to blame but themselves for looking this foolish.