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Here are a handful of prospects for Chargers fans to watch in Week 4.
The fourth week of college football is here, which means we are back with another edition of the Scouting Notebook.
The Scouting Notebook will feature prospects to keep an eye on throughout the day. While some may think it’s too early to start talking about the 2024 NFL draft, there’s never a bad time to talk about the future of the Chargers.
With that being said, here are a handful of prospects to watch for in Week 4.
What the Irish need to do to get a Gator Bowl win
The wait between the regular season finale and bowl games is always difficult, but for [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag], game week is finally here. Their opponent, [autotag]South Carolina[/autotag] makes it two USC’s in-a-row and there are certainly similarities between them.
[autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] will coach his second bowl game and will look to find a way into the win column after last year’s difficult loss to [autotag]Oklahoma State[/autotag] in the [autotag]PlayStation Fiesta Bowl[/autotag].
This venue is different, the [autotag]TaxSlayer Gator Bowl[/autotag] but the objective is the same, get a bowl win and momentum going into the 2023 season. For the Irish to do that, there are keys to their success and here are five of them.
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Iowa Hawkeyes tight end Sam LaPorta is once again garnering national acclaim. LaPorta was listed as the No. 8 tight end for 2022 by On3.
Sam LaPorta finds him in the mix as one of the nation’s top tight ends on another preseason list. This time, it’s On3’s Impact 300 top 10 returning tight ends.
The 6-foot-4, 249 pound senior tight end is back in Iowa City after authoring the type of season that Hawkeye fans have become accustomed to at the position. As a result, LaPorta checks in as the No. 8 returning tight end according to On3.
LaPorta had a breakout year as a junior last season, hauling in a career-high 53 passes for the Hawkeyes. He also posted career-highs in yards (670) and touchdowns (3). The Highland (Ill.) native’s junior campaign put him over the 1,000-yard receiving yard mark for his career. LaPorta checks in with an On3 NIL Valuation of $155,000. – On3.
One of the interesting numbers is that final one. As one of the biggest returning stars for the Hawkeyes, a healthy NIL deal from one of the local companies wouldn’t come as any sort of a shock for LaPorta. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz recently said to expect more news on the NIL front for the Hawkeyes in the coming weeks and month.
As On3 noted, LaPorta is back with Iowa after a career season. He led the Hawkeyes in receiving yards and receptions last season and will be counted upon to deliver every bit of that type of production and more in 2022. The Highland, Ill., native is regarded by multiple outlets as a 2023 NFL draft riser to watch.
Both Athlon Sports and Pro Football Focus have praised LaPorta this offseason. Athlon Sports listed LaPorta as one of its top 10 Big Ten 2023 NFL draft prospects, while PFF’s Michael Renner ranked LaPorta as his No. 5 tight end and the No. 90 overall prospect entering this upcoming college football season.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. actually had the highest preseason draft grade for LaPorta. The longtime draft expert rates LaPorta as the No. 2 tight end on his most recent 2023 NFL draft big board.
Both Athlon Sports and Phil Steele listed LaPorta as a preseason first-team All-Big Ten selection. LaPorta leads a group that also includes redshirt sophomore Luke Lachey and Lafayette transfer Steven Stilianos as the Hawkeyes’ primary tight ends.
The rest of On3’s Impact 300 top 10 returning tight ends list looked like this: Georgia’s Brock Bowers No. 1, Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer No. 2, South Carolina’s Jaheim Bell No. 3, Georgia’s Arik Gilbert No. 4, Texas’ Jahleel Billingsley No. 5, Georgia’s Darnell Washington No. 6, Stanford’s Ben Yurosek No. 7, Louisville’s Marshon Ford No. 9 and Ole Miss’ Michael Trigg No. 10.
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