Tag: Xavier Hutchinson

Lions 2023 NFL draft prospect watch for CFB Week 2

2023 NFL draft prospects to watch in CFB Week 2 with an eye for the Detroit Lions

College football enters its second full weekend of games on the Saturday before the NFL slate kicks off in full for Week 1. The Detroit Lions will have scouts out at college games around the country evaluating players who could interest them in the 2023 NFL draft.

Here are some of the players to know and watch from a Lions scouting perspective. The list features two games where Detroit is confirmed to be sending scouting staff on Saturday.

Everything Kirk Ferentz had to say about Iowa State ahead of the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series

What are Kirk Ferentz’s thoughts on Iowa State? Here was what Ferentz had to say about the Cyclones ahead of the rivalry date.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have won the past six in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series. While week one left some lingering questions about the Hawkeyes’ offense, Iowa turns the page to its annual rivalry date against the Iowa State Cyclones hoping that last week was nothing more than some early-season jitters and growing pains.

Running back Gavin Williams appears primed for a return, so that should help to offset the continued absences of wide receivers Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini. Defensively, it will be interesting to see how Iowa manages without both linebacker Jestin Jacobs and cornerback Jermari Harris.

Of course, Iowa State typically presents one of the most exciting challenges every season and this year’s contest figures to be no different. With the emotionally charged rivalry set to resume on Saturday, here was everything Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz had to say about the Iowa State Cyclones.

Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel named to Walter Camp Player of the Year award watch list

In addition to the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien, Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel was named to the Walter Camp award watch list.

When you’re the quarterback at the [autotag]University of Oklahoma[/autotag], the expectations are high. In addition to being named to the Davey O’Brien and Maxwell award watch lists, Oklahoma Sooners quarterback [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] was added to the Walter Camp Player of the Year award watch list.

Oklahoma is tied for second all-time in Walter Camp Player of the Year awards with four. USC is No. 1 in the country with six, including inaugural award winner O.J. Simpson.

Former Sooners who’ve won the award are [autotag]Baker Mayfield[/autotag] (2017), [autotag]Josh Heupel[/autotag] (2000), [autotag]Billy Sims[/autotag] (1978), and [autotag]Steve Owens[/autotag] (1969).

Garbiel is joined by eight other players from the Big 12 and a few familiar faces at quarterback on the Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list.

Oklahoma Sooners will face 2 of the most explosive players in 2022 according to 247Sports

The Oklahoma Sooners defense will be tasked with figuring out how to slow down two of 247Sports’ most explosive players heading into 2022.

The Big 12 might have taken on a more defensive approach in recent seasons, but there are still a ton of incredible offensive talents that the Oklahoma Sooners will have to contend with in 2022.

Brad Crawford of 247Sports ranked the seven most explosive players in college football. The Oklahoma Sooners have experience with two of those players, but will have to worry about them again in 2022; Deuce Vaughn of Kansas State and Xavier Worthy of Texas.

Worthy came in at No. 2 on the list while Vaughn came in at No. 3. Both are worthy additions to a list headlined by Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Sooners fans became very familiar with Worthy on the opening play of the Red River Showdown in 2021 when the Texas wide receiver took a screen 75 yards for a touchdown to open the game. He’d kill Oklahoma that day with nine receptions for 261 yards and two touchdowns.

Here’s what Crawford had to say about Worthy:

Depending on who you ask, [autotag]Xavier Worthy[/autotag] might be the fastest wideout in college football. No one runs the fly better than the Longhorns’ top threat and Big 12 coaching staffs are well aware of his exploits down the field and believe he’s the most terrifying player in the conference from a he-can-score-from-anywhere standpoint. Worth averaged 15.8 yards per catch and scored 12 touchdowns as a freshman in 2021, highlighted by a mammoth 261-yard outing against Oklahoma. He is Steve Sarkisian’s new DeVonta Smith, and the Texas braintrust will work to get him as many touches as possible this season in space. – Crawford, 247Sports

Worthy announced his presence with authority in 2021. Deuce Vaughn, on the other hand, the Sooners have a couple of years of familiarity with.

In Kansas State’s win in 2020, Vaughn had eight carries for 35 yards and caught four passes for 129 yards, and a touchdown, including this big catch and run:

In 2021, Oklahoma still struggled to stop Vaughn in the passing game, this time catching 10 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball 15 times for 51 yards.

The Sooners under defensive coordinator Alex Grinch were able to slow Vaughn down in the running game, but couldn’t figure out how to contain him as a receiver. Maybe Brent Venables and Ted Roof will have more answers on how to slow down Vaughn in 2022.

Here’s what Crawford had to say about the electric running back:

It comes as no surprise that Kansas State’s [autotag]Deuce Vaughn[/autotag] was one of the nation’s leaders in broken tackles forced last season. He’s 5-foot-6, 170 pounds and shifty as any player in the Power Five ranks. Over his first two seasons with the Wildcats, Vaughn has averaged 5.7 yards per carry and doubled his total number of catches as a sophomore compared to 2020. Kansas State does a very good job of centering its game plan around his touches and with Nebraska transfer quarterback Adrain Martinez this season, that’s a speed-rich offense. Vaughan tallied 22 total touchdowns as a second-year starter and 1,872 yards from scrimmage. – Crawford, 247Sports

Though they didn’t make the list, Quentin Johnston of TCU and Xavier Hutchinson of Iowa State will be explosive playmakers the Sooners will have to deal with as well.

Oklahoma wide receiver [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] is certainly an explosive player that the Sooners’ opponents will look to get the ball to. He’s averaged 19.1 yards per reception over his first two seasons at OU, including 22 yards per reception in 2022. He’s a dangerous player who can win deep at any moment.

Oklahoma’s defense may have lost a lot of talent from the 2021 squad, but there will be a different level of intensity coming with this defense. This unit has a lot of guys to be excited about, we simply haven’t seen them in full-time roles on the defense. They’ll have a lot to prove come September. Most notably, they have to prove they can slow down Xavier Worthy and Deuce Vaughn better than their former teammates.

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Marvin Mims No. 4 wide receiver in On3’s Impact 300

Coming in ahead of Big 12 for Xavier Worthy, Marvin Mims is the No. 4 wide receiver in On3’s Impact 300 for 2022.

He’s led the Oklahoma Sooners in receiving each of the last two seasons and yet, there’s a feeling that [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] has another level he can ascend to.

The depth at wide receiver in 2021 limited his opportunities as the team opted for a rotation at the position. Quarterback inconsistency didn’t help either as the up and down play of [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag] and [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag] kept the Sooners wide receivers from not having a single player with more than 40 receptions on the season.

But the lack of opportunities didn’t stop Mims from surpass 700 yards and average 22 yards per reception.

Against Texas, his ability to adjust to the football in 50-50 situations were key to Oklahoma’s second half comeback. Sure Caleb Williams and [autotag]Kennedy Brooks[/autotag] had a hand in the outcome, but if Mims doesn’t make those big plays in contested catches, the Sooners may not complete the comeback.

Heading into the 2022 season in a fresh offense and with a quarterback who can throw a few ball, Mims should see a bump in his production and came in at No. 4 among wide receivers in On3’s Impact 300, a ranking of the top 300 college football players heading into 2022.

Like Boutte, Marvin Mims is chasing his first 1,000-yard season but he’s still in the conversation for the first round of the draft in 2023. Last season, Mims had 32 receptions for 705 yards. His NIL value is $589,000. – Nikki Chavanelle, On3 Sports

Mims comes in behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba of Ohio State, Jordan Addison of USC, and Kayshon Boutte of LSU. Mims comes in ahead of Big 12 foes Xavier Worthy, Xavier Hutchinson, and Isaiah Neyor.

Receiving some first round consideration in early 2023 mock drafts, Marvin Mims has a chance to solidify himself as the best deep threat in college football and one of the best wide receivers in the game in 2022.

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6 Sooners make Athlon Sports’ All-Big 12 second team ahead of 2022 season

With an early look at the 2022 season, 6 Oklahoma Sooners were named to Athlon Sports All-Big 12 second team.

Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners coaching staff did a great job at addressing immediate needs in the transfer portal. Finding starters and rotational players to replace the guys they lost will help the Sooners stay in contention in the Big 12 and potentially for a playoff spot.

The new coaching staff combined with the addition of Dillon Gabriel has the Sooners projected to be one of the top teams in the Big 12 three months ahead of the 2022 season. At the same time, a lot of the optimism is in projecting how the new additions and the guys rising up the depth chart will do with increased opportunities.

Looking ahead to the 2022 season, Athlon Sports named their 2022 All-Big 12 first and second teams. The Oklahoma Sooners had six players selected to the second team and no first-team selections. Zero.

Dillon Gabriel, Marvin Mims, Anton Harrison, Jalen Redmond, Danny Stutsman, and DaShaun White were named to Athlon’s All-Big 12 second team.

It’s understandable how the Sooners might not get [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] in as a first-team wide receiver. Xavier Worthy, Quentin Johnston, and Xavier Hutchinson are really good players. Mims is in the mix and there’s certainly an argument to be made for his inclusion, but those three guys are just as talented and Worthy and Hutchinson have the production to go along with the talent.

Where an argument can be made is with Spencer Sanders as the first-team quarterback. Sure, I wrote about how Sanders could be a problem for Oklahoma in 2022 and he’s coming off of an incredible game against Notre Dame and was the first-team quarterback selection in 2021. But are we sure he can maintain the consistency needed to be the top quarterback in the conference again in 2022?

Of course, [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag], who was the second-team quarterback hasn’t played a snap in the Big 12, but he’s had a ton of success in his career and his work against the Power Five is pretty solid. In games against Stanford, Pittsburgh, and Georgia Tech, UCF was 2-1 and Gabriel averaged 367 yards passing, threw 10 touchdowns, just two interceptions, and completed 65% of his passes.

[autotag]Anton Harrison[/autotag] also made the second team and has received a lot of first-round buzz in early mock drafts for 2023. He’ll be relied upon to anchor the Oklahoma Sooners’ offensive line as it looks for a bounceback season in 2022.

The Sooners also had three defensive players selected to the second-team. [autotag]Jalen Redmond[/autotag], [autotag]DaShaun White[/autotag], and [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] lead the way for a Sooners defense that is looking to replace five NFL draft picks and a starter in [autotag]Patrick Fields[/autotag] who went to Stanford as a grad transfer. The talent is there, but it’s largely unproven.

White and Stutsman will be expected to take on bigger roles at linebacker along with [autotag]David Ugwoegbu[/autotag] while Redmond will look to put together a big 2022 with [autotag]Perrion Winfrey[/autotag] gone.

[autotag]Brayden Willis[/autotag], [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag], and [autotag]Key Lawrence[/autotag] were named to the third team while [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag], [autotag]Chris Murray[/autotag], and [autotag]Reggie Grimes[/autotag] were selected to the fourth team.

With 13 selections, the Sooners were behind Texas, Oklahoma State and Baylor, who each had 14 players named to the four All-Big 12 teams.

There’s a buzz surrounding the Oklahoma Sooners, who have been considered the favorite in the conference despite all of the turnover on both sides of the ball. A testament to the addition of Gabriel and the new coaching staff, the Sooners might have questions to answer when the 2022 season gets underway, but there’s a lot of optimism about this roster.

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Marvin Mims among the top 10 returning wide receivers according to Rivals’ Mike Farrell

Oklahoma Sooners Marvin Mims is one of the top 10 returning wide receivers according to Rivals’ Mike Farrell.

The Oklahoma Sooners’ passing game took a bit of a hit over the offseason with the transfers of [autotag]Mario Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Jadon Haselwood[/autotag] and the NFL draft departure of [autotag]Mike Woods[/autotag]. While the Sooners lost their top three wide receivers in targets and receptions, they’re bringing back arguably their best wide receiver over the last two seasons, [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag].

Mims production in 2021 was a product of circumstance. After leading the team in receptions and yards in 2020, expectations soared for the sophomore receiver heading into last season. With the depth and the inconsistent nature of the offense, it was difficult for Mims to find consistent opportunities last fall.

As teams began to take the deep ball away from the offense, little adjustments were made to get Marvin Mims opportunities in the short to intermediate parts of the field. Just 15 of his 41 targets on the season were within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. Only 37% of Mims targets went to the short part of the field. Compare that to Mike Woods (59%), Mario Williams (54%), and Jadon Haselwood (48%), and it’s clear that Lincoln Riley didn’t know how to get his best wide receiver involved. And that doesn’t account for the number of routes run deep down the field where he didn’t get the ball thrown his way.

But as the Sooners look to the future with [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] as the offensive coordinator and Cale Gundy as the wide receivers coach, there’s renewed optimism in Marvin Mims and his ability to lead a wide receiver group that has talent but also has something to prove. Last week, Mike Farrell released his top 10 wide receivers returning for the 2022 season, and Marvin Mims came in at No. 7.

Mims is joined by three other Big 12 wide receivers, including Xavier Hutchinson of Iowa State at No. 10, Quentin Johnston of TCU at No. 5, and Xavier Worthy of Texas at No. 4.

The Big 12 leads the way with four wide receivers in Farrell’s top 10. The ACC is next with three, followed by the Big 10 with two, and the SEC with one.

Looking over this list, it’s clear that Mims could be more involved in the offense. Five of the top 10 wide receivers on the list had more than double the number of receptions that Mims saw in 2021. Two of those receivers had three times as many receptions last year.

Heading into his third season, Marvin Mims has a chance to lead the Oklahoma Sooners in receiving yardage yet again. His big-play potential has stood out since he stepped foot in Norman. Will Jeff Lebby get him involved in other ways instead of solely relying on him as a deep threat? Based on the number of plays and the tempo Lebby wants to play with, Mims will have a chance to put up big numbers in 2022.

Here’s a look at the top 10 returning receivers according to Mike Farrell and their numbers from 2021.

Top-five returning Big 12 wide receivers in 2022

Oklahoma wide receiver Marvin Mims will be one of the top returning Big 12 wide receivers. Who joins Mims in the league’s top five?

The Big 12 sees the departure of the conference’s leading wide receiver during the 2021 season in Oklahoma State’s Tay Martin. Gone are Martin’s 80 receptions, 1,046 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns for the Cowboys.

Baylor’s Tyquan Thornton was the Big 12’s No. 4 receiving yardage leader. Thornton is off to the 2022 NFL Draft as well, taking his 62 receptions, 948 receiving yards and 10 touchdown grabs with him. Iowa State’s Charlie Kolar ranked No. 5 among Big 12 pass-catchers with 62 receptions, 756 receiving yards and six touchdown catches. He’ll be in the 2022 NFL Draft, too.

Texas Tech’s Erik Ezukanma is another 2022 NFL Draft defection. He had 48 receptions and 705 receiving yards to rank tied sixth in that category. West Virginia’s Winston Wright Jr. transferred to Florida State after recording 63 grabs for 688 receiving yards. Lastly, the Big 12’s ninth-leading receiver in Kansas’ Kwamie Lassiter II is finished with the Jayhawks.

So, where does that leave the Big 12 conference? Who are the top-five pass-catchers returning for 2022?

Final thoughts as the Oklahoma Sooners get set to face Iowa State

As we get ready for what looks like a fantastic day of college football, here are some final thoughts on the Sooners matchup with Iowa State

After a week focused on what went wrong in the Baylor game and the head coach answering questions about another job, the Oklahoma Sooners finally get to play football today. Back home in the comfy confines of Gaylor Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, the Sooners get set to take on an Iowa State Cyclones team that has been a bit peskier in recent years than the one-sided historical results might indicate.

Oklahoma holds a 77-7-2 edge in the all-time series, however, Oklahoma is just 3-2 against Iowa State over the last five matchups, including last year’s Big 12 championship game.

Two wins in the last five games. According to Winsipedia, the Oklahoma Sooners lost just twice between 1961 and 2016. This Iowa State team has a chance to even up the series between the two schools since Lincoln Riley took over in 2017.

The Cyclones are certainly good enough when they’re playing their best football. However, they’ve suffered several letdowns in losses to Baylor, West Virginia, and Texas Tech. They’re still a good team with a good head coach.

For the Oklahoma Sooners to stay in the Big 12 title hunt, they need to win this game. As we get set for the 11 a.m. kickoff in Norman, here are this week’s final thoughts.

3 Defensive Keys to an Oklahoma Sooners win vs. the Iowa State Cyclones

What does the Oklahoma Sooners defense need to do to slow down the Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday? Here are 3 keys to the game.

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It’s put up or shut up time for these Oklahoma Sooners. A win against Iowa State keeps a flicker of hope for the College Football Playoff alive while a loss in their final home game seals their CFP hopes and puts their Big 12 title defense in really choppy waters.

Baylor bludgeoned this Sooners defense into a corner like a boxer. Body shots rained down until the fourth quarter when the Bears would eventually land the major haymakers needed to knock down the Sooners. For Dave Aranda’s Baylor Bears, the running game did the trick. As the Sooners are ready for the Iowa State Cyclones, the tune is eerily similar to last week, with an added focus on Iowa State’s tight ends.

The Cyclones feature Breece Hall, who some consider the second-best back in the conference. Hall will play on Sundays for sure. He’s a tough, hard-nosed back that can make one cut and get moving.

Brock Purdy mans the quarterback position. He’s a veteran in Matt Campbell’s offense and plays behind a veteran offensive line the Sooners defense is quite familiar with.

The Iowa State passing game will rally around wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson and a pair of good tight ends in Charlie Kolar and Chase Allen.

With that said, how does the Sooner defense bottle up this Iowa State defense enough that it gives their offense a chance to succeed?

Up Next: Won’t be a Breeze

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