← Cover 3 College Football
Cover 3 College Football
Week 6 College Football Standouts and Looking Ahead on UNC, Nebraska I Recruiting Show
00:54:57
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- [00:00]
Podcast Host (Sponsor Reader)
This episode is brought to you by PNC Bank. A lot of people think podcasts about in depth analysis on college football are boring sometimes, sure. But doing the research and understanding every game gives you the knowledge that you need to make small talk with any sports fan anywhere. It's like banking with PNC Bank. It might seem boring to save, plan and make calculated decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring is. It's what helps you live a more happily fulfilled life. PNC bank Brilliantly boring since 1865 Brilliantly boring since 1865 is a service mark of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. PNC Bank national association member FDIC what's going on, y'?
- [00:43]
Bud Elliott
All? Bud Elliott here of the COVID 3 college football podcast. This is the COVID 3 recruiting hour and that is my man Andrew Ivins who joins us every Tuesday. Ivans, what's going on, man?
- [00:52]
Andrew Ivins
Not much, bud. Some fall weather showing up here in Orlando. I'm enjoying it. Gotta hit the links over the weekend. Hey, we had a big rankings update, so that's in the books, man. Now I'm just, just burning the tape as always.
- [01:08]
Bud Elliott
It was nice to see everyone on the Internet agree with all the ratings you guys put out. And everybody I'm sure you know has also watched all the tape just as our team has. So fantastic. Somebody or some guys who we got to see in person over the weekend, man. I think it's safe to say that receivers in the state of Florida are back in a big way. I got to see Malachi Tony torched by Knowles in person there in Tallahassee with multiple explosive plays. And obviously nice to to see the debut of Dallas Wilson in Gainesville. And honestly, like receiver play in the state of Florida had been down for a minute at least in terms of guys coming out of the state. I don't really know why, but there's a lot to be excited about right now.
- [01:47]
Andrew Ivins
Yeah, but I think it's kind of like ebbs and flows with the wide receiver position. I mean, if you count them up, I think anywhere from 15 to 20 are going to sign power with power. Four programs each recruiting cycle. And, and look over the past five years, this was surprising to me when I looked it up. The Sunshine State has produced just one first round wide receiver. That was Zay Flowers who went to Boston College and is now in the league. The three years prior they had guys go in the first rounds and in three consecutive drafts.
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Bud Elliott
Right.
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Andrew Ivins
That was like Jerry Judy, Calvin Ridley, Hollywood Brown. So there's been a dip in the wide receiver Play. I think some of the high profile guys maybe haven't panned out. But now you look at college football here in 2025 and some of the best wide receivers in the sport, some of the most promising guys, they're all from the state of Florida. Now are they all going to go in the first round? I don't know, but I think there's a good chance these guys are eventually going to be playing on Sundays. You know, obviously, Jeremiah Smith. Jeremiah Smith. Jeremiah Smith. He's the name everyone knows. But man, this, this freshman class, you said it. Malachi Tony, Dallas Wilson, Vernell Brown at Florida. This is an exciting little trio there. And then really, I mean you can expand this out across the sport. Guys all over the place. You got Jordan Fasan at Notre Dame, he's from Florida. Romello Brinson at smu, he's from Florida. Michael Trigg, I don't know if you consider him a wide receiver, tight end, but hey, he's from Florida. You know, I think he leads all tight ends nationally and receiving yards. J.C. brown at Kansas State. So a lot of, a lot of guys, and I want to ask you this, but I mean you saw Malachi Tony in person. He's quickly kind of turned into one of the stories of college football. Like I think people don't understand from the television broadcast. He is not a, a big dude. I mean he kind of looks like a child out there.
- [03:44]
Bud Elliott
He's, he definitely looks like really small, but I think he's strong for his size. Right. Like I, I bet you that guy in the weight room has better numbers than you would guess if you saw him without the pads on. But the quickness with which he plays, a change of direction like that, the feel he has for the game for a guy that has not played a ton of receiver is really quite exceptional. And Florida State in that game went all in to stop the run by formation. They're loading the box. Miami knew they'd get those one on ones and that's kind of she's only hope right there. Just because Miami's offensive line is so good and they're like, hey, we're going to pitch you out to Tony a couple times. Some nice creative screens from the office coordinator there from Miami, whose name is now slipping my mind. But I think he does a great job and like Tony made them pay repeatedly. Like he was, he was exceptional man and just outruns a defense that, you know, isn't, isn't that slow. So you can see a lot of the screen stuff Here, I mean you got a lot of, a lot of bodies in the box to try to take away the run and you're getting a lot of one on one matchups with the guy and they found creative ways to give him the ball underneath and he just, you know, took it and gets up field quickly. Like there's, there's some dance, but it's not like dance for the purpose of dancing. You know. He does seem to have a pretty good feel for the sticks are as well. Let's kind of get into his background story a little bit because Ivan's, you know, he was a three star, right? And like people are going to, going to get, obviously get. And look, I mean for a guy playing this well, the true freshman, I get the criticism. We're not going to get every single one. Right. But his background story is really quite interesting.
- [05:16]
Andrew Ivins
Yeah, I mean, well, he was the number 55 wide receiver I think in the class. And he was a kid that elected to skip his, his, his senior year of high school. And I don't think anyone like in the country studies like the whole reclassification process more than me or has gone into detail so much so that like Power4 programs are consulting me and asking for my research. And it's like, hey, I'm a one man department here. I don't got, you know, 20 interns, you know, burning the midnight oil trying to look this up. And look Malachi Tony was like right there on the cut line for us. You know, is he gonna be a four star? He finishes as the highest ranked three star prospect possible. And, and the concerns for us were, you know, how big is he? This is a kid that never ran anywhere, he never measured anywhere. I mean he was just a football player. And he comes out of American Heritage which has sent a ton of guys to the NFL. I mean they got one of the highest paid cornerbacks in the league right now and Pat Certain junior there, Brian Burns. I mean you keep going down and down the list of all the guys that have come out of American Heritage. And every time I was there, back to the days when like Brandon Ennis was, was kind of the big draw Mark Fletcher at American Heritage, the coaching staff pointed to Malachi Tony. They said, hey, this is the guy, this is the guy, this is the guy. And you look at him and off the hoof you're like, I really like. I mean he's listed five'11. I don't. That might be a little generous. I think he's grown certainly 16, 17, 18 year olds can get bigger and bigger. But like the speed markers kind of was, was a concern with that being said. It was, it was. But you turn on the tape and you're like, man, this guy just knows how to get open. And I think in, you know, the, the final line in my, my scouting report and, you know, thankfully I put this there. Ability to deliver in key moments throughout his football career, despite not being the biggest, despite not being the fastest, shouldn't be overlooked. And I think that fits Malachi Toney to a tee. But the other thing about his recruitment, right, so he reclassifies, hey, he's not going to play his senior year. He's going to go into college early. A lot of people forget, like, he decommitted from Miami this time last year and, and right away reports came out, hey, Florida State, Oregon. Can you imagine Malachi Tony at Oregon there with Decorian Moore, Alabama, they were all involved, but Malachi Tony never set up official visits. And I remember sitting and kind of talking with some college contacts. A lot of people had the same concerns and question marks I did. So that's why Malachi Tony to me is the evaluation of the week, right? We did it last, last week with Anthony Smith at Minnesota. Malachi Tony, I mean, Miami, they just didn't overthink this, right? They knew it was a very, very good football player. A guy that had cut his teeth against elite defensive backs for the past three years and really more than three years, you know, since he was in the youth leagues, and a guy that just knows how to get open. So credit Shannon Dawson, the play color at my point. Credit Mario Cristobal, credit his entire staff, because wide receiver was this huge question mark for the Hurricanes coming into the season, especially after they lost Xavier Restrepo. And I think a lot of what we said about Malachi Tony applies to Xavier Restrepo. Just a football player that, that can deliver in, in key moments, and they didn't overthink it. And, and he has been certainly a major part of that offense. And I don't think there's any reason why that won't be the case moving forward.
- [08:46]
Bud Elliott
And to, to just kind of go back through my mind here, they're like, for every guy who doesn't run who turns out to be good, there are probably 10 or 20 who don't run because they're actually slow and they don't want to actually let have the world figure out they're slow or they don't want to measure in you because they're actually 5, 8 and not what they say at, at 5:11, you know, some guys don't participate and don't want to participate against the best and they don't want to show it, and that's, that's, that's their choice. But I, I would say way more often than not, it's a bit of a red flag. You know, in Malachi Tony's case, it wasn't. But like, you know, the same thing as me, man. These guys that they, they skip the height, weight station, right? They kind of go over there like, okay, all right. I'm, you know, like I'm about 6:3 in shoes. If I go stand there, you say you're six five and I'm looking down on you, buddy, you, you ain't six five, right? Same thing with like, how many times we have a high school coach tell you, man, this guy's the guy. Like, he's the guy. You're like, man, I'm looking for college prospects. I'm not looking for high school studs, right? Like, they always vouch for these undersized guys. Occasionally works out with Tony, it has. I mean, there's so many I could list. I'm like, man, he's good at high school football. It doesn't mean he's gonna be at college football. There's a difference like height, weight, speed, more often than not matters. And it, even when guys you trust, they vouch for these really small guys and usually they bust.
- [10:08]
Andrew Ivins
Well, it's certainly, you know, when we look at NFL draft trends and we're always going back and looking at our old rankings, like betting on the small guys is, is usually a, a losing practice, but there's always going to be the expectation, you know, exception to the rules. And I think that would certainly be Malachi Tony and, and you know, what was the difference with him? Again, going to keep going back to that term football player in, in the state title game last year, right. Diabell, the Texas quarterback, commit Elite 11 Finals MVP. Remember, he got hurt. It was Malachi Tony playing quarterback. He completed 15 of 17 passes in the state title game for American Heritage. And just, just a, a natural difference maker. The other thing, bud, since I've been doing this, I can only recall two players where we've ranked them super high that didn't have 40 yard dashes on record. One was Travis Hunter, the other was Caleb Downs. So it takes a lot to push them up the board.
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Bud Elliott
Absolutely. All right, so who could be next from the state of Florida? I know you have some, some interesting names here. Some guys as you mentioned are already in college, who are balling out, but who are some of your favorites in the high school class right now? Who might be like the next Malachi Tony or might be the next, like I said, the next Jeremiah, but like the next guy to kind of come out and really break out at the.
- [11:27]
Andrew Ivins
College scene, the next Dallas Wilson or. That could work, the next Vernell Brown. Yeah, I think it's a really good year in the Sunshine State at wide receiver, right? So we said, hey, is this like a generational run? Is it a golden era? I don't know. I think Florida in the past catchers, they are back. Let's start with the five star that's committed to Syracuse and we'll see if this pledge ends up sticking Calvin Russell out of Miami Northwestern High School. But this guy's a tall drink of water right over six foot five elite basketball player. His mom actually played at Miami. But Calvin Russell was offered by like Dusty May when Dusty May was at Florida Atlantic two years ago. And you're like, all right, like, we know FAU's football program isn't angling to also get Calvin Russell, but here's a, a basketball team that just played, it made the Final Four, and they want this kid on the hardwood. He's also got the track and field markers. But I've been searching and searching and searching for a player comp for Calvin Russell. And last night it came to me. I, I think this guy's Jacobe Lane, right? And, and I pulled up high school highlights. I'm talking about the wide receiver out of usc. And then I pulled up Calvin Russell side by side. I mean, these are uniquely dangerous targets down in the red zone. Jacobe Lane played some quarterback in high school. Calvin Russell has had to play some, some quarterback in high school. I think as a senior, what we've seen, this guy who is, he's lengthy, he is stretchy, he has started to put on some weight and he has found some physicality, very physical over the middle. He's committed to Fran Brown, he's committed to Syracuse. They did an excellent job getting in very, very early in that recruitment. And the other thing is, hey, like Syracuse throws the football around the yard. They've said, hey, you potentially could be playing some basketball for the orange. I kind of a bit skeptical on that one. But this guy has a chance to be a difference maker. And I think if he's in the right developmental environment where, you know, he's running a full route tree or he's not taking some direct snaps I. I think you could put a rocket on this kid's back.
- [13:29]
Bud Elliott
All right. Managed to hit the. Hit the mute button right before that sneeze. So I, I love your Jacoby Lane comp there. And I think if you look at what Jeff Nixon's offense did at Syracuse before the Steve Angeli injury, like, I know Ricky Collins can't play, and you saw the whole sideline blow up over that. And like, obviously if you're a receiver on that team, you're. You're pretty pissed right now because he just can't throw. But I think the proof of concept going from the guy they had last year to Angeli this year makes that a very attractive offense to play in. I see a little bit of Plaxco Burris there when I watch him as well like that. I think Lane is probably better as he becomes more physical and plaques. Was. Was taller than Calvin, I think, but maybe not by a lot. Also, you're a little too young for this, but Google Tamar Vanover for Dallas Wilson. 1992, First Team All American Florida State. Guy got a little bit of trouble, so career never took off in the NFL, but 87 for. For 1200 back then when they only played like 10 games. And also like a, like, just dynamite big guy running in space like six one, you know, 225 type guy. So Tamarack Vanover is, uh, is a dude. Also got absolutely laid out by Miami one of those mid 90 games on a ball that Danny Canal should not have thrown, like, at all. So. Or maybe it's Charlie Ward. But anyway, no, you gotta blame.
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Andrew Ivins
You gotta blame Danny on that.
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Bud Elliott
I, I think so too. We'll. We'll give Danny some help for that here in about.
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Andrew Ivins
Is this, like, gonna be available on YouTube?
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Bud Elliott
There's probably Tamric Van over highlights. Yeah, I, I would think, like big, big time. Like thick, a little bit taller dude who just. I, I remember I was like Dallas Wilson when he turned the Corner at that 127 game we were at and like, beat the angle for everybody. It's like, oh, okay. I didn't realize he had that kind of juice like that. That's not normal at that size. Florida's got a total stud there for sure. And that was great to see him break out. All right, so somebody who's not really breaking out yet, that would be the University of North Carolina. Chip's dad said that he. His seats are on the sun side and he would rather look into the sun directly than watch any more of this Carolina team. And it was Pretty cleared out at half. And they thank God for Oklahoma State. Otherwise they really might be the worst Power 5 or Power 4 team in the country. They had a 1400 word email sent to the boosters by GM Michael Lombardi, which was kind of wild. We're not going to read 1400 words here. Tom did a dramatic reading of it yesterday on cover three, by the way, which was pretty epic and couldn't even get to the whole thing. What do you want to highlight from this? Look, I mean, it's pretty clear that Bubba Cunningham, the ad, did not want to make this higher. He was talking to, you know, various other guys. I know Carolina was looking at Matt Campbell at Iowa State, John Summerall at Tulane, like dudes who have an actual proven track record of working in college and doing well in college. And then the board just kind of, I think, forced this hire through. Is there any chance this works? How would you evaluate the Carolina plan right now? Because this, this looks bleak.
- [16:29]
Andrew Ivins
Yeah, but, you know, a lot of people have, I guess, piled on here and it's certainly easy. You know, I was watching them versus Clemson this past Saturday and, man, just not a lot of talent running around it and where I think I can kind of jump in and provide some insight. Lombardi says in this manifesto that, that went out to, to boosters and supporters before the Clemson loss that, like, hey, this is our path to returning to prominence. And what, where my eyes instantly went is, hey, we're going to sign 40 high school players, right? We're going to take two recruiting classes in one, in this class of 20, 26. So those are the guys that are going to sign two months from now on national signing day. Right now, I think North Carolina, they lost a kid on Monday, So they're at 36 commits. So according, according to Lombardi, they got four spots left. The recruiting class, it's number 17. I, I think if you don't understand how these rankings come together, you're assuming that this is a, you know, a group that could at some point down the line, you know, help carry them to a, a college football playoff appearance. I, I push back a little bit on that just because the more commits you have, the more the formula kind of carries that weight and it can push you up the board, Right? A class of 36 is going to rank a little bit higher than one that has 15 players committed. Now, there are some parts I like, but, man, I, I have major questions about what this is going to look like at some point down the line, if they really are going to pivot to the high school recruiting because let's, let's look back at North Carolina's 2025 recruiting class. And I know Lombardi, I know Belichick, most of that staff came in late. But I remember sitting there in January and seeing some of the guys that North Carolina went after and I thought they were falling for traps. And what I mean by that is, but I, I feel like I have a pretty good read of, of, of the inner workings that, that some of these like major high school programs that churn out multiple FBS players every year and, and North Carolina went into some of them and, and took some of the guys that weren't even like starters as, as seniors. And I was to myself, I was saying, all right, they're, they have no one on staff that is, is kind of providing some, some context on these players. So to me they're going to sign 40 of these guys and, and there are some I, I certainly like in North Carolina's class. How do we know a year from now that all 40 of those guys are still going to be in Chapel Hill on the roster? Like there is going to be a lot of turnover with that typ. So it's an interesting pivot and I'm wondering how much of the Chip Patterson North Carolina faithful are really going to buy into this plan. Because if they are going the high school route, we're talking two, three years from now where you would really see the benefits from that class.
- [19:40]
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- [20:11]
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- [20:42]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, I, I, I think it would cost them like 20 million to pull the plug now. Man, it might cost you a lot more to not pull the plug. Like this could be bad.
- [20:56]
Andrew Ivins
Well, like if I'm a North Carolina fan, but I'm sitting there in, in, hey, we're going to go high school recruiting heavy. It's like, okay, well, let's look at your 2025 recruiting class against Clemson. Only true freshman played and the season's loss. So shouldn't you be turning to the youth, like, trying to get these guys developmental snaps, like, you know, you know, burn the bridges? Hey, let's go with the, let's go youth movement here. And you had two running backs, a wide receiver, and two defensive linemen on the rotation. Like, I, you know, it's a lot different evaluating NFL talent than it is high school talent. And I think it is taking these guys some time to figure it out. I had a, you know, group of five personnel staff text me and it's like, you know, everyone keeps hiring these NFL guys, but at the end of the day, everyone's looking at the same tape and you got to decide between this three star or that three star. And it's a lot different than it is in the NFL.
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Bud Elliott
There's so much more information available on guys when it comes out of college than there is in high school. Like, you've got to have guys who can help you contextualize what the player is, right? The, the difference in competition level is huge. It's harder to get some background info on some of these kids in high school than it is in college, you know, because like, like the, the, the quality competition is a little bit more standardized across the college space, especially with the portal. I mean, like, you know, everybody at the lower levels now ends up portaling. Not everybody, but most everybody ends up portaling up and playing, you know, at that higher level. Well, we'll see. Man, I, I, that is rough. Speaking of rough, I'm not saying Arch Banning played well in a swamp. I don't think he did that. Texas offensive line is brutal. Like, I know Florida has a, has a decent front, but Florida also had some of the worst pressure numbers in the country so far this year. And I didn't think there was another SEC team. Like, like a real sct, not like Kentucky, Mississippi State, but like a, you know, contending type SC team that was going to have a worse offensive line in lsu and Texas is like, all right, hold my beer. Watch this. Because they were brutal in the swamp. Like, how. I don't think Kyle floods a battle line coach. This is, this is so bad. Like, they're getting rocked.
- [23:15]
Andrew Ivins
It's recruiting malpractice, bud. Roster management malpractice. And I want to draw attention to everyone. Mike Roach from 247 Sports, Gabe Brooks from 247 Sports. They kind of outline how Texas got here. So you can certainly, you know, Google it, go to the Horns 247. I'm sure it's up on there. Just explaining what happened up front. And bud, to me, my biggest question mark about Texas coming into the season was replacing those four starters up front because there was not some, some veteran presence, you know, veteran additions coming in. They were essentially saying, hey, we're going to play these, these young guys. And that was concerning to me because if you look at the past three recruiting cycles, Texas has signed just one top two, four seven offensive lineman. That was Brandon Baker out of California. You know, that was a big victory for them. But besides that, it's been a lot of three stars. It's been a lot of guys where, hey, maybe the ceiling's there, but the floor is still pretty low. Or, hey, maybe he's got a high floor, but there isn't that type of ceiling past two cycles. So that have been 2024, 2025. Texas signed a total of six offensive linemen, three each year. You got a volume shoot up front, right? If you want to look at last year's national title game, right? Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, all 10 of the offensive linemen that started in that game. And yeah, there were some injuries, some moving pieces, but they were all homegrown players, meaning they were signed out of high school, they were developed, they were put on ice, they were given an opportunity to learn and be coached up. Texas just doesn't have to me the right parts, right, the right puzzle pieces to put this whole thing together. And I think it's, it's a bit concerning because Texas has all of this money, right? Texas was one of the first that had a nil specific operation for the big boys up front. And I look at it now, and I was in the swamp on Saturday, like, what happened? Where are these big individuals? And you can certainly point to some recruiting misses here and there. Gabe Brooks in the story also brings up the point that, hey, the Lone Star State just didn't really have a ton of, you know, difference makers. Maybe the past few years, okay, that's fine. But Texas is a national brand, right? We've seen them in California, we've seen them in Florida. You know, how come they didn't go out and get the corner protectors that, that have, you know, the developmental upside? I'm talking about guys like, you know, Kaden Proctor, Francis Malagoa, like those guys are out there. Jordan Seon, Texas never really made a, a, a, a move for those players. And I, I, I think to me in, in my seat, you know, that's that Arch is not the issue with that offense. Like he has no time and, and Bud Florida's front was like, without Kayla banks was out. L.J. mcCray, a former five star. I know they got some older dudes, but that unit could be a little more supercharged if that game was week one.
- [26:30]
Bud Elliott
A hundred percent. I, I, they also lost. Who did they lost? Somebody. They lost one of their contenders for the right tackle job in, in preseason camp. I know they've had, you know, some other injuries there. They also don't feel like they have a real dude at receiver. You know, like a guy that Arch can just kind of like latch on to. And in college, I, I hate the receiver by committee thing. Anytime I read receiver by committee in the preseason, I'm immediately red flagging that. Like that is not a thing in college. Far more often than not, okay, occasionally you get like an LSU situation where you have a Jefferson and a Chase and whatnot. Ohio State, you know what? Okay, we'll stamp them as that, that's an okay committee to have because you have, you know, and USC's got one where they have two guys. But anytime it's like, yeah, we got like four guys we like. I'm like, okay, I have none you like. Then if you tell me you got four you like more often than not. That is complete media BS that the coaches are saying. And it's passed along. Not like the media shouldn't pass along with the coach says. But I don't believe in receiver by committee until proven otherwise. I don't think they're really special there. I think they just have a bunch of, you know, decent guys and their backs don't really make anybody miss. Like they had a couple times where they were Florida had like, they got Florida defenders one on one. Did any of those break out? I feel like Ford tackled them every time. It just feels kind of mid.
- [27:47]
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- [27:59]
Bud Elliott
Sugar free.
- [28:01]
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- [28:49]
Andrew Ivins
Yeah. But my question is how does it get better for Texas? You look at this 2026 recruiting class which certainly has star power across the board, only one top 247 offensive lineman and John Turntine, who isn't a day one guy. Now we love his long term upside, what he could be at some point down the line, but he's going to need to add weight, right? His weight has fluctuated all over the place. You know. Could he be a tackle? Yeah, sure. Probably more of an interior projection long term and the current college football landscape like we said it, I think last week with Georgia, these teams that are feeling the ripple effect. How about Texas as well? I mean the, the top ranked player in the state, Felix Ojo, five star offensive tackle. He is committed to Texas Tech, the Longhorns, Kyle Flood, they were all in there and he's going to go play for the Red Raiders. So we'll, it'll be interesting to kind of track like. All right, do they, do they make some run runs at some of these blue chip offensive linemen and try to get them in the boat? I do think the 2027 cycle, which would be the juniors, I think that's probably the deepest it's been on the offensive line in a few years. But still like that doesn't solve any immediate problem for Texas. Like those guys, you're not going to see them until 2029, 2030, so they're going to have to go into the transfer portal and. But I don't know what's just putting this out there. Like I don't. Who knows what's going to happen at Colorado. I don't think much has been made about Prime's comments after the weekend about his health. But yeah, if Jordan's, if Jordan Seaton were to enter, man, you want to talk about a guy that's going to make some money. I think he's the highest graded offensive tackle per pff when it comes to pass protection. A lot of schools could use Jordan Seaton if he were to look around.
- [30:47]
Bud Elliott
No doubt. I mean even if you think about like they really haven't played anybody at Colorado that has like real pass rush, he's still really playing quite well, you know. And I, I think he could be A two million dollar guy potentially.
- [31:01]
Andrew Ivins
Oh, I think more than that. I mean maybe I'm wrong but I think he will set the market. But I also don't want this for one year.
- [31:10]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean I, I assume he's, he's a three and done kid, you know, so I would assume that.
- [31:17]
Andrew Ivins
I also, I also don't want to like make this all negative on, on Texas. I will say this like there is some good news on the way. Yes, we're going through 2026, preparing and gearing up for next month's update ahead of signing day. I watched Jermaine Bishop yesterday, five star athlete commit but I think this guy's Travis Hunter. Man, he is awesome. You can list them at any position and I, I would be all in. He's played run, he's played quarterback, he's played wide receiver, he's played safety, he's played corner, nickel. Oh, and he punts. He's the definition of a three phase impact player. He is the all time leading receiver in the Houston Metro. So you think about all the guys that have, have come out of that area. Jermaine Bishop, who initially was playing with DJ Lagway, Florida's quarterback at that Willis High School. He's electric. I have never seen a guy move like him and, and maybe I'm just you know, kind of gushing about, about the film Breakdown last night. But he's an explosive mover, elite acceleration, can change directions on a dime. There was a time when I was like give me Jermaine Bishop on defense. I'm all in as like an offensive playmaker. Just, just get this guy on the field, let him make plays. I don't know if Texas is talking about hey doing the two way thing, but he is someone where you could do it. This past Friday, buddy caught like a quick out route, turn the corner, 75 yard touchdown. A few minutes later on defense, comes downhill in the alley, puts his helmet right on a football, enforces the turnover. He is just a flat out football player. I am proud that we have him as a five star prospect for 247 sports because I think he is, I think he's one of the true difference makers in this class.
- [33:08]
Bud Elliott
Does he just score a touchdown every play like this is, this is really fun to man or if not he's making you know, six, seven guys miss here. This is, this is awesome stuff to watch. And again if you're listening to this on audio, I get it and we certainly appreciate your download and your click and your liking your subscribe. But we really think this hour particularly is better consumed on YouTube. Claire, our producer, is doing a great job of putting up highlights here so you can watch Bishop. Nice throw there, by the way. So, yeah, I, I think this is something exciting for Texas. And if you're Texas, you have money, you can fix your problems. You shouldn't be down for long. Heck, you know, man, if they beat Oklahoma this weekend, they're not out of the playoff race. Like, I know they're not odds on to make it, but like a night because they did play a real game in the non con, they went and played at Ohio State, who I think is probably the best team in the country, but people from Oregon and Miami would disagree and that's fine. I don't think it's by some huge margin, but because you played at Ohio State, I think Texas is going to have a shot. If they can go nine and three, it just means you can't drop more than one more game.
- [34:12]
Andrew Ivins
I thought it was interesting, Sark's comments on Monday. He's like, well, we played at the Shoe and we played at the Swamp. How many teams do you want to put in those similar environments? And I bring that up, bud, because I was texting with Trey Scott, one of the editors at 247 Sports, who is a Texas alum. And when I was at Florida on Saturday, I was like, man, it doesn't seem like Texas has really traveled well. And he pointed out all these other games, like, aren't they a. Yeah, it's just very interesting.
- [34:49]
Bud Elliott
It's. It's gonna be interesting to watch, like, how they adjust, you know, throughout the process there. All right, another thing to watch. We will definitely be watching this weekend. This is the quarterback matchup of the year with Oregon and Indiana. Dante Moore, Fernanda Mendoza, two guys who are total studs. Two guys whose games now are somewhat similar, right? Like, they. Like a sniper, man. They see their shot, they take it. They don't really wait.
- [35:21]
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- [35:53]
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- [36:17]
Bud Elliott
Learn more@WhatsApp.com to getting here was pretty wildly different. I think we should kind of dive into this a little bit on the Oregon and Indiana quarterbacks respectively.
- [36:26]
Andrew Ivins
Yeah. Saturday 3:30 CBS Some other make sure to tune in. I'll be tuned in the Ivan's household will be watching Dante Moore vs Fernando Mendoza bud on on CBSSports.com right now the lead NFL draft analyst Mike Renner as Fernando Mendoza going number one to the the Cleveland Browns and Ryan Wilson as Dante Moore 1 I think to the New York Jets. And as someone who saw both these guys throw in high school, someone who saw both these guys play up close and in person, they could not be more opposite in terms of the past they have taken to get where they are now. Now Dante Moore, five star prospect, number three quarterback in the class of 2023. Remember he was committed to Oregon for a very long time. Flipped on signing day to ucla. We saw a little bit of him as a true freshman. I thought he played better than you know, the media made him out to be. Anyone making a road start at Utah likely not going to have much success since last year on ice and he kind of became the, the forgotten man. And now you look up, everyone's in on on Dante Moore after that game at at Penn State. But he was the MVP of, of the All American bowl back in in 2023. I, I kind of totally forgot about that. And doing some research on on Dante Moore. Nice MVP story from your boy here on Dante Moore. It says if you don't know the name now get familiar. Maybe I was just a few years behind but Dante Moore was 14 of 19 in that game, 156 yards and four touchdowns. He only played two quarters. And Dante Moore, you know the scouting report on him was always super clean mechanically can make all the throws. And I also thought he was a, an advanced decision maker. Right. Always was protecting the football. He's out of the Detroit area with 40 and 11 as a, as a four year starter. So he was kind of like you know, the quarterback, not protege but you know he, this is the guy's prototype. You knew he was going to be good and it's funny, kind of a few years removed I remember being at the Elite 11 finals this year and Diabell was getting compared to Dante Moore. So, so Dante Moore has, has kind of, you know, the quarterback trainers, like he is stuck in their minds. That's a guy that they're comparing individuals to. On the flip side, Fernando Mendoza, Bud, number 134 quarterback in the country for us in, in the 2022 recruiting cycle, I had him as a two star prospect. He was a two star prospect and thankfully moved him up to three stars at the buzzer. Fernando Mendoza, like, nicest kid you would ever meet. I can remember, man, when he was a sophomore in high school, came up and shook my hand. Mr. Ivins, you know, nice to meet you. What'd you think of my performance today? And it was like, okay, you're 6 foot 4, I think you're robotic. I, I, I don't see like the long term upside here. And man, was I completely off the mark with Fernando Mendoza. But I actually went to the first game of his senior season. He played Luke Crominhawk, the former Florida State signee who's now at Mississippi State. I went to that game and you know, nothing to write home about, you know, Cronen Hawk was the better quarterback. A few weeks later, Fernando Mendoza, he goes and he faces Shamanon Madonna Prep. A Shamanade, Madonna Prep. Which squad? That has Jeremiah Smith, that has C.J. bailey, that has Edwin Joseph, that has D' Angelo Ponce. Fernando Mendoza completed three passes in that game. Three passes. So this is a guy that is a potential number one overall pick. Completed three passes in a game as a senior in high school. I mean his developmental rise is, is crazy. And I haven't even got to like the big part here. Fernando Mendoza was committed to Yale. Like he was going to play in the Ivy League. That's where he was going to school. He was going to Yale. At the last minute, at the buzzer, after the early signing period, I don't think Ivy's, they, they signed national letters of intent, right? Right before the next traditional February signing day. Cal is looking for a quarterback. They come out, they watch Fernando Mendoza throw. He ends up flipping and signing with Cal. And I, I guess the rest is history. But man, two guys completely different paths. Everyone wanted Dante Moore, Fernando Mendoza. The summer before his senior year of high school, he threw at Miami, he threw at Georgia, he threw at lsu. None of them offered him a scholarship. And look at him now. I think, I think a lot of those teams, maybe not, you know, Miami, but they would take Fernando Mendoza as.
- [41:38]
Bud Elliott
Their quarterback completely Inexcusable for you to have this guy as a three star when LSU and Miami and all those schools had him in person, got a chance to work him out with their own coaching staffs and also refused to offer. And I think he's way better than everyone those schools signed in that year.
- [41:58]
Andrew Ivins
Well, I mean it's revisionist history. Hindsight's always 20 20, so it's easy to.
- [42:02]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, right. You know, everybody expects you to get every single rating. Right. And it is what we should do. And maybe one episode we will because I, I do have some receipts saved for people who gave you crap about ratings that when you drop guys late in the process because they got passed by other people who are better and I will say the hit rate on those really good. But I don't, I don't know if we want to pull receipts and, and maybe we will one day. You know, I've got, I'll text you a few that I've saved. It's that, that's an interesting list, but we don't want to be the haters ball here. Somebody we can continue to heap some praise on though. Man. A big time quarterback battle. I think we should hit this probably in the show happened this weekend. Izzy Abrams, Trey Taylor, like a mega showdown of 2027 studs. Hit me with it.
- [42:54]
Andrew Ivins
Yeah. From one quarterback battle that is going to be in the spotlight to one that took place last week on Friday night that I think maybe there was only like five people that knew what was going on and I'm one of those people. Izzy Abrams, Trey Taylor. There are two 2027 quarterbacks. So they are juniors. Izzy Abrams are number two QB. Trey Taylor, our number four QB. They are both from the state of Illinois. From my understanding, these guys do not get along right now. Is this going to be a budding rivalry over the next few years? Seems like that could be the case. I think both these guys, we're going to see him at the Elite 11 finals based on what they've put on tape as juniors. And Man Bud, 55, 54 was the final score. These guys combined to pass forward over 1000 yards. Izzy Abrams 22 of 33 for 568 with four touchdown passes. 568. Trey Taylor 25 of 37 for 445, five TDs and three rushing touchdowns. I want to get into both these guys individually and why, you know, the common man needs to know who they are because I think they have a chance to shape what college football is going to look like a few years down the line. Izzy Abrams, man, I love this kid. He is an elastic athlete, rips it around the yard, dry ball thrower. He has improved his Mechanics. He is 6 foot 4, you know, 100 and maybe 90 pounds. So he's going to need to get a little bit bigger. But when I was breaking him down, I wrote down reminds me of Nico Emalieva two weeks ago. That would have been a bad thing to say. After this past Saturday's performance for Nico against Penn State, I think I can confidently put that out there. So that's what Izzy Abrams is to me, right? This guy that can beat you with his arm, can beat you with his legs. Tons of exit velocity. His recruitment is fascinating. Mom went to Iowa State. Iowa State is like all in on on Izzy Abrams. He's also taking game day visits to Tennessee who's trying to kind of sort through their quarterback options. Remember they got faison, Brandon, the five star committed in 2026. But hey, teams are already moved on to the next cycle and he's been to Wisconsin in Northwestern. I think this recruitment is going to take off once personnel departments when coaches kind of dig into the tape. Izzy Abrams a name to know because this recruitment's going to be fascinating. I think it'd be awesome to see him in the Big 12. And I think he also fits what Tennessee wants to do on offense. Trey Taylor on the other hand, guy, I was kind of like skeptical on early on, very, very early. You know, there's all this hype around him, had all these offers but he hadn't really like started any high school games. Well, he is starting games now and he is, he is coming along and I think really maturing and growing up between our eyes. He is committed to Nebraska and you know, Matt Rule, we'll see what this year looks like. I know they, they fell to Michigan, but I was in Lincoln this summer, had a chance to see the facilities and really kind of get the plan for Matt Rule and his staff. You know, they're going to take a really small recruiting class here in 2026 and that is because they have pushed all their chips in on the 2027 cycle. I know Blair and Gulo from 247 Sports, you know, kind of wrote about these 2027 recruiting classes last week when the update came out. Hey, who has staying power? I don't know what he put for Nebraska, but I'm, but I'm telling you, you know, if Nebraska can get to double digit wins which Matt Rule has done at every stop in year three. Dude, Nebraska is going to challenge for a top 10 recruiting class in 2027 and Trey Taylor is a big reason why. He's a precision passer. I think he's close to 80% completion rate here as a junior. He sees it so well. He can make, make the throws, you know, by himself. I love his internal clock. A lot of the high profile recruits in the class of 2027 know who Trey Taylor is. And these guys have been to Lincoln, right? They have been there, they've been around him. You know Ahmad Hudson, we talked about him last week on the show. Big five star tight end out of Louisiana. So you know this is a, a fun little like quarterback D duel that's going on again. Like I don't think these guys like each other. I think we're going to get them at the Elite 11 finals and hopefully maybe at some point down the line, you know, they square off on Saturdays. Maybe it's like a little like Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, we'll see. But man, you know, 55 to 54 over a thousand yards passing. These guys are the real deal. Like these are two quarterbacks to know. I think Trey Taylor's locked in with Nebraska. Izzy Abrams, I think this recruitment can go in any direction.
- [47:44]
Bud Elliott
I'm excited to watch both these guys to go forward. Nebraska's also got to find some way portal this offseason or, or young guys stepping up to get you know, some protection for Dylan Rowella because like his Tom pointed out yesterday, I think he's the only quarterback in the country to have two of the like lowest air yards per attempt games in the country in wins. Like now I know last last week's game was windy and Nebraska did win it but like that's a guy I think has the arm to push the ball down the field and right now they just cannot protect it enough to actually let him get it, you know, down the field. Like if they can get that right, I think he could have an awesome you know, final year there's in Lincoln.
- [48:23]
Andrew Ivins
But that kind of ties like into our discussion about Texas, right. Like you know, Nebraska was in the portal. They went after Elijah Pritchett. I would assume he's one of the better compensated transfer portal offensive linemen and.
- [48:37]
Bud Elliott
He just, he just can't play.
- [48:38]
Andrew Ivins
He hasn't been good enough and you know, so it's is a catch 22 like the right phrase here or double edged sword? You know you the, the young five star offensive tackles usually aren't ready to go right away. Like there are Growing pains with them. Francis Malagoa, Kaden Proctor, like both those guys struggled early on. But the thing is, you know, you get their feet wet, you throw them to the fire early. You know, the next two years, things, things are pretty nice. So I think that's the other kind of dilemma when it comes to building out those offensive lines. Like, okay, you know, you take these guys and the high school K. Certainly going to be expensive as well. You know, are you, are you going to, are you in position to go through some initial growing pains knowing, hey, the grass is. It's going to be much greener down the line?
- [49:31]
Bud Elliott
I think with offensive lineman, I would. There's two, there's two, you know, kind of theories on this. One, the five star offensive lineman hit it, hit at a really high rate and actually are an excellent investment and they generally play early like so that's pretty proven with the data. On the other hand, if you're committed to spending a lot on the offensive line, maybe it's spend a lot across a lot of players. Maybe it's carry an extra guy or two play the law of large numbers game. That'll be interesting.
- [50:02]
Andrew Ivins
Volume shoot.
- [50:03]
Bud Elliott
Yes, exactly. Like you said earlier in the show, I will say with Nebraska, I know Rules had a ton of turnover there in the personnel department during his tenure there. And I think maybe they finally got it right now or at least are adding important pieces. There's a guy who, I mean, we can kind of say it now because like he's not at a tiny school anymore, but man, as far as like scouting guys in the Southeast, when Matt Pierce was at Coastal, he was always like one of the first guys following the dudes who would end up being like, really good. Like if you keep lists and you like, you track like certain things, damn, this guy seems beyond these guys. And he actually Hummer reported, I think in July that Nebraska had hired him as recruiting coordinator. He's a Nebraska alum. I thought that was kind of a shrewd hire for Matt Rule as well. Because, you know, if you're in Nebraska, you're going to need to spend up in some positions. You're also going to need to find, you know, some hidden gems. So maybe they finally got it right.
- [50:52]
Andrew Ivins
Yeah. And again, if, if they can like get to that 10 win mark or in the College Football playoff conversation, I know they got some big ones on deck here, like 2020. They have, they have positioned themselves to not only like get these guys committed, but I think they've allocated a lot of funding and they've been very calculated where that, that has a chance to be like the recruiting class everyone talks about for a long time.
- [51:22]
Bud Elliott
No doubt. And they got to be kicking themselves this year that they whiffed on the offensive and defensive lines in, in the Portal, man.
- [51:29]
Andrew Ivins
Like, like Williams Williams in Winery had a sack and a half over the weekend. Former five star showing some signs of life. I love it.
- [51:36]
Bud Elliott
All right. I mean maybe we shouldn't call him a whiff just yet. Obviously, like not, not a lot of impact against, you know, Cincy, which they won and then you know, Michigan, which they lost. But like, I mean parts of this schedule were kind of crumbling, man. Like I. Iowa's offense still doesn't look right. Obviously USC is very banged up. You know, Penn State just lost the ucla. If you had gotten the line discrimination just somewhat deep, like if your hit rate was just somewhat decent in the portal this year, you could be like an 11 one maybe. Like they, they were dominated by Michigan in the trenches and still lost by a field goal. And I know it was kind of a late, you know, BS score or whatever, but like that could be like, like if you hit, hit the portal right and you got a little bit of luck, you could have gone undefeated this year. Now granted you also need the things to have happen to happen some of these other teams like, like Penn State falling apart a little bit. But I, I have hope for Nebraska long term for sure. I, I'm, I'm right there with you. I think they are doing more things right than they're, than they're doing wrong at least.
- [52:34]
Andrew Ivins
Yeah, last thing, but I'll just point out, I mean we don't need to get into the nitty gritty, but I think one school that's been pretty active here over the past few weeks capitalizing on what they've done on the field is Missouri. And they don't have a ton of guys committed. 14 prospects right now. They're sitting like 57th. Got a linebacker I like out of the state of Alabama, J.J. bush, running back Terry Hodges out of Arkansas. But if you are trying to identify a program that is going to parlay, you know, what they're doing on Saturdays into success on the recruiting front. I think Missouri's one to keep an eye on here. Especially if you're a believer that like hey, they are going to be in the, in the CFP or, or the SEC conversation, just, just wanted to give them a shout out, little slower burn for them. But maybe they knew, hey, like we got something here and we're going to ride that momentum into recruiting season. But Missouri, obviously, Alabama on Saturday. But they're one that I'm tracking here closely down the stretch.
- [53:43]
Bud Elliott
If they can get if they can get Bama this weekend, they're cooking with gas man, for sure. So I've enjoyed this, man. We will do this again next Tuesday and we'll see you guys for the COVID through recruiting hour. Tulsa is my home now.
- [53:59]
Andrew Ivins
Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone stars in the Paramount plus original series, Tulsa King.
- [54:05]
Bud Elliott
His distillery is a very interesting business. And we got to know the enemy.
- [54:10]
Andrew Ivins
From Taylor Sheridan, co creator of Landman.
- [54:13]
Bud Elliott
What are you saying? Hello. If you think you're gonna take me out, it's gonna be really difficult. Tulsa King new season now streaming exclusively on Paramount plus.