NFL Draft: Who boosted their stock the most in CFP title game?

Rob Rang

NFL Draft Analyst

Having shared notes with NFL scouts and covered the league’s annual player draft since the turn of the century, I can tell you with great confidence that very rarely does a prospect significantly change his stock in just one game.  

Of course, the national championship is far from just another game.  

Not only do scouts love to see young players perform their best amid all the pressure of a championship, half of the NFL’s 32 teams finished their season in the days preceding Michigan’s 38-13 victory. That means an awful lot of coaches had an opportunity to watch a college game as fans, rather than taking an occasional peek while preparing for an upcoming opponent.  

As such, perhaps more than any other single game of the college football season, player stock really can rise and fall with the title on the line.  

There were plenty of standouts for the victorious Wolverines — and a few who boosted their cause on the Washington side, as well — but the biggest winners from Monday night might very well be the Michigan faithful hoping for a repeat championship in 2024, as the biggest stars in Maize and Blue were a foursome of underclassmen not yet eligible for the NFL.

With all due respect to another quietly stellar performance from quarterback JJ McCarthy and Michigan’s two-headed monster at running back in Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards (more on him later), the scrappiest Wolverines Monday night were defensive tackles Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham, cornerback Will Johnson and tight end Colston Loveland, all true sophomores clearly capable of playing immediately at the NFL level.  

At 6-foot-3 and 339 pounds, Grant was both literally and figuratively the biggest obstacle to Washington’s high-powered offense Monday night. He was only officially credited with two tackles on the night, but both were massive plays, including a bulldozing second quarter sack of Heisman Trophy finalist…

Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/college-football/nfl-draft-who-boosted-their-stock-the-most-in-cfp-title-game

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Publish date : 2024-01-11 19:52:13

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