For those who don’t always listen to the audio product, this is a very strong and dense episode, so I recommend giving it a shot. Aside from the NFL topics and Risers below, I go in-depth on Arch Manning, Quinn Ewers, and the contrast between them.
Podcast recorded BEFORE the news that Andy Dalton would be starting over Bryce Young.
WEEK 3 RISERS
Most often, I’ll be looking for performances against strong competition. However, with Weeks 2 & 3 in particular being a bit limited when it comes to higher tier games, there are a few questionable games in the Risers this week. This is also why I’ve gone with positional risers as there is not a singular riser (at least for the 2025 class) that sticks out in Week 3.
Next week should be business as usual, but in two weeks there will likely not be a Risers post for Week 5, or at least not an extended one like I send out most Tuesdays. Instead, I’ll be doing my quarterly rankings with my early tiers for the 2025 Draft Class, and possibly some rankings within those tiers as well.
Positional Risers of the Week
Isaiah Bond, WR, Texas via Alabama
While the competition level was far below the usual standard for a headliner of this piece, on Saturday Isaiah Bond eclipsed 100 Receiving Yards for the first time and showcased the elite traits that have some talent evaluators putting him in the NFL First Round. On the first drive, Bond displayed both the ability to make a defender miss in space and catch a slant in traffic on the goal line. Later in the game, Bond took a pass up the sidelines 51 yards for a TD, and the speed and acceleration displayed on this catch-and-run is elite. Bond may not have produced much for Alabama in 2023, but the Jalen Milroe passing attack was very inconsistent, and there were flashes throughout the season that suggested Alabama held Bond in high regard. Bond did manage to leave his mark on the Crimson Tide’s 2023 Playoff run, as he notably played a massive role in saving the season against Auburn with a back-of-the-endzone grab on 4th Down. Upon transferring, Isaiah Bond was given a 5-star rating by 24/7 Sports, a rating in the past two years which has only been given at WR to Adonai Mitchell and Oregon’s Evan Stewart. Stewart creates an interesting comparison for Bond: while Stewart has flashed major separation ability, he has never eclipsed 650 receiving yards. With Bond at least showcasing his abilities at a greater volume this season on the FBS stage, and with so many intriguing traits to buy into, Isaiah Bond has started off this season with a strong argument that he should be ranked as highly if not higher than Evan Stewart, and belongs in that second tier or sub-tier below only Tetairoa McMillan and Luther Burden.
Cam Ward, QB, Miami (FL) via Washington State + Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU
Cam Ward played Ball State this week, and has played very poor competition since the Florida game. However, Ward is not the only QB playing poor competition, and he is the only one playing at such a consistently high level. We have also seen Ward play against lesser competition before; it is not as if this is the first season he has ever played against a poor team. It is, however, the first season he’s ever had a 90+ PFF Passing Grade against a poor team– or anybody for that matter. In 2024, he’s done it in every game including against Florida. Additionally, Big Time Throws are intended to have a sense of isolation because they are higher difficulty throws. This doesn’t make the statistic perfect, but it is controlled a bit for competition adjustments. Ward’s BTT% so far in 2024 is an absurd 9.5%. For comparison, Jayden Daniels’ breakout season featured a BTT% of 8.4%. Perhaps more importantly, if Cam Ward can continue to suppress Sacks and Turnovers, something he’s never been able to do throughout a season before, then Ward will have every opportunity to rise to the very top of 2025 QB Rankings.
There is not a lot that jumps off the page with Nussmeier this season statistically, but I found myself this weekend going back through and watching every offensive play from LSU in the LSU/South Carolina game, and I came away more impressed with Garrett Nussmeier. His statistics and grading in this game are not spectacular, and in the deep red zone he makes several potential game-costing mistakes that I do not want to look passed. However, throughout the game I was consistently impressed by his play, ability to stand tough against relentless pressure, and volume of NFL-related concepts within the offense. Nussmeier consistently makes throws that an NFL QB needs to make consistently to play on Sundays. Carson Beck and Garrett Nussmeier are two QBs who I feel confident can be top 50 QBs at the NFL level. The bigger question will be if they are quality back-ups in the 33-50 range, low-end starters, or players who can actually find a mesh with a HC/OC/WR and hit a higher level of performance.
Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, RB, South Carolina via Arkansas
While South Carolina suffered a tough loss to LSU on Saturday, the Devy fantasy community got to see the re-emergence of a favorite 2024 RB, Raheim “Rocket” Sanders. It was by no means a flawless performance, but with 20 touches for 154 total yards, Sanders was able to declare that 2024 would not be like 2023, and it really isn’t too early to make that claim. Rocket Sanders dealt with injuries in 2023, and he likely added a bit too much weight. Arkansas listed Sanders at 242 lbs during the 2023 season, whereas his new school in South Carolina has him down at 230. Statistically, Sanders eclipsed 100 total yards once last year, and never broke through 150. Compared to his true sophomore season, where Sanders had eight 100+ games and five 150+ games, this was a huge contrast. Sanders has the size and receiving background/ability to translate as a very high-upside 3-down fantasy RB if a team drafts him highly enough and/or otherwise gives him that chance. So far in 2024, he is showing he at least could earn that chance once again.
2026 Risers
2026 ROTY – Avery Johnson, QB, Kansas State
We never want to only scout highlights, but if you haven’t had the chance to watch a few plays from Kansas State’s thrashing of Arizona this weekend, I highly encourage you to do so. Avery Johnson has a long way to go as a passer if he wants to be an NFL QB, but he is an explosive runner. And to be fair to him, there were several good passes on Friday night, and his pass catchers have let him down a few times this season as well. Out of all the “fantasy long shot” QBs entering this season such as LaNorris Sellers and Jalen Milroe, none of them have impressed me more in their potential than Avery Johnson.
Arch Manning, QB, Texas
Nothing about Saturday gave us confidence that Arch Manning will be a top-end starting QB at the NFL level, but it certainly showcased the reasons why it isn’t just the last name that has everyone excited. The arm talent, touch passes, and athletic ability were all reminiscent of a top-end QB prospect regardless of the name on the jersey. In fact, while there were some areas where Quinn Ewers was still clearly the better QB between the two (pocket feel/awareness, quick release accuracy), there were also areas like that athletic and big-play ability that clearly surpassed what we have seen out of Quinn Ewers. I don’t expect Arch to take the job as long as Texas is in favorable circumstances, but I truly believe Arch could find his way to the field if Texas is ever down fairly big to a big-time opponent. If you need to come from behind, he has showcased some traits and tools that are better in that area.
Nico Iamaleava, QB, Tennessee & Jackson Arnold, QB, Oklahoma
This is more of an early teaser for this upcoming week, but impressive sophomore QBs Nico Iamaleava and Jackson Arnold each won their games this past weekend, and will face-off against each other on Saturday in a top-tier undefeated SEC clash. This will be a must-watch game for anyone who follows prospects beyond 2025.
Darius Taylor, RB, Minnesota
Taylor is not a true riser, as my main knock on him going into the season was that he only had some big games against weaker competition so far and lighting up Nevada does not change that, but Taylor did enter the season injured, and is at least back to where we hoped he would start the season. Like the above, this is more of a look ahead: the real test for Taylor will be how he adapts his game to Big Ten play throughout the season.
2027 Risers
2027 ROTY – Caden Durham, RB, LSU
I try to focus most on the 2025 class, but if this was purely for Devy, Caden Durham would be the Riser of the Week and the very first name listed in this piece. The Freshman RB for LSU was absolutely phenomenal in his first real action on Saturday, and these were not unimportant touches against a subpar opponent. This was an SEC conference game where LSU was down 17-0 when Durham got his first touch, a 26-yd TD. They eventually won the game 36-33, and Durham absolutely obliterated his peers. The top two LSU RBs going into the game, Josh Williams and Kaleb Jackson, had a combined 17 Carries for 47 Yards (2.8 YPC). Caden Durham had 11 Carries for 98 Yards (8.9 YPC) and 2 TDs. This was not just a statistical anomaly. Both the PFF data and my own eye test while watching the game for Nussmeier and Durham told me that Durham’s leg drive and ability to push piles and walk through tacklers was very impressive. Jackson may be a year older and Josh Williams may be five years older (seriously, he played with Joe Burrow), but Caden Durham the true freshman is clearly and far-and-away the best RB for LSU right now, and it is hard to imagine his role the rest of the season does not reflect this. Nate Frazier was our first breakthrough for the 2027 class, but somehow they have yet another soaring Devy asset in Durham, and I’m pretty excited about the future for this young RB after just one game.
Ryan Williams, WR, Alabama & Ryan Wingo, WR, Texas
These two have been phenomenal each and every week, and to be clear for anyone who doesn’t follow CFB closely, Jeremiah Smith isn’t here because he didn’t play. It’s also important to note particularly for Wingo who has gotten some big plays late in game that Wingo had a reception on Texas’ first drive, and Ryan Williams caught the first TD of Alabama’s game. These are clearly players in the full first team rotation, not simply freshman getting worked in occasionally.
Repeat Risers
Tai Felton, WR, Maryland & Dylan Sampson, RB, Tennessee
Dylan Sampson had 4 TDs against Kent State on his 20th Birthday. Obviously the game did not offer much resistance (it was approximately 30-0 in the 1st Q, 60-0 at half), but it’s worth highlighting again the combination of age and role for Sampson. Tai Felton had his worst game of the season so far: 9 Receptions, 117 Yards, and 1 TD. Felton now has 442 receiving yards in his first 3 games (a 12-G Regular Season pace of 1,768), and that comes with two power conference teams on the schedule. They may not be the toughest competition, but Felton’s schedule has been a viable group of opponents to be putting up over 4 Yards / Route Run. Most impressive individually might be Felton’s Missed Tackles Forced. He has at least 2 in each game, and his 10 on the season tie him for the most among Power Conference WRs.
Big Names
Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona & Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri
It is not a change of much significance, but as Tetaiora McMillan continues to showcase games with YAC, missed tackles forced, and contested catch ability, he is starting to make the strongest case to be the 1A. I’ve mostly maintained Burden as my 1A, and to be fair, Burden was a massive impact player for Missouri this week. In general, Burden’s slower start to the season is not a concern due to clear load management.
Evan Stewart, WR, Oregon via Texas A&M
In contrast to Luther Burden, Stewart is running a lot of routes to generate as little production as he has in Weeks 1 & 3. He was a riser last week because some of the moves on the outside showcase the explosive and dynamic ability to separate that Stewart showcases at the highest level, but against consensus I will likely be lower than Stewart come the draft if he does not significantly add to his production consistency throughout the rest of the 2024 season.
Ollie Gordon II, RB, Oklahoma St.
Gordon is not necessarily a Faller, but that is largely due to the fact that he has been lower on my lists already and has very difficult games coming up in these next two weeks. Seeing Gordon get bottled up by Tulsa was frightening, and if Utah and Kansas State do the same, Gordon’s stock might be sinking fast. If that happens, there will be far less controversy about where Gordon is ranked.
Fallers
2025 QBs
Ward in particular deserves significant praise for his performance regardless of competition level, but I have been very unimpressed with the QB Class as a whole. I’m not singling out individuals in the title, but Carson Beck’s 2024 was supposed to be an improvement on 2023. So far, it is a slight step back or the exact same season. Quinn Ewers’ ability systematically might be getting underrated, but his traits, size, athleticism, and deep passing were all set in contrast to Arch Manning this weekend, and Ewers did not look good in that context. Shedeur Sanders continues to– unlike a good number of QBs who I push back on these narratives about– show that he might have a legitimate maturity issue particularly at a position like Quarterback. Players like Drew Allar have been largely unimpressive from my viewpoint this season. All of these players have the traits and ability to reverse this course, but Ward’s trend towards my QB1 has less to do with his season and more to do with how his season contrasts with everyone else right now.
I did not want to create a separate category, but the injury alone could be seen as a reason to make Quinn Ewers a faller. He has a thin frame for an NFL QB, and while none have been significant individually, this will be the 3rd season in a row he has missed time due to injury.
Damien Martinez, RB, Miami (FL) via Oregon St.
It is still very early, but the returns on Damien Martinez to Miami have not been great so far. There were already concerns that Martinez’s upside may be more as a 2-down RB, so the slow start is certainly concerning.
Luke Lachey, TE, Iowa
Lachey was a top-3 TE for many coming into the season, and while TE is a very volatile position, it is surprising to see how little he is involved with the Iowa passing offense. Iowa does not have many passing yards overall, but they have enough that you would expect Lachey to be producing more than 88 yards through 3 games. TEs don’t need the production consistency of WRs, but we do need to see it from Lachey fairly soon here.
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That’s all I have for the Risers today. Week 4 CFB schedule and Week 3 NFL preview should be out Thursday. I will be discussing at some length what makes a “good” RB prospect in my estimation. We’ll see if I get around to WR rankings for the NFL.
C.J.
(#47) Big Review Show #2: Elite Nico, Buy or Sell Q Johnston, Arch Manning v. Quinn Ewers, Rocket Rising & more