Welcome To Draft Season: Deeper Dives Begin
The one project that I have done the previous two years that I have not yet done for the 2025 Class are the Deeper Dives. The reason for this is that this year, with the audio formats among other reasons, I want to have finalized deep dives, or Deep Dives where the numbers are good for their careers and don’t need to be updated later.
Now that some of these Careers are finishing though, I want to stay ahead of these Deep Dives and work through them right away.
The list in the second section today highlights which players might be coming up sooner and why. While Devin Neal may seem like an odd place to begin, to my knowledge, Neal is out of eligibility, and Kansas did not make a bowl. So regardless of when he may make a social media post, Devin Neal’s college career is effectively over.
Neal’s Deeper Dive in the back half of the post today highlights what these will mostly be like. The formatting for the Deeper Dives has mostly stayed the same and stayed in four parts: Bio (Age/Height/Weight/Star Rating), Statistics & Production, Traits & Film, and then a final conclusive grading. For the Traits/Film section, I try to find a YouTube video to reference certain traits that will be linked in the written sections.
Some Deep Dives I may make soon include Kaleb Johnson, who has recently declared for the draft; Tetairoa McMillan & Elic Ayomanor, who are out of games if they choose to declare; and a few fringe players like Tai Felton, Kaden Prather, and Brant Kuithe who fall under the same category as Devin Neal.
This will be a major focus for this show over the next few months, so stay tuned.
What Remains for CFBs Biggest Prospects?
With opt outs and teams being eliminated from Bowl and Postseason competition, we’re finally getting close to knowing the official player list for the 2025 Draft Class. Players in the Playoffs are obviously unlikely to opt out, but players in Bowls may opt out, and some players may even be eliminated from Bowl contention already, thus ending their season.
Additionally, while there have not been many declarations yet, we do fundamentally know that College Football comes with limited eligibility. Players who have played at least 5 games in four seasons (not including 2020) have played out their eligibility. Some of these players may seem young, and that is because we have not had a “four-and-done” since 2019. Because 2020 did not count, any player who was in College during 2020 got a pass for that year, meaning at minimum everyone recently has been allowed to play CFB for 5 Years. However, with no rule change seeming imminent, we have now returned to the era of the four-and-done; playing at least 5 games in ‘21, ‘22, ‘23, and ‘24 is all that it requires to be ineligible to play College Football in the future.
So with these two factors coming into focus, we don’t know exactly who will and will not be a part of the class, but we know some of the names, and we know what the candidates have for their postseason agenda (with a few exceptions). For the purposes of this post, “Playoffs” includes anyone not eliminated in my eyes, which includes the ACC, B12, and MWC Championship Game Participants as well as Alabama & South Carolina. It is very unlikely Alabama & South Carolina both get in, likely one at most, but I believe they’ll be the top 2 at-large teams after Indiana.
With that said, here’s the updated list of the state of the class:
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Declared for the 2025 NFL Draft
Kaleb Johnson, RB, Iowa (Remaining El ; Bowl)
Out of Eligibility, Out of Games
Devin Neal, RB, Kansas ; Tai Felton, WR, Maryland ; Kaden Prather, WR, Maryland ; Brant Kuithe, TE, Utah
Out of Eligibility, Bowl Games
Cam Ward, QB, Miami (FL) ; Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado ; Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss ; Kyle Monangai, RB, Rutgers ; Kalel Mullings, RB, Michigan ; Donovan Edwards, RB, Michigan ; Tahj Brooks, RB, Texas Tech ; Woody Marks, RB, USC ; Tre Harris, WR, Ole Miss ; Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr., WR, Ole Miss ; Xavier Restrepo, WR, Miami (FL) ; Pat Bryant, WR, Illinois ; Zakhari Franklin, WR, Illinois ; Kyren Lacy, WR, LSU ; Jack Bech, WR, TCU ; Savion Williams, WR, TCU ; Nick Nash, WR, San Jose St. ; LaJohntay Wester, WR, Colorado ; Jimmy Horn Jr., WR, Colorado ; Ja’Corey Brooks, WR, Louisville ; Elijah Arroyo, TE, Miami (FL)
Out of Eligibility, Playoffs
Kurtis Rourke, QB, Indiana ; TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State ; Phil Mafah, RB, Clemson ; Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, RB, South Carolina ; Brashard Smith, RB, SMU ; Cam Skattebo, RB, Arizona St. ; Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State ; Jayden Higgens, WR, Iowa St. ; Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa State ; Tez Johnson, WR, Oregon ; Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State ; Gunnar Helm, TE, Texas ; Jake Brinningstool, TE, Clemson
Remaining Eligibility, Out of Games
Ollie Gordon II, RB, Oklahoma St. ; Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona ; Elic Ayomanor, WR, Stanford ; Dane Key, WR, Kentucky ; Barion Brown, WR, Kentucky
Remaining Eligibility, Bowl Games
Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU ; Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina ; Damien Martinez, RB, Miami(FL) ; Desmond “Dez” Reid, RB, Pittsburgh ; Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado ; Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan ; Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Bowling Green ; Mason Taylor, TE, LSU ;
Remaining Eligibility, Playoffs
Drew Allar, QB, Penn State ; Carson Beck, QB, Georgia ; Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama ; Cade Klubnik, QB, Clemson ; Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas ; Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State ; Nicholas Singleton, RB, Penn State ; Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ohio State ; Trevor Etienne, RB, Georgia ; Jordan James, RB, Oregon ; Dylan Sampson, RB, Tennessee ; Kaytron Allen, RB, Penn State ; Evan Stewart, WR, Oregon ; Antonio Williams, WR, Clemson ; Isaiah Bond, WR, Texas ; Matthew Golden, WR, Texas ; Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State ; Elijah Sarratt, WR, Indiana ; Ricky White III, WR, UNLV
Announced Decision to Return for 2026 Class
Jonah Coleman, RB, Washington
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C.J’s Maybe-Too-Early Playoff Seeding Projections + Early Guide to Playoff Seeding
First and foremost, everything here is subject to change due to injury. There is precedent for significant injury changing seeding. Outside of injury, I actually feel pretty confident about most of the takes in this thread, even if some are fairly specific.
This is a new process, so I’ve found many people having different takes and being a bit skeptical to have this level of confidence, so we’ll see how these things age.
Big Ten + SEC Champions at 1 & 2 (in some order) – No matter what combination of events, the Big Ten and SEC Champion will be the 1 and 2 seeds in some order. The closest situation against this would be Georgia and SMU winning, but Georgia is currently ranked higher than SMU, would have a better win against Texas, and so I do not see any chance for Georgia to be ranked below 2 with a win against Texas.
ACC, Big 12, and Mountain West Champions at 3, 4, & 12 (in some order) – With Tulane’s loss, the Conference Championship picture becomes very clear: the winners of SMU / Clemson, Arizona State / Iowa State, and Boise State / UNLV will each get a playoff spot. The only team here that I see as having a chance at an at large bid with a loss is SMU. If I were power rating these teams as who would be most likely to get the 3 or 4 spot with a win, I would rank them SMU, Boise St., Arizona St., Iowa St., Clemson, and UNLV, meaning Clemson/UNLV would be the most likely teams to be the 12 seed, and SMU/Boise St. the most likely teams to get the 3 & 4 seed Byes with a win.
Oregon – Possible Seeds: 1 or 5 ; at 12-0, Oregon will lock up the #1 with a win, and lock up the top at large (#5) with a loss to Penn State.
Texas – Possible Seeds: 1 - 2 or 5 - 7 ; with 1-loss, Texas could be the #2 with a win over Georgia, or even the #1 with a Penn State win as well. With a loss, Texas would have a chance at the top at large spot, and would not fall outside of a tier (5-7) with Notre Dame & the Big Ten Championship Loser.
Penn State – Possible Seeds: 1 - 2 or 5 - 7 ; Penn State is in almost the exact same situation as Texas. The only difference is that Texas with a loss I place in the same category as Notre Dame and Penn State, but Georgia with a loss would be another half step down. So if Texas & Oregon win, Penn State would be no lower than the #6 Seed.
Notre Dame – Possible Seeds: 5 - 7 ; other than having no chance at a bye, Notre Dame is very similar to Texas and Penn State in the case of a loss, though Notre Dame might have a better chance at #5 depending on how the Committee handles Conference Title losses. Like Penn State, if Georgia loses the SEC Title, Notre Dame will be no lower than the #6 Seed.
Georgia – Possible Seeds: 2 or 7 - 9 ; With a win over Texas, Georgia would almost certainly be the #2 seed, as with 2 losses it would be hard to rank them over Oregon or even Penn State considering Penn State would be 12-1 with a win over Oregon. With a loss, as mentioned above, Georgia would not be in the same tier as the other Big Ten and SEC Conference losers as they already have 2 losses. Regardless of who loses the Big Ten Title, that team and Notre Dame will get the 5 & 6 over Georgia in some order, meaning Georgia’s best seeding at large will be 7, and that enters them into a new tier with Ohio State and Tennessee.
Tennessee – Possible Seeds: 7 - 9 ; Tennessee is in the same tier as “Georgia with a loss,” and clearly above Indiana and SMU (with a loss), as they are already ranked above those teams. If Texas loses the SEC Title, I would bet on Tennessee being the #8 or #9 Seed.
Ohio State – Possible Seeds: 7 - 9 ; This could essentially be a copy/paste of the Tennessee section. Tuesday’s / Today’s rankings should show us a glimpse into who is ranked more highly between Ohio State and Tennessee. I would expect those two teams to be ranked in some order with Georgia 7 - 9 if Georgia loses, or by themselves 8 - 9 if Texas loses.
The above two sections also create a potentially too-bold claim, but one that just seems very much on trajectory right now: with 8 versus 9 being a game, that game will likely feature two of Tennessee, Ohio State, and Georgia, and if Georgia wins the SEC Title, my math says that would lock Tennessee / Ohio State in as a Round 1 Playoff game. As mentioned above, the Rankings Today will give a glimpse as to who may host that 8 / 9 match-up theoretically.
Indiana – Possible Seeds: 10 - 11 ; Perhaps it is my own closeness to the situation, though I don’t really think that it is, but Indiana feels like one of the most confident teams I have to a specific seed: I see Indiana getting the 10. The only scenario where Indiana does not get the 10 in my eyes is if SMU loses the ACC Title game and stays above Indiana, bumping Indiana to the “last in” at 11. However, I think most likely if SMU stays in the playoffs with a loss, they would be the 11 to Indiana’s 10.
SMU – Possible Seeds: 3 or 10 - 11 or First Team Out ; As mentioned at the very top of the section, SMU is the only team I see being able to lose from the ACC, Big 12, and MWC Championship games and still make it as an at-large. I am not confident they would make it over Alabama, but it seems at least plausible. If Clemson wins the ACC title, it is my strongest guess that the final spot will be between SMU and Alabama.
Alabama – Possible Seeds: 11 or First Team Out ; In the case of SMU winning the ACC title and eliminating Clemson from contention at 9-4, we will have one more open slot at #11 for either Alabama, South Carolina, Ole Miss, or Miami (FL). While some may focus on Miami’s 2 losses, their schedule was effectively far too easy to have underperformed to this extent. Miami evaded SMU, Clemson, and pseudo-ACC Notre Dame while finishing 2-2 against ACC teams with a 5-3 record. South Carolina has better wins and a tougher schedule than Alabama, and likely the game between them should be seen as almost an even result. But that’s not how the sport works. With Alabama & South Carolina being the top 2 in my eyes, and Alabama holding onto a head-to-head win against South Carolina, I would estimate Alabama as the last team in or first team out, depending on if the ACC gets 1 team in or 2. If it is not Alabama, I would predict it as South Carolina long before Miami (FL).
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Once again, it is very early into a new process. So we’ll see how much I’ve fumbled it here. Without injuries though, I feel very strongly about most of these projections, if not all.
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DEEPER DIVE #1:
Devin Neal, RB, Kansas
Age: 22.01 (22 Years, 1 Month as of Sept. 1st 2025)
Height: 5’ 11”
Weight: 205 lbs
While Devin Neal is a senior RB who has used up all of his Collegiate eligibility, Neal is still a very young player who is even younger than some true juniors in this class at various positions. In his first year in College, a year where he was an impact player in crucial wins, Neal turned 18 Years Old just prior to the start of the season, and would have graduated HS at 17. By 24/7 Sports, Devin Neal was ranked just outside the top 200 prospects, but had a 4-Star grade and was the top-ranked player at any position in the state of Kansas. The decision to stay home and play for Kansas seems to have been a good one; Neal saw the program perform better than it had in a very long time while setting school records in Career Rushing Yards (4,343), Rushing TDs (49), Total TDs (53), and 100+ Rushing Yard Games (20). Neal has not missed a game in the past three seasons (38 Team Games, 38 Games Played).
Aside from the records themselves, Devin Neal’s 32 Rushing TDs in his past two seasons and 25 GP is a very encouraging number. He has several explosive performances throughout his career, and many of them have come in the program-re-defining wins Kansas has had over the last several years, most recently an upset against Colorado to keep them out of the Playoffs. As a true freshman against Texas, Neal had 26 Touches, 169 Yards, and 4 Total TDs in a massive upset win. Statistically, Neal also shows at the very least the requisite abilities I am looking for in terms of forcing missed tackles and creating breakaway plays. In the last two years, Neal has a respectable 109 Missed Tackles Forced over his last 420 Carries (.259) and 38 Carries of 15+ Yards (9%). As a pass catcher, there is a bit to be desired in the overall volume from Neal, but he has at least been effective. Through his career, Neal has 101 Targets, 79 Receptions, 723 Yards, and 4 Receiving TDs. In his peak season, Neal put up 26 Receptions, 266 Yards, and 1 TD. Once again, these are respectable numbers even if they are not superb.
Against Colorado two weeks ago, Neal had 37 / 207 / 3 on the ground + 5 / 80 / 1 as a receiver, and it is this game that will be highlighted through YouTube:
Devin Neal showcases solid burst and long speed, but neither of these traits to my eyes come in at an elite level. If there is a trait as a running back that might set Neal apart, it is more likely his ability to move well laterally. Neal showcases this ability as a pass catcher on a long catch & run at 1:00, and he also showcases this with a chunk carry at 7:45 which gets replayed at 8:15. Combining with his lateral agility, the ability that helps Neal showcase a 3-down upside at the next level is his quality contact balance. It was mentioned above by missed tackles forced, but at 0:00 and 0:20, Neal utilizes his tough running to get tough yards. He carries defenders at 6:55 for additional yardage, and at 14:15 and potentially 14:50, we see Neal make defenders miss in the hole. The misses in the hole in particular showcase how the combination of solid contact balance and very good lateral agility can play together for Neal. At 11:55, Neal is given what seems to be 5 consecutive carries starting on a 3rd and Long. While there is nothing fancy here, it showcases once more how he can be an elusive back that also manages to get the tough yardage. As mentioned above, throughout the game, there is little evidence of the highest tier physical athleticism, but Neal still showcases a lot of traits that can translate on Sundays.
Overall, my RB3-6 last year were Jaylen Wright, Ray Davis, Marshawn Lloyd, and Blake Corum, and while they did not go in my same order, they were all roughly just above or just below what I would have been willing to pay. Maybe the early 80s was too rich, but around picks 90-120 is a sweet spot for a certain tier and caliber of RB. I only had 4 of that caliber last year, and I think I’ll have a few more this year, but Devin Neal is one such RB. I don’t see him as a clear Day 2 player, but I would grade and project Neal to go late on Day 2 or early on Day 3.
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That’s all for today. Don’t know how many Deeper Dives we’ll end up doing per post, but there will likely be another on Thursday at least to try to make sure we keep ahead of schedule.
Thanks,
C.J.
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