Week 0 of the college football season begins this Saturday. While there aren’t any marquee matchups this week, 14th-ranked USC will be in action against San Jose State. There will also be a handful of other prospects to pay attention to spread throughout the seven other games of the weekend. Arguably the best game could be NC State versus Virginia. Virginia played in the ACC title game, and NC State returns a dynamic quarterback in CJ Bailey.
Let’s take a look at a few draft-eligible prospects worth watching this weekend.
The Bengals have questions about the swing tackle position heading into the 2026 season. There are really even some questions about the starting left tackle spot going forward as Orlando Brown Jr. will be turning 31 years old after this season.
Elijah Paige is a left tackle prospect for the USC Trojans. The 6’7” 315 pound prospect finished the 2025 season with an 84.0 pass blocking grade. He plays with a wide base, is quick out of his stance off of the snap, and allowed just six total pressures through the seven games he played last season.
Lower body injuries plagued him throughout the season though, ultimately shutting him down early. He will need to improve as a run blocker, grading out with a 60.2 last year. He also lunged quite often which led to him missing his intended target when getting out in space as a run blocker. There are traits worth monitoring here, and he is just now entering his redshirt junior season.
Sticking with offensive tackle prospects, Chaplin fits the mold of the size Cincinnati typically covets in an offensive tackle prospect. A transfer from Auburn, Chaplin will be playing for Florida State in 2026. He was recently listed at 6’6” and 346 pounds. He is a massive player at tackle who moves fairly well for a player with that size. While the size, athleticism, and finishing mentality are all positives, his footwork has been a mess.
Hopefully he will be able to clean that up, along with playing with better pad level consistency in 2026. He will also need to clean up the penalties, recording 12 of them during the 2025 season. As of now, this could be a day-three type of prospect that the Bengals could target as a future swing tackle. Chaplin and his Florida State teammates will kick off the season against New Mexico State on Saturday night.
A clean sweep of offensive tackle prospects for whom I will be watching the closest this weekend in college football. Boley is a 6’5”, 329-pound left tackle for Virginia. He is an experienced player, entering the season having already played over 2,300 total snaps. Boley is an athletic offensive tackle, having been clocked at 19 miles per hour on the GPS data tracking system. He comes from NFL bloodlines, with his father Michael playing nine seasons in the NFL at linebacker.
I thought Boley struggled at times handling power into his chest, and he had difficulty connecting with his target out in space. This is an experienced day three prospect, and there is a world where the Bengals could double dip at the offensive tackle position during the 2027 NFL Draft. It should be an exciting game as Boley and Virginia take on NC State Saturday at 3:30 pm.
See More:
* [Cincinnati Bengals Analysis](/cincinnati-bengals-analysis)
* [Cincinnati Bengals Draft](/cincinnati-bengals-nfl-draft)