It’s been over 220 days, but we are finally back. College football is back, and we are ready to kick our draft coverage into high gear. The Atlanta Falcons are playing the Miami Dolphins on Friday, effectively ending training camp and gearing us up for the regular season. But the college scouts are already getting ready to head all over the world for Week 0 action, including Dublin, Ireland, and the start of year two of Bill Belichick and the North Carolina Tar Heels.
On Saturday, eight matchups kick off the FBS Division I programs’ football seasons (all the true sickos have been watching college football since Thursday), and I have one 2027 NFL draft prospect from each game for Falcons fans to keep an eye on as the college football regular season gets going.
While Maason Smith has had a solid training camp, there isn’t much along the defensive line for the Falcons, outside of LaCale London. Both Da’Shawn Hand and Chris Williams have shown flashes of being solid pieces, and they may have something in UDFA Carlos Allen, Jr., but there are certainly spots that can be upgraded for the future.
Markis Deal is a powerful run defender who towers at 6’5”, 325 pounds. If he can show a bit more pass-rush juice this season, starting against the Tar Heels, he may be able to play himself into early day-three status or even crack some top-100s as a potential two- to three-down lineman.
Until we get this quarterback situation dealt with, there will be a lot of giving virtually any quarterback to the Falcons. However, even if the Falcons do figure it out with either Penix or Tua, Maiava may be a solid addition to the quarterback room if we, for some ungodly reason, don’t keep UDFA Jack Strand as QB3 and allow him to get sniped on the waiver wire.
Maiava is an experienced college quarterback who can put good touch on the football, leading to a variety of throws in his arsenal, especially outside the pocket. If he shows that he can keep the ball out of harm’s way, not only will he boost his draft stock, but the sky is the limit on where this Lincoln Riley-led USC team can go.
When it comes to dice rolls at quarterback, outside of the big names, of course, CJ Bailey may be the most intriguing in the upcoming class. 6’6”, 218; there will be plenty of questions about his durability in the NFL, but he has yet to be injured in his collegiate career, and I hope that doesn’t change.
Bailey is a dynamic athlete who is a true dual threat at the position. Like Maiava, you want to see him more consistently win from the pocket, but as far as potential landing spots, Bailey could go as high as early day two and as low as the middle of day three, and I wouldn’t be surprised.
There are also a couple of tackles to watch on both sides; for the Cavaliers, look for McKale Boley, son of former Falcons linebacker Michael Boley, and for the Wolfpack, Eastern Carolina transfer Jimarion McCrimon.
Every year, the North Dakota State Bison have one explosive wide receiver who is used to stretch the defense vertically, both figuratively and literally. First, it was Christian Watson; then, they gave it the reins to Bryce Lance; now, they have 6’4”, 215-pound Mekhi Collins.
While Collins doesn’t seem to have the same kind of speed as Watson and Lance, he still has enough to make an impact on the college game. It will be intriguing to see if he’s added anything to his repertoire, as he is now the focal point of the Bison passing attack.
There’s only one lineman from the MAC who earned his way onto the Rimington Trophy Preseason Watch List, given to the country’s most outstanding center, and that’s Eastern Michigan’s Nicholas Gallegos.
Gallegos is one of five Eastern Michigan players to be selected for a preseason watch list.
Next year’s offensive tackle class is highly touted, with up to 15 tackles who will be top-100 prospects. In that second tier, you’ll find Stanford’s Niki Prongas. A naturally gifted athlete with incredible size (6’7”, 315 pounds) who didn’t start playing football until his senior year of high school. He’s played along the line, RT and RG at UCLA, and now will continue into his second year at LT for the Cardinals.
We have to find Jake Matthews’ successor eventually; Prongos is the kind of raw talent that you want to give a coach like Bill Callahan and let him mold him next year and beyond.
6’1”, 180 pounds with a little more room to fill out, Rawls is a dynamic playmaker at the cornerback position. After losing most of last year due to injury, Rawls is back for the Seminoles, looking to [“finish the job”](https://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/football/2026/07/31/fsu-football-cornerback-jabril-rawls-tony-white-blue-adams-2026-seaosn/90979229007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z118437p119350l004450c119350e003300v118437&gca-ft=98&gca-ds=sophi) after initially entering the transfer portal and then winding up staying with Mike Norvell and his crew.
While Rawls is a bit skinnier than you would like him, he is a physical corner with a frame that is built for the NFL.
For a nightcap, how about we find some EDGE depth with Memphis’ J’Mond Tapp? A former four-star recruit headed to Texas, Tapp had to work his way back up the draft charts with a huge year at Southern Miss, where he recorded 7.5 sacks, including a 3-sack game against Appalachian State, and 12 tackles for loss.
How does he fare against the jump in competition? Dan Mullen’s UNLV offense will test it.
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