Prospects in Week 1
Prospects in Week 1
After a few games last week to whet the appetite, college football was fully back for Week 1. There’s little value in watching prospects beat up on smaller schools, but there was still lots to see. Our look at prospects in Week 1 kicks off with a matchup of two potential first-round picks.
2027 NFL Draft Watch: Evaluating Prospects in Week 1
Jordan Seaton, Offensive Tackle, LSU: Week 1 Prospect Evaluation
The first of our featured prospects in Week One is a good one: LSU left tackle Jordan Seaton. Seaton’s Colorado tape showed an impressive pass protector, but someone who was far less impressive as a run blocker. Seaton is now the starting left tackle at LSU and has dropped weight to play in Lane Kiffin’s high-tempo offense.
Against a talented Clemson defense, featuring edge rusher Will Heldt and linebacker Sammy Brown, Seaton had a highly impressive debut for the Tigers. He wasn’t matched up against Heldt all game, but when he was, there was only one play where Heldt gave him problems.
Most encouragingly, Seaton has clearly taken coaching well as a run blocker and looked far more balanced. Last season, his waist was bent too often, and he therefore ended up on the ground too often. In this one, he was under control, balanced and didn’t get his head out over his toes. The results were impressive, with some nice blocks. The highlight was a combo block to get out to Sammy Brown.
Another example of LSU left tackle Jordan Seaton's improvement with his run blocking. A really nice combo here gets Clemson linebacker Sammy Brown. Encouraging tape to start the year from the new LSU man.#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/ozZYhhf7BK
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) September 6, 2026
It might be Week 1, but it’s hard not to get excited about this performance.
Will Heldt, Edge Rusher, Clemson: Week 1 Prospect Evaluation
Heldt was generally quiet in this one, with four tackles, including a tackle for loss (which was a broken play; he wasn’t blocked). As a pass rusher, Heldt struggled to make an impact on the game. His primary pass rush was a straight bull rush. Both LSU tackles coped with that well, and Heldt struggled to counter.
Moving forward, Heldt needs to use more variety with his rushes, as he was too predictable in this one. The only play where he gave Seaton problems was an outside rush, and even though he’s not an elite speed rusher, keeping blockers thinking is a must for him moving forward. As with Clemson’s season, this was just Week 1, and there is time to improve.
Will Heldt (#13, rushing from the right side) goes for the outside rush on Jordan Seaton. The quarterback gets a lot of depth on the play, allowing Heldt to get pressure. The only play where Heldt gave Seaton problems.#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/UuuEd08wdk
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) September 6, 2026
Xavier Atkins, Linebacker, Auburn: Week 1 Prospect Evaluation
There were lots of prospects in Week 1 to watch, but the Auburn/Baylor matchup was good enough to make it worth a look. Atkins is a high-motor and energy prospect. In a close game against Baylor, he was all over the field making plays. Atkins is a superb blitzer.
He had a sack early in the game and had other pressures as well. His athletic ability gives interior offensive linemen problems, and he times his blitzes from deep perfectly.
Auburn linebacker Xavier Atkins stood out as a blitzer against Baylor. He gets the sack on this play – good athlete, high energy – a fun watch.#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/yTOQTTadYg
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) September 6, 2026
Atkins has excellent range, showing the ability to get over to the sideline quickly. Auburn lists Atkins at 210 pounds, but he looks bigger. However, his lack of size does show up when big bodies are able to engage him. He’s also erratic as a tackler, not being completely under control, and therefore missing too many.
Atkins is aggressive in coverage and was almost beaten by a tight end on a wheel route, but the pass was poor. He can get depth quickly in zone and given his strength as a blitzer, it does mean he would be ideal for multiple NFL defenses that will be able to show one thing pre-snap and morph into something different post-snap.
The listed weight does fall below NFL thresholds and is a concern (see Kyle Louis not going until the fourth round in April). However, he’s hard not to like because of his playing style.
Clev Lubin, Edge Rusher, Louisville: Week 1 Prospect Evaluation
Ole Miss is the toughest game on the Louisville schedule, so it was important to watch Lubin in this one. Lubin is listed at 6’3″, 250 lbs, so he’s not the biggest edge rusher in the class. As such, it was perhaps a little surprising to see that his go-to move is his bull rush. He then works off of that, often dropping his hips. He uses a push-pull move and displayed a nice swim move to get pressure on one play.
Louisville Edge Clev Lubin with a nice swim move and pressure – almost gets the sack.#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/V6GojC7mi2
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) September 7, 2026
It’s worth noting that Lubin’s good moments all came when he was on the left side of the defense. On the right side, against Ole Miss left tackle Terez Davis, he struggled more.
Lubin is a high-motor prospect who doesn’t back down. He was barking throughout the game, especially after forcing a fumble. He works hard against the run and holds up well despite not being the biggest. Louisville asks him to drop into zone coverage, so he’s a complete prospect.
It would be nice to see Lubin attack half his man more often. Projecting him forward to the NFL, if his go-to move continues to be his bull rush, he’ll struggle. He’s not an elite burst prospect like Dylan Stewart, but having a wider array of moves in his arsenal would help him.
Justice Haynes, Running Back, Georgia Tech: Week 1 Prospect Evaluation
Running back Justice Haynes ran for 857 yards at Michigan in 2025 before suffering a season-ending foot injury. Now at Georgia Tech, Haynes struggled to get going with 64 yards on 19 carries. He ran hard, finishing his runs, but his offensive line didn’t give him much help.
On plays where he was forced to bounce out laterally, Colorado was able to string the play out and keep him to short gains. Haynes did have a nice pass protection rep, however, and that will certainly appeal to NFL scouts.
Showing NFL scouts you can pass protect is always good for backs. Justice Haynes (#22), now with Georgia Tech, stays on his feet and wins this rep. Nice.#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/MwBlNYUgco
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) September 5, 2026
Hopefully Haynes will knock off the rust and show us the same as last season when at Michigan.
DeAndre Moore Jr., Wide Receiver, Colorado: Week 1 Prospect Evaluation
DeAndre Moore Jr. is a transfer from Texas to Colorado. The 6’0″, 192-pound receiver lined up all over the formation, but projects more as an NFL slot receiver. There were flashes of good work at the top of his stem, highlighted by a nice curl route which left him wide open. Unfortunately, his hands let him down. He had three drops, two of which were passes he should have caught.
Moore lacks top-end speed, so he struggles to pull away from coverage when he runs deeper routes. As someone lacking that speed, he must eradicate the drops from his game. It was his first game for a new team, so he would have been nervous, but the drops are something to keep an eye on as we move through the season.
Jay Green, Safety, Stanford: Week 1 Prospect Evaluation
Stanford left tackle Niki Prongos is a potential top 100 prospect. Unfortunately, he missed the Miami game with an undisclosed injury. While there will be better matchups to view the Miami prospects, it still afforded a chance to look at Stanford safety Jay Green.
A transfer from Washington, Green missed a large chunk of last season with a knee injury. He’s a versatile prospect who, in this game alone, lined up at single high safety, two deep safety, box safety and in man coverage against slot receivers.
Green has good size at 6’3″, 215 pounds, and as such he is comfortable in the box. He was basically a linebacker on several snaps. When in deep coverage, he wasn’t overly tested, but he did get the chance to come over and break up a pass on the sideline.
When in man coverage, as one might expect for a taller defensive back, his hips aren’t the smoothest when he has to change direction. He therefore is unlikely to appeal to teams who want a safety who can cover man-to-man. However, zone-heavy teams will be looking closely at him, likely on Day 3.
Jay Green (#5) is in man against the slot receiver closest to the camera. You can see here that he gets turned around and the hips are a bit "clunky". Projecting him forward to the NFL, this isn't the best part of his skill set, but he does lots of other things.#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/Lx6b0gSKsK
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) September 6, 2026
Small School Prospects in Week 1
There are just two small school prospects in the Senior Bowl Top 300 Watch List. As it happened, both small school prospects in Week 1 had matchups on the road against Power Four Conference teams, making them important job interviews to address the level of competition concerns that most small school prospects face.
Desmeal Leigh, Offensive Tackle, Youngstown State: Week 1 Prospect Evaluation
Leigh faced SEC opposition in Kentucky. He’s listed at 6’6″, 324 lbs with reported 35.5″ arms, so he is a huge man with a natural lower body anchor (“sand in his pants”). In pass protection, Leigh had his struggles against speed. He was called for holding early in the third quarter and was beaten later in the game as well.
This is partly down to lacking foot speed, but also the fact that he has a narrow base. His kick-slide is therefore not deep enough. This also sees him put on skates at times, not something you expect to see from such a large man.
Youngstown State left tackle Desmeal Leigh has natural lower body anchor weight ("sand in his pants"). However, his base is too narrow and he can get walked back as on this play. Credit to him for re-anchoring though, but it will help him to sort out his base.#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/i6heFRDWhD
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) September 6, 2026
Leigh looks better when he can get his hands on his man. His size and strength are clear. In pass protection, once he’s locked on, he can mirror. He can also re-anchor, but it would help him to play lower more consistently. In the running game, Leigh flashes power and nastiness.
Leigh only played one year of football in high school, so he still has upside. It’s clear there are technical issues to resolve in his game. He might be a pro guard, but his size could see him tried at tackle first. He doesn’t look like a Day 1 NFL starter, but he has toughness and talent to go with his size, making him an appealing developmental prospect.
Ty Pennington, Quarterback, Northern Arizona: Week 1 Prospect Evaluation
Pennington (no relation to former NFL quarterback, Chad) faced Arizona. Pennington completed 15 out of 26 passes for 180 yards with an interception. With Leigh, his teammates around him didn’t impact the evaluation as much as Pennington. He had to rely on his offensive line to keep him clean and his receivers to separate, neither of which happened consistently.
Pennington didn’t show a great feel for pressure or ability to manipulate the pocket, like Arch Manning, although he was willing to take a hit to complete a pass.
Pennington has an NFL arm. He completed one particular pass with pressure and no weight transfer and was still able to make a tight-window throw. His receiver wasn’t wide open, so he threw him open.
Northern Arizona quarterback Ty Pennington's best throw from the Arizona game. He can't step into the throw, so it's all arm. His receiver is covered, but he throws him open. This is an NFL throw. Nice#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/ZTniopF4mi
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) September 7, 2026
Pennington didn’t always help himself when Arizona blitzed. His pre-snap reads and post-snap reads need work. He can also spin out the backside, but on one play, he did so and ran into a sack. Such is the gamble when spinning blindly to the left as a right-handed quarterback. When he has pressure, Pennington tends to leave his feet to make fade-away throws. The ball placement does suffer a little with this.
Encouragingly, Pennington showed he is comfortable working through his progressions. On one play from near his own goal line, he rolled to the right and got through four reads before making the throw to his check-down target.
In a deep quarterback class, Pennington might get lost in the shuffle. However, his arm and ability to work through his progressions will make NFL scouts intrigued.
The Last Word
Despite this not being the best Week 1 schedule, there were still some interesting prospects in Week 1. There’s no question that Seaton stood out and looked every bit a first-round prospect. He’s taken a big step on his 2025 tape, and it shows why he made the move to Baton Rouge.
There were perfect matchups for the two most highly rated small school prospects in week one. Leigh has upside, but his technique is very much a work in progress. He is certainly worthy of being considered for the Senior Bowl, as it would be fascinating to see how he takes pro coaching during the week.
Pennington has an NFL arm, but needs to become more aware of pressure. The matchup didn’t help him, but there was enough there to suggest he’s worthy of an All-Star game invitation.
Social media has been awash with countless clips from NFL Draft prospects in Week 1. It is important to watch prospects, where possible, in the right matchups. A first-round rated prospect on a good team against an FCS school will tell scouts little. That should be remembered when scrolling through social media.
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Main Photo Courtesy of Ken Ruinard – USA Today Network via Imagn Images