Prospects in Week 8
Prospects in Week 8
The big NFL Draft news is that Texas offensive tackle Trevor Goosby is going to miss the rest of the season with the injury sustained against Ole Miss. This clouds the offensive tackle rankings and gives someone like Stanford’s Niki Prongos a chance to move up Draft boards. This week, how good is Prongos, and how did other prospects in Week 8 play?
2027 NFL Draft Watch: Evaluating Prospects in Week 8
Evaluating Prospects in Week 8: Niki Prongos (Offensive Tackle, Stanford)
Prongos is in his second year at Stanford, having transferred from UCLA. Listed at 6’7″, 310 lbs, he looks like he can carry more weight. Prongos played very little high school football, partly because of an ACL tear, so there is still upside with him.
Right now, Prongos is a good prospect. In pass protection, he looks in control. He likes to get into his man quickly, has good hand placement, and then looks comfortable mirroring his man.
Stanford left tackle Niki Prongos (#66) looks natural in pass protection – he takes away the inside rush effortlessly here.#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/UkhSj8gb0f
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) October 26, 2026
As a run blocker, he’s not a mauler. However, he does keep his feet driving on contact and can get movement, although getting stronger would help in this area. He would fit a zone scheme that demands movement, as he can climb effectively to the second level and win.
Prongos should be a strong candidate for an invitation to the Senior Bowl. He’s hidden away at Stanford, but he’s a good prospect who, if he can get stronger, projects as a starting NFL left tackle. If he shows well at the Senior Bowl, his stock could skyrocket in the media, but he should be talked about more right now.
Evaluating Prospects in Week 8: Jelani McDonald (Safety, Texas)
Jelani McDonald
Oct 24, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; Mississippi Rebels wide receiver Traylon Ray (7) reacts after an incomplete pass defended by Texas Longhorns defensive back Jelani McDonald (4) defends during the second half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
McDonald is a versatile safety prospect who lined up all over the field in this one. His predominantly in a two-deep look, but also played in the box, over a slot receiver and occasionally rotated to a single high safety.
McDonald has good size at 6’2″, 201 lbs and is most effective when he’s coming downhill. He loves to attack, moves well, and delivers big hits. He was around the ball a lot in this one, and was rewarded with an interception to ice the game on a Hail Mary.
It’s always good to see a safety who can cover man-to-man, and McDonald can do this. However, he is a little grabby at times, and was flagged once for this. When he’s in off coverage, his aggression can be used against him, as he will try to jump routes, but he got one wrong in this one and ended up drawing a pass interference penalty as he was beaten.
Jelani McDonald's aggression working against him here. He's top of the two safeties and looks to jump what he thinks it going to be a shallow cross. The receiver gets behind him – then he doesn't turn for the ball and therefore gets flagged. He needs to stay deeper.#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/2HR1AitJyM
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) October 26, 2026
The current trend in the NFL is for more two-deep safety looks behind five-man pass rushes. McDonald is a perfect fit for this. His aggression is a double-edged sword, however, but he would fit an attacking defense well.
Evaluating Prospects in Week 8: Melvin Siani (Offensive Tackle, Texas)
With the news that Trevor Goosby is going to miss the rest of the season due to the injury he sustained in this one, the focus for NFL scouts on the Texas offensive line turns to Siani. Interestingly, despite playing left tackle for Temple and Wake Forest before his transfer to Texas, Siani stayed on the right side when Goosby left the game.
Siani was good in pass protection. When Ole Miss tried speed rushes against him, he was able to wash his man up the field without looking stressed. At times he was walked back into Arch Manning, though, despite being listed at 317 lbs, which is a concern. His base was a little too narrow, and he didn’t sit to anchor.
Siani is a different type of run blocker than you might imagine given his size. He’s more of a finesse blocker who fits a zone scheme best. He’s not a mauler, failing to drive his feet on contact, but is sticky and will lock onto his man and prevent them from disengaging.
While he’s not an elite athlete at the position in space, he did show the ability to climb to the second level and make effective blocks. On wider plays, where he was in space more, he struggled to engage.
Texas right tackle Melvin Siani (#71) with a nice combo block. He's not a mauler in the running game, but this was one of two nice combo blocks.#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/gfZYHkAjsJ
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) October 26, 2026
Overall, Siani’s ability in pass protection is going to appeal to NFL scouts. He does have things to clean up, particularly in the running game, but he looks like a top 100 talent.
Evaluating Prospects in Week 8: Xavier Gilliam (Defensive Tackle, Tennessee)
Gilliam has been generating buzz and has been mentioned in numerous “Risers” columns. Listed at 6’2″, 305 lbs, Gilliam is often used as a zero-technique nose tackle, but lines up all across the defensive line, including at edge. His athletic ability is his calling card, as evidenced on a LaNorris Sellers run, where Gilliam didn’t let him turn the corner on him.
Gilliam is a pure one-gap disruptor. He’s explosive and can turn his speed into power to knock blockers off balance. He blew up one zone stretch run with such explosiveness.
There are limitations with him as a prospect, though, and they were on show slightly more than the positive flashes in this one. South Carolina did an excellent job of changing cadence at the line, and Gilliam was caught offside twice as he tried to time the snap to get the perfect get-off. They also used screens, which Gilliam didn’t feel as he plays with blinkers.
When blockers get into his body, Gilliam really struggles to disengage as he lacks length. This shows up as a pass rusher, where he has no counter when blockers get into his chest.
Xavier Gilliam (defensive tackle, Tennessee) has generated buzz in recent weeks. It's important to note his limitations though. At 6'2", his lack of length means he really struggles to get off blocks, as on this play (#2, in the A gap to the right of the center).#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/MeFvRdWC0U
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) October 26, 2026
Gilliam is an excellent athlete, but his lack of length limits his stock. He simply can’t play in a system that asks him to be responsible for a gap-and-a-half. However, teams wanting a defensive lineman to one-gap and disrupt will be intrigued by Gilliam, but he will need to improve his awareness.
Evaluating Prospects in Week 8: LaNorris Sellers (Quarterback, South Carolina)
In the last two games, Sellers seems to be settling into the Kendal Briles offensive system. Sellers featured heavily as a runner in this win, rushing for 96 yards and two scores, one of which tied the game late in the fourth quarter. As a passer, he threw for 210 yards and was 18 of 32 passes, with a touchdown, but also an interception.
While Sellers’ ability as a runner is hardly a secret, NFL scouts will be looking for his ability as a progression passer. There were positive moments in this area, but on the whole, he still has improvements to be made.
Sellers is cool in the pocket. When afforded time, he works through progressions while resetting his feet. When he has pressure, he remains calm and can find a way to turn a play into a positive, sometimes with a change in arm angle.
We all LaNorris Sellers has a big arm and is an elite athlete. This is the kind of thing NFL scouts will be looking for. He remains calm, pumps to get the linebacker to commit, reloads and finds his man for a nice gain.#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/3hO5Cbt1bY
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) October 26, 2026
When he’s a pocket passer, Sellers does have his struggles. He can hold the ball too long, double-clutch and, at times, force passes. It is worth noting that his receivers didn’t consistently separate.
It’s nice to see Sellers put together two positive games in a row. As an NFL Draft prospect, however, he still has room to improve. He does have another year of eligibility, and it may be prudent for him to use it to gain further experience to speed up his processing.
Evaluating Prospects in Week 8: Nick Marsh (Wide Receiver, Indiana)
This was a tough game to evaluate Marsh. Indiana threw the ball 18 times (completing just eight for 81 yards) and ran the ball 35 times in an old-fashioned Big Ten game. Marsh had just two catches for 25 yards.
On the first of his catches, he broke Zeke Berry’s tackle and had the chance for a big gain, but stepped out of bounds. This, on the back of his out-of-bounds play against Ohio State, leaves questions about his spatial awareness and where he is on the field.
Marsh was open on two other occasions, but Josh Hoover was unable to get him the ball.
Nick Marsh (#11, slot left) gets open, but Josh Hoover can't get him the ball…#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/sVLa7tShbd
— Paul Emery (@UKDraftFan) October 26, 2026
Drops were a concern last year for Marsh, and he dropped an easy swing pass in this one. He needs to eradicate these from his game.
Down the field, Marsh was unable to separate with his speed. He lacks that extra gear to pull away from his man. Zeke Berry was able to stay with him on one such play, breaking up the pass.
This was a tough one to really judge him, and won’t be one scouts will go back to that much due to the lack of passing from Indiana. Marsh did flash his route running, but he doesn’t look to be a 4.3 burner and must eliminate the focus drops if he wants to push up boards.
Evaluating Prospects in Week 8: CJ Bailey (Quarterback, North Carolina State)
This was a tough matchup for Bailey and the Wolfpack, a late-night West Coast trip in front of a small crowd at Stanford. Bailey did his best to inject energy into his offense, but ultimately came up short.
Bailey finished with 256 yards passing with a 57% completion rate (17 out of 30) with two scores and no interceptions. He added 59 yards on the ground from nine carries.
There are some encouraging signs from Bailey projecting him forward to the NFL. He can work through whole-field progressions, and while this can speed up, it’s a basic that not all college quarterbacks have. He’s also willing to sit in the pocket and take a hit and deliver passes.
It’s important to note in his evaluation that his receivers don’t give him a great deal of help. He tried back shoulder passes throughout the night, and it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that one came off for a touchdown, on a perfectly placed pass. He would benefit from a big tight end or “X” receiver.
Bailey has a solid arm, but he will gamble. On his first touchdown pass, he got lucky on one such throw. The defensive back gambled and broke in front of the receiver, but just missed the ball.
Bailey is a good athlete and a danger when he takes off. He’s listed at 210 lbs on a 6’6″ frame, so he’s quite thin and would benefit from a little added height to help him hold up at the next level.
Still a junior, returning to school might be Bailey’s best option. More experience is never a bad thing at the quarterback position, and Bailey would benefit from another year to speed up his processing. Perhaps there will be opportunities in the transfer portal, perhaps at an SEC school, to give him opportunities to impress scouts.
Evaluating Prospects in Week 8: Kam Robinson (Linebacker, Virginia)
The first of the Friday night games was a good one. Robinson had a relatively quiet night against the run, with 2 tackles. He was awarded a sack when he was a quarterback spy, but did look good in coverage with an interception.
Robinson’s instincts didn’t look great in this one. He seemed to be slow to read and react, and at times seemed to second-guess himself and stop-start, even when he was blitzing from deep. Robinson struggled to get off blocks and was blocked by Duke tight end/halfback Jeremiah Hasley on a Duke touchdown run.
Robinson showed up more in coverage. He moves well and was able to stay with his man in man coverage. In shallow zone, he trusted what he saw on a quarterback run and came up to get what was a sack on the stat sheet, but it was more a tackle for loss.
In zone coverage later in the game, he had an interception. The route was rather static, but he was able to get in front of the receiver posting up and make a nice play on the ball.
Robinson has an ACL tear in his history; the light sleeve on his right knee is a visual reminder of the injury. NFL teams will check that for future issues. Robinson has the athletic ability to be a weakside or nickel linebacker in the NFL, but his instincts against the run must improve.
Evaluating Prospects in Week 8: J’Mond Tapp (Edge Rusher, Memphis)
Memphis hosting East Carolina in an entertaining Thursday night matchup afforded a chance to check back in with Tapp, who impressed against UNLV in Week 0.
Unfortunately, Tapp played very little in this one. There are no details, as is often the case, but he picked up an injury against Tulane, and although he was healthy enough to play, he didn’t look like the same player as earlier in the season.
Tapp recorded just one tackle and didn’t look right. He showed no explosion and played upright. Hopefully, he gets back to close to 100% to try to push to be drafted in April.
The Last Word
In a week where a candidate to be the first offensive tackle off the board suffered a season-ending injury, it opened doors for others. Stanford’s Niki Prongos could be a beneficiary of Trevor Goosby’s injury. Of the prospects in Week 8, he was the most impressive.
LaNorris Sellers enjoyed a second positive outing, as South Carolina continued to turn around their season. While looking at him through an NFL progression passer lens, it’s important to pump the brakes. He may need another year in school to improve as a processor, something that’s vital to play well in the NFL.
Almost the same can be said for CJ Bailey. He’s not quite as dynamic, but is athletic and has a big arm. For both, the transfer portal might be more appealing than the NFL Draft.
Jelani McDonald is an interesting safety prospect. He fits the current NFL trend for two-deep looks, showing the ability to come downhill and make big hits. His aggression can work against him, so it would be good to see him control that as we move into crunch time for the Longhorns.
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Main Image: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images