Sports360AZ
By Daniel “The Draftnick” Rios
Every season, the NFL Draft cycle produces risers and fallers. We’ve touched on some risers throughout the weeks, but now it’s time to touch on the fallers. In the summer scouting process, it’s easy to fall in love with certain prospects early on, but they have to show up during the season.
As we sit around halfway through this college football season, it’s time to revisit some of the hottest names from this past summer and see if they still live up to that hype.
Cam Coleman, WR, Texas
Coming into the year, Cam Coleman was my WR2. He’s dropped one spot to WR3 with Indiana wideout Charlie Becker surpassing him. In five games of action, Coleman has 17 receptions for 318 yards and five touchdowns for Texas.
Watching the games back, it just hasn’t felt like Coleman, and this offense still hasn’t clicked. He had his best game this past weekend against Oklahoma, but it still wasn’t perfect. Whether it’s an Arch Manning issue or a Coleman issue, the two haven’t been connecting as often as we’d like.
When Coleman shows up in Texas games, you see the elite athletic traits to go up and make acrobatic catches for touchdowns. He’s a real field stretcher, though; when Manning likes to take shots down the field, it’s usually towards Coleman. The route running hasn’t been as fluid as last season, so the hope is it can get cleaned up throughout the back half of this season. Still haven’t lost hope in Coleman as a prospect; the size and traits are so intriguing.
David Stone, DT, Oklahoma
There was a ton of excitement for David Stone coming into the year, with many having him as a top 10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. Throughout five games for Oklahoma, it really hasn’t panned out as we expected for Stone. He’s up to four total pressures and nine run-stop tackles on the season.
Stone suffered a left knee injury in late September, which may be limiting him to some degree, but he’s still played in every game since. The major concerns with Stone are how often he’s been moved in the run game for the Sooners this season. Haven’t seen that ability to control the line of scrimmage, or his gap, for that matter, to make plays in the run game. Not only that, but his explosive first step and power haven’t shown up enough on tape this season. It flashes, but not enough for a first-round defensive tackle.
Still have faith in Stone to turn it around, but wouldn’t be surprised if he goes back to school for another year.
Arch Manning, QB, Texas
It’s time to have that Arch Manning conversation, because it’s clear he isn’t playing up to the standard people expected him to. Eliminate the name behind the jersey, and there’s some exciting stuff within his tape this season. The ability to create out of structure and put the ball just about anywhere on the field is fun to watch. The problem is he doesn’t look like a quarterback in his fourth year in a program.
Manning is having rough games because he still isn’t seeing the field clearly. He routinely turns down in-breakers over the middle, struggles to get to his second or third read and crumbles under pressure. All aspects an NFL quarterback should be elite at. Manning just hasn’t settled into this Texas offense yet.
The raw traits still should have him in the first-round conversation, but certainly not in the top 10. Players like CJ Carr, Drew Mestemaker and Trinidad Chambliss have been more consistent than him this season in terms of seeing the field. Mestemaker isn’t perfect, but even he has better raw traits than Manning as a passer.
In five games, Manning has just over 1,100 yards, 10 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He’s up to six turnover-worthy plays and 12 sacks taken, leading to a pressure-to-sack rate of 21.4 percent. Numbers that just have to improve in the back half of this season. Expect Manning to stay at school another year, because if his family gets feedback from scouts that he isn’t a top-five pick, he’ll go back to school.
Dante Moore, QB, Oregon
Throughout the entire summer there was concern about who should be the No. 1 overall pick. Manning or Moore? Well, neither have really backed up that notion in 2027. Hope Moore can get back on the field healthy after the vicious hit he took, but looking at the body of work before that, he wasn’t playing like a No. 1 overall pick.
Moore has 929 passing yards and nine passing touchdowns this season. He’s still efficient and will keep an offense moving by completing passes. His completion percentage is 69.4 percent, which is top 25 in the country. Not only that, but his deep ball down outside the hashes is still a thing of beauty. It’s the throw he thrives at, and with the limited action on tape this season, he can still make that throw with ease.
Moore’s main issue remains handling pressure in his face and making tough throws on intermediate routes. He’ll have the back half of the season, when he’s healthy, to get that first-round status back.
Sammy Brown, LB, Clemson
Brown was viewed as the LB1 by many coming into the year, but hasn’t played like it up to this point. Georgia’s Chris Cole has taken that status with his elite burst and tracking ability across the field. There aren’t many questions about the type of athlete Brown is, just his ability to make plays consistently on game day.
Watching the tape, his eyes just don’t seem to be in the right place that often, and it feels like he’s guessing against offenses. Motion has put him a step behind on certain plays, causing him to fill gaps late or make stops late. Pass coverage is another concern, especially when he drops back into coverage off play-actions. I still feel his ability to read routes developing behind him isn’t up to standard and needs improvement.
Brown is up to 24 tackles, 12 run-stop tackles and five total pressures on the season.
