Star Huskers’ RB Johnson enters draft … After talking with his family, Nebraska RB Emmett Johnson has announced that he will be entering the upcoming draft. The 5-11, 200-pound Johnson with projected 4.45 speed was second in the country in yards from scrimmage this past season when he ran for 1,450 yards, while leading the Huskers with 46 receptions. And while he’s not in the same category as Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love, the top RB prospect this year, Johnson could end up being one of the next backs taken in April.
Star SEC DT; MAC safety hilite latest Senior Bowl commits … The Senior Bowl announced the names of another handful of players who have accepted invitations to this year’s game in Mobile on January 31st including a couple of players we know pro scouts really want to see in Florida DT Caleb Banks and Toledo S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. Banks was banged up much of the past season, but when healthy is one of the top prospects at the position with some early-to-mid second-day potential, while McNeil-Warren is a big, physical (6-2, 215) safety who figures to be the MAC’s best prospect this year. Meanwhile, other players announced today include Houston TE Tanner Koziol and CBs Collin Wright of Stanford and Charles Demmings of Stephen F Austin, the first FCS prospect to a confirmed Senior Bowl attendee.
QB issues to impact draft order … A couple of teams currently sitting on top 10 picks at the 2026 draft made major QB announcements this week. On the one hand, Washington, which would have had the 6th pick overall were the draft held this week, has confirmed that Jayden Daniels will be back in the lineup this weekend when the Commanders play at Washington. Daniels has been out the past month after he dislocated his left elbow early in November. On the other hand, Arizona, which is currently sitting on the 8th pick, has confirmed that starting QB Kyler Murray will in fact not play again this season. Murray suffered a foot injury early in October and hasn’t played since. With Murray out the Cardinals have gone 1-6 with Jacoby Brissett at the helm. Brissett though has actually played pretty well fueling speculation that the Cardinals might be tempted to move on from Murray as early as next season. And just in case anyone hasn’t heard, Cleveland has opened a 21-day window for embattled QB Deshaun Watson to begin practicing, although there is reportedly a 0% chance that he actually plays this fall. Watson hasn’t played since the 2023 season because of an achilles injury. And while the Browns appear to be stuck with Watson for at least another year, they seem prepared to give Shedeur Sanders every opportunity to prove that he can be the guy over the next couple of years. That starts this weekend when the Browns host 1-11 Tennessee and QB Cam Ward, the first player selected overall this past April.
Rising SEC DE Rhodes to return to school … As part of his introductory press conference earlier today, new Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield confirmed that star Hogs’ DE Quincy Rhodes, who had started to generate some real first-round buzz for this year’s draft, would return to school for his final year of eligibility in 2026. The 6-6, 275-pound Rhodes had a breakout campaign this past fall when he posted 8 sacks.
SEC day in latest Senior Bowl signings … The Senior Bowl has announced a half dozen more players who have accepted invitations to participate in this year’s even in Mobile at the end of January including 5 from the SEC. They are Arkansas QB Taylen Green, Florida OT Austin Barber, DE Keyron Crawford and 340-pound OG Jeremiah Wright of Auburn, and LSU DE Jack Pyburn, while Michigan State P Ryan Eckley was also added to the game. The Hogs’ Green, a dual-threat type with elite tools, is the 2nd QB to commit to the Senior Bowl along with Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson, while the Gator’s Barber, a solid second-day candidate, is the top-rated prospect in this latest grouping.
Who to watch in college football’s conference championship games … Its conference championship weekend in college football and here’s who we’ll be watching with an eye to the 2026 draft in the 4 power conference games.
As the QB turns: college edition … As we have noted, with the regular college season in the books, we can expect to start hearing from prospects with eligibility remaining if their respective teams are not in the 12-team CFP playoff field. South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers, who is still considered to be one of the prime potential prospects at the position for 2026 despite a less than overwhelming season, though, has been non-committal this week about his future plans as he left open the option of returning to USC, going the transfer portal route or entering the draft. Sources close to the program, though, are expecting him to transfer. Same story for Byrum Brown of South Florida, the 7th leading passer in college football this fall who was one of the ‘hot’ QBs earlier in the season; again he hasn’t formally announced anything but is expected to follow USF head coach Alex Golesh to Auburn where the latter just agreed to take over that SEC program. Observers also kind of expect Mississippi QB Trinidad Chambliss to follow Lane Kiffin to LSU once the Rebels are eliminated from the CFP playoffs. At the same time, Joey Aguilar of Tennessee, another top 10 passer this fall, has joined Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia’s suit challenging the NCAA’s policy of counting years at a junior college against a players eligibility. If they are successful in their suit, both are expected to be back at their respective schools next fall. More to come when we hear more.
More Senior Bowl signings … The Senior Bowl has announced a number of new players who have accepted invitations to participate in this year’s even in Mobile at the end of January including Missouri DE Zion Young, Arkansas RB Mike Washington, SMU WR Romello Brinson, TCU TE DJ Rogers, Kansas State C Sam Hecht, Georgia Tech OG Keylen Rutledge, CB Jalen McMurray, and safeties Deshon Singleton of Nebraska and Kansas State’s VJ Payne. For the most part, all these players are at best 3rd day prospects. The exception though is Missouri’s Young who combined with Damon Wilson to give the Tigers one of the more dynamic outside pass rushes in the country.
Weekly selection order posted … With another week in the books, the selection order for the first-round of the 2026 draft, were it to be held this week, has been updated here.
Senior Bowl releases first star game acceptances … If its December then a young football players not involved in the CFP playoffs’ fancy turns to the post-season all-star games. In fact, the Senior Bowl game will be played a month today in Mobile. And with the college regular season now in the books, the Senior Bowl has started to release the names of players who have accepted invitations to this year’s game which is scheduled for January 31st. The first half dozen or so players announced include a trio from Arkansas – DT Cameron Ball, OT Fernando Carmona and RB Mike Washington – along with another three from Baylor including QB Sawyer Robertson, TE Michae0l Trigg and WR Josh Cameron.
Titans lose again hang onto top pick for another week … Today’s early games are now in the books, but the only thing we can say for sure at this hour is that Tennessee will hold onto the #1 pick in this week’s selection order for the 2026 draft for yet another week after the Titans lost at home to Jacksonville in a game that was never in doubt. However, we won’t no for sure who comes next as the NY Giants, who picked second coming into the week, don’t play until Monday night. In fact, about the only other thing we can say with certainty is that New Orleans will pick no worse than third after the Saints lost in Miami, although they did throw a bit of a scare into the Dolphins.
Kiffin to LSU … In college football’s worst kept secret this weekend, Lane Kiffin has announced that he has indeed agreed to coach LSU going forward. Kiffin claimed that he asked for permission to remain at Mississippi until the Rebels season was done as Ole Miss is still very much in the CFP playoff picture, but was turned down. That means that ironically Kiffin’s last game with the Rebels was this weekend’s Egg Bowl win over arch-rival Mississippi State because as of this hour there’s egg not all over the face of Kiffin, but also college football in general and the NCAA in particular. The simple solution, of course, would be simply to ban teams from contacting prospective head coaches until their seasons are complete.
1 versus 2 highlites College conference championship games … Rivalry in college football is done and now its on to the conference championship games next weekend. And it will be #1 versus #2 in the Big 10 where top-ranked Ohio State, which finally beat Michigan yesterday, facing upstart #2 Indiana in the conference title game next Saturday in Indianapolis. Meanwhile, it will be like old home week in the SEC as Georgia meets Alabama in Atlanta; for the record its the 4th time in the past 8 years that the Dawgs and Tide have faced off for conference honors, plus its also the 12th straight year that at least one of the 2 will be in Atlanta on the first Saturday in December. There’s also a potential classic in the Big XII as #5 Texas Tech will take on #11 BYU in Dallas. Then there’s the ACC which looks more like a basketball game as #18 Virginia will play Duke. That is not a misprint as the 7-5 Blue Devils somehow won the conference’s convoluted tie-breaker over several ranked teams including #12 Miami. In fact, it is very likely that if Duke can pull off the upset next week against the Cavs, the ACC could be left out of the CFP playoff field entirely as only the top 4 tanked conference champions gain automatic admission to the 12-team field. Meanwhile, #24 Tulane looks to have the best chance to earn the non-power conference bid, but they’ll face a challenge against 11-1 North Texas in the American conference final, while James Madison, which plays Trot in the Sun Belt title game could also be in the mix there if the Green Wave falter against the Mean Green.
PS: For those that are wondering, Mississippi head coach Lane Kiffin has still not yet announced whether he will be signing elsewhere, although it is believed he is headed to LSU for 2026. Kiffin will reportedly meet with his Ole Miss players at 1 PM today to give them the news. Of course, this is all very unseemly because Mississippi appears to be pretty much guaranteed a spot in the CFP playoffs after defeating Mississippi State in Friday’s Egg Bowl. Stay tuned!
Who to watch in college football on Thanksgiving Saturday … As we noted yesterday, Saturday’s college football fare is a little more appealing than Friday’s with a number of huge games on the docket including THE game between #1 Ohio State and Michigan, alog with Alabama at Auburn and LSU at Oklahoma in the SEC and Miami at Pittsburgh in the ACC. Here’s who we’ll be watching with an eye toward the 2026 draft in Saturday’s games.
Who to watch in college football on Thanksgiving Friday … Of course, the Thanksgiving football world will be focused on the NFL today with three games scheduled. That focus, though, shifts to the colleges tomorrow and Saturday with a full slate of annual rivalry games many with conference and national implications. Indeed, heading into the final weekend of the college regular schedule, not one slot in a major conference championship game has been wrapped up. Same for the 12-team CFP playoff field. Here’s who we’ll be watching in Friday’s college football fare, although we note that Saturday’s games, which we’ll preview later today, may be the more impactful.
Weekly selection order posted … With another week in the books, the selection order for the first-round of the 2026 draft were it to be held this week has been updated here.
PSU QB Allar commits to draft … Penn State QB Drew Allar has confirmed that he will in fact be entering the 2026 draft. Allar hasn’t played for several weeks since suffering a season-ending broken ankle earlier this fall and there had been an expectation that he might explore his options of appealing for an extra year of eligibility. However, there simply weren’t grounds for an appeal so Allar will head to the draft. Allar also reported that his rehab is going well and that he hopes to be able to throw for pro teams either at Penn State’s pro day or at a private workout closer to the draft.
In fact, it is that time of the year when underclassmen, especially those not likely to be involved in the CFP playoff, begin to announce their intentions for next year. One who has, for example, is Clemson redshirt junior WR Antonio Williams who has announced that he will be entering the 2026 draft despite having a year of eligibility remaining. Williams had been considered to be a potential first-round pick at the beginning of the year, but his grade has slipped as he struggled thru an injury plagued campaign, although he is still likely to be at least a second-day pick.
Top 9 picks set for week … With the late afternoon games now in the books, we can say that as a result of their loss to Atlanta, New Orleans will move up to the #3 pick slot behind Tennessee and the NY Giants in this week’s opening selection order, followed by the NY Jets, Las Vegas, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington and Arizona. As usual the full, updated weekly selection order will be posted after tomorrow night’s Monday night game.
Titans, Giants to stay 1-2 on weekly board … There won’t be any change at the very top of the 2026 selection as both Tennessee and the NY Giants who came into the week sitting in the 1-2 spots lost early games this afternoon, although put on pretty gutty efforts. The Titans, for example, battled Seattle hard at home, but still fell short 30-24, while for the 2nd time this year, the Giants lost in OT – to Detroit this week – that their opponent only got into by kicking a 60-yard FG to tie things up in the final minute of regulation. However, the rest of this week’s top 10 won’t become clearer until after the 4 PM games.
Shuffling in the works for top of selection order … There will almost by definition be some shuffling at the top of this week’s selection order for the opening round of the 2026 draft as there are a couple of games involving teams both of whom are currently sitting on early selections. Cleveland, which is currently 3rd in this year’s selection order, for example, will play at Las Vegas, which would have had the 6th pick this week, while #4 New Orleans hosts Atlanta, which is at #8, although the Falcons traded that pick to the LA Rams at the 2025 draft. Both those games are late afternoon contests. Meanwhile, Tennessee, which has been sitting on the #1 pick overall for multiple weeks, will host Seattle, while both New York teams have tough road dates with the Giants, which are sitting on the second pick, at Detroit and the Jets (at #5) at Baltimore. As usual, the full weekly selection order will be updated after the Monday night game.
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