The college football Week 3 slate is upon us, and the team of draft evaluators and CFB analysts at Pro Football Network are here with instant takeaways from the weekend slate. Find our immediate reactions to all the action from start to finish in college football’s Week 3 Saturday games.
Taking into account all of the weekend’s slate of action, our CFB/Draft department will all be on hand for their instant reactions as they come in. For clarity’s sake, each takeaway, reaction, and result will be culminated by the initials of the analyst responsible: TP for Tony Pauline, CM for Cam Mellor, IC for Ian Cummings, OH for Oliver Hodgkinson, and JF for James Fragoza.
DBs vs. WRs rule the noon games
The Georgia-South Carolina game offers one of the better next-level match-ups few are talking about. The draft internet world is abuzz over Georgia cornerback Kelee Ringo, who flashed brilliance at times in 2021. Some feel Ringo is a top 15 prospect, but I stamped him with a second-round grade mostly because I want to see improvement in his game. The Gamecocks will put receiver Josh Vann on the field to challenge Ringo. Vann is slightly smaller than Ringo, measuring under 6-feet tall, but he’s faster and very explosive. Vann, whom I grade as an early 4th round prospect, is a terrific vertical threat and will give Ringo all he can handle.
The Purdue-Syracuse game will also include a terrific match-up between NFL prospects. While I gave Boilermaker quarterback Aidan O’Connell a fifth-round grade over the summer, there are a lot of NFL scouts who believe he’s Day 2 material. Similarly, I gave Syracuse cornerback Garrett Williams a Day 3 grade yet mentioned during my Orange preview over the summer I believe the junior has a tremendous upside – which he’s meeting this season. Williams has totaled 16 tackles during SU’s initial two games and looked dominant during the victory over Louisville.
Cincinnati doesn’t have to travel far for today’s game against Miami, Ohio as it’s just a few miles north of their campus. And from the lens of pro prospects on the field there’s not a whole lot here. Yet one of the better stories centers on linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., who presently holds a fifth-round grade on my board. Pace was the leading tackler for the Miami Redhawks in 2021 before transferring to the Bearcats in 2022, where he now leads the defense with 23 tackles after two games.
