It’s just routine for #4 Jeremiah Smith to be mentioned in these posts. He took over in a ranked matchup (11 catches, 206 yards, two touchdowns at Iowa) and in the Ohio State record book. The loudest draft statement of Week 5 came from Columbia, Missouri, where No. 25 Mizzou hung 45 on the surging No. 8 Florida Gators behind a 340-yard day from Austin Simmons and a 211-yard, three-touchdown day from Jamal Roberts. Add Alabama’s 56-23 demolition of Mississippi State and Miami’s big defensive night at Clemson, and we’ve got some movement on the boards. Here are the draft stock takeaways you need to know from Week 5 of college football.
📈 Stock Rising
Quarterbacks
- Austin Simmons, QB, Missouri (RS Jr., 6-4, 220) 23-of-30 for 340 yards and two touchdowns in the 45-17 rout of No. 8 Florida, including 16-of-21 for 238 yards in the first half alone and a 47-yard TD strike. Three weeks ago SImmons went 11-of-20 for 108 yards against Troy, so the range of outcomes is worth noting. He is firmly on the 2027 radar, with ideal size, good film, and this statement win over a top-10 team.
- CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame (Jr.) 21-of-29 for 234 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, plus a rushing touchdown on a fourth-down keeper that capped a 17-play drive, in a rain-soaked 37-26 win at North Carolina. Through five games: 71% completions, 1,197 yards, 13 touchdowns, one interception. Carr hasn’t been perfect, but he’s been ridiculously good, showing off more aspects to his game and competitive spirit. The fourth-down keeper went for a touchdown after Carr drew the defensive line offside for a flag and free play. Fellow QB Trinidad Chambliss and Carr remind me a lot of Brock Purdy and should be firmly in first-round discussions.
- Darian Mensah, QB, Miami 18-of-27 for 227 yards and a touchdown, plus a 34-yard rushing touchdown, in the 41-13 win at Clemson. He entered completing 88.7% of his passes with 14 touchdowns and no interceptions, extended his streak to 23 straight games with a touchdown pass, and now has 17 total touchdowns against 21 incompletions. He’s easily a high-potential top-50 pick, even though he won’t play very much strong competition until the CFP. Critics of Notre Dame’s schedule should take a look at The U’s.
- Gunner Stockton, QB, Georgia 25-of-32 for 295 yards and three touchdowns in Georgia’s 38-14 win over Vanderbilt. On the season he’s completing 75.5% of passes, 1,049 pass yards, 13 touchdowns, one interception, plus 122 rushing yards. He has a clean decision-making profile, and has really mirrored Mensah’s incredible season. Is MAGA Mensah too problematic of a nickname? He’ll get a real test Saturday at Alabama.
Running Backs
- Jamal Roberts, RB, Missouri The Senior from St. Louis exploded for 211 yards and three touchdowns access 24 carries against Florida. He had 45 yards on his first 18 carries, then 166 on his last six, including runs of 76 and 80 yards. He’s the first SEC back with 200 yards and three rushing scores against an AP top-10 team since Derrick Henry in 2015.
- DeSean Bishop, RB, Tennessee 34 carries, 220 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-14 win over Auburn. He’s the first Tennessee player with 200 yards and three rushing scores in a game since 2019 (Eric Gray). Bishop became the entire offense after Quarterback Faizon Brandon was benched. Tennessee has a fun track record of backs, and Bishop looks next up.
Offensive Line
- Greg Johnson, OL, Minnesota (Sr., 6-6, 325) Held his own against Michigan’s defensive line in a Minnesota home win that snapped a 49-year drought against the Wolverines in Minnesota. We’ve seen players like Johnson offer interior versatility and a plug-and-play profile in the past, with plenty of names going on Day 1 of the draft. Big Greg Johnson is no different. This is his second straight week featured here as a highlight.
- LSU Offensive Line (RT Jordan Seaton, LT Bo Bordelon, LG Corey Barber Jr.), LSU PFF’s Offensive Line of the Week: two pressures allowed, and holes for three running backs who each averaged more than 4.5 yards per carry. LSU won 63-14 and piled up 729 yards. Although McNeese is an FCS opponent, LSU has plenty of good games left on the schedule, giving Seaton plenty of opportunity to anchor his case for the best tackle in the draft.
Wide Receivers & Tight Ends
- Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State 11 catches, 206 yards and two touchdowns (12 yards with 12 seconds left in the first half, 57 yards in the third quarter) in a 31-14 win at No. 14 Iowa. It was his second straight 200-yard game, and it made him Ohio State’s career leader in receptions (207), receiving yards (3,381) and receiving touchdowns (36). One of his longer grabs, a 54-yarder, came in the middle of triple coverage. It’s just routine at this point, both the dominant play and the video game stat lines for the consensus top prospect in the 2027 class.
- Jordan Faison, WR, Notre Dame (Sr.) 8 catches, 132 yards and two touchdowns against North Carolina, all career highs in each category. He is under 6-feet (5-10¼), around 180 pounds with roughly 4.47 speed, but his suddenness and route running are impressive, translating directly from the lacrosse field. He’s a former walk-on who is now a captain and adds punt returns to his profile. I’ve seen enough and would consider Faison a 1st-round prospect.
- Cooper Barkate, WR, Miami We got life from the former Harvard and Duke pass-catcher. Barkate opened the Clemson game with a 61-yard touchdown on a tunnel screen, beating two defenders on Miami’s second snap. He’s slid down boards slightly, but could still sneak into the top-50 with more games that display his route running and athleticism.
Defensive Line & Edge Rusher
- Kenyatta Jackson Jr., EDGE, Ohio State Career-high 90.8 PFF pass-rush grade against Iowa, plus an early forced fumble . His game-wrecking at the point of attack, especially against a high-end Iowa offensive line is exactly the tape NFL teams will weigh heavily and favorably for Jackson.
- Damon Wilson II, EDGE, Miami 2.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and three tackles at Clemson for the slow-starting Senior. It was a six-sack game, a season high, for Miami. Wilson is listed at 240 pounds with 34-inch arms, giving him the size profile of a second/third round pick with upward mobility depending on what he can show of his disruptive quickness and continued production.
- Ahmad Moten Sr., DT, Miami (RS Sr.) Shared a sack with Damon Wilson II and forced a fumble that set up a short field at the Clemson 27. Moten has an 85.4 PFF grade, interior pass-rush ability, and a knack for forcing turnovers. More performances like this will help him be one of the first interior defensive linemen drafted in April of 2027.
- Marquise Lightfoot, EDGE, Miami (Junior) One of three Hurricanes credited with a sack against Clemson, per Miami’s own recap. Your notes list him among Miami’s rising edge group; this is a thin stat line, but he’s part of the pressure that produced a season-high six sacks.
Secondary
- Luke Talich, Safety, Notre Dame After an injured left wrist kept the Senior out of action against Purdue, Talich was back with a cast for the Irish’s matchup against North Carolina. He tallied three tackles, an interception and a pass deflection in the Fighting Irish’s 37-26 win over UNC. Talich’s performance led to PFF College naming him the highest-graded safety after Week 5. Through four games, the former preferred walk-on (over scholarship offers from Washington State, Utah, and Wyoming) has 14 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, a pass breakup, two picks and three pass deflections. He has been tough and incredibly disruptive for the Irish.
💎 Non-Power-4 Gem
- Xavier Esqillion, EDGE, Georgia State (Sun Belt; Senior) PFF’s Defensive Player of the Week with 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, a 38.1% pass-rush win rate against Old Dominion. A win rate near 40% is the number that gets a Group of 6 edge into the all-star-game conversation. Two forced fumbles show a finisher’s instinct, not just a pursuit sack.
- Anthony Eager (WR, South Alabama), the Senior from Mobile caught 4 passes for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns. Up to 27.7 yards per reception on the year (3rd in the nation).
- Asher Cunningham (LB, Utah State), just a Junior, but he racked up 11 tackles (6 solo) against Boise St.
👶 Underclass Overachievers
- Keelon Russell, QB, Alabama 16-of-22 for 285 yards and three touchdowns, plus a rushing touchdown, 301 total yards, in the 56-23 win at No. 16 Mississippi State. He’s responsible for at least 14 touchdowns through five games, joining Tua Tagovailoa, Ty Simpson, Jalen Milroe and Bryce Young as Alabama quarterbacks to do it since 2000.
- Dijon Lee Jr., CB, Alabama (6-4) A 30-yard pick-six in the first quarter, the first of his career, plus 70 return yards, giving him his first 100-all-purpose-yard game. PFF named him to its National and SEC Teams of the Week. The tape isn’t spotless: he muffed a punt that Mississippi State recovered and misread on a Zion Ragins touchdown, but a 6-4 corner with ball skills is a premium archetype.
📉 Pump the Brakes
- Kamario Taylor, QB, Mississippi State Hard to think of many worse ways to start a highly anticipated SEC matchup than Kamario did last Saturday. A fumble on the first possession, then a pick-six to Dijon Lee Jr. on the very next throw, then a second interception later in a 56-23 loss. Entering the day he had at least three touchdown passes in every game and led the FBS with 17. Saturday was not one of those days we were growing used to out of the skilled passer. The production through four games was legitimate. Three turnovers against a ranked opponent on the road is the test performance that will likely push Taylor back to school next year, not that there was a strong chance of him declaring for 2027’s draft.
- Jadan Baugh, RB, Florida 13 rushing yards on 12 carries (1.1 ypc) in a 45-17 loss at Missouri, after averaging 150 per game across his first four. Last week’s recap crowned him RB1 of the class. One tough game doesn’t undo four great ones, but it’s the first real data on what he can look like when the game script and defense aren’t as favorable. This is still RB1 in the 2027 class, but Baugh was far down the list of Week 5 RB performances.
- Nyck Harbor, WR, South Carolina (6-5, 239) Harbor is a freak and has been on the NFL Draft radar since he got on campus, but his 54.8 PFF grade, including 90 receiving yards across his last three games, and an 0-for-5 contested target track record are not good marks. Things are not good in South Carolina: Dylan Stewart is suspended indefinitely, LaNorris Sellers hasn’t taken a dramatic step forward, and the team blew a 17-0 lead in a 35-34 overtime loss to Kentucky. Head coach Shane Beamer is likely on his way out, but had things gone a lot better in Columbia, SC, Harbor should’ve been a big reason why. The frame is a first-round frame, but his problems continue to be separation and creation.
- Christian Gray, CB, Notre Dame Notre Dame suddenly has an impressive collection of defensive backs, and Gray was thought of as a Day 3/UDFA kind of prospect among them. Gray doesn’t have a great PFF grade (54.5) nor a strong 105.2 passer rating allowed in coverage. Notre Dame won, but North Carolina’s Billy Edwards Jr. still threw three touchdown passes (and two interceptions). Your notes flag slot-coverage liability. The ceiling here depends on whether he can stay in front of receivers inside.
- Ashton Hampton, CB, Clemson Still a strong CB at the top of this class, and we expected some regression against Malachi Toney, Darian Mensah, and company, but a 28.8 run-defense grade, three missed tackles, and two catches allowed for 69 yards and a touchdown is something to study when considering other strong corners in this class. Miami outrushed Clemson 192-55 in a 41-13 win. The concern for Hampton is his performance against higher levels of competition and his tackling and physicality in run support.
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