We’re one month into the 2026 college football season, and while some players have disappointed, particularly as it pertains to next April, when many of them were supposed to change an NFL franchise, plenty of names have also emerged after being barely talked about.
I’m not going to spend time discussing Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith lighting the world on fire as a Heisman front-runner, Florida’s Jadan Baugh further cementing himself as the top running back in the 2027 draft thanks to a dominant opening stretch, or Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons just tying the program single-game sack record (five) – along with delivering one of the most insane celebrations I’ve ever seen on a football field.
Rather, the purpose of this article is to highlight those types of guys who have really put themselves on the radar of pro scouts with their performances up to this point. Some of them obviously were to a certain degree already, but have gotten a lot more people to buy in, while others did kind of come out of nowhere.
Let’s go through four names on offense and defense each!
Quarterback – Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
A transfer out of Ferris State two years ago, Chambliss threw for nearly 3000 yards and rushed for just over 1000, with 25+ touchdowns through both avenues, as he led his team to a Division II national championship before coming to Ole Miss. In his debut campaign in the SEC, he was named second-team all-conference and led the Rebels to the CFP semifinal, throwing for nearly 4000 yards and rushing for over 500 more, with 30 combined TDs compared to only three interceptions. After being granted a sixth year of eligibility via a state court injunction, when many people believed he would’ve benefitted from becoming part of a pretty weak 2026 quarterback class, he continued to improve and his draft stock has never been higher. He currently leads the SEC with 305.5 passing yards per game and has been responsible for 12 touchdowns (compared to three INTs).
While it took a couple of games of Austin Simmons (now at Missouri) officially starting for Ole Miss before Chambliss took over the reins, he immediately looked like a great fit for Lane Kiffin’s RPO-centric offense, thanks to his lightning-quick release. While it fundamentally has remained a spread-based attack, with Pete Golding being elevated from defensive coordinator duties to the head position, what you like about the quarterback operating more traditional dropbacks is how he maintains a vertical posture to make the defense respect his ability to attack down the field, yet then is happy to chip away with free-access throws on the perimeter, since he can put the RPMs on the ball to drive it there in a hurry. I was impressed early on already by the conviction he showcases throwing over the middle of the field. He’s dialed that up another notch in 2026, ripping dig routes on time and confidently getting the backside read of his progressions.
Those developments have continued to make Chambliss a more viable NFL quarterback prospect. However, it’s what he can add on top of what’s drawn up on the chalkboard that makes him such an exciting player to watch. He’s clearly capable of making a variety of off-platform throws, with the whip in his arm to still deliver a tight spiral. Whether he’s reducing his throwing shoulder against heat coming off the edge or he has to elude someone in his face by suddenly moving laterally, he can quickly erase rush angles, and then it’s how he almost instantly gets his feet set up again that really stands out. Chambliss is a tantalizing playmaker, who already provided several backyard style moments to get the Rebels to brink of a national championship game appearance last year, made several backyard style moments of keeping plays alive and finding someone down the field in the CFP semifinal against Miami, and he had multiple game-breaking third-down conversions in Ole Miss’ monstrous matchup against their former head coach coming back to Oxford, where he’d escape, retreat and find someone open way late against that LSU defense.
Now, that became an issue this past week, when he just hung back and tried to set up these bombs down the field a little bit too much, as the pass-rush was closing in already, because he wanted to shift the momentum in their favor. I don’t blame him too much for his interception at the end of the game, when they were down by 24 with under three minutes left, trying to force the issue. Still, being over-reliant on out-of-creation and the challenges that come with being right around six feet in height, create questions that pro scouts will have about him, which isn’t aided by the fact that he had 15(!) passes batted down at the line in 2025, in part due to largely using these three-quarter releases.
Nonetheless, through four games, he’s posted seven big-time throws vs. three turnover-worthy plays, and has held steady with a pressure-to-sack conversion rate of just 12.5% (12.6% in 2025), on literally the exact same time to throw (2.57 seconds). Along with one easy outing against Charlotte, where he sat the fourth quarter, Chambliss has already gone against Louisville, LSU and Florida – all top 25 teams at the time they met. Even in their trip to Gainesville, those guys were moving the ball pretty much all day, but unfortunately their defense simply couldn’t get off the field. So with the other names near the top of the QB rankings not quite living up to the hype, his star shines very bright right now, and we’re talking about him as a potential top-ten pick next April.
Running back – Wayne Knight, UCLA
The journey for Knight certainly hasn’t been as unlikely as it was for Trinidad Chambliss, but both of them were zero-star recruits coming out of high school, and the running back is one of two skill-position players I’ll talk about here, who have excelled at a bigger stage after following their head coaches to a different stop. Similarly to Curt Cignetti, who just led Indiana to their first-ever national championship in just his second season after leaving James Madison, his successor Bob Chesney made sure to bring along plenty of “Dukes” to UCLA, where those transfers have now become key figures in getting the Bruins off to a 4-0 start. Knight in particular didn’t become a regular contributor on offense until year three, but then, far and away, led JMU with 1770 scrimmage yards and reached the end zone ten times across 247 touches last season. That earned him the all-purpose spot as a second-team All-American. Now, he ranks sixth in the FBS with 445 rushing yards and tied for second with nine touchdowns, but on only 49 carries (tied for 62nd).
UCLA has been a joy to watch over the first month, in large part because they deploy this really fun run-centric offensive system, where often times they’ll have two running backs and the quarterback lined up next to each other, and you don’t quite know who takes the snap or who ends up with the ball. Ultimately, it has been this 5’7”, 195-pound bowling ball coming out of it, to gash defenses. What I really appreciate about Knight’s running style is how instinctive he is, altering his stride length, leaning a certain way to allow blocks to get set up accordingly, and how he presses those before committing to a cut at the last moment. He’s very comfortable navigating congested areas, where the minimal surface area he presents makes it tough for would-be tacklers to get a clear shot at him. Yet, he’ll punish defenses for not making sure they protect the edge, as he’s springy enough to bounce outside. He has that quality, when pounding the ball up the middle, where you see the helmets of defenders trying to converge on the pile snap backwards because they get hit by this freight train.
After four games, not only is Knight averaging 9.1 yards per carry, but 5.9 of those have come *after* contact, with 16 missed tackles forced across 49 attempts, and he’s been nearly unstoppable in short-yardage situations. At the same time, when he gets to daylight, he seems to shock defenders with that rapid acceleration, as well as a tornado-like spin move that he’s unleashed a couple of times in the open field. Thanks to his build, he consistently is the lower man on contact, and either bounces off or just goes through opponents to rack up additional yardage. On just the first two drives of the Purdue game, Knight drew flags for a facemask and horse collar tackle, because defenders simply weren’t able to get a clean shot at him. He ran roughshod through that defense all game long. Plus, I’ve seen him detonate some defensive backs around the sideline. Knight has already posted nine carries of 15+ yards, with one of over 30 yards in each of those matchups. The latest one was by the easiest, as he took one to the house unblocked on a beautifully blocked lead counter play on fourth-and-one. Yet, he did time set it up perfectly as well.
Questions will arise about Knight’s long speed, and if he’ll be able to finish as many runs in the paint as he did in college. Therefore, his time in the 40-yard dash could be one of the more important ones to pay attention to at the start of March next year. I do also believe there’s plenty of tiptoeing in the open field rather than making these dynamic cuts when he’s close to top gear. The other point that he may need to answer in the pre-draft process will revolve around pass-protection. According to Pro Football Focus, Knight has surrendered two QB pressures on seven such snaps. Still, I did also see a couple of nice reps meeting blitzing linebackers early and buying enough time for the ball to come out, and his lower center of gravity could be beneficial in that regard.
What we already know is that this guy is a pretty reliable pass-catcher. He dropped just three of 64 passes he got his hands on through 2025, and has yet to do so on his eight opportunities this year. That includes a couple of impressive grabs, plucking one pass arriving around his feet and one-handing another one without losing any speed out in the flats. I thought he looked efficient getting in and out of breaks as a route-runner, and I like how he instantly gets vertical once the pass is secured. Let’s see how high he can help this UCLA ascend towards and if he can sneak into day two conversations next April.
Wide receiver – Wyatt Young, Oklahoma State
The other highly productive skill-position player I just referenced was the least heralded of three names coming over from North Texas to an Oklahoma State program that already tripled their win total from 2025 through just four games this season (3-1 record). Their quarterback Drew Mestemaker made the list of honorable mentions, but was already considered one of those guys trying to fit into the first round of 2027, after being chosen as the American’s Offensive Player of the Year. Then-redshirt freshman running back Caleb Hawkins was a major revelation last season in his own right, leading all FBS players with 29 touchdowns from scrimmage. Meanwhile, Young “only” led the conference in receiving yards (1264) and touchdowns (10). After one month with the Cowboys, he now is atop the list in yards through the air (410) for the Big 12, catching 22 of 25 targets, including three TDs, with monster performances in wins over Oregon and West Virginia.
For as much as the UNT backfield duo was on my radar, I’m not going to act like I did an extensive evaluation of Young before this season started. And yet, over the last month I’ve continued to ask myself, “Is that white dude running away from the defense again?” Young has consistently been able to gain a step on his defender on crossers, post routes and others. In particular, his biggest plays have come when he’s been matched up against a safety from depth, whom he’s managed to get leaning the wrong way, such as on subtle corner-posts. He set up the game-tying touchdown vs. West Virginia that way just this past week, where the Cowboys tied down the opposite side in quarters. Later on, he cleanly won on a deep out after threatening the post, which set up his own game-sealing score a couple of plays later on a back-shoulder fade from the slot. With that being said, he does plenty of damage underneath as well. Young is a deceptive route-runner, at times slightly drifting the wrong way or purposefully lagging behind with bringing his head around out of breaks. He has the agility to evade ancillary zone defenders, understands when to sit down between bodies, and allows the pass to “carry” him up the field simultaneously to its arrival.
Along with the work Young does before the ball comes his way, he then plucks it out of the air with confidence. He has plenty of moments where he snags near full speed in order to turn those into chunk plays. You see him showcase excellent concentration tracking the ball over either shoulder, including when he has a DB on his back hip, and jumps back through contact in order to grab passes off the helmet of guys trailing him, when the pass is placed behind him. Through four games, he has yet to be credited with a drop (22 receptions), and he’s hauled in all five contested targets his way. Where I was surprised, when going back to the tape from his previous destination, was his start-stop quickness, often allowing him to get past the first defender and to the marker. Young runs with great balance, applying stiff-arms and spinning out of loose wraps to break free. That enabled him to force a massive 32(!) missed tackles last season (70 receptions).
That’s the one element that hasn’t yet translated to a tougher level of competition, as he’s only been able to elude one potential stop. Plus, he was just bailed out by a teammate in that WVU matchup, who jumped on top of a fumble, where someone ripped the ball out of his hands as he was trying to add extra yardage. The one other area of improvement I’ve noticed is that he tends to elevate for some passes that he ends up “basket-catching”. The main limiting factor about his draft profile might be how he can be deployed. At North Texas, he spent over 93% of snaps as a slot receiver, and he’s currently just short of 90% again this season, where he benefits from being provided plenty of room to operate, rather than having to deal with press coverage.
Young does offer solid size at 6’0”, 200 pounds, and his track record of explosive plays is a positive sign about him being able to threaten defenses on the perimeter. If he has short-area agility to release cleanly when a corner is on him at the line of scrimmage and if he can stack that guy on vertical routes, still has to be figured out. His 3.69 yards per route run already was the best mark among all FBS wide receivers with 30+ targets last season. Through one month of 2026, that number is up to an absurd 4.56 YRR. Being a fundamentally sound blocker, who provides great effort, should aid his path to the field in the pros, with how many condensed formations we now see being popularized again. Raiders WR Jack Bech going at the end of round two a couple of years ago might be a target to strive for.
Interior O-line – Greg Johnson, Minnesota
Unlike the other three offensive players highlighted here, Johnson has been on the NFL’s radar for a couple of years, I believe, thanks to his steady ascent since joining the Gophers in 2023 as a standout high school lineman in the state of Minnesota. He already logged just 400 snaps and started a couple of games at left guard as a true freshman, then became a fixture in the lineup for all 13 games respectively at center and then primarily left guard the following two seasons. After being named honorable mention All-Big Ten in 2025, he’s off to the strongest start of his career one month in, and the senior already looks like he’s ready to suit up in the NFL, both in size – at 6’6″, 325 pounds – and how he’s handling himself in the middle of arguably the most physical conferences in college football.
Johnson looks like an old-school, gap scheme mauler, where he does erase the space to defensive tackles on simple down plays and helps provide vertical displacement on double-teams. However, Minnesota actually has been pretty zone-centric since the arrival of (maniac) head coach P.J. Fleck. Number 65 is well-schooled on those concepts, making sure he keeps his gap clean, attaching, overtaking or climbing off combos with appropriate timing. This season in particular, I believe he’s emphasized being able to get his hips around basically seal defenders away from the point of attack when they try to stretch opponents horizontally, as well as simply finishing reps in a way that washes opponents out of the lane. If he can keep up this level of play, he’s on pace to have improved his run-blocking (92.8 in 2026) and overall PFF grade every year with the Gophers.
Even more than the ground work, where Johnson has made a name for himself, is how he’s been able to keep his quarterback Drake Lindsey clean – a promising pro-style quarterback in his own right. Biomechanically speaking, the way he widens his base and goes pigeon-toed allows him to transfer the force applied via the bull rush into the ground and maintain a firm middle of the pocket. Plus, his hands quickly re-fit if they do get knocked away momentarily. Johnson’s eyes and feet are married as he transitions through twists and rarely do you see any spillage between him and his fellow linemen, particularly on slide protections. Across 142 pass-blocking snaps, he has yet to allow a single pressure on his quarterback. Minnesota has used plenty of play-action involving pulling linemen. Along with picking up assignments off the edge when he’s the one on the move, when he was asked to start at center this past game, he showcased the short-area agility to erase space for defensive tackles on the quasi back-blocks, that otherwise might allow them to trail the pulling guard.
That’s where I wanted to see the most improvement coming into the season, as I wouldn’t have labelled Johnson the most light-footed, twitchy athlete. He can bury defensive backs when getting out in the screen game, but I still wonder if he can make those sudden adjustments against moving targets. Although it’s been less prevalent so far in 2026, he has a tendency to shift his weight too far forward in the run game, and becomes vulnerable to being arm-overed or pulled forward. If he’s asked to operate in a more spread-out offense rather than these narrow splits along the Gophers’ O-line, where the bumpers to either side of him are further removed.
Where Johnson added another notch to his belt last week was how seamless he made the switch back to center look like, after being locked into that spot during his sophomore campaign. He had plenty of direct climbs to the second level and would just bully linebackers. Having less space to interior rushers and him being able to immediately fit his hands into their frame may also be beneficial to him, as he routinely locked them up throughout the rep. Johnson has been such a sturdy presence on the interior, his only two penalties came in a blowout loss at home to Mississippi State, where they had to try forcing the issue with a heavy dropback script, and I’m at least already writing him in pencil as part of any first-round mock drafts.
Interior D-line – A.J. Holmes, Texas Tech
6’3”, 300 pounds; RS SR
One of the nation’s 1000 top recruits for Houston in 2022, Holmes redshirted four games into that first season. He posted solid production the year after, which he basically doubled in his third campaign with the Cougars, once he had established himself as a fixture in the lineup for them. Yet, he decided to transfer and become part of a loaded Texas Tech D-line, where it took an injury to Skyler Gill-Howard for him to earn a starting gig, and he still was able to earn second-team All-American accolades, as he posted 38 stops, nine TFLs, 4.5 sacks, four PBUs, a fumble forced and two recovered. Nonetheless, it appears as if he’s taken his game to another level as a redshirt senior. He has already collected 2.5 sacks, as a constant disruptor, who once again has the Red Raiders tied atop the Big 12 conference, thanks to taking over late in their biggest game so far against a then-ranked Houston team.
Texas Tech fielded one of the elite defenses in college football last season. Those speed balls off the edge wreaking havoc in passing situations were most prominent in the general consensus. However, it was their ability to stop the run on early downs that really set up those opportunities to rush the quarterback. They allowed just 68.1 yards per rush and a minuscule 2.2 yards per carry. Those numbers are slightly up so far this year, in part also because they’re missing a Heisman candidate like Jacob Rodriguez as the heart of that unit. Holmes’ ability to alter those plays on the interior has stood out. He packs the jolt in his hands to rock back the pads of offensive linemen at the point of attack. Yet, his sudden slide or cross step to win his gap, along with his mobility to track zone plays down the level, are equally impressive. Where I’ve seen him make strides in 2026 has been his activity to work over the top of blocks and staying within the flow of the play, along with just re-setting the line of scrimmage.
Most intriguing about Holmes’ profile has to be his short-area quicks to threaten the edge of pass-protectors. Last season I already saw him earn some instant wins when slide protections weren’t firm and he can knife through with the rip, or sort of back-door someone trying to get in front of him. Once opponents are overly worried about matching his lateral movement, Holmes will start using more power, with an expert feel for weight distribution and freeing himself late by pulling linemen off himself. This season, I’ve seen a lot more urgency to just run through someone’s chest, particularly when lined up over tackles and he can get under those guys. Plus, the rotational force to turn their upper bodies with the initial club has gone to another level. In his first season with the Red Raiders, Holmes already recorded a QB pressure on better than every tenth pass-rush snap. Through the first four weeks of 2026, he’s tied for the high mark for any Power-Four interior D-lineman (16 QBPs across 127 pass-rush snaps).
Now, although Holmes has posted six “defensive stops” so far – which constitute a positive tackle in defense’s favor based on down and distance – he has already missed three of just seven overall attempts this year. He needs to do a better job of gathering his feet. Plus, I would say his range beyond his gap has largely looked average during my studies. Even still, Holmes would benefit from playing with better extension through blocks in the run game. Where the most growth is needed in his profile is expanding his limited pass-rush toolbox. As I already mentioned, being more aggressive with taking a different path to the passer has been a positive. However, he still largely builds it around making opponents mirror his lateral movements and then attempts to push-pull them around. His hand counters in particular need work.
Altogether, this season has been more about gaining recognition for Holmes, rather than being viewed as the “fourth wheel” along that Red Raider D-line, with the other three being picked between second and 70th overall in the 2026 draft. He’s definitely flashed with more regularity. In their key matchup against Houston, he came up with a huge sack on third down to start the fourth quarter, and then also killed the next drive with a couple of big pressures. Even though there’s only one more team left that’s currently ranked on their regular schedule, he may have a chance to continue to rise if he returns to the College Football Playoff. It’s a strong IDL class, but a top 50 selection isn’t out of the question.
Linebacker – Sammy Omosigho, UCLA
Along with the already-discussed star running back Wayne Knight, UCLA has a potential All-American at their hands on defense, who has delivered pivotal plays in their perfect start to the season. Omosigho was a top-100 prospect for Oklahoma in 2023. I don’t really question why he wasn’t getting significant run with that Sooners defense before transferring this past offseason, considering Owen Heinecke ended up at the end of my top ten linebackers for the 2026(!) draft before deciding to return to school, once he had already partaken in the majority of the process, yet he didn’t even become a starter for that program until the latter half of last season. That doesn’t mean he didn’t flash in moments or wasn’t productive when called upon (89 tackles, 9.5 for loss, four PBUs over the past two years). Still, he’s made his presence felt through four games with the Bruins, leading the Big Ten in solo tackles (27), TFLs (7.5), sacks (3.0) and fumbles forced (four).
Where Omosigho has stuck out through one month as a full-time starter has been his combination of anticipation for plays and trust in his eyes to meet ball-carriers at a spot. He packs a firm punch to create stalemates with offensive linemen early on as they climb, and it’s been a joy to watch him stun and drive inserting tight-ends into the pile. Thanks to his ability to deal with close combat at 6’2”, 240 pounds, Sammy can be patient sitting in the cutback lane, and even when it appears that linemen are able to make it to his play-side shoulder, he can fight through and still create an angle towards the ball for himself. The Bruins have deployed him a lot around the line of scrimmage, with the sudden hands and flexibility to slide off blocks. He’s showcased great stopping power to halt the momentum of ball-carriers and limit yards after contact. After not missing any tackles through the first three weeks, he had two in their blowout at Maryland, finishing atop the board in total tackles for their third time in four games. 21 of those 37 overall were registered as “defensive stops” – which is one away from his career-high for a season. That 5.1% miss rate is still double compared to what he did last year (2.5%), by the way.
The usage in coverage has been fairly simplistic for Omosigho. Nonetheless, he rarely allows quarterbacks or routes dispersing to pull him off his landmarks and presents easy reads underneath. He makes sure to contact targets working through his areas without compromising himself by shifting too far that way, so he can take care of his (ultimate) assignment. A couple of times, we’ve seen him bump and ride tight-ends throughout their route when asked to match. Plus, he’s had multiple moments already this year of sniffing out screen passes and single-handedly shutting them down. Weaponizing him as a pressure player has paid major dividends. Omosigho has a real knack for angling his rushes, getting underneath pass-protectors and creating paths to the quarterback for himself. He also uses almost like a jump-cut into chop or rip move as he cross-faces opponents. UCLA has used him as a picker in order to create lanes for his teammates, yet he’s split creases between offensive linemen himself quite frequently. Plus, he times up and finds efficient tracks as a looper as well.
With that being said, the transfer LB has certainly benefitted from being allowed to freely attack downhill for a lot of his backfield production, and he can end up being overzealous at times. More important for his outlook as a vying three-down player, he’s not doing a whole lot in terms of commanding space in zone coverage or carrying routes down the field. He appears a little heavy-footed and stiff at times floating around in space, and he may not have the difference-making range to run down plays outside the numbers frequently. Limiting him to going forward in defined dropback settings may be the route his future defensive coordinator will need to choose.
That has resulted in 11 QB pressures across 41 pass-rush snaps so far with the Bruins, including a pair of sacks. He’s only been charged with 40 yards as the next-closest defender coverage (six targets), and has earned an elite overall PFF grade through one month (90.5). Additionally, he already forced four fumbles. The first one was a strip-sack in the season opener against Cal, where he was left unblocked off the quarterback’s blindside. However, he’s really learning the art of the peanut punch when he spots an opportunity, including a pair against Purdue that really turned the game in his team’s favor. I’m wondering if he can jump two or three names that currently find themselves towards the end of the top 100 on consensus boards still.
Cornerback – Ashton Hampton, Clemson
Although he didn’t quite come in with the same pedigree as some of the other eventual high draft picks at corner for Clemson, Hampton quickly made a name for himself, starting the final four games of his true freshman season and all 13 last year. Across those, he broke up 14 passes and intercepted three more, of which he took one back to the house. Based on consensus boards and my own evaluations, he was someone to note as a potential first-rounder next April. That’s because at 6’2”, 205 pounds, he has prototype measurables for a boundary, press-man corner. I’m still not quite sure how Clemson chooses the alignment of their CBs, where Hampton at some point has ended up sticking to the right side, instead of responding to where the ball is spotted, and then playing a lot more off-zone coverage, but a lot of the qualities you’d like to see have been on display regardless. He came up with a deflected pick on just his second snap of the season and currently leads the ACC with seven PBUs.
What got me excited for Hampton’s junior year was that, for being a bigger corner, he has that swift slide step to mirror releases, to go with the physicality to deny wideouts the ability to cleanly get into their routes. He can match bigger bodies trying to out-muscle him early on and has really mastered the soft press, catch technique this season, in order to respond to the stem and just stick to the hip pocket of opponents. Routinely, he’s bothering guys who seem to not get out of their breaks cleanly and aren’t ready for the ball arriving there as they get their head around. Yet, he’s doing it without even getting antsy and grabbing opponents, not being flagged once so far. Even when there has been a little bit of separation, his burst to close the gap and jar the ball loose has forced multiple incompletions anyway. Hampton had one heck of a start to the 2026 season, when he threw off the timing of a quick in-cut on the second play of the opener against LSU, and then came up with an interception off the hands of the wideout, who deflected a ball that was placed behind him as a result.
The rest of the game obviously was all LSU, but their top corner was only even targeted two more times – one of which resulted in a 32-yard gain, making up basically a third of the production he’s been responsible for. That was almost impossible to defend though, having to trail a deep crosser one-on-one all the way outside the opposite numbers. The next-closest reception he’s been responsible for was a deep curl route against him bailing in cover-three, but Hampton at least made the tackle (for 17 yards). Overall, he’s been thrown at 25 times in coverage, yet only allowed nine receptions for 98 yards and no touchdowns (31.8 passer rating). Just last week, he absolutely bullied Rutgers transfer WR Ian Strong. In zone coverage, he typically doesn’t allow receivers to get behind him in deep responsibilities, he smoothly moves within his landmarks, plays very well to his leverage, and is aggressive when he does drive on routes breaking against it.
Last year, I saw a tendency to be a little heavy on his heels and therefore late to respond at times. That’s certainly looked improved, but wideouts who can really sell the take-off and then catch him having to flip down the sideline may be able to create space as they snap off hitches/curls and he’s a beat late. Depending on his usage going forward, I wonder if we see more of those free-access throws in front of him, if he provides extensive cushions in off-zone. Hampton could still be quicker at IDing when receivers dive inside for the safety, and he needs to replace or just step down in run defense. And I loved his aggressiveness trying to shut down a couple of bubble screens last week, but it can be hit or miss, as he drew a flag for holding once, but then completely whiffed on a tackle on the latter. I’d think his miss rate will end up being closer to 2025 (6.7%) than what he’s done on a limited sample size this season (15.4%), but there can be plenty of extra yardage surrendered as he drags down opponents.
Generally, I think he’s a solid contributor in the game, who’s pretty sudden with disengaging from wide receivers once the ball-carrier approaches. That combined with his ball-production could make him an intriguing prospect for pretty much any defensive scheme. Notre Dame’s Leonard Moore was viewed as a blue-chip prospect coming into 2026, and he’s barely been tested through four weeks, so anyone would come off that opinion. However, Hampton currently would be my clear CB2 in the class. As a sidenote, the guy on the opposite end of the field – Elliot Washington II – has been excellent in his own right, and just came up with a couple of awesome INTs in their win over Cal last week.
Safety – Kingston Lopa, California
A four-star recruit for Oregon in 2024, Lopa struggled to earn consistent playing time through two seasons with the Ducks (just under 200 combined snaps), thanks to an excellent safety room already in place, after Dillon Thieneman transferred there last season. He ended up being selected in the first round of the ensuing draft, while Jadon Canady was one of the first picks of day three. Lopa decided to move on himself after that and it’s paying major dividends. Despite going up against UCLA as former rivals in the state of California and a couple of ACC opponents (Syracuse and Clemson), he leads the entire country with five interceptions, along with logging 20 solo tackles, to put his name on the map. And he’ll be an intriguing one to follow, considering he stands at 6’5”, 210 pounds, and has taken on a fairly unique role for the Golden Bears D.
Going through his already extensive INT reel from this season, you can tell that this guy has the instincts and mindset to hunt the football. The first one was a great play in man coverage, where he’s playing ten yards off on a slot receiver for UCLA in the season opener, yet manages to undercut a quick out, in order to keep his team in the contest, when they were already defending inside their red zone shortly before the half while down by 11 points. His pick against Wagner was definitely easoer, just stepping in front of a short in-breaker as a rat defender in the middle of the field. And then he grabbed a three-pack against Syracuse in between those matchups, where the first one was a desperation throw that he could elevate for on third-and-forever sitting underneath a seam route. However, the other two were great plays. On the one he took back to the house, he played in between two routes breaking across the field towards him and poached the latter as the boundary safety in quarters. And the one that sealed the win was an underthrow on a deep out, where he was all over number three in trips, who he was manned up against.
So you can tell that he already deciphers route combinations and discourages quarterbacks from attempting throws to his side at an advanced level. He shows excellent route anticipation when asked to bump down and man up detached tight-ends. And he manages to time up the catch point, to the point of not being penalized across 241 defensive snaps. The Cal coaching staff has regularly deployed Lopa as that mid-read player in three-safety sets, to allow him to see the action and attack it. He’s been responsible for 71 yards across nine targets in coverage, but 43 of those came on one throw over his head at the end of the first half against UCLA in the season opener, where it might’ve been more of a coaching point to sink to a certain depth as the pole player in Tampa-2.
That brings us to the area of his game that is still a work in progress – his run defense. I like the conviction he showcases when triggering downhill as he fits from depth. However, his initial angles can definitely get too aggressive, and he’s forced to curve his path out to the sideline, surrendering plenty of extra yardage as a result. His height becomes an issue when trying to meet blockers or ball-carriers around the line of scrimmage, where running backs can really get under his chest and dictate which way they’ll be moving. Plus, he tends to overrun the point of contact rather than going through it, leading to a 17.1% missed-tackle rate so far with the Bruins (compared to 18.8% on a very limited basis in 2025 with the Ducks).
Nonetheless, I don’t really have many questions about his mentality in that area. You see the pop in his hands to knock tight-ends off balance as they glide up towards him, and he’s made some nice plays erasing the distance on bubble screens or bounced runs before shooting through the legs of the ball-carrier to shut those plays down. Basically, half of his total tackles so far (14) have resulted in defensive stops. Coming into this season, Georgia’s K.J. Bolden and Notre Dame’s Brauntae Johnson were looked at as two of the consensus top three safeties, looking ahead to the 2027 draft, with Koi Perich unfortunately not having as smooth a transition as last year’s big transfer for Oregon at the position. Depending on how you label Iowa’s Zach Lutmer as a chess piece in the secondary, Lopa is on track to be considered the next name off the board after the former two, if he can clean up what I just described to a certain degree.
Other risers:
QB Darian Mensah, Miami
QB Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State
RB Jadan Baugh, Florida
RB L.J. Martin, BYU
WR K.J. Duff, Rutgers
WR Reed Harris, Arizona State
WR Charlie Becker, Indiana
TE Luke Reynolds, Virginia Tech
OT Earnest Greene III, Georgia
OT Lance Heard, Kentucky
OT Trevor Lauck, Iowa
IOL Anthony Boswell & Shadre Hurst, Houston
EDGE Princewill Umanmielen, LSU
EDGE Dom Nichols, Michigan
EDGE/IDL Devan Thompkins, Alabama
IDL Will Echoels, Ole Miss
IDL Xavier Gilliam, Tennessee
LB Austin Romaine, Texas Tech
LB Tony Rojas, Penn State
LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Notre Dame
CB Ethan O’Connor, Miami
CB Kelley Jones, Mississippi State
SAF K.J. Bolden, Georgia
SAF Alex McLaughlin, Washington
