100%. Mateer’s injury probably makes him the luckiest QB in all of college football. Gotta love the dynamic NIL adds. He goes out right after he’s labeled the Heisman favorite and he’ll come back to finish out the year with a decent excuse if he doesn’t light it up. After that, he gets about a month to listen to the draft chatter and tease an OU program that has top-10 NIL money and shitty QB depth behind him. He has big money waiting no matter which way he turns. Bigger question is - of the QBs everyone thought were draft-ready this year, which ones will stick around to reestablish their game, which ones will move around for money, and which one will chance this year’s draft to avoid what’s starting to look like a deep 2027 QB draft. Think about all the drama we were missing before NIL. Love this shit.
I hate it actually. Ruins both leagues. Miami will land one of these QBs next year for sure and so will Florida State. I would not be surprised if Arch Manning ends up at Ole Miss eventually either
I have to agree. I can't stand the NIL. Now, not only do you have kids in the NFL making millions before they are mentally ready to handle that responsibility but you have kids, in college, that can't handle that responsibility, coming out of college arrogant as fuck and expecting to "walk" into the NFL and it be just like college. You end with kids in the NFL flapping their gums, like Cam in Tennessee. What did he expect. You get drafted 1st overall because the team you are going to BLOWS! He is no longer "Big boy on campus" but now nothing but a cog to get his kicked up and down an NFL field all day long. Insult to injury, barely a D1 school runs any semblance of an NFL offense, the QB's are hardly touched and their WR's run open, by 15 yards, all day long and that's what they expect to see in the NFL. They are ALREADY bitchy millionaires so the primary MOTIVATION, money, no longer exists. Even the very lowly drafted QB's or, worse, the undrafted ones, are all making bank and, for what? Naw, there is NO ONE that can convince me the NIL is good for shit. Sorry folks. I played college ball when you didn't make a buck and I'd rather have that than what I see today.
Asking for a friend. Who am I kidding. Asking for myself. Vanderbilt is 10.5 points underdog to Alabama this Saturday. Do any of you think Vandy has a chance to steal this game?
I’m not a big fan of NIL but it’s definitely leveled the playing field. Georgia, Alabama, etc. always paid players. The lower tiers either never got away with it or never had the boosters coming out in full force to build the arms race up. It also allows teams to turn rosters over and that can actually be a negative. Continuity helps programs sometimes in this new era. It’s awful for the sport of football though. Players won’t be playing as long in the NFL. They’re millionaires in college already and they’re doing everything they can at times to stay in college meaning they’re going to the NFL at older ages.
I don't know... I STILL see the same ole' tired ass teams in the top 20. Now, when I see Sam Houston St. land in the top 10 then we can have a discussion how level he college playing field is... These players bounce around between the Big20, SEC & ACC and that's about it.
If I were betting MY money, I'd put it on Alabama making this one hurt. A few reasons, but just for starters - losing to Vandy last year was an embarrassment like nothing Alabama had seen in a decade. I'm sure the Vandy field storming was replayed in the film room every day this week. This one is at home in front of 100,000 fans, minus the 3000 Pavia family members. Alabama is playing with confidence, with a QB that seems to be hitting his stride at the right time and They already have one loss, with several tough games ahead. From this point forward, Alabama can't just not lose; they need quality wins against ranked teams. Vandy is a 5-0 ranked team. Doesn't matter that some dopey Jets poster named Sundayjack thinks it's a schedule-built mirage - they're still ranked. Ass-whoopings count more. Alabama by 17. I typed 20 first, but it's a sunny day and I'm feeling charitable.
Alabama doesn’t have the NIL war chest that others do. When is the last time you’ve seen a billionaire influencer from Alabama? Miami, Oregon, Texas, Michigan. These are the new blue bloods. Ohio State of course but they have been a blue blood constant
Jack. Thank you. I was waiting for you to post. For me, it is not a betting thing. Son was accepted into Vandy this summer as a transfer student from Rutgers. I visited him in Nashville last weekend. He was all pumped up about Vandy's 5-0 record and he told me about the Alabama game coming up. I looked at the betting lines and saw that Alabama was favored big. Trying not to get emotionally invested in this game so I said let me ask college foootball gurus what they think. I will now watch it with zero expectations thanks to you, @mezzavo and @Unhappyjetsfan
Posting these only because I was looking at them this morning. Withholding comment for now. Especially on whether or not the USA Today mock draft guy is a retard. I wouldn't know. Best to keep my opinion to myself on that. USA Today Mock Draft 1. Garrett Nussmeier QB 2. LaNorris Sellers QB 3. Spencer Fano OT 4. Fernando Mendoza QB 5. Rueben Bain Jr. Edge 6. Peter Woods DT 7. John Mateer QB 8. T.J. Parker Edge 9. Kadyn Proctor OT 10. Francois Mauigoa OT ESPN Best Available - 2026 NFL Draft 1. Rueben Bain Jr. Edge 2. Caleb Downs S 3. LaNorris Sellers QB 4. T.J. Parker Edge 5. John Mateer QB 6. Spencer Fano OT 7. Peter Woods DT 8. Keldric Faulk Edge 9. Caleb Lomu OT 10. Dante Moore QB 20. Garrett Nussmeier QB 24. Carson Beck QB 44. Arch Manning QB
Napier is definitely no Spurrier... so I guess we can if Arch can do something Uncle Peyton could never do this weekend...
Well, now, you didnt mention this involved your son. That's different. Here's a rainbow and sunshine version. For family harmony, and all. This game sets up pretty closely to Alabama-Vandy 2024. In both years, Alabama was just coming off a hugely emotional, slugfest win over Georgia. Also, as much as I tank on Vandy's weak 5-0 schedule, South Carolina was ranked somewhere in the top-15 when Vandy took it to them. LaNorris Sellers was knocked out of that game, but he wasn't much of a world-beater before that, and South Carolina has more talent than just him. Alabama seems to have trouble with mobile QBs. Their loss to FSU is the best example, but Gunner Stockton ran well against them also. Pavia is more like Stockton than Thomas Castellanos. My opinion - one of Stockton's flaws last week was holding out for the open pass when he should have tucked it and run. Pavia has tons more experience, including against Alabama. He won't make that mistake. The next-level speed Alabama has at LB, hasn't really shown up yet. They can be run on, and they can be run past. In 2024, Vandy prepped for a dual threat QB in Jalen Milroe. Ty Simpson isn't scaring anyone with his legs and the Alabama running game hasn't been anything spectacular, mostly because of injury. Jam Miller is back, but I doubt he's 100% yet. If Vandy can get off the field on 3rd down and not let Alabama WRs run by them, they should be in the game all day. That's how Vandy won last year - they just wouldn't go away. Clark Lea is a defensive guy and he's smart. His teams get beaten on talent, he won't get out-coached. Lastly, even though I do think this is a revenge game for Alabama fans, the players are different. Especially in 2025. They no doubt have Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma and Auburn in mind - must-win games against blue bloods and rivalries. Regardless of how much their 2024 loss has been drilled into them this week, I guarantee Alabama players are taking this one lighter. Some of that goes back to recruiting. I'm sure a majority of the Alabama roster took recruiting visits to all those other blue blood schools. I doubt more than a few, if any, took visits to Vanderbilt. They don't look at Vandy in the same class. You can show them the Vandy loss a thousand times to drill it in, the players will never look at Vandy as urgently as the coaching staff and fans do.
Wow. Thank you for that Jack. To me it is all about coaching. If you say Vandy coach lose on talent and does not get outcoached I will have something to look forward to then. I will watch Vandy football first time ever this Saturday. I hope I like what I see and I hope Alabama doesn't take it to us and score 50 on us.
I won’t pretend to have an informed opinion on any of these guys as I don’t watch a lot of college ball until probably the playoffs. That being said, when I see a board like the ESPN one here where a top QB is not the top player, that’s a bit of a red flag to me…QBs are so important that they often edge out another player that may be more highly rated because the position itself is so critical. So in the ESPN list, their QBs are the 3rd and 5th guys, that concerns me a bit… Of course, this list is not trying to be a “draft mock” but is labeled as a “best available” list so maybe I’m reading into it something that I shouldn’t, and of course it’s early in the year still…
