Six From Saturday: Oklahoma WR CeeDee Lamb’s Draft Stock Is Soaring

Also, Chase Young still the top college player despite a slow Saturday, Jonathan Taylor expected to play in the Badgers' bowl game and more.
Six From Saturday: Oklahoma WR CeeDee Lamb’s Draft Stock Is Soaring
Six From Saturday: Oklahoma WR CeeDee Lamb’s Draft Stock Is Soaring /

CeeDee Lamb
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Six things to note from college football championship weekend and the significance to the pro game.

1. No prospect this side of Joe Burrow has helped himself more this year than Oklahoma WR CeeDee Lamb. The junior came into the season as a solid Day 2 prospect and is coming out of it on fire. Some of the questions, like one concerning his straight-line speed, remain. “It’s still somewhat of a question,” said one AFC college scouting director. “And route-running is always going to be an issue for guys coming out of that system.” So how’s he helped himself? Check this out.

2. As for Burrow, scouts have noted his Tom Brady-type of pocket feel. This isn’t so much about athleticism—although Burrow’s a damn good athlete—as it is how a quarterback anticipates the rush and moves like a boxer to buy time to throw. The LSU fifth-year senior showed it again against a stout Georgia defense.

3. Wisconsin RB Jonathan Taylor acquitted himself well, and made a case to go in the first round with his 148-yard effort against Ohio State’s top-ranked defense on Saturday night (even if only 13 of those yards came after halftime). Afterwards the junior announced that he won’t skip the Badgers’ bowl game, as has been the trend for non-playoff-bound prospects.

“I played with these guys this season to earn the right to have a bowl game,” Taylor said. “Especially after today, I want to help these guys finish it out right.” 

No one would have held it against him if he went the other way. But I bet you’ll hear plenty on how teams love his competitiveness for doing it the next few months. Now let’s hope he stays healthy.

4. Chase Young remains the best player in college football and the 2020 NFL draft, and his statistically light Saturday doesn’t change that. He was double- and triple-teamed by Wisconsin much of the evening (good move by the Badgers after his four-sack effort against them in October), and yet he still got to the quarterback a bit. He made another ridiculously athletic play in stopping Taylor on a fourth down late in the fourth quarter to lock up the Buckeyes’ third-straight Big 10 title.

5. Three quarterback decisions to watch: Georgia’s Jake Fromm, Washington’s Jacob Eason and Utah State’s Jordan Love (Eason was inconsistent this year, and Fromm and Love had bad seasons). All those guys are behind LSU’s Joe Burrow, Oregon’s Justin Herbert and, barring a medical disaster, Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa. And I’m not sure they can pass them. The problem? Waiting means being part of what’ll probably be seen as a stronger class of quarterbacks in 2021, with Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State’s Justin Fields taking the lead.

6. Iowa State’s Matt Campbell just signed a new five-year deal, but I still think NFL teams should give him a call, based on what people who I know and trust—who are out of the scouting trail constantly—say about him. The Jets wanted to take a look at him last year, and the Browns kicked the tires too.

Question or comment? Email us at talkback@themmqb.com.


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Albert Breer
ALBERT BREER

Albert Breer is a senior writer covering the NFL for Sports Illustrated, delivering the biggest stories and breaking news from across the league. He has been on the NFL beat since 2005 and joined SI in 2016. Breer began his career covering the New England Patriots for the MetroWest Daily News and the Boston Herald from 2005 to '07, then covered the Dallas Cowboys for the Dallas Morning News from 2007 to '08. He worked for The Sporting News from 2008 to '09 before returning to Massachusetts as The Boston Globe's national NFL writer in 2009. From 2010 to 2016, Breer served as a national reporter for NFL Network. In addition to his work at Sports Illustrated, Breer regularly appears on NBC Sports Boston, 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston, FS1 with Colin Cowherd, The Rich Eisen Show and The Dan Patrick Show. A 2002 graduate of Ohio State, Breer lives near Boston with his wife, a cardiac ICU nurse at Boston Children's Hospital, and their three children.