Week 6 isn’t the busiest in terms of schedule, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. This weekend we will see four games with Top 25 teams facing off, with Georgia-Tennessee and Clemson-Miami clearly the pick of the bunch. Here are some of the more interesting 2021 Draft prospects to watch this week.
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Trey Smith – G, Tennessee Volunteers
Smith is probably my favourite interior lineman to watch in the 2021 class. Having helped the Volunteers to a 2-0 start to the season, they face their toughest test yet against No. 3 ranked Georgia this weekend.
As a prospect, Smith is one of those linemen who can do it all. He has excellent power at the point of attack and is a mauler in the running game, with PFF ranking him as the top returning SEC run-blocker this season. He is no slouch in the passing game either and hasn’t allowed a sack since 2018. He has experience playing across the offensive line too, starring at tackle in his sophomore season.
There are no question marks around Smith’s talent but his history of medical issues (blood clots in his lungs) has seen him miss time and could impact his draft stock come April. If he can stay healthy this season he has all of the talent to be a first round pick.
D’Eriq King – QB, Miami Hurricanes
The game between Clemson and Miami is easily the best matchup of weekend and it will be interesting to see how King fares under the spotlight. Both teams are unbeaten after three games but this is going to be a really tough test for the Hurricanes, who are 15 point underdogs in this one.
King has looked good since his transfer from Houston, throwing for 733 yards and six touchdowns through three games. Unsurprisingly he has also proved to be a threat on the ground, with 174 rushing yards at an average of seven per attempt. He is one of the most athletic prospects at the position and his ability to beat defenses through the air or on the ground is what you look for in a modern quarterback.
This week will be his biggest challenge by far as he comes up against a talented Clemson defense. One things to watch will how well he plays under pressure as this has been a problem so far. Per PFF his passing grade drops from 91.5 to just 49.7 when pressured. He has had just four completions from 21 pressured dropbacks for just 73 yards and a touchdown. This game will be big for him: if he is going to have a chance of being drafted then he needs to prove that he can perform against top college defenses like Clemson.
Travis Etienne – RB, Clemson
On the other side in this matchup will be a name that every college football fan knows well in the form of Travis Etienne. Unlike several of the players on this list there really isn’t an awful lot left for him to prove after putting together crazy numbers over the last three seasons.
Etienne recently broke the Clemson record for yards from scrimmage and last week tied an FBS record for scoring touchdowns in 38 different games. A score this week against Miami will put him right at the top of this list. The rest of his numbers are equally ridiculous: last year he ran for 1,614 yards at 7.8 per carry with 91 forced missed tackles, the latter two leading all Power Five schools.
Etienne’s position as RB1 entering the draft is under very little pressure but he will want to continue putting up good numbers and entering the record books. He has averaged 6.3 yards per carry on his 39 carries so far this season. Whilst this is a good number, it is way below his career average of 7.7 and you would expect him to have a monster game some time soon. Miami have struggled against the run so far this season so it could be this week that it happens.
Liam Eichenberg – OT, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame have always produced talented offensive linemen and Eichenberg looks like he could be the next big name on their long list. The Fighting Irish’s offensive line is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation by PFF and entering Week 6 Eichenberg is the second-highest graded non-quarterback in all of the Power Five.
Eichenberg is a really powerful player with ideal length to play tackle at the next level. He has great footwork and has consistently demonstrated the ability to read and react to blitzes and stunts. He is a good run-blocker, but his real value is in pass protection. Since the start of the 2019 season he has not allowed a single sack across his 557 pass-blocking snaps and has conceded just 13 total pressures.
This week the Fighting Irish are coming up against a talented Florida State defensive line and it will be interesting to see how Eichenberg copes. He will face some talented pass-rushers this season in the ACC and if his performance against Duke is anything to go by he should be fine. If his current level of performance continues for the rest of the season we could be talking about a fringe first round talent.
Kyle Trask – QB, Florida Gators
The draft wouldn’t be the same without a quarterback who enjoys a meteoric rise in his final college season. Last year we saw Joe Burrow go from potentially undrafted to No. 1 overall and one of the players hoping for a similar jump this year is Kyle Trask.
He became the Gators’ starter last season and threw for almost 3,000 yards with 25 touchdowns and seven picks. At 6’5″ and 240 lbs, he is built like an old school NFL quarterback and has a cannon for an arm. His problem last year was a lack of consistency, though he has admittedly looked much better so far in 2020. Through two games he passed for 684 yards and 10 touchdowns at an average of 9.6 yards per attempt.
Trask is still pretty raw from a fundamentals standpoint, though this is not surprising when you consider he didn’t even start in high school. He is also pretty statuesque and is not going to offer much at all with his legs, which will limit his effectiveness at the next level. Nevertheless, teans will love his un-coachable arm talent and if his current level of performances continue he will definitely rise up draft boards.
