James Foster's Week 2 Scouting Notebook and Film Room

Every week this season, I’ll be breaking down the key performances from draftable prospects across the country. Here are my thoughts and takeaways from Week 2 tape study. I’ve grouped each player into tiers based on how I rated their performance.

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Ole Miss transfer Austin Simmons is off to a very hot start. For a quarterback who entered the season with just 108 career pass attempts, he plays with impressive poise and anticipation. He’s fearless testing tight windows and throws with precise ball placement to the intermediate sideline and middle of the field. He did a good job holding safeties with his eyes and working to the backside of the progression, though he did throw an interceptable pass down the seam vs. Cover-2. Simmons has first-round upside if he maintains this level of play against SEC competition.

Greg Johnson is my top-ranked interior offensive lineman, and he put on a clinic against Mississippi State. At 6064/327 [Editor’s Note: 6’6 ½” and 327 pounds], Johnson is an easy mover with an impenetrable anchor and refined hand usage. He varies his punch technique throughout the game and instinctively refits his hands to neutralize counters. He slides his feet quickly to protect his edges and prevent opponents from crossing his face. 

When rushers try to use power, Johnson has the mass to absorb the initial jolt and flexible hips to sink and establish leverage. He’s also highly alert to pass off stunts and diagnose exotic pressures on third down. Minnesota totaled just 13 rushing yards, but Johnson was not the issue. He had several dominant reach blocks and created decent movement at the point of attack.

Devan Thompkins was not on my radar heading into the year, but he’ll be a priority watch going forward. Thompkins is 6047/290 [6’4 ⅞”, 290] but moves like a 5-tech and has the athletic versatility to play multiple spots along the line of scrimmage. He beat the right tackle with a ghost move and bull-rushed the left guard into the quarterback’s lap. 

He also has elite length and hand pop to lock defenders out of his frame and shed with violence. Thompkins doesn't play at a consistent speed snap-to-snap and needs to improve his awareness in both phases, but NFL teams will covet his athletic traits.

Cayden Green had a down year in 2025 but was lights-out vs. Kansas in Week 2. Aside from one half-loss, his pass-blocking tape was very clean. He’s nearly impossible to bull rush and uses his strong outside hand punch to protect the corner, though his foot speed will be tested by more athletic SEC opponents. He created displacement in the gap-scheme run game and consistently widened the frontside B-gap on base blocks. He also had much more success as a zone blocker than he did last year.

Dom Nichols has been one of the most productive edge rushers in college football to start the season. Working against a bottom-tier SEC tackle, Nichols recorded eight pass-rush wins, seven pressures, and three sacks. He’s only 245 lbs, but consistently pushed the pocket with his long-arm and has a very effective hump move. 

The Michigan edge attacked the B-gap when his opponent overset or opened his hips to match his speed, and got a strip-sack with an inside spin. He won with a cross-chop but couldn't flatten at a sharp enough angle to finish the sack. I would be surprised if Nichols declared after this season, but he’s definitely worth monitoring.

Isaac Smith is a rangy safety with good size and a well-rounded skillset. He ‘allowed’ five receptions for 26 yards in this game, though none of them went for first downs. In zone coverage, he trusts his eyes and urgently makes smart decisions. He played excellent coverage on a red zone post, squaring up the stem, matching the break, closing separation, and timing his hands perfectly to break up the pass. Smith blew up a mesh-sit concept and made a few stops near the line of scrimmage. He also cleanly stacked and shed Greg Johnson at the second level.

Reed Harris had a monster performance in Week 2, recording nine receptions for 189 yards and two touchdowns. While much of his production was schemed up, Harris showed exceptional ball-tracking skills, strong breakaway speed, and a coordinated release package. He’s an above-average route salesman; however, he needs to improve his efficiency and accept less contact at the top of the stem.

Anto Saka is one of the most gifted athletes in college football. At 256 lbs with decent length, his get-off and pursuit speed are overwhelming. Tackles are forced to strain to beat him to the top of the arc, but also have to worry about his speed-to-power. 

In Week 2, he won once with a long-arm and three times with speed moves, though Arizona State’s gameplan limited the number of true pass sets and opportunities to pressure the quarterback. In his first three years at Northwestern, Saka was one of the most dynamic and efficient pass rushers in the country, but he wasn’t asked to play many early downs and will need to prove that he can hold up in run support. 

On one play, Saka teleported into the backfield and met the ball carrier at the mesh point, several yards behind the line of scrimmage. He also chased down a swing pass and made a stop in the alley. While he didn’t have any dominant stack-and-shed reps, he did a solid job playing off of blocks and didn’t look out of place setting the edge.

Bo Mascoe shadowed Jeremiah Smith for most of the second half and was the only Texas defender who could remotely stick with him in single coverage. On four targets to Jeremiah Smith, Mascoe allowed zero receptions, though one incompletion was a drop. He used the sideline effectively to reroute outside releases and was competitive and disruptive at the catch point.

Caleb Woodson recorded two sacks and eight stops vs. Kentucky and has injected life into Alabama’s front-seven. He’s an active communicator with good pre-snap awareness and above-average post-snap processing. While he lacks top-tier instincts, he plays with patience and discipline to avoid overflowing or abandoning his gap. He wasn’t asked to take on blocks directly in this game, so his stack-and-shed ability is still a question. Woodson is a great athlete who has the speed to match tight ends down the seam and the quickness to beat IOL across the face as a pass rusher.

Colin Simmons performed well vs. Ohio State and looked the part of a top-ten pick. He won with power, speed, and inside moves, recording five wins, three pressures, and a sack on 27 pass rush snaps. He beat a zone cutoff and made the stop from the backside, but got stuck to a block and was driven downfield on the frontside of wide zone.

Mestemaker did not have a perfectly clean performance vs. Oregon, but he forced me to take him a lot more seriously as a prospect. He struggled against the best defenses he faced in 2025 (San Diego State/Tulane), and while Oregon’s defense was clearly overrated, this was still a major resume builder. 

He has the composure to move through his progressions from within the pocket and hit his second or third read on the backside, but he still needs to learn to climb the pocket rather than drift backward until something opens up. I reject the Josh Allen comparisons, as Mestemaker’s arm talent and movement skills are much closer to adequate than elite, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up as a first-round pick in 2028.

Jaleel Johnson is a 272-pound defensive end with a prototypical frame and an explosive first step. He recorded seven pass rush wins, five pressures, and sack in Week 2, though his presence wasn’t felt on nine run defense snaps. He has heavy hands, relentless leg drive and good pad level to displace tackles with his long arms. He won the outside track with a cross-chop (sack), swipe, and hook move, though he lacks the ankle flexion to bend tight corners through contact. This is the first game that I’ve watched, but Johnson has the athletic profile and technique of a top-75 pick.

Melvin Siani had a very solid outing against Ohio State. He was credited for allowing a sack to Kenyatta Jackson Jr., who jolted him slightly with speed-to-power, but it was far from a decisive loss, and I think Arch Manning deserved some of the blame for stepping up into pressure. Aside from that play, Siani’s anchor was rock-solid, and his lower body is as flexible as any tackle in this class. 

He explodes out of his stance to match edge speed and showed the ability to open his hips and expand his set points. Importantly, Ohio State used a lot of three-man contain rushes, so he wasn’t threatened along the outside track very often. Siani won and lost run-blocking reps at about an equal rate. He climbed smoothly to the second level and got pancakes on a backside cutoff and frontside base block. But defenders could at times shed him at the point of attack once they established first meaningful contact.

Tavion Gadson is one of the most athletic defensive tackles in the 2027 class. At 6035/302 [6’3 ⅝”, 302], he has a premier combination of length, first-step explosiveness, and bend at the top of the arc. He dusted Alabama’s right guard with a one-hand swipe and flattened to the quarterback to finish the play. 

Gadson is a disruptive presence in run support who is nearly impossible to contain on slants and gap exchanges. His movement skills and quick play diagnosis allowed him to derail several of Alabama’s gap-scheme runs. Though he lacks the mass to stand his ground against double teams, his hands are extremely violent when taking on iso blocks. He also made an outstanding hustle play to break up what should have been a touchdown near the goal line.

This was mostly a break-even performance from Arch Manning. His box score was fairly misleading, as his receivers dropped five passes, although his ball placement definitely regressed from Week 1. He sailed a tunnel screen, placed a deep over too far in front of his receiver on third down, and threw a wobbly and slightly inaccurate backside dig. 

Manning’s processing and anticipation improved significantly towards the end of 2025, but through the first two weeks, Manning has failed to see or been unwilling to test a lot of open windows over the middle of the field. He lingered on his frontside reads for too long and missed several opportunities on the backside. However, he hit an in-breaker with anticipation to move the chains on 4th & 8 and showed good timing and confidence targeting curls/sits vs. zone coverage.

Austin Siereveld played very well at right guard for most of the game but struggled filling in at right tackle in the fourth quarter. Considering that Siereveld is a guard prospect, I’m grading this outing on a bit of a curve. He strikes opponents with heavy hands, which have been much more accurate to start out the year. 

He easily sinks his hips to curb speed-to-power and had no trouble mirroring rushers across his face. Colin Simmons burned him with a speed-rip and inside counter at right tackle. Siereveld had a solid performance in the run game but fell off of a few blocks at the point of attack.

DJ Hicks is a talented 3-tech who made a consistent impact in both phases. He repeatedly used a club or swipe-swim to cross his opponent’s face, and his glitchy lateral movements and closing burst allowed him to penetrate and finish plays in the backfield. While he put Arizona State's right guard in a blender for the entire matchup, he wasn’t able to beat the left guard. He usually got displaced when taking on double teams, however, which will be a persistent issue at 288 lbs.

Earl Little Jr. is not a Caleb Downs-caliber safety prospect, but he had a similar impact in run support against Texas. He recorded nine tackles and four stops, putting a lid on any potential explosive run that cleared the first level. He shows no hesitation triggering downhill and fitting the run, though his production reflects how poorly Ohio State’s front seven played. He drove on a crosser and almost got an interception, but had a couple missed assignments in zone coverage vs. RPOs and quick game concepts.

Kade Pieper moves and is built like a snowmobile, but he empties gaps like a snowplow. His run-blocking tape in Week 2 was good, though nothing special by his standards. He had a dominant reach block finish vs. the backside 2i, along with several other wins as a zone blocker. He popped the Will linebacker on a climb to the second level, but lost his footing several times in the run game. 

I still have concerns about his ability to hold up in pass protection at the next level, however. While he has excellent slide quickness and pocket range, he gets rocked back by initial contact, and his brittle anchor will likely be exposed by better power rushers.

Kelley Jones had an up-and-down performance against a pedestrian group of receivers. On five targets, he recorded one pass breakup and allowed three receptions for 55 yards. He broke up a fade in the red zone, but needs to play the ball instead of face-guarding at the catch point. This issue resurfaced later in the game, as he gave up a 34-yard reception down the sideline, despite being in good position, because he couldn’t turn his head around and locate the ball. 

Jones blanketed every vertical route he faced, which should be expected for a corner with his blend of size and speed. His eye discipline allowed him to anticipate route breaks, slightly offsetting his average mirror skills, though his lack of fluidity was exposed when receivers made sharp cuts at the break point or after the catch. 

Dating back to last year’s tape, he’s usually very patient in off/catch-man, remaining square with the release until the receiver declares. But in the second quarter, he bit on a fake outside release, abandoned inside leverage, and got beat on a dig. He hasn’t improved his physicality in run support and still gets stuck to perimeter blocks and driven downfield.

In his first Power-4 matchup of the year, Zabien Brown gave up a touchdown on a blown assignment but was sticky in single coverage. He played with good eye discipline and break anticipation to get an early read on routes and turned his head around to play the ball down the deep sideline. He also doesn’t shy away from fitting the run and could play nickel if teams are worried about his lack of speed.