James Foster's Week 5 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 5 tape study. I’ve grouped each player into tiers based on how I rated their performance.

First Week Notebook Here.

Second Week Notebook Here.

Third Week Notebook Here.

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Last Saturday, Mizzou quarterback Austin Simmons had an excellent performance that should firmly establish him as a first-round prospect. He completed 23 of his 30 pass attempts for 340 yards and two touchdowns and didn’t have any turnovers or interceptable passes. This was a positive development from Week 4, where he threw four dropped interceptions. 

While it’s not a foregone conclusion that he’ll declare for the draft, as he currently has just six career starts under his belt, he’s had the best tape of any eligible quarterback through five weeks. His grade will continue to rise as the sample size increases and if he sustains this level of play against better defenses. The Week 10/11 matchups with Georgia and Texas will carry a lot of weight in his evaluation.

A former baseball player, Simmons generates RPMs effortlessly, throwing a scorching fastball to pierce tight windows. With his velocity and sharp ball placement, he’s essentially a Jugs Machine in the low red zone. He has elite accuracy down the sideline and above-average touch to layer deep/intermediate passes over second-level defenders. 

Despite his lack of experience, he processes like a veteran and throws with top-tier anticipation over the middle of the field. He’s poised within the structure of the offense and willing to stand in the pocket and take hits to buy time for routes to develop. Missouri’s offensive line usually gives him plenty of time, so he hasn’t had many opportunities to show his pocket navigation skills or off-schedule playmaking instincts. 

Ohio State’s Austin Siereveld is a guard at the next level but was forced to move to right tackle after Phillip Daniels’ injury vs. Texas. Two false starts kept this performance from the 'Elite' tier, but on live reps, Austin Siereveld’s Week 5 tape was as clean as it gets. 

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Aside from one whiff at the second level, he didn't have any losses or missed assignments, and he finished blocks violently in both phases. His two-hand punch creates knockback and melts into the rusher's frame, ending the rep on first contact. He has a stout anchor and adequate foot speed to protect the corner vs. college rushers. He deleted defenders in the run game, uprooting and flipping the frontside edge multiple times to spring explosive/successful plays.

Ellis Robinson IV, a Georgia cornerback, was a highly-touted recruit whose rare athletic tools and lack of polish were evident during summer scouting. But his eye discipline, patience, and footwork have developed significantly from 2025, and after three SEC matchups, I’m comfortable moving him into the top ten on my board. 

Robinson allowed one reception for 11 yards on three (official) targets in this matchup, though two additional targets were negated because of OPI/DPI. He mirrored an in-breaker from Vanderbilt receiver Junior Sherrill through press-man and timed his hands perfectly to break up the pass. Sherrill stacked him on a stop-and-go, but he recovered and tracked the ball over his shoulder for one of the highest-quality interceptions of the year. 

His strong press jam, quick transitions off the line, recovery speed, and abrupt deceleration make him tough to beat on the vertical plane. But he also has elite hip fluidity and reactive athleticism to mirror 90º cuts and is now playing with the necessary eye discipline to anticipate intermediate route breaks. He still needs to improve his play strength and physicality, as he’s vulnerable to perimeter blocks and push-offs at the top of the stem.

Indiana receiver Nick Marsh is another talented prospect who has taken every step I wanted to see from last year. In Week 5, he caught seven of nine targets for 120 yards and a touchdown, his most productive game of the season. Rutgers' corners were terrified of him and provided massive cushion on almost every play, so hitches were automatic completions. But unlike Charlie Becker, who goes down immediately after the catch, Marsh has the wiggle to shake the first tackle attempt and the burst to torch pursuit angles instantly after turning upfield. He converted two hitches into explosive plays and should be Indiana’s primary RPO option going forward.

He has outstanding upper-body salesmanship, giving convincing head fakes to freeze defenders at the break point. He caught a 12-yard touchdown on an out-breaker, which he set up perfectly, although he stalled a bit at the break point and had to make a tight-window grab along the sideline (still got both feet in). He also has a very effective rocker step to separate on digs vs. inside leverage.

Defensive lineman Xavier Gilliam, a Penn State transfer new to Tennessee, has been one of the biggest risers in this class through five weeks. He recorded six pressures and two stops in week five, but the box score undersells his impact.

Gilliam played 21 snaps at 0-technique, terrorizing Auburn’s center and living in the backfield for the entire game. He was the catalyst of Tennessee's pass rush plan, which was predicated on him beating the center one-on-one and forcing the quarterback to step up into contain rushers. 

He has the lateral quickness and polished hand usage to win across the face, and is unmirrorable when matched up with heavy-footed IOL. In this game, he used a club-rip, stutter-swipe, and push-pull to clear the edge. Auburn’s center plays like he just chugged a bottle of NyQuil, but Gilliam was equally disruptive in his Week 4 matchup with Connor Robertson, a decent late day three prospect. He also rushed high-side vs. the right tackle and spun back into the B-gap for a quarterback hit. 

His lack of power is the main limiting factor on his grade, however. His bull rush has been completely ineffective in every Power-4 game. Gilliam made his presence felt in the run game as well, though he’s less consistent in that phase. He locked out the reach block, reset the line of scrimmage, and met the runner in the backfield for a TFL, but also got cut off and flipped onto his back by a scoop combo.

Houston cornerback Jalen Mayo is a long, physically imposing press corner who transferred from Stephen F. Austin this year. His enormous wingspan allows him to reach into passing lanes, engulf receivers at the line of scrimmage, and make difficult off-frame tackles. 

He was targeted five times this week, allowing just two receptions for eight yards. He had two pass breakups in flat zone coverage, both of which ended drives and required all of his arm length to pull off. He closed on a hitch and punched the ball out of the receiver’s hands, forcing an incompletion on 3rd & 4. 

On the final play of the game, he sunk from the flat and fully extended his reach to break up a hole shot. One of his incomplete targets should have been an explosive play, as he lost pace with the receiver down the sideline while trying to locate the ball, but the pass was overthrown. On another rep, he jammed his receiver at the goal line, derailed the play, and forced the quarterback to tuck the ball and take a loss. 

Mayo’s lack of mirror skills will limit his grade and scheme versatility. He labors to decelerate and allowed consistent separation to stop routes in Week 5.

Safety Tae Johnson played 24 snaps in Week 1 before suffering a left foot injury and hasn’t returned to the field. But in his stead, Luke Talich has emerged as yet another draftable player on Notre Dame’s defense.

He ranged from centerfield to the numbers and caught his second interception of the season. Later in the game, he almost picked off a slot fade from single-high, but the ball landed out of bounds. He also defeated a block and made a TFL vs. a slip screen. He played mostly tight man coverage vs. TEs, showing the ability to stick with intermediate breaks and run with vertical routes. 

However, North Carolina tight end Jelani Thurman beat him on an out route, using strong hands to break contact at the top of the stem. I’ve only watched two Luke Talich games, but he looks like a potential day two pick.

Minnesota offensive line prospect Greg Johnson moved from left guard to center after Ashton Beers’ season-ending injury and has been equally dominant through two games. He pitched a shutout in pass pro this week but was boom-bust in the run game, with a roughly even number of clean wins and losses. Johnson is an advanced pass blocker with exceptional hand usage, strike timing, and leverage to neutralize speed or power. 

He won a few reach blocks vs. the 0-tech, including a dominant pancake where he used his overwhelming torque to uproot the defender's anchor. He also weaponized his torque on gap-scheme runs, twisting and sealing defenders out of rushing lanes and planting them in the ground. He crushed a linebacker ten yards downfield on a jailbreak screen, but had a few clumsy whiffs at the second level. Early in the game, he was late to disengage from his combo and climb to the linebacker, who shot the open gap for a TFL.

Kentucky offensive tackle Lance Heard has boosted his stock over the first five weeks and is coming off of his best performance of the season. He allowed just 1 pressure on 51 pass-blocking snaps and had some violent finishes in the run game, but also missed several assignments that led to TFLs. His pass sets are smooth and rhythmic, allowing him to gain depth while maintaining an even weight distribution. 

This measured approach is necessary, since he lacks the fluidity to redirect with inside moves if he oversets. He can afford to underset, however, as his elite length boosts his margin for error and allows him to expand the corner when rushers begin to threaten it. He flashes his hands repeatedly as he gets into his set, making his punch timing unpredictable. He got a double kill on a frontside pull and, on multiple occasions, used a snatch-trap to knock down the backside EMLOS — but he struggled to react to gap exchanges and prevent leakage into the backfield, which has been a recurring issue.

Jeremiah Smith,Ohio State’s star receiver, overshadowed a very strong performance from his teammate and fellow receiver, Devin McCuin. He caught all four of his targets for 80 yards, including a red zone touchdown on an impromptu route extension. He ran a filthy double move for a 34-yard reception and used a crafty release to beat press on a quick slant. He also attacked the deep-third corner’s blind spot and stacked him on a deep post, but wasn't targeted. 

McCuin has the salesmanship and nuance to separate from man coverage, but struggles at times to withstand contact down the stem. He’s one of the more physical run-blocking receivers in this class and got several knockdowns this week.

Clemson’s Ashton Hampton has been phenomenal at cornerback this year, but I wasn’t quite as impressed with his Week 5 tape as most people seem to be. While he was mostly good in coverage, his run/screen support was abysmal, as it has been for his entire career. I wouldn’t be surprised if his disinterest in run support causes NFL teams to prefer Ellis Robinson IV, who’s merely an adequate run defender himself.