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Top Draft Prospects for Georgia-TCU National Championship

Palmber-Thombsby: Palmer Thombs01/05/23palmerthombs
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Tony Walsh / UGA Sports Communications

College Football fans across the country will tune in to the National Championship Game Monday night (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) between Georgia and TCU. One would assume that the two teams fighting for the title would be full of talent, and that assumption would be correct in the case of the Bulldogs and Horned Frogs. ESPN’s Jordan Reid released a mock draft earlier this week featuring four players that’ll suit up at SoFi Stadium. Todd McShay has the same four Georgia and TCU players in his first round while Mel Kiper has a total of 15 players from the two teams listed in his top prospects. Of course ESPN isn’t the only draft network out there, and everybody agrees: these two teams are full of talent. Here’s a look at the top draft prospects that Georgia and TCU have to offer.

Georgia Bulldogs

Top Georgia Prospect (per NFL Draft Buzz): Jalen Carter

Strengths

  • Carter has the strong core and powerful hands to shed blockers, and Carter shows excellent instincts with the ability to quickly locate the ball.
  • Can make the impressive chest-to-chest bear hug tackle in the hole due to his ability to wreak havoc in the backfield.
  • Carter is strong enough in the lower body to hold up at the point of attack, and he displays a good feel as a grappler in the phone booth, consistently getting blockers off-balance before sending them to the ground.
  • Despite a bowling-ball build, he has good feet and agility, capable of working laterally down the line of scrimmage in pursuit.
  • Strength gives ends a chance to twist inside and linebackers free lane to the passer on blitzes.
  • He’s a good lateral mover who shows surprising speed for a 300-pounder when chasing the ball carrier in pursuit.

Weaknesses

  • Carter lacks suddenness as a mover, and Carter isn’t going to do much in the pass rush when working one-on-one.
  • Sees the ball well but is stuck on blocks when head-up; does not shed to make plays often enough.
  • Doesn’t have a lot of range when it comes to pursuing on the backside.

TCU Horned Frogs

Top TCU Prospect (per NFL Draft Buzz): Quentin Johnston

Strengths

  • He’s a precise route runner, creating separation when used on quick outs and stop patterns in college. Johnston has good stop-start ability and lateral agility.
  • He’s excellent downfield, accelerating to top speed quickly and stacking on top of cornerbacks. He has excellent body control, contorting to make difficult catches and working well on back-shoulder throws.
  • Made Bruce Feldman’s Freak’s List – ranked #23. He wrote “Johnston, at 6-4, 210, is a remarkable athlete. He has vertical-jumped 42 inches and broad-jumped 11 feet. He’s clocked a 4.4 40 and back-squatted 575 pounds. Despite missing three games in 2021, he still made first-team All-Big 12. Johnston’s 33 catches went for 634 yards and six touchdowns.”
  • Is a super athletic player who has elite speed combined with an impressive catch radius. Long arms with elite leaping ability
  • Could well have the best combination of speed, acceleration, and size of any wideout in the class
  • He also proved to be a force in catch-and-run situations. A violent runner who transitions upfield quickly after the catch, Johnston has the speed to pick up chunks of yardage once he’s broken the first tackle.
  • He accelerates quickly and possesses good straight-line speed. Johnston shows solid ball-tracking skills and body control downfield, able to adjust to the off-target throw.
  • Very good hands accepts the ball fluidly on most throws and is ready to make a play afterward. Makes catches in traffic, even going up over taller defenders with vertical and toughness.
  • A savvy, natural pass-catcher with reliable hands and very good focus. Snatches the ball out of the air and shows the concentration to make acrobatic catches look easy.
  • He’s equally dangerous in catch-and-run situations as he is taking the top off a defense

Weaknesses

  • Despite his size Johnston is not a dominating blocker and will need to develop his skills to become a complete pro player
  • Has only run a limited route tree at TCU – scouts will take notice of the extent he is given a chance to expand this in 2022
  • He’ll have to develop a better feel for sitting down against zone coverage.
  • Johnston isn’t as good as you expect given his athletic traits on contested catches.
  • He also had problems with focus drops when coming back to the action. Johnston has some issues against press coverage, sometimes spending too much time hand fighting at the line of scrimmage.

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