Welcome to the second volume of The End Zone Report, where we talk about anything and everything football. In today’s report we are talking about the top college ball prospects, the Ravens return to winning and Rashee Rice’s injury.
The 2025 NFL draft is looking more intriguing by the day. The preseason hype on certain prospects has died down and new faces are having standout performances. In this segment we’ll cover some of the top prospects who made it through the grueling first few weeks of college football with first-round level stats.
To start things off, we’ll talk about the best and potentially the most polarizing prospect in the 2025 NFL draft. Travis Hunter is attributing the bite to the bark, showing that no one can touch him despite all of the preseason doubts cast upon him. On the offensive side of the ball, Hunter is racking up 100, 200 yard games every week, catching an insane amount of passes from his quarterback, Shedeur Sanders.
Hunter also thrives on the defensive end of the ball. In a crucial overtime matchup against Colorado State University, he forced a fumble to seal the win. As for a player comparison, there really is not a single player with the same skills as Hunter. On the offensive end of the ball, Hunter compares well to a heftier Garrett Wilson due to his unique abilities to keep the ball in movement even after catching a pass. On defense, he compares to Jaire Alexander. Not only are they both bruising bodies, they also have a unique sense of pick artistry that enables them to force turnovers at an incredible rate. Travis Hunter is likely to do well in the NFL and it’s evident based off of his hot start to the season.
Next, let’s discuss another top prospect. Carson Beck is the perfect quarterback… for the 1980’s. It remains up in the wind whether he will succeed in the NFL. Due to Beck’s large stature and limited mobility, he struggles to evade defenders and instead prefers to take his time sitting in the pocket waiting for his receivers to get open. The fact is, he’s really good at it. Beck is a gun-slinger, Eli Manning type quarterback, with a perfect pocket presence and a cannon of an arm. There’s a reason Georgia is the No. 5 ranked team, even with the loss of star tight end Brock Bowers to the NFL. That reason is Carson Beck. Beck is single-handedly activating the Georgia offense and he prefers to do it under the radar.
How will Beck do in the NFL? As mentioned, he plays a lot like Eli Manning, a potentially successful archetype, but his potential isn’t high enough to be Manning. He is a top quarterback in the upcoming draft class, and he would fit well in a team looking for some stability to go along with their weapons. One example would be the Steelers, a talent-loaded team without a future quarterback.
The next prospect to discuss is Cam Ward, a potential Heisman candidate. Ward was lowly recruited out of high school, spent four years at bottom ranked programs, and transferred this offseason to the University of Miami. Ward is a mobile, strong-armed quarterback. He’s my favorite quarterback in this upcoming class and has the potential to get drafted high. Ward is a quick decision-maker, a trait that would suit him well in the NFL. He bursts like a cheetah, barrels through opponents like a tiger and dots his teammates with a precision only found in venom-spitting rattlesnakes. Ward is clearly an NFL ready prospect as his blend of size and agility serve him well.
Ward reminds me of Hendon Hooker because of his mix of different skills, but that’s not all. In a way, he plays like Josh Allen, a big, physical quarterback with unique arm talent and awareness. Cam Ward figures to be a top five quarterback prospect at least, and he’ll do great things for a team like the Panthers or Seahawks.
Next, the Ravens are back to winning! As a diehard fan, I was excited to see Derrick Henry absolutely dismantle the Bills defense. A 24 carry, 199-yard rushing performance from the biggest man around was enough to send the lowly Bills’ safeties and linebackers crawling back to the locker room. It is insane to watch a 250 pound man break away from defenders and run at 21 mph for a whole 87 yards. More than that, the Ravens are back.
Everybody was getting antsy after a questionable 0-2 start, where Lamar Jackson was passing for big yards and rushing for them too. I was confused, because the stats looked great, so why were they losing? The fact is, that’s just not how the Ravens play. The ground game is crucial to their success, so their wins came to the surprise of no one after rushing for a total over 500 yards these past two games. Henry is now the NFL’s leading rusher, and Jackson is on pace for a 3,700-yard season with at least 1,000 rushing yards.
In the final segment of this volume, let’s talk about an unfortunate turnover. Every interception or fumble is unfortunate, but this pick thrown by Patrick Mahomes was really unfortunate. In his fifth interception thrown on the year, he ran towards the defender with the intent of leveling them. However, he missed entirely. Mahomes’ hulking frame came down on his wide receiver, Rashee Rice, dropping him onto the ground. Rice couldn’t get up for a few minutes before finally dragging himself over to the locker room with the help of the attendants.
The problem is that Rice, the Chiefs top wide receiver, might have a torn ACL. Their other top receiver, Marquise Brown, is out with a dislocated sternoclavicular joint in his left shoulder, and the Chiefs are looking thin on weapons. One of the NFL’s top teams now has even less weapons than they did coming into this summer. The Chiefs are in trouble and the NFL needs to stay on notice.
This wraps up the second volume of The End Zone Report. Keep a look out for the next one.
