NFL Draft Prospect Risers & Fallers For October: Drew Mestemaker On The Move
NFL Draft

NFL Draft Prospect Risers & Fallers For October: Drew Mestemaker On The Move

Coach Gene Clemons identified the NFL Draft 2027 prospects who are on the rise, and those falling during October.

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The college football season is heating up with conference play in full swing and No. 1 teams getting knocked off on a regular basis. NFL Draft prospects are also moving up and down the draft board, and Coach Gene Clemons is on the job to break down the players rising and falling based on their October performances.

Risers & Fallers By Position Among NFL Draft Prospects for October

Quarterback

​Riser: Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State)

Mestemaker has been the apple of every evaluator's eye in the month of October. While other quarterbacks have suffered injuries or succumbed to pressure that has made their overall performance drop, Mestemaker has played some of the best football of his career.

Now he's showing that his processing speed against disguised coverages and his consistency with making secondary-level reads has put him in a tier of the best prospects in college football for the 2027 NFL Draft.

​Faller: Arch Manning (Texas)

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and Arch Manning has had difficulty keeping his head straight. There is growing belief that he may need another season to round out some of the really rough edges in his game.

Against the elite SEC defensive fronts, his processing gets sped up far too often, which has led to him dancing more than he should in the pocket and even drifting back out of the structure of his protection. He is forcing passes into coverage instead of taking the easy checkdowns when available. His mechanics have been questioned, and that inconsistency has manifested itself in his accuracy dipping.

​Offensive Tackle

​Riser: Trevor Goosby (Texas)

Goosby is one of several University of Texas prospects who had a first-round grade coming into the season and was looking to show consistency if he wanted to cement himself into Day 1 of the draft.

In October, he has accumulated consistent, high-efficiency pass-protection grades, and he has been able to calm edge rushers in isolated one-on-one sets. He utilizes his kick slide to create separation between him and the edge rusher, and his ability to use both hands independently gives him the opportunity to fight against the speed rush outside and any counters that may come with it. He has shown that his big frame is perfect for taking on bull rushes.

​Faller: Jordan Seaton (LSU)

There was a ton of hype associated with Jordan Seaton when he decided to leave the University of Colorado for the deep pockets of LSU. His body had matured, and he looked as if he was ready to take the next step toward being a top-10 pick in the draft.

In October, he has shown a tendency to lunge at defenders, especially pass rushers who use speed attacks. He can overset against the speed rushers and get hit with an easy counterattack that forces him to reach out and grab defenders. He has also struggled to handle speed-to-power bull rushes because he leaves his chest exposed and doesn't sink his anchor down to keep from getting pushed into the backfield.

Tight End​

Riser: Trey'Dez Green (LSU)

Green was an intriguing tight end prospect coming into the 2026 season. At 6-foot-7, he has elite-level size and a ridiculous catch radius. Throughout the season, he has been proving that the optimism scouts had for his abilities was well-deserved.

Throughout October, he has been showing up as a matchup nightmare in the red zone. On intermediate passes, especially on seam routes, his ability to catch passes while being draped with defenders has made him a consistent top target on third-and-long conversions.

​Faller: Jamari Johnson (Oregon)

Like Green, Johnson possesses elite-level size and catch radius, and had a ton of promise coming into the season for what he could provide to Oregon and potentially into the future.

However, Johnson has struggled as an inline blocker and has seen his snaps decrease in the month of October because of it. As Oregon has leaned more into the rushing attack with the injury to starting quarterback Dante Moore, Johnson has seen his effectiveness as a pass catcher dwindle. He hasn't been able to consistently find the passing windows necessary to get him the ball regularly, and he lacks sharpness in his breaks.

​Inside Linebacker

​Riser: Sammy Brown (Clemson)

Brown has really come into his own in the month of October. One of the best abilities a linebacker can have is to show that downhill violence necessary to play the position in the NFL. He has shown an instinctive ability to diagnose the play and trigger downhill immediately. He blows up interior gap schemes before the offensive linemen can climb to the second level and get their body on his body.

He has shown drastic improvement in coverage and has given scouts the comfort that he could be a three-down linebacker at the next level.

​Faller: Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (Notre Dame)

The month of October has been a struggle for Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. On film, he looks hesitant when he's trying to diagnose counters and misdirection. He bites heavy on play-action, and when he looks to attack the line of scrimmage, he is sometimes out of position on his run fits.

Throughout the end of September into October, over the past four games, he has produced only 10 tackles. That lack of productivity against teams that lean into running the ball, like BYU and North Carolina, is staggering. That has made evaluators believe they need to see much more out of him to decipher where he belongs as an NFL Draft prospect.

​Safety

​Riser: KJ Bolden (Georgia)

As September has spilled over into October, Bolden has shown elite-level single-high range against some of the best competition in the country. His closing speed has been on display not only in coverage, but as a run defender as well. We know he has elite ability as a third-level safety to get sideline to sideline, but he's shown so much more in October.

Over the past two games, he has 14 total tackles, which includes 10 solo stops. As a free safety playing at the top of the defense, that's a phenomenal number. He exhibits clean technique in his open-field tackling. He breaks down and wraps up without overrunning ballcarriers or receivers on boundary angles.

​Faller: Koi Perich (Oregon)

Koi Perich has accumulated 23 tackles over his three games in the month of October, and while those are fantastic numbers for a safety, the problem with Perich isn't the plays that he makes: it's the plays that he doesn't.

While he does a good job of rallying to the ballcarrier in run defense, he sometimes takes bad angles and doesn't break down when approaching the ballcarrier, which gives up explosive runs.

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