College Football Week 9 Discussion Thread

Saturday is a big day for SEC action. Week 9 will set the tone for the league’s playoff opportunities.

Summarized by AI ⓘ

What is the story about?

Surprise surprise. It’s another big SEC week for college football in Week 9. All three of the top 25 matchups this week are in-conference SEC games, all of which will be broadcast on ABC. As always, let’s take you through who the top 2026 draft prospects are in these games, using the consensus draft board’s rankings.

#8 Ole Miss @ #13 Oklahoma (11 am CT, ABC)

Ole Miss
- #122 DT Zxavian Harris
- #146 QB Trinidad Chambliss
- #147 LB Suntarine Perkins
Oklahoma
- #28 QB John Mateer
- #57 ED R Mason Thomas
- #114 WR Deion Burks
- #154 DT Gracen Halton
- #195 OL Febechi Nwaiwu
- #238 RB Jaydn Ott

Oklahoma is in a very weird situation going into this game. Yes, they took care of business against South Carolina last week, but they also dropped a game to then-unranked Texas the week prior.

Quarterback John Mateer, a transfer from Washington State, is coming off in-season hand surgery. Since coming back, he’s completed 38 of 64 passes for 352 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions (along with six sacks).

The Sooners also have one of the more disappointing stories from the transfer portal this year, as former Cal running back Jaydn Ott was considered a top-100 pick coming into this season, and is now hovering around being an undraftable prospect. On the year, he has just 21 carries for 68 yards, including just one attempt over the last two games.

Meanwhile, Ole Miss is coming off a one-score loss to Georgia in Athens, while head coach Lane Kiffin deals with rumors surrounding him possibly being the next coach at Florida. From a Green Bay Packers perspective, it might be worth checking out quarterback Trinidan Chambliss, a transfer from Division II’s Ferris State. The only senior quarterbacks ranked between 50th and 170th on the consensus draft board right now are Miami’s Carson Beck and Chambliss, not a great sign for a Packers team likely in the search for their next backup quarterback via the draft.

#15 Missouri @ #10 Vanderbilt (2:30 pm CT, ABC)

Missouri
- #100 ED Zion Young
- #103 OL Cayden Green
- #110 ED Damon Wilson Jr.
- #200 TE Brett Norfleet
- #247 DT Chris McClellan
Vanderbilt
- #119 TE Eli Stowers

There aren’t many draftable prospects in this particular matchup, but this game should be interesting if you’re tracking who will or won’t make the college football playoff. Both of these teams have only lost to Alabama this year, Missouri by 3 points and Vanderbilt by 16. According to ESPN’s playoff projector, Vanderbilt has a 34 percent chance to make the playoff — good for 15th in college football — while Missouri is at 32 percent — 16th. Certainly, the result of this game should make a big difference in each team’s chances.

For what it’s worth, seven teams have a better than 50 percent chance to make the playoff this year: Ohio State, Indiana, Alabama, Texas A&M, Georgia, Oregon and BYU. Football powerhouses Indiana and BYU, just like we all drew it up.

#3 Texas A&M @ #20 LSU (4:30 pm CT, ABC)

Texas A&M
- #36 ED Cashius Howell
- #56 WR Kevin Concepcion
- #70 CB Will Lee III
- #116 OL Chase Bisontis
- #138 OL Dametrious Crownover
- #140 LB Taurean York
- #180 OL Ar’maj Reed-Adams
- #202 TE Theo Melin Ohrstrom
- #229 RB Le’Veon Moss
- #244 S Bryce Anderson
LSU
- #16 QB Garrett Nussmeier
- #18 CB Mansoor Delane
- #59 LB Harold Perkins
- #87 LB Whit Weeks
- #108 S A.J. Haulcy
- #128 WR Aaron Anderson
- #176 WR Nic Anderson
- #194 ED Patrick Payton

This game is probably the best scouting opportunity that there is this week, and don’t be surprised if the Packers send a scout to pay a visit — despite the team already seeing LSU live multiple times this season. The Tigers’ best player is probably Virginia Tech transfer cornerback Mansoor Delane, as quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is clearly pushing through an injury. Meanwhile, Patrick Payton, who had a lot of NFL hype going into last season when he was a member of Florida State’s team, has completely tanked his stock. The 2022 ACC rookie of the year has only recorded five sacks over the last two years.

He’s no longer listed as a draftable player, as he’s ranked 275th on the consensus board, but when I picked the brains of people in the industry about centers in this class, one name that came up was A&M tackle Trey Zuhn III, who split time practicing at tackle and center this summer. There’s an expectation that Zuhn will kick inside to center at the next level.

As far as true centers go, here are the players currently in the consensus board’s top 250 prospects:

#33 Connor Lew, Auburn (just tore his ACL)
#79 Parker Brailsford, Alabama (undersized)
#80 Iapani Laloulu, Oregon (inconsistent)
#105 Jake Slaughter, Florida (there are some thoughts that he’s more of a PFF darling than Day 2 NFL prospect)

After that…the next center up is Kansas’ Bryce Foster at #259. So…it’s safe to say this center class isn’t exactly loaded.

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As always, we’ll update you on where the Packers are traveling to this week, whenever that information comes. So far, here’s where we know Green Bay has sent scouts: