Which players improved or hurt their stocks in the CFP?
When it came to the NFL Draft, there used to be this phenomenon called “bowl-game bias,” when a prospect would see massive movement in his draft stock based on one game to end the season.
It was pretty foolish. But absolutely real.
Now, the expanded College Football Playoff has made it much more reasonable to tweak evaluations of many players. Ohio State and Notre Dame played in four more games after the end of their respective regular seasons.
With the college season now officially complete — and with the Buckeyes as national champions — let’s pinpoint which 2025 prospects saw their draft stock fluctuate over the past month in the CFP.
All prospect rankings via CBSSports.com’s consensus rankings.
EDGE Jack Sawyer (Ohio State): Stock up
- Prospect ranking: No. 30 (No. 7 EDGE)
Before the College Football Playoffs began, the Columbus native and four-year Buckeye tallied 50 pressures on 276 pass-rushing snaps, equating to a sizable 17.2% pressure rate. Anything in the 17-20% (or higher) for a collegiate prospect is elite.
He had a 17% pressure rate in the CFP entering the national title and only had two pressures in the championship against Notre Dame, yet that doesn’t outweigh the overall impact Sawyer had in these four games en route to winning the hardware. His strip sack and returned touchdown against Texas was the defining defensive play for the Buckeyes in the CFP, and altogether had 13 tackles, 4.5 of which went for a loss, seven batted passes (!), 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and the aforementioned touchdown.
There are some athletic deficiencies to Sawyer’s draft profile. Yet he demonstrated during the CFP that he makes the most of his natural talent and can load the stat sheet from the edge.
QB Quinn Ewers (Texas): Stock down
- Prospect ranking: No. 112 (No. 6 QB)
No player damaged his stock more than Ewers, especially with the way he went out in the loss to Ohio State. Sure, he threw a touchdown on fourth-and-long with the game on the line in overtime against Arizona State the week before, and was efficient in the win over Clemson.
The performance against the eventual national-champion Buckeyes was abysmal. In that contest, he completed 59% of his passes with three Big-Time Throws and two Turnover-Worthy Plays, one being a strip-sack in the red zone that clinched the game for the Buckeyes. But it goes beyond the stats. For the vast majority of this game, Ewers checked the football down repeatedly and demonstrated shoddy pocket presence en route to being sacked four times. He had an inopportune underthrow that was intercepted in the Arizona State game too that aided in the Sun Devils’ comeback. (Check out Ewers’ full NFL Draft prospect profile, here.)
TE Tyler Warren (Penn State): Stock up
- Prospect ranking: No. 18 (No. 1 TE)
In three CFP games for the Nittany Lions, the 6-foot-6, 260-pound tight end caught 16 passes for 168 yards with two touchdowns on 23 targets. And like he did all season for Penn State, Warren was the heartbeat of the passing offense. Each defense knew he’d be the focal point of Drew Allar’s attention, and it didn’t matter. Even against an uptick in competition quality, Warren delivered.
He also forced four missed tackles on those 16 grabs. Warren’s No. 1 status at Penn State, coupled with the injury to Michigan’s Colston Loveland, has allowed Warren to enter the pre-draft process as the consensus top tight end in the class, and you can now lock him into the first round.
WR Matthew Golden (Texas): Stock up
- Prospect ranking: No. 74 (No. 7 WR)
Golden saved his best for last in this 2024 season. He had 11 receptions for 249 yards with one touchdown in three CFP games for the Longhorns. He also reeled in four of his five contested-catch opportunities, darn good for a speedy 6-foot, 195-pounder.
If we count the SEC title game against Georgia, along with the CFP, Golden had 41.6% of his season’s receiving yards in the four “postseason” games he participated in, and he made an array of difficult downfield grabs in the process. That epitomizes what it means to boost one’s draft stock late in the season, against the best competition of the year. Golden very well could sneak into Round 1 in April. We probably wouldn’t have said that before December began.
RB Trevor Etienne (Georgia): Stock down
- Prospect ranking: No. 206 (No. 19 RB)
In the loss to Notre Dame, Etienne toted the rock 11 times for 32 yards and had a critical fumble. Against a stingy defense, Etienne had his least-effective performance of the year.
Now, NFL decision-makers know a running back’s success is largely contingent upon his offensive front, yet Etienne only forced two missed tackles in that game, and it was his fourth outing of the year with under 3.0 yards after contact per rush. Not a crushing blow to his draft stock, but think of this more as Etienne missing an opportunity that could’ve catapulted him up running back draft boards had he shined against Notre Dame.
EDGE Abdul Carter (Penn State): Stock up
- Prospect ranking: No. 3 (No. 1 EDGE)
It was essentially impossible to block Carter — relatively speaking — in the CFP. He registered 15 pressures on 69 pass-rushing opportunities, which equals a seismic 21.7% pressure rate. Most impressively, Carter tied a season-high with eight pressures with a bum shoulder against Notre Dame, and it felt like he was winning around the corner on every rep with an impossible burst and bend combination.
At the start of the pre-draft process, it feels like Carter will be the first defensive player off the board. That wasn’t necessarily the case at the start of the CFP.
RB Cam Skattebo (Arizona State): Stock up
- Prospect ranking: No. 148 (No. 11 RB)
The running back with the coolest name in the 2025 NFL Draft made the most of his time in the CFP, which lasted just one, instant-classic game.
Against a defense lined with a fair amount of NFL talent, running behind a relatively small offensive line, Skattebo had a performance for the ages, with 284 yards from scrimmage — including a 42-yard touchdown pass — on 39 touches for the Sun Devils. His shiftiness, contact balance and receiving skill shined on an enormous stage.
Skattebo doesn’t have the speed to be selected early, but he very well could be a Day 2 selection in April.
