April marks the beginning of the college football season, as many teams have had several practices and are holding their spring games throughout the month. Most practices are difficult to get information from without being in the facilities, but the spring games allow the general public to get a glimpse at some of the new players and offenses that will take the field this fall.
There are far too many spring games for me to write about all of them, but I can key in on certain devy assets to see if there are any early takeaways. Before we dive in, it is important to note that these games should be taken with a grain of salt. Teams already know who their main offensive skill players are, and they are unlikely to feature them or script out plays for them. Don’t be surprised when the well-established names in the college football landscape fail to produce an impressive stat line in their respective spring games. Use these games as a chance to focus on returning players with question marks and as a way to view new additions to a team.
Clemson
The once-heralded five-star recruit did little to improve his stock in this game. He has been trending in the wrong direction with each season that goes by, and I continue to grow concerned with his potential at the next level. He appears to be a slow processor and decision-maker most of the time and is a fairly limited athlete who seems unlikely to translate to the next level. Through the first quarter of this game, he was 2/6 for 21 yards and an interception. Clemson still has him taking all of his reps with the first-team offense, but it was third-string, walk-on QB Trent Pearman who looked in better command of the offense in this game. Klubnik is currently going around QB40, and I expect him to continue to tumble down the rankings. If you have any shares of him, my advice is to move off of him for whatever value you can get.
The Wide Receivers
What the Tigers lack in quarterback play, they make up for with their wide receivers. Known commodities Antonio Williams and Adam Randall appear healthy and ready to go this season, and Tyler Brown should provide a good depth option this year as well. Two of the more important freshmen in the 2024 class are Bryant Wesco and TJ Moore, both of whom will be fighting for time on the field this season. Wesco will hold the advantage after their spring game, as he has been on campus throughout the spring. Over the past few seasons, we have seen spring arrivals have a leg up on their fall-arriving counterparts (the latest great example of this is Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss from the 2023 class). Wesco was one of the most productive wide receivers in high school. Over the last two seasons, he hauled in 92 catches for 1,691 yards and 25 touchdowns. He made a few acrobatic catches in the spring game and managed to snag a touchdown from Pearman as well. He should be firmly within the top 7 wide receivers in the freshman class. Keep an eye out for an additional spotlight article highlighting the two incoming freshman wide receivers for the Clemson Tigers.
NC State
The Quarterbacks
Grayson McCall stands to be the starter this season for the Wolfpack, and he will be looking to recapture some of the magic from his early career with Coastal Carolina. He finished the spring game going 16/20 for 205 yards and a touchdown. He is unlikely to be a top target for most NFL teams, but his skill set could land him as a steady long-term backup quarterback in the NFL, akin to Gardner Minshew. Perhaps the more intriguing note at this position is freshman quarterback CJ Bailey. The 6’6”, 190 lb. freshman QB possesses some dual-threat capabilities that could vault him up draft boards in the future. He rushed four times for 72 yards in this game. He is nothing more than a watchlist player for now, but he is someone to keep an eye on should NC State avoid bringing in future quarterbacks from the transfer portal.
We witnessed the ascension of Concepcion last season as a freshman, where he took the ACC by storm. He produced 71 receptions for 839 yards and 10 touchdowns. If you managed to watch any of the Wolfpack’s games, you quickly realized that Concepcion was the only threat the offense provided. He was commonly schemed to get the ball in all sorts of situations. This season, the Wolfpack added talent via recruiting and the transfer portal, and the need to force-feed Concepcion shouldn’t be there. With the hype surrounding him, I believe it’s a great time to sell in search of a player with a higher NFL ceiling.
Auburn
Cam Coleman
The three receivers in this freshman class are pretty locked in, but Cam Coleman is making a strong case to be the WR4, if not a member of the top tier. Through the spring practices and now the spring game, he has shown that he is a wide receiver who can elevate poor quarterback play. He was the offensive MVP of the game, catching four passes for a game-high 92 yards. He also showed off some of his jump ball ability by snagging a 34-yard pass that was the only touchdown score on the day. We still await his classmate Perry Thompson to join him on campus, but Coleman appears to be the real deal. At cost, he is my current favorite player to acquire at the wide receiver position.
Ohio State
The Quarterbacks
Everyone is anxiously awaiting Ryan Day’s decision on who may be the starting signal-caller this fall. The competition is only between Devin Brown and Will Howard. Unfortunately, the spring game did little to reveal who may be leading the battle, but we were able to take away a couple of things from each of the QBs on the roster. Will Howard completed 9 of 13 passes on the day with zero touchdowns, while Devin Brown was 5 of 7 with a touchdown. It looks more and more like both QBs will be running a ton this season under new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. Unfortunately, they both lack the arm talent to elevate the players around them, and I don’t know if either is a strong bet for the NFL. Current devy rankings side with Howard as the projected starter, but I believe Brown is the better bet at the current price. He either succeeds Howard as the starting QB in 2025 or transfers to a situation where he is granted a starting job.
Julian Sayin will also be an interesting story to watch in the coming weeks. Assuming he stays with the Buckeyes, he likely provides the highest devy ceiling and NFL projection. In spring practices, he has proven to be the most accurate of the three quarterbacks. In the spring game, he completed 10 of 17 passes for 85 yards. Despite his 59% completion percentage, you could tell the college game was moving a little too fast for him. He had lesser arm strength compared to Brown, and Howard struggled with the wind, as shown by his lone interception that would have been a pick-six in a live game.
Jeremiah Smith
Quick, simple, and straightforward. Jeremiah Smith is WR1. The number one receiver for the Buckeyes, the number one receiver in the freshman class, and a strong case can be made for him to be the overall number one receiver in college football. He has been making highlight-reel plays all spring and was targeted multiple times in the red zone during the spring game. With Brandon Innis seen in a walking boot, Smith could easily walk into playing time this fall. I fully expect Smith to break the Ohio State freshman receiving records and solidify his status as the best devy wide receiver in the game.
The Runningbacks
There is no reason to spend time discussing TreVeyon Henderson or Quinshon Judkins. Both are top 5 options at the position in college football, and both will be starters in the NFL as soon as 2025. The Ohio State RB room is thin, especially with Dallan Hayden entering the transfer portal. Incoming freshman James Peoples has the inside track to be the No. 3 in the room and showed some dual-threat capability in the game. He rushed 10 times for 36 yards and caught three passes for 23 yards. Should one of the top two ball carriers for OSU deal with an injury this season, we may see Peoples sooner than expected. And if both Henderson and Judkins leave for the NFL next season, Peoples could rapidly ascend the devy RB rankings. He is a clear buy in an otherwise muddy freshman running back class.
Alabama
I’ve never been big on Jalen Milroe and have largely viewed him as a primary runner and poor passer. But the NFL has continued to gravitate toward the dual-threat QB model, and Milroe may well be following in the footsteps of Jayden Daniels. He was 3-for-9 on the day with 100 yards and showed some improved footwork and throwing ability, most notably on a 50+ yard pass to Germie Bernard. The Crimson Tide staff has been raving about the improvements Milroe has shown throughout the spring, and if Karen DeBoer can help him become a more polished passer, Milroe could find himself atop the draft board in an otherwise weak 2025 quarterback class.
Florida
Florida’s 2024 schedule might be one of the hardest we’ve ever seen for a single season, and they will struggle to string many wins together. Despite a likely poor record, there will be two bright spots for the Gators this season, both of which showed up well in the spring game. Eugene Wilson caught eight passes for 128 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown on the day. Billy Napier stated, “We’re going to get our money’s worth out of Tre Wilson, I can tell you that” in an interview. The 5’ 10”, 205 lb. receiver picked up where he left off last season, and I expect him to make a push for the top receiving prospect in the 2026 class.
The future of the Gators (and likely Billy Napier) rests in the hands of top quarterback prospect DJ Lagway. The freshman is the most exciting quarterback in his class, and he showed why in the spring game. He finished 8 for 12 passing with 122 yards and two touchdowns. He didn’t get to show off much of his rushing ability, but he is going to remind a ton of people of recent Gator graduate Anthony Richardson with his dual-threat ability. He stands at 6’ 3” and 240 lbs. and has the potential to blossom into an early first-round pick in the 2027 class. Don’t hesitate to push the button on drafting Lagway early in upcoming devy and freshman drafts. He may find himself as the devy QB1 this time next year.
Thank you for reading! If you have any thoughts or questions about the player mentioned above, or players/teams that I did not cover in this article, you can reach out to me on Twitter @Evan_Kerr_. #DFFArmy #Devy #AlwaysBeBuilding
