There a ton of really good players to watch this college football season. Fans will be glued to their TVs to watch stars like Leonard Fournette, Jalen Tabor, Myles Garrett, DeShaun Watson, Cam Robinson and others. It is almost guaranteed that those players will be high draft picks in 2017. However, there are a ton of players that have a lot to prove this season. Two players in particular fit this bill extremely well, and they are Patrick Mahomes and Dorian Johnson. Both Mahomes and Johnson have a chance to move up draft boards this year and solidify themselves as draftable prospects.
2017 NFL Draft Prospects With Much to Prove
Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech
Mahomes is a very intriguing prospect standing at 6-foot-3 and 219 pounds. The Texas Tech quarterback is a gunslinger to say the least. Mahomes has a very quick release. He also has an arm motion that allows him to put a lot of zip on his throws if he follows through. Mahomes has about three or four different arm angles that he throws from, including side arm. He has very good to excellent arm strength.
Mahomes excels in throwing on the run. He can run to his left, square his hips, and through a dart down field. He might be the best at this in this class. Mahomes is very athletic and has enough speed to outrun anyone in the front seven. He has great pocket presence and knows to get out when his pocket clock expires.
Mahomes certainly has a lot of talent, but he also has a lot of issues to iron out. First, he has an issue with throwing off his back foot. Mahomes will throw off his back foot more often than not when in the pocket, which takes off juice on his passes. His decision making lapses at times. The Texas Tech signal caller sometimes tries to force too many throws that aren’t there. This is the biggest concern for sure. He is missing some reads at times that shouldn’t be missed at this level. The experience Mahomes gets this year will really benefit him and could vault him into the top for rounds of the draft next year if improvement is seen.
Dorian Johnson, OG, Pittsburgh
Dorian Johnson is an old school offensive guard standing at 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds. He is extremely consistent and gets the job done. Johnson has textbook feet and is a tremendous communicator. He almost never gets confused or misses a stunt by the opposing defensive line. He has a very wide base and doesn’t get pushed around because of his low center of gravity. Hand placement is not a problem and he is an above average pass blocker.
Johnson’s most impressive attribute is his run blocking ability. He is very athletic and is extremely capable of pulling or being the lead blocker. At times, he over thinks at some points, which is not necessarily a bad thing. When run blocking, the Pittsburgh Panther will sometimes angle his body to open his gap before he gets a solid punch on his defender. All being said, Johnson can put himself in the position to be a top five guard in college football this season.
Only time will tell if Mahomes and Johnson can improve in the areas they need to. But if they do they could move up draft boards for the 2017 NFL Draft.
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