Week 3 SCOUTING NOTEBOOK: Brazzell Razzle Dazzle, Bray Hubbard, and more

By Jack Brentnall

Week 3 of the college football season was a stark reminder of the beautiful chaos of the sport. We saw upsets, nail-biting finishes, and performances that will force scouts to go back to the drawing board. Amid the headlines and the chaos, narratives are beginning to solidify, and the true prospects are starting to emerge from the pack.

In this week’s scouting notebook, I highlight up-and-coming prospects at running back and wide receiver, a talented safety, and try to make sense of this year’s quarterback class.

Chris Brazzell Razzle Dazzle

The Tennessee-Georgia game was a real SEC barn-burner, with offense aplenty and overtime to boot. While the Volunteers may have lost, the biggest winner from an NFL Draft perspective was their wide receiver, Chris Brazzell.

The redshirt junior was dominant, finishing with six catches for 177 yards and three touchdowns. This marked his second consecutive game with 100+ yards and multiple touchdowns. The fact he did it against Georgia’s defense is particularly noteworthy and is bound to have caught the attention of scouts.

Brazzell really put on a clinic in this game. His route running talent truly shone through, as he was able to provide quarterback Joey Aguilar with a consistently open target. He put Georgia’s cornerbacks in a bind with creativity at the line of scrimmage and intelligence to attack their leverage through the stem. His long speed showed up too, along with some pretty nice body control and active hands to make some spectacular catches downfield.

Tennessee has a history of producing NFL wide receiver prospects, but Brazzell feels a little different from most of the others. Josh Heupel’s offense is famed for its simplicity and basic route tree, which has often meant a steep learning curve for Tennessee receivers entering the NFL.

Brazzell however already shows a level of nuance that should give scouts confidence in his ability to handle a more well-rounded NFL route tree. When you pair this detailed route running with his athleticism and strong hands, you have the makings of a top 50 pick if he can continue this throughout the season.

Bray Hubbard brings the boom

One of the players I loved watching over summer scouting was Alabama safety Bray Hubbard. After a stellar performance against Wisconsin this weekend, I feel pretty vindicated in that love.

Following the Crimson Tide’s Week 1 loss to Florida State, their defense was the subject of extensive criticism. Based on how he played this weekend, it looks like Hubbard made it his personal mission to prove those doubters wrong.

He played the game like a heat-seeking missile, flying around the field with a fearless and aggressive mentality. His ability in run support was on display on numerous occasions, showing off excellent trigger speed and eagerness as a tackler. You won’t find many safeties in this year’s class that are better at running the alley than Hubbard.

He also continued to build on his reputation as a ball hawk, recording two interceptions. The first saw him playing as the curl-flat defender in Cover 3, before showing impressive instincts to peel off his zone and undercut a throw. The second pick came in man coverage, where he showed good physicality and body control to make the grab along the sideline. Hubbard now has five interceptions on 27 career targets.

As things stand, the consensus board has Hubbard all the way down at 211. After a game like this I would expect that to change pretty quickly.

Allar and Manning's early struggles continue

We’re three weeks into the season and it’s safe to say that a few of the high profile quarterback prospects in the 2026 class have disappointed. The two names that truly stick out right now are Penn State’s Drew Allar and Texas’ Arch Manning.

Calling out Allar might seem unfair. After all, Penn State are 3-0 and just had a 52-6 win over Villanova this weekend. But when you turn on the tape, the play hasn’t matched the results. Allar has not been awful, but he’s been nowhere near the force multiplier you’d expect from a player who is routinely discussed as a first round talent. That’s even more alarming when you consider Penn State ranks 134th in strength of schedule so far this season.

With Allar, the issues are the same as ever. Inconsistent accuracy and ball placement continue to see him leave too much meat on the bone. This weekend he averaged -0.06 EPA per dropback and had a success rate of just 48%. The fact that this inconsistency isn’t even balanced out by some high-level explosives is troubling. Through three games, Allar has just two completions of 20+ yards. When you look this distinctly average against a cupcake schedule, it is only natural to be concerned.

Manning, on the other hand, hasn’t even managed to look average. It feels mad how quickly the narrative in Austin has changed. Just a few weeks ago, Manning was the favourite to win the Heisman Trophy. Fast forward to Week 3 and he is being booed by his own fans, with Steve Sarkisian facing questions about whether he’s considered benching him.

His performance this weekend against UTEP was seriously concerning. Accuracy continues to be a major issue, with far too many plays where he simply missed open receivers. If that isn’t bad enough, there were also a handful of plays where his reluctance to stand in the pocket and pull the trigger led to some major missed opportunities.

This game makes you worry about what the future holds. As bad as Manning looked in his opener, that game came on the road against the reigning national champions. It shouldn’t be surprising for a first-time starter to look lost at times. But to look this bad at home against UTEP? That should set alarm bells ringing.

At this point I don’t see a world in which Manning declares for the 2026 NFL Draft. The question now is whether he will even be the Longhorns’ starter in 2026 if he continues to play like this.

Dante Moore's stock keeps rising

While some of the big name quarterbacks have disappointed so far this season, Oregon’s Dante Moore has been making a quiet but powerful statement this season. He had another impressive performance this weekend, this time against Northwestern.

Moore’s stat line from this game was modest but efficient, as he completed 16 of 20 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown. This efficiency has been a big theme of his season so far. Through three games he has completed 78.1% of his passes, is averaging 10.3 yards per attempt, and has seven touchdowns to just one interception.

What really stands out on film is how calm and in control he looks. His accuracy and ball placement are excellent, and he has clearly built up chemistry with freshman wide receiver Dakorien Moore and transfer Malik Benson. He has also shown the ability to create when needed, and had several very impressive throws on the run this weekend.

Coming into the season it was difficult to know what to expect from Moore. A former top recruit, he struggled badly as a freshman at UCLA, before spending last season as the backup to Dillon Gabriel at Oregon. Those tough times as a freshman now feel like a distant memory.

Admittedly, Oregon has not had the toughest schedule so far, and NFL scouts will be waiting to see what Moore can do against better competition before getting too excited. Still, in a sea of quarterback disappointment, he is one of the few prospects who has elevated his stock through three weeks.

Raleek Brown keeps rolling

Finding a “my guy” during the scouting process is one of the best parts of draft analysis. After three weeks of watching Arizona State, their running back Raleek Brown has officially made my list.

A former four-star recruit in the 2022 class, Brown began his career at USC. The Trojans moved him to wide receiver in 2023, before he transferred to Arizona State and switched back to running back. After sitting out almost the entire 2024 season with injuries, Brown is back to full health and is enjoying a breakout season.

This weekend, he finished with 12 carries for 144 yards and a touchdown. That takes his season tally to 35 carries for 292 yards and a pair of touchdowns, averaging 8.3 yards per attempt.

What has really stood out on tape is his combination of athleticism and vision. At 5’9” and 195 lbs, he’s never going to be the biggest back on the field, but he makes up for that with a slippery running style and incredible twitch to make defenders miss in the hole. His patience and anticipation when working at the line of scrimmage is also hugely impressive.

For a player of his size, I would still like to see a little more from Brown as a pass catcher, but his film and tools show he has the potential to be a dynamic contributor in the NFL. If he can stay healthy for the rest of the season you can expect to hear his name a lot more in draft conversations.

JACK BRENTNALL

HEAD OF NFL DRAFT CONTENT

Previously the founder of The Jet Sweep, Jack joined The Touchdown as head of Draft Content in 2024. A Scouting Academy alumnus, Jack has been Covering the NFL Draft since 2020. Follow him on Twitter @Jack_Brentnall.

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