Week 0 Scouting Notebook: Jelani Thurman’s breakout, CJ Bailey’s struggles and more

By Jack Brentnall

Week 0 is always a smaller slate, and while it might not be full of marquee NFL Draft matchups, it certainly wasn’t a quiet weekend. There were some noteworthy performances, both good and bad. Here is what caught my eye.

CJ Bailey unravels in a chastening opener against Virginia

Ask any NFL Draft fan before kickoff in the NC State-Virginia game about which side had the NFL quarterback prospect and the answer would have unanimously been NC State with CJ Bailey. That’s not how things looked though. Bailey was comprehensively outplayed by Virginia’s new starter Beau Pribula, finished with just 84 passing yards, turned the ball over twice, and was benched in the second half.

The most concerning part was not simply the numbers but how he arrived at them. Virginia did a good job of disguising coverages and rotating late, and Bailey had no answer for it. He looked jittery from the outset and this only got worse as the mistakes mounted. Rather than working through the picture in front of him he panicked and never quite looked like a quarterback in control of his offense.

When watching for NFL Draft prospects at quarterback, you are looking for a player who can solve problems. For most of his afternoon Bailey was the problem.

I was admittedly lower on Bailey over the summer than some others, but even I didn’t expect this sort of outing. The mechanics remain a significant work in progress and resulted in some ugly sprays. He is still learning to throw with touch and placement, and it showed on anything past the sticks, with Bailey completing just two of ten attempts that travelled 10+ air yards.

There is obviously still plenty of time for him to steady the ship, and one poor outing in Week 0 does not define a season. But if this is anywhere near the baseline, it feels increasingly likely that he will take the opportunity to return to school for another season in 2027 rather than declaring for the NFL Draft.

Jelani Thurman announces himself in North Carolina debut

Three years at Ohio State brought Thurman just 13 receptions and a single start. In his North Carolina debut he looked like a genuine mismatch weapon, finishing up with four catches for 94 yards.

He looked particularly impressive after the catch, moving with real speed and fluidity. North Carolina found ways to get him the football underneath and let him work. He showed that he can stretch the seam too, hauling in a big gain on the opening drive.

The blocking is where things need some work. His frame is tall and skinny, which is not ideal when he’s asked to play inline, and you see him struggle with his balance. He gets out over his toes in the run game and ends up on the ground more than you would like. The effort, though, is not in question. He provided a crucial block in space on Jamel Johnson that helped spring Jaylen McGill’s touchdown run in the first quarter, and there were a handful of encouraging reps as a move and insert blocker with some strong finishes.

It will be interesting to see how Thurman develops now that he has a chance to be a starter in an offense that clearly wants to feature him heavily in their passing game. He’s definitely a name to keep an eye on over the next few weeks.

Melkart Abou-Jaoude continues to wreak backfield havoc against TCU

I highlighted Abou-Jaoude in my Week 0 preview and he didn’t disappoint. He gave TCU’s offensive line problems all afternoon, and he did it the way he tends to. His play strength and quick hands were a constant, and he was consistently difficult to move at the point of attack.

Against the run he held up well, playing with good lower-body strength and the extension to control and shed blocks. He left briefly in the first quarter with a hand injury but returned and did not miss a beat. He is not a high-level athlete, but he is smart and technically refined, and that is a large part of why he was so productive last season.

His best rep came on a strip sack in the third quarter, where he strung together a clean cross chop and enough bend to flatten and get back to the quarterback.

That refinement is the story of his game. The question when projecting him to the next level will inevitably centre on how far his physical limitations cap his ceiling, but at some point his consistent track record of production in college becomes too much to ignore.

TK King's speed shows in a hot start against Florida State

A well-travelled receiver whose path has taken him from Texas Tech to Wyoming to New Mexico State, King followed a solid 2025 with a fast start against Florida State.

He showed some really nice movement skills, snapping off routes and stacking defenders when asked to work vertically. King ran track in high school, with a 20.74 in the 200 metres to his name, and he knows how to use that to his advantage. He had a really nice play in the first quarter, when he sold verticality through the stem to force the defender to open his hips before snapping the route off to convert a third and long.

His speed was also readily apparent on his touchdown catch in the third quarter, securing the football and accelerating away from Florida State’s secondary for six.

At 5’9” and 180 lbs, King is not the biggest receiver, and you did see the limitations show when he was asked to work around his frame or overcome physical coverage through the stem.

Given that this was the only Power Four matchup on New Mexico State’s schedule, we won’t see King tested against this level of competition again this season. Nevertheless, he did what he needed to do in a key evaluation opportunity, and that performance will carry weight with NFL evaluators.

A potential deep sleeper shines as North Dakota dismantles Long Island

North Dakota were heavy favourites against Long Island and won comfortably, with their quarterback Jerry Kaminski looking really impressive. He finished 17 of 21 for 235 yards and three scores, before sitting out most of the second half.

Kaminski enters the season as a player who is likely a late round dart throw at best, but he looked composed and improved on tape. He was a first-time starter in 2025 and while he looked good, there was real room for growth, especially in terms of his accuracy and ability to handle pressure.

The early signs in Week 0 were certainly encouraging. Kaminski came out of the gate slinging and looked comfortable working the deep ball. There was a beautiful deep over route on his very first dropback that was dropped, and an excellent throw on a flea flicker later on. When he let it rip vertically, the ball came out with conviction and placement.

There is still room for refinement. On a few occasions he could have made life easier for his receivers, leading them into space to create yards after the catch rather than making them work back to the ball, and his placement on out routes was noticeably inconsistent. We also didn’t really see him pressured much and that, along with the level of competition in the FCS, are the obvious caveats to attach to any early enthusiasm.

The date to circle is Week 3, when North Dakota travel to Nebraska. That is the game that will tell us far more about how his accuracy and poise hold up when the speed and quality around him rise.

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.

Rated 5 out of 5