Week 2 Scouting Notebook: Arch Manning's statement, Devon Jackson's breakout and more

By Jack Brentnall

Week 2 of the college football season delivered no shortage of drama, headlined by Texas’ comeback victory over Ohio State. The Longhorns trailed 23-3 entering the fourth quarter before scoring 21 unanswered points to win 24-23, one of the more dramatic turnarounds of the young season.

Here is what caught my eye on tape.

Arch Manning delivers a statement against Ohio State

There will be cleaner tape from Arch Manning this season, and better box scores too, but there might not be a game that tells us more about him as a prospect.

Texas trailed Ohio State 23-3 entering the fourth quarter, having found no offensive rhythm through three quarters littered with self-inflicted mistakes. Raleek Brown fumbled on the game’s first play. Ryan Wingo dropped a touchdown. There was also one of the more freakish interceptions you will see, a deep ball to Cam Coleman ricocheting out of his hands and into the arms of Jaylen McClain.

For long stretches it looked like Texas was drifting towards an embarrassing defeat, an echo of the Week 1 loss to Ohio State last season, when Manning looked uncomfortable and overwhelmed by the Buckeyes’ defense. Instead, the Longhorns scored 21 unanswered points to win 24-23, and Manning earned plenty of the credit.

There were genuinely high-level throws scattered throughout, and I liked his awareness in taking what the defense gave him underneath rather than forcing the explosive play. What stood out most, though, was his response once Texas needed him. Manning delivered repeatedly on third and fourth down during the comeback. He found Emaree Winston on fourth-and-nine late in the third quarter to extend the drive that produced Texas’ first touchdown, then, still trailing 23-10 and facing fourth-and-six from his own 32, stood in and hit Emmett Mosley for another conversion. Those are the situations that tell you something about a quarterback.

That is not to gloss over the rough edges. Manning looked gun shy early, and ball placement remains a work in progress. There were multiple snaps where he made the right read only for the throw to arrive off-target and derail the play.

None of that undoes the bigger picture. Manning battled through mistakes, drops and offensive dysfunction against one of the best defenses in college football, then produced his best football with the game slipping away. Set against how the same fixture went a year ago, that response is the part of this performance worth holding onto.

Devon Jackson makes his impact felt against Oklahoma State

There was little for Oregon to celebrate in a disappointing defeat at Oklahoma State, but linebacker Devon Jackson gave NFL scouts plenty to note. The athletic tools have never been the question with him. A former four-star recruit and state champion sprinter, Jackson has run 10.54 in the 100 metres and entered the season 11th on Bruce Feldman’s annual Freaks List. The question was production, and against the Cowboys he supplied it.

Entering his fifth season, Jackson has spent most of his Oregon career as a part-time player before finally earning a starting role this year. He made the most of it this weekend, chasing down quarterback Drew Mestemaker from behind on a zone-read keeper to prevent a certain touchdown. He then went one better on the Cowboys’ next drive, gathering a tipped pass in the red zone and returning it 96 yards for a pick six.

The highlight plays will get plenty of focus, but the rest of the tape held up too. Oregon used Jackson regularly as an overhang defender and he looked comfortable in space, with the movement skills to carry tight ends in coverage. He produced an excellent underneath zone rep, reading Mestemaker’s eyes to force an incompletion. His range showed up against the run, flying to the sideline in pursuit, and his work between the tackles was encouraging, maintaining gap responsibility and tackling reliably.

The obvious caveat is sample size. This was one start and scouts will want to see him hold this level as the schedule stiffens. A Week 4 meeting with USC is the next chance to find out what Jackson is really made of.

Caleb Woodson demands a closer look against Kentucky

I turned on Alabama-Kentucky to watch a matchup I flagged in my Week 2 preview: Alabama edge Yhonzae Pierre against Kentucky tackle Lance Heard. In the end, it was a Crimson Tide defender on the second level who kept catching my eye. Senior linebacker Caleb Woodson was involved on seemingly every play, finishing with 11 tackles, three stops and two sacks.

Woodson spent three seasons at Virginia Tech before transferring to Alabama for his senior year, and he arrived looking more like a Day 3 prospect than a headline name on this defense. Saturday made the case that he deserves a longer look.

Kentucky lean heavily on motion and misdirection under new head coach Will Stein, and that puts a lot of pressure on linebackers’ ability to remain disciplined and sort through traffic. Woodson handled it well. He consistently navigated the mess around the line of scrimmage, located the football and closed with real burst.

The rough edges were visible too. Woodson plays with plenty of physicality taking on blocks, but that aggression sometimes came without control, and he needs to do a better job staying square when engaging pullers in the run game. He was also caught flat-footed on a couple of underneath zone reps, leaving him unable to work back to the ball.

For a player who began the year on the fringes of the draft conversation, this was an encouraging watch, and the kind of tape that earns a Day 3 name a longer look. One game will not settle where Woodson lands, but string a few more of these together and that conversation starts to shift.

Reed Harris backs up his breakout against Texas A&M

The 6’4″, 220-pound Harris announced himself in Arizona State’s opener, hauling in six catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns against Morgan State. The obvious caveat was the competition. A week later he answered it, turning 11 targets against Texas A&M into nine catches for 189 yards and two more scores. That takes the Boston College transfer to 15 catches, 326 yards and four touchdowns through two games.

What stands out on tape is his hands. Harris attacks the football with strong, active hands and is comfortable extending outside his frame. He is unfazed working over the middle or fighting through contact at the catch point, and his slot fade touchdown against the Aggies showed that.

There was some nice production after the catch too. Harris is not an especially elusive runner in the open field, but his long speed lets him eat up grass with a runway in front of him. His 58-yard touchdown was the clearest example, catching a crosser in stride and pulling away from the defense.

I had a Day 2 grade on Harris coming into the season, and the Texas A&M performance felt like vindication of it. He sits 188th on the consensus board, but if he keep producing at anything close to this pace it will not stay that way for long.

Austin Simmons and Cayden Lee connect in the Border War

Austin Simmons and Cayden Lee shared a locker room at Ole Miss before both transferred to Missouri this offseason, and that familiarity showed as the Tigers ran out 38-21 winners over Kansas in the Border War. For Simmons, in his first full season as a starter, this was the first real test after an opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Simmons finished 19-of-29 for 292 yards and three touchdowns, good for an 85.2% adjusted completion percentage and a 133.1 passer rating. The physical talent is obvious. His arm strength jumps off the screen, with velocity that lets him attack tight windows and reach throws closed off to quarterbacks with lesser tools.

What I liked most, though, was the decisiveness. Simmons worked through his reads and came off his first option when the picture changed, showing no hesitation attacking the middle of the field and trusting his arm to punish favourable matchups. He fitted several of his red zone throws into exceptionally tight windows.

Context matters. Kansas pressured him on just 13.3% of his dropbacks, so Simmons operated almost exclusively from a clean pocket. There was also a dangerous moment early in the second half, when he lost track of the pole defender against Cover 2 and was fortunate not to be intercepted.

Lee, meanwhile, gave his quarterback a familiar target, finishing with six catches for 120 yards and a touchdown as the pair repeatedly connected downfield.

Both have eligibility remaining beyond this season, and as things stand a return is a very real possibility, especially for Simmons who is only a redshirt junior in his first year as a full-time starter. Keep producing like this, though, and that calculation shifts. Sustained performances of this kind are how players force their way into genuine NFL Draft conversations, and once that happens, whether to stay or go becomes a much more difficult decision. 

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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