Week 14 SCOUTING NOTEBOOK: Aggies and longhorns battle, LaJohntay Wester and more

By Jack Brentnall

And that’s a wrap! The college football regular season is over for another year.

In Week 14 we were treated to rivalry week and a handful of exciting contests. It didn’t disappoint. There was a lot to take in, particularly from an NFL Draft perspective.

Here are some of my takeaways from this weekend, as well as some wider thoughts on how this year’s quarterback class is shaping up.

Epic trench battle in Texas A&M vs Texas

There was not a matchup I was more excited to watch in Week 14 than the one between Texas A&M’s edge rushers and Texas’ offensive tackles. All four players have been talked up as potential first round picks and this was a huge game for all involved.

Both sides had their moments, but it was the Longhorns who came away victorious.

They actually managed to do it without star left tackle Kelvin Banks for most of the game after he suffered an ankle injury early on.

Aggies edge rusher Nic Scourton and Shemar Stewart really struggled to make an impact as pass rushers, failing to register a single sack or hit on Quinn Ewers. Scourton finished up with just two pressures on his 20 pass rushing snaps. Stewart didn’t even register a single pressure all game.

They were a little better against the run, combining for three run stops, but once again it was the Longhorns who looked better. Their ability to consistently displace the Aggies’ front four helped their backs to average five yards per carry.

The one real disappointment from a scouting perspective was that we never really got to see Kelvin Banks against Scourton and Stewart.

Both are the sort of long-armed power rushers that can give Banks problems, and it would have been interesting to see whether he could contain them and dispel talk of a potential move inside to guard.

Another strong outing for Will Lee III

I don’t often talk about the same game twice, but I think it was warranted in Week 14. The trench battle may have been the big NFL Draft storyline in the Texas vs Texas A&M matchup, but the performance of Aggies cornerback Will Lee deserves a mention as one of the best games I saw this week.

Lee was actually listed as questionable heading into this game, but he played some of his best football of the season against a very talented Longhorns receiving corps.

Lee’s game oozes physicality and toughness and that was readily apparent on Saturday. He didn’t need any reminder that it was rivalry week!

A&M lined Lee up primarily in press coverage and he looked very comfortable disrupting the releases of opposing receivers and battling with them throughout the route stem. This attitude extended to the run game too, where he had some nice plays as an open field tackler.

It was his ball skills that stood out most in this game though, with two plays that perfectly encapsulate who he is as a prospect.

In the first quarter with the Longhorns in the red zone, Lee showed off his football intelligence to peel off his deep third zone responsibility and break up a pass over the middle of the field that would have otherwise been a touchdown.

His second catch point play came once again on a third down in the red zone. This time he was tasked with playing man coverage against talented freshman Ryan Wingo. Lee did an outstanding job of mirroring Wingo’s whip route, showing great fluidity and good eyes to snag the ball and take it for a school record 93-yard pick six.

The Aggies might have lost the game, but I came away really impressed with what I saw from Lee. With his combination of size, physicality, and catch point production he feels like a player we will be hearing much more about as the draft process ramps up.

Wester runs wild vs Oklahoma State

When you’re on the same team as Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter it’s not hard to be overshadowed. Turn on the tape from Week 14 though and you’ll find your eyes drawn to wide receiver LaJohntay Wester.

The former Florida Atlantic receiver caught my eye in summer scouting thanks to his twitched up athleticism and intelligence as a route runner. Both were on full display against Oklahoma State.

Wester finished the game with 11 catches for 175 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and in all honesty, he could have had far more. He was consistently open and the Cowboys secondary couldn’t contain him at all.

His ability to manipulate defenders at the top of routes to create a step of separation was hugely impressive and projects well to the next level. He showed off his dynamism after the catch too, with 115 of his yards coming with the ball in his hands.

The question with Wester is going to be his size. He is listed at 5’11” and 167 lbs, which would make him one of the slightest receivers to come out in recent years.

Nevertheless, he has a strong track record of production at the college level and has the route running ability that gives you confidence for his future in the NFL. His dynamism on special teams (he had a 76-yard punt return touchdown against Utah) is also likely to help him find a home on an NFL roster.

Another big game from Ezeiruaku

Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku has been one of the breakout players of the 2024 season and he ended his season in style with a huge performance against Pittsburgh.

He was virtually unblockable all game and was a big part of the Eagles coming away victorious. He finished the game with 12 pressures, the most of any player in Week 14 and the best single game mark of his college career.

These were quality pressures too. Four of them turned into sacks, with a further five resulting in hits on Pitt quarterback Nate Yarnell.

Ezeiruaku finishes the season with 59 pressures, the second most of any Power Four player. His 14 sacks lead all Power Four players and put him second in the country behind Marshall’s Mike Green.

With his combination of quickness and length, it is easy to see why teams are going to be enamoured by a player like Ezeiruaku. This is a deep edge class, but he showed once again this weekend that he’s a name worth knowing in the 2025 class.

Regular season ends with no clear answer at quarterback

After 14 weeks of football I’m still not sure we are any clearer on what to make of this year’s quarterback class.

Coming into the season it felt like a topsy-turvy group. There was no obvious blue chip prospect at the top, but there was at least a degree of hope that somebody would separate themselves from the rest of the crowd and cement their place as a top five pick. That hasn’t happened.

The preseason QB1 for many people (including myself) was Georgia’s Carson Beck. A straw poll of NFL scouts now would no doubt suggest he’s more likely to go outside the top 100 picks than he is to go in the top five.

Others have fared better, but there are still some glaring holes in their game. Shedeur Sanders has shown flashes, but his pocket presence remains an issue, as does his tendency to hold on to the football. That’s before you even mention his middling physical profile.

Cam Ward has been the season’s biggest riser and is probably the consensus QB1 at this point, but there are still far more questions surrounding him than you would like. We didn’t get to see him tested against a single ranked opponent all year, and his backyard playing style yields as many maddening throws and missed opportunities as it does highlights.

I’m still a big fan of Alabama’s Jalen Milroe who has shown significant improvement from 2023 and possesses by far the best physical profile of any quarterback in this class. That said, he’s had some issues with consistency this season and is far from the finished product.

As the college season draws to a close and draft season ramps up, I am bracing for the draft community to start hyping up a handful of these players as franchise saviours. It happens every year, whether warranted or not – anyone remember the Malik Willis hype?

With the value and scarcity surrounding the position, I suppose it is not surprising, but this is as much a reminder to myself as it is to anyone reading this to try and avoid making that mistake. There is talent in this quarterback class, but an awful lot of risk too.

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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