Week 6 SCOUTING NOTEBOOK: Cashius Howell wreaks havoc again, Carnell Tate, and more

By Jack Brentnall

Week 6 might have been light on heavyweight matchups, but it certainly wasn’t short of interesting NFL Draft storylines.

This week’s scouting notebook includes a top receiver prospect, a pair of Texas A&M defenders, and a highly-touted running back who underwhelmed yet again.

Carnell Tate's big day vs Minnesota

While the Ohio State-Minnesota game didn’t offer much in terms of competition, it did provide an opportunity to watch one of the best receivers in the 2026 class dominate his opponents.

Junior wide receiver Carnell Tate cemented his status as one of the better pass catchers in the class with a career-best performance against the Golden Gophers this weekend. He finished up with nine receptions for 183 yards and a touchdown in the Buckeyes’ commanding 42-3 victory.

Minnesota’s defense was utterly unable to handle Tate’s technical mastery and he was able to get open all night thanks to his nuanced route running. He demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of how to set up defenders, using subtle manipulation throughout the route to force them into unfavourable spots and create instant separation.

He had two notable highlights on go routes in this game. Tate isn’t the kind of pure burner who can win consistently with just linear speed, but his ability on each of these plays to set up the defender through the stem allowed him to get open and beat his man. That sort of technical refinement and nuance is what receivers need to win at the NFL level, and scouts will have been extremely impressed by what they’ve seen from Tate.

His soft and reliable hands were on full display throughout this game too, hauling in all of his catchable targets. Remarkably, Tate does not have a single drop all season.

When watching Tate over summer I had some reservations about the consistency of his route running, and his ability to be a three-level threat. This game was an emphatic testament to his continued development. As things stand he feels like a player very much deserving of first round consideration.

Cashius Howell has three sacks (again)

The Texas A&M defense put on a stifling performance in their 31-9 victory over Mississippi State, and senior defensive end Cashius Howell was the chief destructive force. He delivered a three-sack game, marking the second time this season that he has recorded three or more sacks in a single contest.

Howell’s explosiveness proved to be an insurmountable problem for the Mississippi State offensive line all game. He repeatedly showcased an impressive first step to challenge around the arc. Just as with his previous three-sack outing against Utah State, what was most compelling was his ability to win in multiple ways.

His first sack came with a speed-to-power move that allowed him to collapse the pocket, driving Mississippi State right tackle Luke Work back into the quarterback. For his second sack, he leveraged his initial speed threat to force left tackle Jayvin Q. James into an overset, before crossing face and winning with a clean swim move. His third and final sack came courtesy of a well-executed stunt, showcasing his impressive athleticism and smoothness as he looped around the interior line to finish the play. 

On top of the sacks, Howell also made a couple of impressive plays that won’t show up in the stat sheet. He had a pair of reps in the second quarter where he beat his man with a speed rush, before getting his hand on the football to disrupt the release. One of these resulted in an interception for his teammate, Daymion Sanford.

Howell’s strong start to the season will no doubt have piqued the interests of NFL scouts. His ceiling as a prospect is likely to be capped his historical outlier length (he has the shortest arms and wingspan of any edge rusher prospect in a decade) but there is no questioning that he has the talent and technique to earn an NFL role.

Taurean York climbing up boards

It isn’t often that I have two players from the same team making my scouting notebook, but I felt like I had to include York this week.

I switched on the Texas A&M tape to watch Cashius Howell’s three-sack performance, but found my eyes continually drawn to the junior linebacker – this isn’t the first time that has happened either.

York was excellent again this weekend against Mississippi State, building on what was a very strong performance against Auburn in Week 5. He finished the game with eight tackles, with zero misses for the second straight week. Six of those were defensive stops, which was the fourth most of any Power Four defender this weekend.

What really stands out with York is his intelligence and leadership skills. He is consistently communicating with his teammates during the pre-snap process, getting them correctly aligned and signalling adjustments to shifts and motions. His first step is excellent too, with a great feel for how opposing offenses are looking to attack and where the ball is going.

York is the sort of prospect who seems to be making himself money with every week that goes by. The Aggies have a tough schedule coming up with some great tests for the likes of York. If he keeps playing like this, don’t be surprised if he ends up as one of the top linebackers drafted in this year’s class.

Another disappointment from Nick Singleton

The shock result of Week 6 was Penn State losing to a previously winless UCLA team. The Nittany Lions struggled across the board, but I once again left feeling particularly underwhelmed by running back Nick Singleton, who finished with 11 carries for 39 yards. He also hauled in a pair of receptions for 16 yards.

For many scouts and analysts, Singleton entered the season as one of the best backs in the 2026 class. I’ve always been lower on him as a prospect – he was my RB9 over summer – but even with that accounted for, he has been majorly disappointing this season.

What really stood out in this game was his lacklustre contact balance and inability to create explosive plays. Singleton is a noticeably upright runner who, despite his size, lacks the ability to churn through tackles and create after contact. His linear running style also limits his ability to make defenders miss in space.

Granted, Penn State’s offensive line did him no favours in this game. Yet that is no excuse, especially when his backfield companion Kaytron Allen was averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

This performance is symptomatic of an underwhelming season overall. Singleton has been consistently outproduced by Allen in almost every area. Through the first five games of the season, he has recorded just eight missed tackles on 63 attempts. He has also had just one carry of over 15 yards. For context, Singleton is one of only four Power Four backs who have had over 50 carries without logging multiple breakaway runs.

For a player whose selling point is his combination of size and speed, it becomes difficult to really get onboard when he seems unable to break tackles or hit home runs. There is still time for Singleton to turn things around, but if the struggles continue, it is hard to make the case for him being anything more than a day three pick.

Ty Simpson's rise continues

If you’d asked me a couple of weeks ago about how I saw this year’s quarterback class, the answer would have been pretty bleak. The last couple of weeks have started to change that view, and Alabama’s Ty Simpson is part of the reason for that.

His continued strong performances have propelled him into the thick of the Heisman Trophy conversation, a narrative he fueled with another effective outing this weekend against Vanderbilt. Simpson completed 23 of his 31 passes for 340 yards, two touchdowns and an interception as the Crimson Tide won 30-14.

Simpson looks very confident and comfortable, showing the ability to operate on time and in rhythm. Crucially, he is willing to work the middle of the field and trust his receivers in tight windows. Simpson also had some nice moments of improvisation this weekend, including a nice touchdown throw to Ryan Williams in the second quarter.

His willingness to stand in the pocket and work through his reads is impressive for a first-year starter, and led to a particularly memorable 54-yard deep sideline completion to Ryan Williams.

There are of course still moments where that inexperience rears its head. Several times in this game Simpson tried to be overly creative and do too much of the heavy lifting, including a play in the third quarter where he turned down a checkdown on first down and instead bailed on a clean pocket before taking a sack.

There is a lot to get excited about though, particularly when projecting to the pro level. There is still a chance that Simpson returns for a second season as a starter in 2026, but if he continues to perform like he has in recent weeks, he’ll be a name getting a lot more NFL Draft buzz.

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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