Week 7 SCOUTING NOTEBOOK: Evan Stewart lights up Ohio State, Quinn Ewers struggles and more

By Jack Brentnall

Coming into the weekend, Week 7 looked to be full of exciting matchups and it didn’t disappoint.

Whether it was the battle between Ohio State and Oregon that went down to the wire or the overtime contest between LSU and Ole Miss, there was plenty to digest.

We also saw a handful of draft prospects make headlines, with performances both good and bad. Here are some of the ones that caught my eye.

Evan Stewart lights up Ohio State

The Ohio State vs Oregon game lived up to its billing, with both teams exchanging haymakers right up to the final play. There were plenty of players who will have caught the eyes of scouts this weekend, but the one that really stood out for me was Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart and his battle with Ohio State cornerback Denzel Burke.

I’d had my doubts about Stewart over the summer and it is fair to say he had not lived up to some lofty preseason expectations through the first five games of the season. He answered his critics decisively against Ohio State though.

The former Texas A&M wideout got open consistently and Ohio State seemed completely incapable of containing him. He finished the game with seven catches for 149 yards and a touchdown, comfortably his best outing as a Duck.

Stewart’s athleticism has never been in doubt, but his lack of physicality and issues against press coverage have been real red flags when projecting to the NFL. He looked much better in both departments on Saturday and had his way with Denzel Burke, a player who has been talked up as a potential top 50 draft pick himself.

Stewart had several highlight reel plays, including a double move against Burke that he took for 69 yards and an outstanding grab over the middle of the field in the first quarter. He also had a really nice touchdown grab against Burke where he showed off some impressive ball skills and toughness.

The question for Stewart now is whether he can follow this up with more of the same. He has had several big games throughout his college career, but his inconsistency and tendency to go missing when his team needs him has been one of the big worries with him as a prospect. If he can keep up this sort of form over the next few weeks he is sure to be rising up draft boards.

A record-setting day for Tyler Warren

There may not be a player in the country that had a better game in Week 7 than Warren. The Penn State tight end torched the USC defense for 224 yards and a touchdown on his 17 catches. 

In doing so, he set a number of impressive records, including the most receiving yards in a game by a tight end in Big Ten history. His 17 catches are also the most at the position in over 40 years.

Credit also has to go to Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who did an outstanding job of moving Warren all around the formation and scheming up creative ways to get him the ball.

In addition to 27 snaps inline, Warren spent 17 snaps in the slot, 11 in the backfield and nine out wide. The former high school quarterback also had three snaps under center, as well as a trick play at center.

Warren was already generating plenty of buzz as an NFL prospect and this kind of performance will only boost his stock further. At 6’6” and 261 lbs he has the size that NFL teams want at the position and he pairs that with legitimate athletic gifts. He was my TE2 in summer scouting, and whilst he might not supplant Michigan’s Colston Loveland at the top of the pile, he’s very much in the conversation as a top 50 pick.

Emery Jones struggles vs Ole Miss

Coming into the weekend, the battle between LSU’s offensive line and Ole Miss defensive line looked like an excellent matchup. It didn’t disappoint. LSU’s left tackle Will Campbell had a really strong outing, further entrenching his position as one of the top offensive linemen in this class. 

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for right tackle Jones, who had a night to forget. Jones had perhaps the worst game of his college career against Ole Miss. He struggled in both phases, but his issues in pass protection were readily apparent. 

He allowed nine pressures, comfortably the worst single game mark of his career. If it weren’t for Garrett Nussmeier’s Houdini-like ability to evade pressure, he would no doubt have been responsible for several sacks too.

Coming into the season Jones was already facing questions as to whether he would need to kick inside to guard at the next level. Those questions were being asked again after this game. His persistent problems when being asked to play in space or work laterally in pass protection were a liability for LSU and make it difficult to see a future for him as a tackle in the NFL.

Kyle Kennard has another strong outing

Kennard isn’t the most well-known pass rusher in the SEC, but he showed again this weekend that he is playing some spectacular football.

A fifth-year senior, Kennard spent the first four years of his college career at Georgia Tech. Whilst he showed some promising flashes during his time with the Yellow Jackets, he never quite managed to establish himself as a dominant trench presence.

His transfer to South Carolina this past offseason seems to have helped unlock his potential. Through six games, Kennard has amassed 23 pressures, more than he managed in any single season at Georgia Tech. He has 11 defensive stops, five of which came against Alabama in Week 7.

Kennard also had a really strong game against LSU in Week 3. Though that game may not have set the box score alight, he consistently caused problems for Tigers left tackle Will Campbell, a player who has been talked up as a potential top five draft pick in 2025.

Whilst he might not offer the same ceiling as some other prospects, Kennard’s wide variety of pass rush moves and impressive first step both project really well to the NFL level. He is definitely a name to watch as the season continues.

Quinn Ewers struggles in his first game back

It isn’t often you raise concerns about a quarterback who just led his team to a 34-3 victory over a bitter rival, but it is fair to say that Ewers did not look great in his first game back from injury.

Before suffering an abdominal strain against UTSA, Ewers was playing the best football of his career. He looked poised in the pocket, was making sound decisions, and had managed to clear up the accuracy issues that have been a persistent problem during his college career. His performance against Michigan felt like the breakout performance of a future first round pick.

Turning on the Week 7 tape was like stepping back in time and watching early career Ewers. The poise and pocket feel was gone. He bailed on clean pockets on numerous occasions and sometimes drifted right into pressure. 

The accuracy issues returned too. On the first drive of the game he overthrew his receiver and was picked off. On the next drive he failed to take advantage of a busted coverage, missing a wide open Isaiah Bond for what would have been a certain touchdown.

It’s tough to know quite what to make of this game. As his first game back from injury, some degree of rust was always to be expected, but this felt worse than that. Time will tell as to whether this was simply an off day, but it is certainly something to monitor, especially with a huge game against Georgia on the cards next week.

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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