Week 9 SCOUTING NOTEBOOK: Tanner Koziol's big day, trinidad Chambliss flashes and more

By Jack Brentnall

A number of the heavyweight programs weren’t playing in Week 9, but it still delivered plenty of excitement and intrigue from an NFL Draft perspective.

Houston tight end Tanner Koziol helped the Cougars pull off a big conference win, while Trinidad Chambliss had a bounceback game against Oklahoma.

We also had a breakout game for Michigan linebacker Jimmy Rolder and another rough outing for Colorado cornerback DJ McKinney.

Here’s my scouting notebook from Week 9 of the college football season.

Tanner Koziol goes off vs Arizona State

Houston’s win over Arizona State in Tempe was one of the headlines of Week 9, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the performance of their star tight end, Tanner Koziol.

The former Ball State pass catcher had his best game of the season so far, recording 100 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions.

Things didn’t get off to the best start, with Koziol dropping a would-be touchdown on his first target of the game, but after that, he hardly put a foot wrong.

Koziol was a high school basketball player, and that shows in how he elevates and attacks the ball. He might lack the elite juice to be a consistent separator, but his large frame, strong hands, and outstanding body control mean he’s open even when he’s covered. That’s perfectly illustrated in his perfect 3-for-3 record on contested targets in this game (he’s 15-of-19 on the season so far).

As an NFL Draft prospect, the key question with Koziol will be whether he can become a more consistent in-line blocker. Since he isn’t athletic enough to be a true flex tight end at the pro level, adding value as a blocker is critical to earning a consistent role on Sundays. 

Ultimately, Koziol’s strong hands, size, and outstanding contested-catch ability project him as an immediate, high-leverage red zone weapon in the NFL, giving him a defined path to a roster spot if the blocking lags behind.

A breakout game from Jimmy Rolder

Michigan had their defense to thank as they moved to 6-2 this weekend with a good win against Michigan State. There were a number of impressive performances, but it was that of linebacker Jimmy Rolder that really stood out to me.

The fourth-year senior has spent much of his career as a backup, but found his starting opportunity earlier this season after Jaishawn Barham switched to playing off the edge. This weekend was comfortably the best game of his career so far.

Rolder finished the game with 13 tackles, including seven stops. His explosiveness was routinely on display, with the burst to get downhill and lay big hits.

What really stood out with Rolder wasn’t just the amount of plays he made, but the timely impact of those plays. His first big play of the game saw him recover a fumble, giving the Wolverines the ball in plus territory. He practically ended another drive in the first quarter with a big sack on Aidan Chiles.

Later in the game, he was able to generate a pass breakup on a two-point conversion and another on a key fourth down in the fourth quarter. He topped this all off by ending Michigan State’s penultimate drive with a key stop on a 4th and 1.

Rolder is by no means the finished product; he’s clearly much more comfortable working forwards than backwards, and there are still occasions where you’d like to see him read and react more instinctively. 

Yet, while the instincts and polish are still developing, this game was a powerful demonstration of his explosive physical tools and the high-impact plays they enable. If he continues to pair those clutch, game-changing moments with improved consistency, he will rapidly rise up NFL Draft boards.

Trinidad Chambliss leads the Rebels to a big win

The highly anticipated matchup between Ole Miss and Oklahoma delivered despite some less than ideal weather, and one player that really stood out was the Rebels’ quarterback, Trinidad Chambliss.

Chambliss came into this contest off the back of a rough outing against Georgia in Week 8, but he looked much better here, despite facing a talented and creative Brent Venables defense.

Lane Kiffin’s offense has a reputation for making life easy on the quarterback, but there were countless occasions in this game where Chambliss took matters into his own hands and delivered when Ole Miss needed it the most.

He had a handful of impressive third and fourth down conversions, both with his arm and with his legs. His decision-making throughout was very good, and he did an excellent job of avoiding many of the traps that Venables cooked up for him with disguised looks and simulated pressures. He had an excellent play on Ole Miss’ first drive where he got through his reads to hit a beautiful throw up the seam. Later in the game, he converted a 3rd and 15 with a nice throw over the middle of the field.

His size (6’0” and 200 lbs) is going to get a lot of attention from an NFL Draft perspective, but his accuracy remains the biggest concern. Though the weather was undoubtedly a factor in this game, his inability to consistently hit the easy throws will make NFL scouts uneasy. He finished this game with a completion percentage of just 54.5%.

Despite this flaw, his performance in this high-stakes environment demonstrated the poise and decision-making that scouts look for in quarterback prospects. Chambliss firmly re-established himself as an intriguing project who can deliver when the game is on the line.

DJ McKinney falls flat in Colorado's blowout loss

The weekend was an absolute disaster for Colorado as they collapsed to an embarrassing 53-7 loss to Utah. Unsurprisingly there were very few players who came away from this game with anything positive on tape, but I was especially underwhelmed by cornerback DJ McKinney.

Coming into the season, I was genuinely excited about McKinney. I graded him as the second best player at the position, behind only Jermod McCoy, and I thought he had a very real chance to be a first-round pick.

I feel confident in saying that won’t happen, at least not in 2026. You only have to turn on the Utah game to see why.

One of McKinney’s biggest strengths in 2024 was his effort and ability as a run defender. He was a reliable tackler in space and showed the aggression that NFL teams covet. In 2025, this has completely flipped from a certified strength to an obvious weakness.

McKinney has missed 20.5% of his tackle attempts this season, and had an embarrassing 42.9% miss rate against Utah. This included a particularly dire, almost non-attempt at a tackle early in the second quarter that led directly to a Utes touchdown.

His general unwillingness to get involved as a run defender was a constant problem against a Utes offense that is perfectly happy to pound the rock. They put up an astonishing 431 rushing yards, averaging 8.6 yards per attempt. If you look at runs outside the tackles, an area where you’d expect McKinney to make plays, they averaged a scarcely believable 12.8 yards per attempt.

At this point, it feels like McKinney’s best option is to return to school in 2026 and hope he can recapture the form that earned him hype over the summer. But if that’s to stand any chance of happening, he needs to show far more drive and effort than he did this weekend against Utah. What once felt like a clear first-round trajectory has been completely derailed by a collapse in fundamentals and, most concerningly, effort.

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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