Throughout the season, each Saturday, I will look at the best prospects from the FCS (or lower level) prospects I watched the weekend before. Or, I will look at the 2023 NFL Draft prospects from the Sun Belt schools I watched the prior weekend. During week five I saw one game involving Sun Belt teams and a few others with FCS prospects.
SUN BELT SATURDAY
GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES
GSU 5th-year corner Derrick Canteen isn’t going to make many top cornerback rankings but he is a solid player. I doubt he will be drafted but he is good enough to make a camp as a special teams player. Against Louisiana, Canteen recorded eight tackles and had one interception.
LOUISIANA RAGIN CAJUNS
The Michael Jefferson awakening continued this week. The big, fast pass catcher caught three passes for 53 yards (6 targets) and a score against Georgia Southern. Jefferson can take the top off the defense or he can win 50/50 balls. It is very possible he will end up in the Senior Bowl sooner, rather than later.
Another player that could get the invite to Mobile is CB Eric Garror. While Garror is a solid nickel corner, his biggest value is as a return man. Against GSU, he recorded three tackles and broke up two passes. Garror returned three punts for a 13-yard average.
GEORGIA STATE PANTHERS
I continue to be impressed by Panthers’ corner Quavian White. He is tremendous at making plays on the ball. White had four tackles and three PBUs against ULM.
UL-MONROE WARHAWKS
Warhawks’ WR Tyrone Howell is an under-the-radar prospect. He has nice size (6’2” 202) and has long arms. I want to see him in an All-Star environment to get a more thorough evaluation. Against Georgia State, Howell had four receptions for 70 yards on eight targets.
OTHER SUNBELT NOTES
Troy LB Carlton Martial is now the FBS record holder for career tackles. After racking up 22 tackles against Army, Martial now sits at 546 career stops. He has 3-4 games left to pad the record.
I will be back with more Sun Belt Saturday next week.