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
COASTAL CAROLINA CHANTICLEERS
I have had a love-hate relationship with CCU signal caller Grayson McCall for a while now. The 4th-year prospect is extremely accurate when throwing the football. McCall just doesn’t get enough zip on his throws and takes too many sacks. He also will have to adjust to a pro-style offense when he makes the NFL transition. The Chants’ offense looks nothing like what he will encounter when he enters the league. However, you can’t teach accuracy. And that is something McCall possesses in droves. Against ODU, he completed 26/34 passes for 358 yards and three TDs.
5th-year wide receiver Sam Pinckney portaled in during the offseason and has given McCall a big target to throw to. Against the monarchs, Pinckney caught seven balls for 113 yards. He also got a tad chippy early on, getting into a few near altercations with the opposing team.
OLD DOMINION MONARCHS
4th-year wide receiver Ali Jennings was added to our watch list this week. Quite frankly, he should have been there already. After transferring over from West Virginia, Jennings had over 1,000 yards receiving in 2021. He is well above that pace in 2022. Jennings now has 775 yards on 38 catches following his six-catch, 87-yard (1 TD) performance against Coastal. He is a tremendous route runner with good (not game-breaking) speed.
ODU needs that production. Their top prospect entering the season, TE Zack Kuntz, is currently sidelined with an injury.
CB Tobias Harris stood out to me once again. McCall didn’t challenge him often. He finished with three tackles and one TFL.
SMALL SCHOOL NOTES
After weeks of reading about Princeton WR Andrei Iosivas, I was looking forward to seeing him in action. Unfortunately, I only got a tease. Iosivas had one big catch and run but was limited to three catches for 39 yards. You can clearly see the talent and athletic ability. I just want to see him with a competent passer at the Senior Bowl.
I will be back with more Sun Belt Saturday next week.