During the college football season each year, as long as you're watching the games, we point out five players each week to keep an eye on who make logical sense for the Philadelphia Eagles in the following year's NFL Draft.
This week, with just the Army-Navy game on the slate, we'll profile five players who are playing in mid-week bowl games.
Ricky White III, WR, UNLV (6'1, 190): California at (24) UNLV, Art of Sport LA Bowl, Wednesday, 9:00 p.m.
White finished third in the nation in receiving yards in 2023, when he had 88 catches for 1483 yards (16.9 YPC) and 8 TDs. He has had good production in 2024 as well, making 79 catches for 1041 yards (13.2 YPC) and 11 TDs. He has speed, he plays inside and outside, and he gets open at all levels of the defense. Some highlights from 2023:
He has also blocked 4 punts.
#UNLV WR Ricky White is a potential draft pick at WR, but he has been flexing his special teams value in 2024 with 4 (!!) blocked punts. pic.twitter.com/SSivFXnmb9
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) November 11, 2024
He gives me some Terry McLaurin vibes.
Jalen Catalon, S, UNLV (5'11, 205): California at (24) UNLV, Art of Sport LA Bowl, Wednesday, 9:00 p.m.
Catalon has had an interesting college career that has been marred by injuries.
He originally enrolled at Arkansas, where he had a great season in 2020 as a redshirt freshman, when he collected 99 tackles, 3 INTs (1 pick-six), and 2 forced fumbles. In 2021, his season was off to a good start (46 tackles, 2 INTs, 4 PBUs in 6 games), before it was cut short with a broken hand and a shoulder injury, suffered in the same game. Some highlights from early in his career:
As you can see he earned a reputation as a big hitter.
In 2022, he injured his shoulder again, had reconstructive surgery, and only played in one game.
In 2023, he transferred to Texas, missed four games with a leg injury, and never really found his place in Texas' defense.
In 2024, he transferred again, this time to UNLV, where he is having a bounce-back season. He has 89 tackles, 2 sacks, a forced fumble, and he's third in the nation with 5 INTs.
GIMME THAT
📺: ESPN pic.twitter.com/WZbTsDkrSf— UNLV Football (@unlvfootball) September 14, 2024
Catalon has major medical red flags, but he has talent and is worth a late-round flier.
Mitchell Evans, TE, Notre Dame (6'5, 260): (7) Indiana at (10) Notre Dame, College Football Playoff First Round Game, Friday, 8:00 p.m.
Evans isn't as athletically gifted as many of the other tight ends we have profiled this season, but he is a physical player and a good blocker. He isn't likely to put up great receiving numbers in the NFL, but he's a big target who has 3 TDs in Notre Dame's last 4 games, and could be a red zone target.
Go up and get it big fella ☘️#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/YWWCBpmKQ9
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) November 30, 2024
I don't think he's an ideal TE1, but he can be a meat and potatoes TE2.
Rylie Mills, iDL, Notre Dame (6'5, 295): (7) Indiana at (10) Notre Dame, College Football Playoff First Round Game, Friday, 8:00 p.m.
Mills leads Notre Dame with 6.5 sacks. He's a great hand fighter and power rusher from the interior. Fun highlight reel here, via @CFCBears:
He is also likely to test well at the Combine, as he has made Bruce Feldman's "freaks" list each of the last two years. He was 27th in 2024:
The Irish have a lot of talent on their defense and Mills (No. 10 on the Freaks List in 2023) and another freaky big man (who vertical jumps an impressive 32 inches weighing 290 pounds) anchor a very disruptive front. The 6-5 Mills had 47 tackles last season with 5.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks and two recovered fumbles. He’s down 11 pounds from last year, to 295, but benches almost the same as he used to (445 pounds) and squats 580. This offseason, he vertical-jumped 32 inches and broad-jumped 9-0.
The Eagles have needs on the edges and on the interior, with Brandon Graham (probably) retiring, and Milton Williams in a contract year.
Kurtis Rourke, QB, Indiana (6'5, 223): (7) Indiana at (10) Notre Dame, College Football Playoff First Round Game, Friday, 8:00 p.m.
Rourke had a fantastic 2024 season, leading Indiana to an 11-1 record and a spot in the college football playoffs. He had a 70.4% completion percentage, 9.9 YPA, and 27 TDs vs. 4 INTs, finishing as the highest rated passer in the nation.
Kurtis Rourke ends the season with the #1 passer rating in all of D1 football (181.4), ahead of Jaxson Dart, Will Howard, Cam Ward, and Shedeur Sanders. #iufb pic.twitter.com/SABUuK02oW
— 17th Street Sicko (@17thStreetSicko) December 1, 2024
Rourke has good size at 6'5, 223, and he throws with accuracy and anticipation.
He reminds me a little of Tanner McKee.
We haven't profiled a quarterback yet this season, because the Eagles are tied to Jalen Hurts for the foreseeable future, and they have Kenny Pickett and McKee under contract through the 2025 season.
McKee very clearly outplayed Pickett in the preseason games this year, and in my opinion he was also better than Pickett in training camp. If the Eagles are ready for McKee to become the No. 2 in 2025, then they could trade Pickett and draft another Day 3 quarterback to develop, and Rourke is a player who I think would be of interest.
MORE: 5 things to watch in Eagles-Steelers
Previously profiled players
- Nazir Stackhouse, DT, Georgia
- Oscar Delp, TE, Georgia
- Barrett Carter, LB, Clemson
- Wyatt Milum, OT, West Virginia
- Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
- Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
- Landon Jackson, EDGE, Arkansas
- Dontay Corleone, NT, Cincinnati
- Xavier Nwankpa, S, Iowa
- Anthony Belton, OT, NC State
- Malachi Moore, S, Alabama
- Jack Nelson, OT, Wisconsin
- Luther Burden, WR, Missouri
- Jordan Burch, DL, Oregon
- Caleb Prieskorn, TE, Ole Miss
- Kenneth Grant, NT, Michigan
- Collin Oliver, LB/EDGE, Oklahoma State
- Dasan McCullough, LB/DB, Oklahoma
- Emery Jones, OT, LSU
- Luke Lachey, TE, Iowa
- Deone Walker, NT, Kentucky
- Bryson Nesbit, TE, North Carolina
- Mykel Williams, EDGE, Georgia
- Deontae Lawson, LB, Alabama
- Jonah Savaiinaea, OG/OT, Arizona
- Nic Scourton, DL, Texas A&M
- Harold Fannin, TE, Bowling Green
- Patrick Payton, EDGE, Florida State
- Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota
- Eric Gentry, LB, USC
- Gunnar Helm, TE, Texas
- Jonah Monheim, OL, USC
- J.T. Tuimoloau, EDGE, Ohio State
- Tre Harris, WR, Ole Miss
- Bradyn Swinson, EDGE, LSU
- Ashton Gillotte, DL, Louisville
- Jake Briningstool, TE, Clemson
- Nick Emmanwori, S/LB, South Carolina
- Smael Mondon, LB, Georgia
- David Bailey, EDGE/LB, Stanford
- Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
- Antwaun Powell-Ryland, EDGE, Virginia Tech
- Ajani Cornelius, OT, Oregon
- Connor Colby, OL, Iowa
- Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
- Nick Singleton, RB, Penn State
- Oronde Gadsden II, TE, Syracuse
- Elic Ayomanor, WR, Stanford
- Josaiah Stewart, LB/EDGE, Michigan
- Shemar Turner, iDL, Texas A&M
- Jalon Walker, LB, Georgia
- Xavier Truss, OT, Georgia
- Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss
- Clay Webb, OL, Jacksonville State
- Mason Taylor, TE, LSU
- Xavier Watts, S, Notre Dame
- Armand Membou, OL, Missouri
- Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon
- Terrance Ferguson, TE, Oregon
- Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa State
- TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State
- Mikail Kamara, EDGE, Indiana
- Elijah Arroyo, TE, Miami
- Cameron Williams, OT, Texas
- Jalen Royals, WR, Utah State
- Mason Graham, DT, Michigan
- Kyle Kennard, EDGE, South Carolina
- Eli Stowers, TE, Vanderbilt
- Jayden Higgins, WR, Iowa State
- Joshua Gray, OT/OG, Oregon State
- Alfred Collins, DT, Texas
- Andrew Mukuba, S/CB, Texas
- Mike Green, EDGE, Marshall
- Jordan James, RB, Oregon
- Blake Miller, OT, Clemson
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
