College All-Star Game 2020 standouts to watch for in the NFL Draft

Josh Jones

Josh Jones, OT, Houston

Somebody I thought had a rough start to Senior Bowl week, but really got people buzzing as things progressed was this big Houston offensive tackle. Jones certainly didn’t start the week the way he would have liked to, as Michigan State’s Kenny Willekes got him on an up-and-under on his first rep of one-on-ones against the D-line and he had some more problems with weight distribution. However, as he settled in more, Jones’ fundamentals came to shine – flat back, good knee-bend and a tight punch – and his length became a problem on several occasions against those smaller bodies. He completely shut down consecutive rushes by North Carolina’s Jason Strowbridge on day three and actually buried one of the better rushers of the week under himself once. He also rode Wisconsin’s hybrid linebacker Zack Baun down the line quite a bit during team drills. I still believe Jones needs to work on landing punches as a pass-protector instead of catching rushers at times, but his physical gifts and the way he improved throughout the week could easily make somebody invest in him with a first-round pick.

Ben Bartch, IOL, Saint John’s

We have had some prospects now that will be picked in the middle to late rounds, as well as a couple of possible first-rounders, but when it comes to who has boosted their draft stock the most it has to be a Division III kid that wasn’t on a lot of peoples’ radars until just recently. It is incredible how quickly this kid adjusted to a much higher level of competition, going up against some of the best players in the country when he barely faced any players with D1 scholarships throughout his collegiate career. Bartch got caught lunging early on in practice, but he also showed good balance to recover. For the most part he looked very patient and displayed the athletic capability to make up for a mis-step. In the run game he didn’t shy away from contact whatsoever and overall he finished plays the right way. Bartch might have helped himself more than anybody else in Mobile, simply because he put his name on the map and validated what scouts could see from his tape against a completely different level of competition.

Darryl Williams, C, Mississippi State

While they had a very strong collection of defensive linemen at East-West Shrine week and some other guys on the offensive side of the ball received praise for switching positions along the O-line, the Mississippi State center to me was definitely the most notable guy from that group. As a pass-protector, Williams seemed to have vice grip on his hands when grabbing a hold of defenders, either stonewalling some of them or even if they got a good start, he found a way to get them back under control. He even put Arkanas’ McTelvin Agim on his butt once, after that guy completely wrecked all the others out there. Williams also got after in the run game quite a bit and was a big reason for the tremendous success the East had on the ground in the actual game. This is a pretty good center class at the top, but Williams is a kid I will have my eyes on if he tests fairly well.