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Building the Beast: Darian Mensah and Trinidad Chambliss put down NFL Draft markers in Week 1

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49 min
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Sep 8, 2026
Published
Tue, September 8, 2026
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Episode Transcript

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0:00Welcome to The Athletic Football Show brought to you by the US Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card and welcome to an all new episode of Building the Beast.
0:09Week 1 of the college football season is officially behind us.
0:13So much to react to quarterback performances, big games from big teams.
0:17There's no reason to get more complex than that.
0:20Dane Brugler and I with a full notebook coming out of the first weekend of the college football season.
0:26Let's get right to it. Well, I know this technically isn't the first episode of Building the Beast.
0:32We did a whole preview show a couple weeks ago before we got into the meat of this thing, but Dane Brugler.
0:39It feels especially good doing this now that we've got three or four days of college football in the books.
0:45We don't have to hypothesize or say if that this then that we have real live football game results to react to.
0:52And even if a lot of teams were, we'll just say, taking it easy in week one will be nice and say,
1:00you know, we're easing into the schedule. It's still something we can react to instead of project.
1:05And I am really excited to do that with you today.
1:09I think I'm confused by the amount of people who are maybe disappointed with the lack of rank first ranked matchups.
1:16And like, of course, we want to see good football, but any football is good football, especially in week one.
1:22And so it was it was great to have new tape players that we've been talking about all summer, see them on
1:29the field another year older, wiser, more developed, hopefully.
1:32And so, yeah, it was even though we didn't have maybe some of those juicy matchups and the ones that we thought
1:39would be compelling, like the game you were at Saturday night, maybe didn't turn out the way we had hoped in terms of just a good matchup.
1:48But you know what? Next week, there's a lot coming week three.
1:52There's a lot to talk about. But just focusing on opening weekend, there's still plenty to cover as we get forward as
1:59we go forward on this as we start the 2026 season.
2:03I think maybe and this is purely anecdotal, but going back over my time paying attention to college football, especially when there
2:10was no playoff or when it was a smaller playoff week, one was loaded with these ridiculous matchups where it was like
2:17number four versus number nine and number 15 versus number 22.
2:21I understand why that might take a backseat in this era of enlarged conferences and an expanded playoff.
2:27And I think over a long enough timeline, especially with how many playoff games we get now, that's going to take care of itself.
2:34But I do. I think it's just a reaction to waiting nine months and not really having any matchups that you can sink your teeth into.
2:43But that's only if you don't want to work at it, Dane.
2:47Like we have plenty we can react to just from this week alone, and it's definitely going to get better as we move through September.
2:55But you kind of alluded to it, man. So let's just get it out of the way at the top of the show.
3:03I think you've known me for a long time.
3:05Over the course of my career, if I can downplay an LSU performance or an LSU player, I try to do that
3:13because I don't want people to think I'm some kind of Homer jerk who only wants to talk about the Tigers.
3:19But LSU Clemson was the centerpiece of this college football weekend.
3:23That's where game day went. It was the two biggest name programs.
3:27It was one of the only ranked teams that was really testing itself in the opening weekend.
3:33And to say LSU made a statement, I really feel like it's an understatement, Dane.
3:37I mean, we've seen plenty of lopsided games in the past, but LSU treated Clemson like a rent-a-win in this game.
3:44I mean, I'm not even being mean. They outgained them 644 to 145.
3:48They had 38 first downs, which I believe is a record for LSU or at least a home game record.
3:55I mean, by any objective measure, this just did not look like two power four programs playing each other.
4:01And I was cautiously optimistic and interested in LSU this year, obviously, not only because that's where I went to school, but because of the Lane Kiffin era.
4:10And I had heard so much about what this roster was.
4:14And I was like, well, I'll be there at the beginning of the season.
4:18I'll see for myself. I saw for myself, man.
4:21This is an insane LSU roster. Before I launch into any more of a tangent, I'd love to know for your initial
4:29reactions, because there's like eight different ways you can go with this.
4:32I don't know how good LSU is just because I don't think Clemson's very good this year.
4:38But I feel pretty good that no matter what, LSU is going to be pretty entertaining the rest of the year.
4:45And whether that's 11 wins, seven wins, who knows?
4:48We'll see as the rest of the schedule plays out.
4:51Two weeks against Ole Miss, that one is going to be a lot of fun.
4:56But watching this team, it's just there's a lot of players on this team, a lot of prospects.
5:02LSU did not pinch pennies this offseason, right? We know that they brought in a lot of high priced free agents, put it that way.
5:10Transfers, Jordan Seaton, the left tackle, Ty Benefield at safety, Sam Levitt at quarterback.
5:15And all of these guys played a pretty significant role immediately.
5:18And so it's a very entertaining. And I mean, let's let's buzz through some of these players.
5:24I mean, let's let's start with Jordan Seaton, because I think he you could argue he was the top prospect in this game.
5:31I thought he had a nice debut at left tackle for the Tigers.
5:35It was far from perfect, fell off several blocks.
5:38I wish he was more consistent with his hands.
5:41But you just you don't have to squint to see the talent.
5:45And to me, week one debut in an environment like that new team.
5:49That's my takeaway is you see the talent. And so the ceiling, it still feels uncertain because of all those things that need tidied up to his game.
5:59But his ability on the move, the way he can react, his mentality, the way he finishes.
6:04There is a foundation here with Seaton that I think you can get excited about.
6:09Clemson's top edge rusher will help also in my top 50 had a very quiet night.
6:14I don't know that LSU give up a sack.
6:17I don't remember if they did that offensive line.
6:20And I mean, I don't have to tell you this, but that LSU offensive line has been an issue.
6:26It seems, you know, the last five years where whether it's, you know, Garrett Nussmeyer or whoever's quarterback just had a tough time getting going.
6:34And the offensive line was a big issue and they've had some high draft picks, Will Campbell and some other guys.
6:41But it just it seemed like a much more cohesive unit.
6:45And I think part of that's the offense and what Lane wants to do with motions and different things.
6:51But I came away. I was already, you know, optimistic about Jordan Seaton coming in.
6:56Maybe not as sky high as some others, but optimistic about him.
7:00And I thought based on his debut, no reason to think otherwise.
7:04LSU did not surrender a sack and they ran for 309 yards on the night.
7:09And I said this to my friends and my wife after the game.
7:13Typically, when a team runs for 300 plus yards in a college football game, you can count on a 60, 70, 80, 90 yard rush.
7:21Really doing a lot of the heavy lifting there.
7:24LSU's long on the night was 18 yards. They were just gashing them consistently all night long.
7:29That offensive line. Was it was a Levitt? It was Levitt and their new running back Dylan Jones tied for the team lead at 113.
7:38OK, well, I mean, they were just getting whatever they wanted to every time they ran the ball.
7:43And yeah, I mean, Seaton was a part of that.
7:47Our guy who we talked about a good bit last year, Braylon Moore is back at center for LSU.
7:53Man, I joked with you. I'm not I'm not ready to get reckless with Jordan Seaton.
7:58I said something reckless to you privately that I will hold on to now that I am, you know, not in the afterglow of this game.
8:07But the talent leaps out at you, man. Like Jordan Seaton, he just turned 21 years old.
8:12When he gets down in that stance, I mean, he's got those big, long arms.
8:17He is such an effortless mover. And I was really impressed with his power in this game and like his ability to drive guys back and finish blocks.
8:26And he did, in addition to allowing two pressures on the night, he did have a penalty, which coaches are going to
8:33say is is not not a good thing. But it was like it was a late hit at the sideline, like finishing
8:40a block on a guy right near the sideline.
8:43And privately to my O tackle, I'm going to be like, hey, yeah, that's the that's the edge and the nastiness we
8:51want to play with, even though you shouldn't do it again.
8:54Yeah, I love it. So you you had actual eyes on these guys where I was watching the tape, but you were there.
9:02Was Seaton the guy that maybe attracted your eyes the most or was there somebody?
9:07I mean, because obviously there's athletes up and down this this roster, which besides Seaton, who else really grabbed your attention, whether
9:14in warm ups or during the game? So and that's the point I wanted to make, because you're right.
9:20And LSU beat Clemson in the season opener last year.
9:23And it didn't ultimately mean anything for their overall season.
9:26And I remember talking to you. I mean, it was a theme of last year.
9:31Mansoor Delane was amazing. And we knew that relatively quickly into the season.
9:36But I think LSU had three top 100 picks last year.
9:39And Zavion Thomas was a little bit of a surprise.
9:42Like most people weren't expecting him to get drafted that highly.
9:46Even if I'm not going to try to guess at the number of first round picks on this roster.
9:52I just was watching LSU and I was like, this team feels like it has half a dozen top 100 caliber players like that.
10:00That is my initial read on this LSU team.
10:03And other than Jordan Seaton, we know about trade as green, who's a guy that you previewed extensively in the summer.
10:10He's obviously going to stand out to you because he's a six, seven tight end who runs like a wide receiver.
10:17We can talk about him. But if you're asking me who stood out, Clemson could do nothing with the two edge rushers,
10:24Jordan Ross and Prince Will Umami Elan. And Umami Elan is a name that we knew because he's he's Prince Lee's little
10:31brother who's with the Carolina Panthers right now. And he also followed Lane from Ole Miss after having like nine sacks last year.
10:38So that was on my radar. I got to admit, Jordan Ross, number twenty nine.
10:43I looked him up now and I'm like, OK, he transferred from Tennessee.
10:48He was like a talented but maybe inconsistent player with the volunteers.
10:52Brother, I don't even care about the pick six.
10:54He was everywhere other than that, like even without the touchdown that he scored.
10:59He had four pressures and a sack and was just all over the place in the early going of this game.
11:06My wife and I looked at each other midway through the second quarter and we were like, holy shit.
11:12Twenty nine has done everything in this game so far.
11:15So those two guys considering I like, you know, I was pumped to watch Jordan Seaton.
11:21I was pumped to watch Sam Levitt and Ty Benefield.
11:24I really didn't have these edge rushers on my radar going into the game and they were very, very impressive.
11:30Yeah, the best way I can sum it up is when I put on the tape for Clemson's offense, I felt like in 10 minutes I was done.
11:39Like I think they had they ran like 40 play there, 40 something plays.
11:44I think it was under 50. It went pretty quickly.
11:47And so I think that kind of sums it up where I think a good shout with those two edge rushers, Jordan
11:54Ross, especially with the number you notice him. But his ability to get off blocks and find the football was impressive.
12:01Umi Mielin is undersized like his brother. I mean, I'll be surprised if he's more than 243 pounds.
12:07I mean, he looks a little bit smaller, but it doesn't matter if you can't get hands on him to block to block him.
12:15And several times he was able to get loose, whether creating a lane for himself on the inside, getting free.
12:21He did it consistently. He just has a feel for creating those rush lanes.
12:26And so he's someone that I wasn't when talking to scouts over the summer, neither of these guys get talked up all that much.
12:34But he's someone that I think can get in the top 100 range just by nature of, you know, similar to his
12:41brother, because his brother was a mid third round pick to the Panthers.
12:45I think principal can do the same exact thing.
12:48And Jordan Ross looks like a guy that we need to take a longer look at Ty Benefield, who we talked a
12:55lot about over the summer because, you know, he's six three.
12:59He's long. He's a good athlete. He made plays.
13:02The missed tackles and the missteps were a big thing for him at Boise State.
13:07We didn't see that in week one. He had a nice PBU in this game.
13:12I also want to talk about Sam Levitt real quick, though.
13:15Just we should talk about the quarterback that we've been waiting to see.
13:19Right. I mean, obviously, we we knew about Sam Levitt from, you know, two years ago watching mid Arizona State and how
13:27much fun he was to watch then. Last year, banged up most of the year.
13:32Now he transfers to LSU. And in that Lane Kiffin offense, I mean, I think the the Jackson dark comps and we've
13:39talked about this is kind of they make almost too much sense.
13:43Maybe, you know, the reckless nature. Like there's that fine line between being reckless and being productive with the way that these
13:50guys play with using their legs and working outside of structure and just having a real.
13:55YOLO type of feel to some of their passes like Dane saying YOLO for social media, please.
14:01That's fantastic. I mean, just he's a real twitchy passer.
14:04All right. But sometimes you're just not sure where it's going and the accuracy is not always on point because it's almost
14:11like his his eyes and his arms aren't in his arm.
14:15They're not on the same in his feet. They're not on the same page all the time because his eyes see one
14:22thing and his arms ready to go, but his feet aren't in line yet.
14:26And so he just needs to get more in tune with everything to be more consistent.
14:32But man, he's a talented kid. There's no doubt about that.
14:35And with LSU's weapons, he can have a real big year.
14:39I told myself going in that I just didn't want to compare Sam Levitt to Jackson Dart because it was too on the nose.
14:47Like, you know, they're both playing for Lane Kiffin.
14:49They're both big blonde guys. They both kind of seem to have this like very fun demeanor about themselves.
14:56But like midway through the game, I was like, yeah, no.
14:59Okay, this is this is Jackson Dart or at least maybe a little less polished of a Jackson Dart.
15:05And I do think I didn't come away from this game overly impressed with Sam Levitt as a passer.
15:12Like, I thought the ball was kind of all over the place.
15:16I thought off the top of my head, I could think of like one nice throw that traveled more than eight or nine yards in the air.
15:24And obviously, LSU didn't need him to do a whole lot else with that.
15:29And I will say it's an encouraging sign that he was able to run 12 times for 113 yards with two touchdowns
15:36because it was his foot that he needed to have surgery on.
15:40And he was sidelined for a good chunk of the offseason.
15:44So if he's moving around well enough to do that in a big time game, that's really encouraging because mobility is such
15:51a huge part of what he does. And I think I looked it up.
15:55Half of his carries were explosives. So like that is that's a big time element to bring to your offense.
16:02I'd like to see a little bit more consistency as you know, as a true thrower of the football from the pocket.
16:09But that feels like nitpicking for such an impressive season debut.
16:13Like if that's if that's our first look at Sam Levitt, that's that's just fine, even though I'm not trying to put
16:20him in any mock drafts just yet. And Levitt just missed my preseason top 50.
16:25Part of that was I didn't know what to do with them.
16:29Two years ago at Arizona State, we saw a player that was really productive at Arizona State.
16:34But last year, there's only so much tape and there's so much you can go based off of and coming in this year.
16:42Can he stay healthy? Was it going to look like in a theoretically a better situation?
16:47But we still want to see more consistency. And in this game, he was under 60 percent completions.
16:53But it was still a I think you come away from this game pretty excited about what Sam Levitt can be as
17:00as long as he continues to develop and grow.
17:03And, you know, we'll see in two weeks going to Ole Miss on the road against a defense that gave a lot of points this weekend.
17:11What does it look like in a big time atmosphere like that?
17:15The rest of that LSU schedule will be interesting.
17:18So but we have plenty of the quarterbacks to talk about as well.
17:22It's a perfect segue. And yes, contrary to what you might be thinking, this is not an LSU podcast.
17:28So we're going to put a pin in it right there.
17:32LSU's got Ole Miss in two weeks. They've got Texas A&M shortly after that.
17:37So we won't have to wait long to see how that talent continues to develop from there.
17:42But for now, we're going to transition. We're going to hit plenty of other quarterbacks that were in action in week one right after this break.
17:51Well, Dane, you mentioned it. I think we should just keep it in the classic SEC West.
17:56I guess divisions don't really exist anymore. But on Sunday night, Ole Miss and Louisville played one of the games of the weekend.
18:04Probably the game of the weekend for my money.
18:07Just when you have two really solid teams playing a game that comes down to the final seconds.
18:12Incredibly impressive. And another just really fun night for Trinidad Chambliss, which did not look like it was going to go that
18:20way at the beginning, by the way. Trinidad Chambliss had 76 passing yards and two turnovers at halftime.
18:26And then when they came back from the break, looked much more like the guy that we're excited about in 2026.
18:32Yeah, they're knocking the rust off and then exploded in the second half.
18:37And look, Chambliss is the type of prospect that I don't think he screams NFL first round pick.
18:42You know, he's under six foot. His eyes can be inconsistent at times.
18:47He's going to be a 25 year old rookie, even though I don't know how much that matters to NFL teams.
18:54But he's a playmaker. There's no denying that. And so I love the way the ball explodes off his hand.
19:00His athleticism is a big time asset. That first 62 yard touchdown, he had to deuce Alexander because there were multiple 62 yard touchdown passes to deuce Alexander.
19:09But the first one Chambliss did such a great job of reading the safety rotation and anticipating that window behind the linebacker
19:16and just ripped a perfect strike to hit Alexander in stride.
19:20And it's like, OK, if you don't have if you don't time that up perfectly, maybe you still get a completion, maybe
19:27get the first down and you're moving the sticks, but it's not a touchdown.
19:32If you don't hit it with if you don't have that same anticipation of Alexander working behind the linebacker, you're not going
19:39to see that read and you're probably going to dump it off with the check down.
19:44So his ability to see it post snap based off of the coverage rotation and then to hit it in stride.
19:51So the timing, the placement, the read, it takes all of that to make that a 62 yard big time touchdown.
19:58And deuce Alexander doing the rest of this with the speed was just awesome to watch.
20:03And so, yeah, Chambliss, it wasn't a perfect night.
20:06He had that fumble earlier, took him a little bit to get going.
20:10But this guy, he's just a playmaker. You can do it with his legs.
20:15You can do it with his arm. It's it's it's really fun to watch him.
20:20I'm really not asking you to get reckless. I'm genuinely curious because it's obvious he's not the ideal build or, you know,
20:27prototype for a big time NFL draft pick. He's a little undersized.
20:31He's a little older. But I don't know. I don't know.
20:34I have I have a hard time putting a cap on it is what I'm trying to say.
20:40Like, I have a hard time determining what I find to be so limiting because I you know, your brain can immediately
20:47go to like Bryce Young when you hear about his build and his size.
20:52But I don't know, man. I think he's got a liver arm than that.
20:56And he is a very dynamic athlete. Like I was trying to decide who I think he reminds me of watching the second half on Sunday night.
21:05And I think it's Bo Nix. OK, but I do think like I think he's a college wise not talking about right
21:12now, obviously, but like I think he's a better anticipatory passer and like better at throwing from the pocket than Bo Nix
21:20was at this point in his career. But the way that he is never, ever dead to rights reminds me of Bo
21:27Nix, where like you can you can get a free rusher on him.
21:31You could scheme up an open blitz where he doesn't see it until it's right in his face and it's still not going to matter.
21:39And his ability to get out of those situations and at worst turn them into neutral slash positive plays or at best
21:46make a make a game breaking play. It's yeah, like Bo Nix is the name that comes to mind for me, at least.
21:54And so I hear all the reasons why he might not be a big, big time pick.
21:59And if I had to guess, I think that's probably right.
22:03And yet I don't I don't want to put a limit on what he might be capable of.
22:09No, I and I don't think we should. Right.
22:12And I don't mind that comp at all to Bo Nix, who also was an older prospect.
22:17I think he's 24 years old when he got drafted.
22:21So an older prospect as well still went top 12 in the draft.
22:25I think with with Chambliss, I just the arm audacity.
22:28I love that about him is he will. He's not afraid to put it in those small windows.
22:34He's not afraid to anticipate and bet on his guy being in the right place at the right time.
22:40Obviously, that, you know, Louisville, I think I give their defense a lot of credit.
22:45The energy that they were playing with was a lot of fun.
22:49It will get tougher against some of these other defenses in the SEC.
22:53So you want to see him keep it up.
22:56But and they did it with, you know, you think about with that offense coming alive in the second quarter or in the second half.
23:04They did it without Kwon Lacy. You know, their stud running back who was hurt and banged up most of that second half.
23:12So it was all on Chambliss to go out and make things happen.
23:16And he did it multiple times where, you know, whatever the problem was that the defense presented, he found a solution.
23:23I don't know how you quantify this as an NFL evaluator.
23:26But also, if you didn't happen to watch this game, Ole Miss, Ole Miss seemingly put this away on a Chambliss rushing touchdown with six minutes to play.
23:35And lo and behold, not a wonderful night for their defense.
23:39Louisville managed to tie it up with a minute and a half to play coming back from down 14.
23:45And the minute Louisville scored, I looked at the clock and I was like, oh, Chambliss is winning this game.
23:52Like, I had zero doubt in my mind. And, of course, Ole Miss drove the field.
23:57He went two of three for 33 yards and threw in a couple rushes on the drive.
24:03And Ole Miss kicks a walk-off field goal. And I just, I have an innate faith in this guy after everything I've seen from him.
24:11Which, like I said, I don't know how you factor that into your evaluation, but I think it matters.
24:17I agree. I mean, there's definitely a vibes check, right, with these quarterbacks.
24:21And that's, even to your point, at the end of the game, they were playing for the field goal.
24:27And I was kind of yelling at the screen saying, what do you, give it to Chambliss.
24:33Let him go make plays and at least make it an easier field goal instead of the 50-yarder or wherever it ended up being.
24:41I mean, they have a stud field goal kicker, so I think they felt pretty confident in that.
24:47But your quarterback, you have all the reason in the world to trust him to go make plays.
24:52And so, yeah, a great opening debut for Chambliss.
24:55And he started the year, the preseason, number 35 in my top 50.
25:00So, just outside of that first round, and it's kind of the, look, I like him enough where he belongs in the top 50.
25:07But I can't get there quite yet and say he was absolutely a first-round pick.
25:12You know, I'm still keeping an open mind to all these, you know, different projections and the way it could go.
25:19But he deserves the respect of being talked about as a top 50 prospect.
25:24You mentioned him briefly, but number nine in your underclassmen receiver ranking heading into the season was Deuce Alexander, number one at Ole Miss.
25:32And just go cut on the highlights. Five catches, 159 yards, two touchdowns.
25:36You see it very quickly between just the outright speed and the stop-start movement ability.
25:41I know, like, he had a role on Ole Miss' team last year.
25:45I think he caught 44 balls for 600 yards.
25:48It's not like he was a nobody, but there were other options, other very good options in that offense.
25:54And I think they're going to be just fine if he's their go-to guy this year.
25:59He looked really fun. The speed is real. I mean, you feel the speed.
26:04And going back to last fall, talking to scouts about Dejan Stribling and Harrison Wallace and those receivers, they would bring up
26:11Deuce Alexander in a way of like, okay, well, wait for Deuce.
26:15Or, you know, like Deuce is the best of the group just because, you know, they would see that speed and that ability and that talent.
26:23And so this isn't coming out of nowhere. It's just it's good to see him finally get this stage where he can
26:31be the go-to receiver and go make plays. Another one of the most impressive performances of the entire weekend happened on Friday night.
26:38And that would be our guy, Darian Mensah, who we mentioned is probably going to have a really good shot to be
26:45in New York City at the Heisman Trophy ceremony when this season's said and done.
26:50He's my pick. And, well, your pick is looking pretty smart after one game, Dan.
26:55And I know adversity comes for everybody eventually. But anytime you can throw more touchdowns than incompletions, I think you're on the right track.
27:03And that's what Darian Mensah did in Miami's debut.
27:06They went to Stanford and absolutely shredded the Cardinal.
27:09I don't even remember the final score. I think it was like 42 to six.
27:14But the pertinent stats for our conversation is that Darian Mensah transferring in from Duke went 27 of 30 for 400 yards and five touchdowns.
27:22Yeah, it's not bad, right? Look, and Malachi Tony really kind of stole the show because of how electric he is.
27:29But true sophomore. So we're not going to gush about him just yet because he's not draft eligible.
27:34But, yeah, you can reserve a spot in the top 10 for Tony in the 2028 class.
27:40But I don't think that should overshadow what Mensah did because, yeah, like you said, I mean, he was just outstanding.
27:47He's so efficient with his operation. He's perfect for that offense because he he knows how to find the vulnerable matchup.
27:54He gets the ball out quick. He doesn't have the strongest arm in terms of the ball just exploding off his hand.
28:01But I love his feel for ball placement and then his pocket awareness, too.
28:05He during Stanford seemed to always get close, but never really get to him.
28:10And they really didn't affect him consistently in the pocket.
28:13He has a feel for everything going on around him.
28:16He hangs tough and then he delivers. So that Mensah to Cooper Barkate connection was something we saw last year at Duke.
28:24Barkate's one of the top senior receivers in this class.
28:27They're best friends. And so as soon as Mensah made the decision to transfer to from Duke to Miami, Barkate was kind of right behind him.
28:35He's a really interesting story, too, because he was a Harvard transfer to Duke coming out of high school in California.
28:42I mean, he had offers Notre Dame and all these other places, but he went to Harvard for that degree, got the degree.
28:50And then according to his plan, then transferred to a to an FBS program to make that next step to the NFL.
28:57And I mean, he had a big game as well, had that that touchdown on the slot as a slot post.
29:04And Mensah just laid it out there perfectly for him.
29:07So, yeah, that Miami offense is going to be a problem for defenses all year.
29:12The schedule is what it is. I kind of already looking forward to that Notre Dame matchup in November, which seems like, you know, a long time away.
29:21But that'll give us a better, more clear picture of this Miami offense.
29:25And then, you know, I don't really root for teams to make the playoff, but I won't be mad if Miami makes
29:32it and we get some better matchups with some of these defenses to see how Mensah and the rest of these Miami offensive players hold up.
29:41I'm glad you mentioned Mensah's pocket presence, because my question, anytime a team loses three offensive linemen to the draft is just what does that look like?
29:50How well does the offensive line come together? And there's going to be better tests of that eventually.
29:56I don't know how quickly given Miami's schedule, but even still having a quarterback with a really great feel for pressure and
30:03ability to navigate in the pocket, I would hope is going to mitigate some of that turnover.
30:08Yeah. And just peeking at that offensive line, the new left tackle, number 63, Okunlola, he looked good and he was a
30:15former, I think he was a five star recruit.
30:18So it just someone that they, you know, they just bring these guys in and developing them.
30:24And, you know, Cristobal has a good feel for that.
30:27So I have no doubt they'll get that offensive line figured out.
30:31I just assume anybody Cristobal brings in, particularly on the offensive line, was probably pretty highly recruited.
30:37I will, I will definitely have an eye on Miami as the season goes along really, really quickly.
30:42Like, I wonder how, how long are we waiting for an opponent with a pulse here?
30:48Well, they play Clemson on, they play Clemson on October 3rd.
30:51I don't know what that means in wake of this weekend.
30:55Probably nothing. Maybe Florida State on October 17th. They go to Chapel Hill, right?
30:59Maybe that Belichick defense can give them a little bit of trouble.
31:03Yeah, it's, I mean, at Clemson, Florida State, Pittsburgh, at North Carolina, at Notre Dame.
31:08Okay. Not trying to call that murderer's row, but I think there's plenty of opportunity there for somebody to test them.
31:15Well, and that Irish secondary, I mean, they, in my opinion, they're the best secondary in college football.
31:21Um, corner safeties. And so to see how Mensa and that group can react to, um, a Notre Dame secondary like that.
31:28I mean, obviously led by Leonard Moore last year when the Notre Dame faced USC, we saw Leonard Moore attach himself to
31:35Makai Lemon and, uh, basically shut that down. Are we going to see that with, with Tony?
31:41Um, are they going to ask him to do that?
31:44I mean, that's a tough ask for anybody. So that we're getting ahead of ourselves, but it's something that we'll be talking
31:51about in the next, uh, you know, month or two.
31:54I do also want to talk to you about Notre Dame, but first let's, let's keep it on track with some quarterbacks.
32:02And as a disclaimer, I'm not planning to hit the, the big, big guys in this show.
32:07I mean, Arch Manning is playing Ohio state in a few days and I, you know, he threw an early pick against
32:14Texas state seemed to rebound really well. I don't know how much more we need to say about that.
32:21Dante Moore. I know it was a little bit of a nail biter for Oregon against Boise state, but Dante Moore looked just fine.
32:28I don't know how much we need to relitigate that, especially with, with those two guys playing, you know, good, good football teams here over the coming weeks.
32:37One guy I did want to hit on you, hit on with you is a guy that we flagged as somebody we're excited to watch this year.
32:46But to your point in the preseason show, somebody who maybe is more of a 2028 draft prospect than a 2027.
32:53And as cool as drew Mestemaker's story is at Oklahoma state, you know, the season kicked off and we have to remember a reality sets in sometimes.
33:02And that, that's sort of my take from watching what I could of Oklahoma state's loss to Tulsa on Saturday afternoon.
33:09Well, and that's when you overhaul rosters, it's just, it's not going to be perfect right away.
33:14And Mestemaker is still a really talented quarterback, but his inexperience showed in this game.
33:19And it's just, it's a lot to put on a player with his relative inexperience and to kind of ask him to
33:26put everything on his shoulders, go make plays. Um, yeah, it's going to take time.
33:31And so, yeah, I think that we're not out of bounds by considering Mestemaker a 2028 prospect.
33:37And, you know, that's based off of how he's played up to this point, realistic expectations and just what's best for him
33:44long-term is what, you know, you don't need to be rushing to the NFL when, you know, it's, it looks like this right now.
33:52I think it'll look better by the end of the year.
33:55And I have no doubt that that coaching staff will get things on point, but it was not the grace, the greatest
34:03first step for him as he moves up to, uh, you know, power for play.
34:07Again, it's, it's not to say anybody else was like boring or anything, just considering what's coming down the pipe.
34:14Like again, Julian saying and Jeremiah Smith, we're both amazing against ball state.
34:18I think we can put a pin in that until they play Texas on Saturday.
34:23Uh, Josh Hoover, I saw also through more touchdowns than incompletions and bloodied the hell out of his face in the process for Indiana.
34:31I thought that was pretty cool. And are there, are there any other quarterback stories coming out of week one that we, that we need to hit on?
34:40I mean, we got, uh, our first look at Lenore Sellers in, uh, Kendall Bryle's offense at South Carolina.
34:46I thought he looked sharp, three touchdown passes. I thought he played on time, which is good to see.
34:52They go to Tuscaloosa in a few weeks. That'll tell us a lot more.
34:57Uh, Jade, my Ava at USC, he's completing 89% of his throws through two games.
35:02Not too shabby. Um, I think he looked awesome against Fresno state.
35:06So the touch that he plays with, that he delivers with, I just, it's awesome.
35:11The, they welcome Oregon to the Coliseum later this month.
35:14I think that's something that we'll be watching for closely, but yeah, I mean, I think that, uh, you know, John Mateer
35:21in Oklahoma, they did a nice job against, uh, UTEP.
35:24So, uh, CJ Carr, speaking of Notre Dame, um, it wasn't, I mean, he, he, he came in and it, it looked
35:32like it took him a few drives to get going, to get comfortable.
35:36The first few drives, a lot of check downs, a lot of, um, it looked like a team that was missing Jeremiah love and Jadarian price.
35:44Uh, but then as the game went on, Carr still started to feel more confident, started, uh, testing some of those downfield windows.
35:52And I think that's how his season is going to play out where it might be a little slow going, but it'll
35:59pick up right when we get to, you know, kind of the meat of the schedule.
36:04And then, uh, hopefully for Notre Dame's sake, the playoffs, another fitting segue, because I want to talk a little bit more
36:11about Notre Dame Sunday win over Wisconsin up at Lambeau field.
36:15We'll do that on the other side of our second break.
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36:42All right, back for the rest of building the beast with Dane Brugler.
36:47Dane, I said I wanted to hit on Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Irish win 41, 13 at Lambeau field.
36:52I'll give just to throw our wonderful producer, Michael Bell or bone Wisconsin made this a really tough battle in the first half.
37:00Notre Dame pulled away. And that's what I wanted to touch on.
37:04We know all about Leonard Moore. He looked exactly as good as advertised and no for anybody following on social media.
37:11It was not Leonard Moore that gave up the double move touchdown in this game.
37:16So just to just to clarify that. But I wanted to hit on DJ McKinney, who has the unfortunate distinction of being
37:23the other cornerback playing opposite Leonard Moore. And DJ McKinney has NFL potential and an NFL future all his own.
37:29And I thought it was really fitting that he had the pick six that turned this into a laugher.
37:35Not the most incredible interception you're ever going to see in your life, but I'm guessing he's going to get a lot
37:43of opportunities at ball production as teams throw away from Leonard Moore.
37:46Yeah. And I mentioned earlier just this entire Irish secondary, how impressive it is at safety, their depth at corner.
37:53Yeah, they're and we know how much they love to play man to man in that in that defense.
37:59And so we get a lot of opportunities to see these guys on an island, a chance to go make plays.
38:06They're very aggressive and teams will take advantage of that.
38:09Like you just mentioned that double move that Wisconsin kind of set up there.
38:14But yeah, DJ McKinney was a player going back to at this time last year was in my top 50 when he was at Colorado.
38:22And last year didn't go quite according to what he wanted transfers to Notre Dame for a senior year this year and
38:29has every opportunity to prove why he is a firm day to pick now with the Irish.
38:35And like you said, he's going to get plenty of opportunities to go up against guys that are targeted and a chance to go make plays.
38:43So, yeah, it's a good name to bring up DJ McKinney because he's one of the top senior corners this year.
38:50A couple other names that I just kind of wanted to buzz through before we sign off here.
38:56Devin McEwen, the wide receiver for Ohio State. I think, you know, the Buckeyes are so good at getting those five stars.
39:03The run of guys that they've recruited kind of homegrown, developed and turned into first round picks.
39:09Obviously, it's going to happen again with Jeremiah Smith.
39:12McEwen is a transfer from UTSA and a guy that is kind of went overlooked.
39:16They brought him in, brought him up to Columbus.
39:19He stepped in as the number two for this Ohio State offense.
39:23And I tell you, man, I was bullish on him just watching his UTSA tape.
39:28But I feel and I said this over the summer that this could be a potential top 100 guy.
39:34I feel even better about it after watching his first game in an Ohio State uniform.
39:40He's so size is OK. You know, he's under six foot.
39:43He's around 205 pounds, but he looks like a 4-4 athlete.
39:47The route savvy is real. The competitive toughness is outstanding.
39:50The ball skills are there. So he's a guy that I think with Jeremiah Smith getting so much attention, McEwen is going
39:57to be someone that will benefit from that and really have a big year.
40:02So excited for him to see what he looks like.
40:05It looks like Julian Sane and him have a pretty good chemistry going.
40:09That'll be a lot of fun. Yonse Pierre from Alabama had that pick six against ECU.
40:14I think he's going to be collecting splash plays all year.
40:18He came in at number 10 overall in my early top 50.
40:22You mentioned Oregon and, you know, they had to fight until the end against Boise State, who really challenged the Ducks in Autzen.
40:29But even though it seemed like the past defense was giving up some plays, the run defense for Oregon, I thought, showed up.
40:37Bear Alexander, the defensive tackle, was a bright spot on that Oregon defensive front.
40:41I think everyone knows about Amari Washington and the ends that they have.
40:46But Bear Alexander, who's a guy that started at Georgia, then went to USC.
40:50You're going to say this is at least his fourth school.
40:54I mean, this feels like he's been everywhere since his high school recruitment.
40:58He has been because, yeah, he was a top recruit.
41:01And now, I mean, this is, I believe he's a fifth-year senior.
41:05Yeah. But he's 6'3", 3'10", and plays with power.
41:08And he was very disruptive, whether he was taking on double teams or shedding blocks.
41:13And so I think Bear Alexander is a guy that enters the year as a probably a top 100 type of prospect.
41:20But he's trying to prove that maybe he's a little bit more than that.
41:25And then one other guy I wanted to mention.
41:28Do you know who Oklahoma's tight end is? It's not like you should, because he's not a locked draft pick.
41:34No, I will readily admit into a microphone that I didn't see much of Oklahoma's win against whoever it was.
41:41Utah, yeah. Yeah. No fault there. In the all-name draft, he's a first-round pick.
41:45This is tight end Rocky Beers for the Sooners.
41:48Okay. I definitely know that name. I've heard that name probably because it's such a good name.
41:54But please, tell me more. Yes. Transfer in. He's going to be a weapon for that offense and mater this year.
42:01Like I said, the tape, the traits, they're more borderline draftable.
42:04You know, like maybe a late-round pick. But based off of what his role could be this year, maybe that changes.
42:11He had a touchdown against UTEP where, I mean, he was wide open.
42:15But you saw the athleticism after the catch. He had a nice hurdle to finish.
42:20And, I mean, I don't know. With a name like that, with like Rocky Beers, that's just, that's something that's going to stick with you.
42:28As long as we're talking about tight ends that made impressive plays in otherwise forgettable games, I did want to bring up
42:36what Jaden Riddell did for Georgia in their win against Tennessee State.
42:39Yeah. I, it just, like Georgia's just got a new tight end doing this shit every year.
42:45I mean, it's, it was like a 14-yard comeback out of a motion.
42:49And then he just pinballed off of three would-be tacklers all the way to the end zone.
42:55Obviously, it's Tennessee State. We don't have to overreact to it too much.
42:59But that's one of those things, though, where, like, if it's a Georgia tight end or a Georgia pass catcher doing that
43:06shit, I'm like, all right, I'm going to remember this name for later.
43:10Yeah, no, that's, that's a good name to bring up because he, he looked good in his, in the season opener.
43:17We'll see how that, I don't know, it feels like Georgia just forgets that they have tight ends.
43:23You know, we saw that last year with the Oscar Delp and I mean, lost and lucky still there.
43:29But hopefully he becomes more of a part of this offense because, yeah, I think just based on the flashes, it looks like he's a pretty talented kid.
43:38They'll have plenty of bigger tests in front of them, which, yeah, that's, I'm, I'm just going to transition to the upcoming
43:46week because I think we hit everything that you can take like a reasonable reaction from.
43:51You know, otherwise it's a lot of saying, well, I know he was all alone or I know he was going against a future accountant, but guess what?
44:00That's not going to be a problem in week two.
44:03It's, it's a pretty good one, man. We've got quite a few marquee matchups.
44:08They bumped Ohio state, Texas to week two. So the rematch down in Austin is officially on Saturday.
44:14We will have so much to say about Arch Manning, Julian saying Jeremiah Smith, Trevor Gooseby did play week one for the Longhorns.
44:21So that is a really encouraging sign for UT.
44:24Can't mention that good poof. Of course he did like Texas.
44:28I mean, Texas has like four top 20 caliber guys is okay.
44:32So Cam Coleman is the other one. Is there, and you mentioned McEwen earlier in the show.
44:37Is there anybody else in this game that we need to have an eye on?
44:42I mean, obviously there is, but who is it?
44:45There's so many. But I will say Ryan Wingo, the receiver for Texas is somebody that has probal potential.
44:51Like he is that level of talent. You know, he's six, two, he's a good size athlete.
44:57He can fly. The inconsistencies to his game are what has been holding him back.
45:02The drop rate is ridiculous. The, some of the route stuff that he needs to figure out.
45:07But in the opener, he did have a drop.
45:10It was a tough catch in the back of the end zone, but he had, I think seven catches.
45:16I believe he was targeted eight times, seven catches, a couple down the field.
45:21So I think that he's going to be someone that arch targets quite a bit this year.
45:26And for them to beat Ohio state going in Ohio state that has a young secondary, um, they've got a couple of
45:34kids that are like big time recruits. And I think we'll have NFL futures, but they're still young.
45:39And so how Texas looks to attack that young secondary, uh, at Ohio state is going to be really interesting.
45:46Kenyatta Jackson was, uh, he was hard to block for ball state.
45:50I think he finished with maybe eight pressures. Um, didn't, wasn't able to, yeah, wasn't able to get any sacks.
45:56And so still he needs to finish, but he was somebody that, uh, that they just had a tough time blocking.
46:03So yeah, this is going to be a fun one.
46:06Yeah. And there's, there's other, I mean, Oklahoma at going to Michigan, Michigan obviously had a eventful, uh, opening weekend.
46:13We won't, you know, kind of go over rehash that, but, um, how, how is Oklahoma only a five and a half point favorite in that one?
46:22That seems a bit off compared to how Michigan played.
46:25Um, that game is at the big house for the record.
46:29So I would guess that I would guess that has a lot to do with it, but yeah, hopefully it's, I don't know.
46:36Hopefully it's a 60 minute and zero second game.
46:39Yeah. Texas is favored by one and a half, which is interesting.
46:43Obviously they are the home team. So you figure that that's, it's almost a pick them, um, at a neutral site.
46:50So yeah, this is going to be a fun week too.
46:53Uh, I was, I was curious. So David stone is the D tackle at Oklahoma.
46:58That's a name worth knowing going into this game.
47:01John Mateer is interesting because he's a quarterback. Uh, the receiver Isaiah Satania made a lot of plays for Oklahoma last year.
47:08Is there anybody else in this? Oh, you Michigan game.
47:12I know like Andrew Sprague, their offensive tap Michigan's offensive tackle.
47:15Uh, and then I, I just reading your previews, they have a couple of corners worth knowing.
47:21Yeah. Zeke Berry at corner. Um, definitely somebody to know, um, mature.
47:25I think for him, it's like, okay, can he get to a level of, he's someone we're talking about when we do
47:32this quarterback, you know, rundown of, Oh, let's check in on Lenore Sellers and how Chambliss worked this week.
47:38And can mature get to a part, a point where he's forcing us to include him in that conversation?
47:44Um, right now he reminds me a lot of a smaller will Levis, which, you know, I mean, take that however you
47:51want, I guess, but, um, yeah, this, this should be a fun game.
47:56Cause I think both these teams are, um, uh, you know, obviously coming off wins, but very, very different wins.
48:02Um, and so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
48:06Um, I, I'm glad you mentioned Satania. He's smaller, but man, he's, he is a big play waiting to happen.
48:13Um, it should hopefully, hopefully Michigan keeps it close and they, they get better consistency out of the offense than what they showed against Western Michigan.
48:21A little bit of the luster is off of Oregon's verse Oklahoma state after Oklahoma state's debut, but that game is in still water.
48:29So not only is it a look at drew Mestemaker against a big time opponent, but Oregon going on the road to
48:36what I assume will be a pretty raucous environment early in the season, something to watch as well.
48:42All right, Dane it's labor day. I promised you we were going to keep it light today.
48:47We got plenty more college football coming y'all's way.
48:50That's the beauty of it. We're back every week.
48:53The rest of the way we'll be reacting to all of this weekend's big games and whatever the heck else pops up.
49:00Can't wait to be starting this journey with you again, man.
49:04We will talk to all of y'all real soon.

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