Notre Dame 45, N.C. State 24
Notre Dame left tackle Joe Alt is a potential top-10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and Alt was going against a quality college defensive line with N.C. State and making his 24th straight start for the Fighting Irish. In the early going, Alt was winning his blocks and playing well. The game then went into a long weather delay. Afterawrd, Alt made a nice kick-out block to help spring his running back for an 80-yard touchdown. Shortly later in the second quarter, Alt was flagged for a holding penalty. Aside from that mistake, Alt cruised against N.C. State while Notre Dame pulled away for the road win.
Alt is a contributor in the ground game who uses his size to tie up defenders. Alt is not a physical force who will overpower and overwhelm defenders, knocking them backwards or rolling them around the field. He is more of a blocker who ties up defenders, stalls them, turns them, and manipulates them out of the play. Thanks to Alt’s mass and length, defenders can struggle to get free of him to get in on a tackle.
Alt has a natural advantage in pass blocking because he is particularly huge, which makes it hard for defenders to get around him. Alt’s mass and length forces them to take extra steps to get past him, which gives his quarterback a split second that can be valuable. Alt has good awareness, is smart, and has developed technique. With his length and mass, he ties up defenders and keeps them from shedding blocks easily.
Alt has adequate feet and quickness, but he is not an all-world athlete who possesses excellent speed on the edge. With his size, Alt is not a smooth mover who can slide his feet and glide easily to cut off speed rushers, like say Ronnie Stanley. Alt gets into trouble when he stands up too high and lets defenders get into his chest. Sometimes, he will bend at the waist and not at the knee.
This performance won’t hurt or help Alt significantly. Overall, it will serve to confirm his starting ability for the NFL. Assuming Alt stays consistent and healthy over the remainder of the season, he looks worthy of being a top-20 pick next April in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Kansas State 42, Troy 13
Kansas State guard Connor Beebe looks like he could be a future starter in the NFL. Beebe has a strong and thick build that makes him a tough blocker at the point of attack. He plays with good leverage staying low and getting his hands below the pads of defenders. Beyond having quality strength, Beebe has some quickness to the second level and is able to hit blocks on linebackers in space.
In pass protection, Beebe is steady and effective. He sets up well and is able to sink his weight to stone wall bull rushes. Beebe has sufficiently quick feet and just enough length to keep defenders from darting past him.
The Wildcats primarily played Beebe at guard versus Troy, but he also took some snaps at tackle. For the NFL, Beebe looks like a starting caliber guard. He could grade out as a second-day prospect for the 2024 NFL Draft.
Troy edge defender Richard Jibunor has been a consistent defender for the Trojans over the past two seasons. In both 2021 and 2022, he recorded 40 tackles with 7.5 sacks per year. Jibunor could have entered the 2023 NFL Draft, but he decided to return to Troy. Kansas State has a solid offensive line and was a step up in competition from Troy’s conference play. Thus, this was a good game for Jibunor to draw eyes.
In the first half against the Wildcats, Jibunor was a non-factor. He had one nice play, getting off a block and meeting a running back at the line of scrimmage, but Jibunor got run over by the back with an ugly tackling attempt. In the third quarter, Jibunor finally made his presence felt by getting a tackle in the ground game. He then used a club move on the right tackle to get free for a pressure. While it was a nice rush, Jibunor showed some stiffness, as he could not redirect when Kansas State quarterback Will Howard started to slide away from him. At least the pressure helped create a third-down incompletion. After that, Jibunor was quiet while Kansas State rolled Troy.
Jibunor looks like a late-round candidate for the next level. While has some straight-line quickness, Jibunor has limitations with some stiffness and a lack of size. He is listed at 6-foot-3, 229 pounds, which is very undersized for a pro edge rusher. Jibunor will have to move to outside linebacker and rush off the edge in the sub package. A lot of college defensive ends struggle with instincts, vision, and read-and-react when they are forced to move backward off the line of scrimmage and play traditional outside linebacker. Jibunor looks more like a third-day prospect for the 2024 NFL Draft and backup designated pass rusher candidate.