Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.

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On3’s Predictions for Biggest 2024 QB Battles

On3’s Jesse Simonton recently took some time to give his official predictions for six of the biggest 2024 QB battles in the country which have yet to be decided.

Auburn (Payton Thorne/Holden Geriner/Hank Brown): Payton Thorne.

Boise State (Malachi Nelson/Maddux Madsen): Madsen, but with a quick leash.

Michigan (Alex Orji/Jack Tuttle/Davis Warren): Orji, but other QBs work in for the first couple of weeks before Orji is named full-time starter.

Ohio State (Will Howard/Devin Brown/Julian Sayin): Will Howard.

Nebraska (Heinrich Haarberg/Dylan Raiola): Dylan Raiola.

North Carolina (Max Johnson/Conner Harrell/Jacolby Criswell): Johnson, but multiple QBs may start at least one game.

Miami WR Jacolby George: We Have an NFL QB

Miami WR Jacolby George recently was asked about QB Cam Ward’s performance in fall camp thus far, to which George share that he believes Ward is an NFL QB. George also believes that Ward is the type of QB that any team would ask to have.

Ward has thrown for almost 14,000 passing yards and a total of 119 passing touchdowns in his four years in college, and now he is at the helm of an offense and team which has legitimate College Football Playoff aspirations.

4-Star WR Isaiah Mozee Flips from Oregon to Nebraska

4-Star WR Isaiah Mozee flipped his commitment yesterday from Oregon to Nebraska.

Mozee made the flip because he believes that Nebraska is building something special and that he felt like the program gave him a family feeling on every visit.

Nearly a consensus 4-star WR, Mozee ranks 223rd nationally and 29th at the WR position according to the On3 composite rankings.

This is Nebraska’s fifth 4-star and 18th commitment overall for a 2025 class which ranks 28th nationally and 9th in the Big Ten.

Ohio State WR Carnell Tate Ready to Breakout

Ohio State’s Carnell Tate is ready to explode in year 2 in an attempt to follow in a line of Ohio State WRs who have had big second years for the Buckeyes: a list which includes Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, and Garrett Wilson.

Tate was quoted as saying that he feels like it’s his time now, and “if not now, then when? I feel like I’m ready to embrace that bigger role as we go on.”

For Tate, he believes that he’s gotten better both in the slot and outside, and his route running is better, he’s faster, bigger, and stronger.

Head coach Ryan Day said earlier in the week that the limit for Tate is through the roof, and due to his physical gifts, there is absolutely no limit to what he can accomplish.

Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh Honorary Captain for Michigan’s Opener Against Fresno State

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel recently did an interview on a podcast where he shared that Michigan football is planning to honor Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh by naming him honorary captain for Michigan’s opener against Fresno State.

There is still an ongoing investigation into the Connor Stalions alleged scouting operation, but it does not appear that Michigan cares about the NCAA’s concern towards the Michigan football program. After all, Harbaugh did lead the Wolverines to three consecutive Big Ten titles, trips to the College Football Playoff, and wins over Ohio State, culminating in a National Championship in 2023.

The Chargers wrap up the preseason on August 24th, giving Harbaugh plenty of time before the regular season starts on September 8th for him to be there for Michigan’s Week 1 game against Fresno State.

Tennessee’s Josh Josephs: No One Can Stop Our DL

Tennessee DL Josh Josephs believes that there are no teams that would be able to stop the defensive line of Tennessee.

Josephs was quoted during fall camp as saying “No team can really stop us. Even – the amount of rotations. We’re going to be so fresh on the field. We’ve got dogs everywhere. So you can’t really plan for us guys.”

In Josephs’ defense, he did go on to name 10 or so defensive linemen, without even naming himself, for who he believes is going to make an impact defensively.

ESPN’s Ranking of Teams With Most NFL Draft Prospects

ESPN recently took the time to break down which programs have the most NFL Draft prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft.

Below is a quick table with total projected picks, predicted first rounders, and who the top projected prospect is:

Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith Blocking Out The Hype

Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith has become a mainstay in CFB Roundup for all of the positive buzz he has been generating as a true freshman, turning heads and already accomplishing feats no true freshman has ever accomplished for Ohio State before a game is played.

Recently, when asked about it, Smith said that he doesn’t want the hype to affect him, and that he just keeps his head down and finds ways to get better each and every day.

For Smith, he sees the solution as “very easy”: stay off social media. He did notice an uptick in attention when Ohio State fans showed up to one of his high school games in Miami, FL, but he tries to block all of the noise out because he knows that none of it really matters if he doesn’t meet or exceed the lofty expectations he, the coaching staff, the media, and the public have placed on him.

3-Star WR Phillip Wright III Commits to LSU

3-Star WR Phillip Wright III committed to LSU yesterday after decommitting from Michigan back on August 5th.

After going to LSU’s big recruiting weekend at the end of July, he saw LSU as an awesome program for a receiver and wanted to be a part of it for the future.

Wright ranks as the 422nd ranked prospect nationally and 69th at the WR position according to the On3 industry composite.

This is LSU’s 21st commitment for the 2025 class which currently ranks 3rd nationally and 2nd in the SEC.

Former FAMU, LSU OL Kardell Thomas Joins Colorado Roster

Transfer OL Kardell Thomas was announced as an addition to the Colorado roster for the 2024 season. Thomas spent the 2023 season with Florida A&M, where he played most of his 621 snaps at left guard.

Prior to that, Thomas spent four seasons with LSU as a reserve guard, playing in 10 games. Thomas was a Top 100 recruit in the 2019 class and was part of the roster which won the 2019 National Championship.

Given the priority of Colorado’s passing attack to the offense, it should be good news that PFF graded Thomas as an above average pass blocker last season, even though his overall grade placed him in the bottom 50 of the 419 FCS OL to play at least 600 snaps.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

2026 Unrated Edge Brian Harris commits to Maryland