- Jeremiah Smith draws an elite one-on-one test: PFF's top prospect faces Oregon cornerback Brandon Finney Jr., who allowed a 42.3 passer rating into his coverage last season.
- Julian Sayin gets another shot at Indiana: The Hoosiers held Sayin to a 70.2 PFF overall grade in last season's Big Ten Championship Game, and they sacked him five times.
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The college football season is loaded with marquee matchups, but not every game carries the same weight for NFL evaluators. A top prospect running up their stats against FCS opposition means relatively little once the draft evaluation process kicks into gear. Top NFL decision-makers will be paying much closer attention to matchups between similarly talented players.
Using PFF’s 2027 NFL Draft Big Board, we’ve picked out the toughest regular-season matchup for each of our top eight prospects.
Seven of PFF’s top eight prospects play in either the SEC or Big Ten, so it’s no surprise that most face daunting tests throughout the season. While several will almost certainly add to their résumés in the College Football Playoff, these are the regular-season matchups that stand out most.
1. WR Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State
Toughest matchup: CB Brandon Finney Jr., Oregon
Smith will face four of PFF’s seven highest-ranked returning cornerbacks this season, and he’ll be the toughest assignment each of them sees. That has been the case for two years now, but it has rarely mattered.
Finney was still in high school when Smith torched Oregon for seven catches, 187 yards and two touchdowns in the Rose Bowl, so this will be their first meeting. Unlike fellow Big Ten standouts Jyaire Hill and Jamari Sharpe, Finney hasn’t yet had to deal with Smith’s unmatchable combination of size, speed and ball skills, but he may be the most athletically equipped cornerback to cope with Smith.
Finney allowed a 42.3 passer rating into his coverage last season, the lowest among qualifying Big Ten perimeter cornerbacks. Dan Lanning’s defense also plays a healthy amount of man coverage, which should give us plenty of true one-on-one reps between two of the nation’s premier talents.
2. QB Julian Sayin, Ohio State
Toughest matchup: Indiana defense
Three road trips to Iowa, Indiana and USC in the month of October could be a sneakily tough stint for Ohio State’s offensive operation, with the matchup against the Hoosiers likely serving as the most difficult of the trio.
Sayin’s 70.2 PFF overall grade against Indiana in last season’s Big Ten Championship Game was the second-lowest of his career. Indiana took away the easy throws, forcing Sayin to hold the football for an average of 3.42 seconds — comfortably the longest time to throw of his career — and he was sacked five times as a result.
The Hoosiers have retained 58% of last year’s defensive production, a higher figure than more than half of the Big Ten despite coming off a national championship win. That continuity, combined with an already proven blueprint for disrupting Sayin, makes this his toughest test of the regular season.
3. QB Dante Moore, Oregon
Toughest matchup: Ohio State’s defense
Moore avoids Indiana this season but instead must travel to Columbus in November to face another elite defense. He has yet to take a snap against Ohio State, and the late-season timing of this one may not work in his favor.
November weather conditions in Ohio are one thing, but it goes deeper than that. The Buckeyes return only two full-time defensive starters after losing five defenders in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft, including three inside the top 11 selections. That naturally points toward a transition year, but by the tail end of the regular season, it’s reasonable to expect several of Ohio State’s talented sophomore defenders to have settled into prominent roles.
Matt Patricia leads this production line of elite recruiting talent, and history suggests Ohio State will develop a few superstars among this crop. By the time Oregon visits Columbus, Moore is likely to face a unit playing with far more confidence than it will early in the season.
4. EDGE Colin Simmons, Texas
Toughest matchup: T Cayden Green, Missouri
Unlike many edge rushers, Simmons doesn’t stay fixed to one side of the formation. His alignment depends on factors such as which hash the ball is on, meaning he sees left and right tackles in fairly equal measure.
Green presents one of the toughest individual assignments on Texas’ schedule. A converted guard, he allowed just seven total pressures last season. Simmons’ explosiveness is unquestioned, but at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, his relative lack of size can occasionally allow powerful offensive tackles to engulf him. The giant Cayden Green matches that profile perfectly.
Simmons posted a 91.7 PFF pass-rushing grade last season, while Green earned an 89.6 PFF pass-blocking grade. Something has to give in what could be one of the season’s most intriguing trench battles between early first-round-caliber players.
5. CB Leonard Moore, Notre Dame
Toughest matchup: Miami’s receiving corps
Malachi Toney entered the season as PFF’s second-ranked returning wide receiver behind Jeremiah Smith, while Miami transfer Cooper Barkate also received an honorable mention. Together, they’ll give Leonard Moore (or indeed any cornerback) his biggest challenge of the year.
Nobody doubts Moore’s ability to mirror receivers vertically or make plays at the catch point. But Toney tests corners differently. His ability after the catch forces defenders to tackle consistently in space rather than simply win downfield.
Toney led the FBS with 841 yards after the catch and forced 33 missed tackles last season. Moore’s 17.0% missed-tackle rate over the past two years is one area scouts will want to see improve before next April, making this an especially valuable chance to solidify his draft stock.
6. QB Arch Manning, Texas
Toughest matchup: LSU’s defense
I’ve opted against picking the Ohio State defense for reasons stated earlier about its transition to a new crop of players, which is sure to produce some early-season growing pains. In addition, that matchup takes place at home for Texas and Arch Manning, and any improvement on their lackluster seven-point display from last season will be seen as an improvement.
The more fascinating matchup for Manning comes with a trip to Death Valley to face an LSU defense that is garnering some hype as possibly the best unit in the SEC.
Edge rushers Jordan Ross and Princewill Umanmielen headline an impressive transfer haul, with Umanmielen producing 51 pressures last season, third most in the SEC. Linebacker Whit Weeks and safety Ty Benefield are potential All-SEC players, while 6-foot-5 cornerback DJ Pickett could be the ideal matchup against Manning’s primary target, Auburn transfer Cam Coleman.
Few environments are tougher for quarterbacks than Baton Rouge at night, making this the regular-season game scouts will circle. Expect a big crop of general managers in the stands for this one.
7. EDGE Dylan Stewart, South Carolina
Toughest matchup: T E’Marion Harris, Oklahoma
Stewart’s schedule is surprisingly favorable. South Carolina avoids matchups against each of PFF’s top three returning SEC offensive tackles — Trevor Goosby, Jordan Seaton and Cayden Green. His toughest battle may genuinely come against teammate Jacarrius Peak in practice.
Stewart rushed over the right tackle on 95.2% of his snaps last season, yet South Carolina faces only one SEC right tackle who logged more than 300 snaps at the position last year. That’s Harris, who transferred from Arkansas.
Harris isn’t flawless, allowing 24 pressures and three sacks last season, but he still represents Stewart’s best opportunity to prove himself against an experienced tackle. If South Carolina can stay competitive and force opponents into obvious passing situations, Stewart should have every chance to dominate this year.
8. T Carter Smith, Indiana
Toughest matchup: EDGE John Henry Daley, Michigan
Indiana avoids several of the nation’s deepest defensive fronts, including Oregon’s, while Ohio State enters the season without the same established edge talent of recent years.
A trip to the Big House provides Carter Smith with his biggest challenge. John Henry Daley arrives from Utah after posting a nation-leading 93.4 PFF pass-rushing grade among returning edge defenders. He aligned over left tackles on 92.4% of his snaps last season, so assuming Michigan keeps him in a similar role, we’ll get a full afternoon of reps against one of the draft’s premier offensive tackle prospects.
Playing on the road in Ann Arbor, where Indiana’s offense will need to operate on a silent count for much of the afternoon, only makes the assignment more difficult for Smith against Daley’s already-explosive get-off.
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