- Charlie Becker strengthens his draft outlook: The Indiana wide receiver recorded 149 yards against Minnesota and is gaining consideration as a potential top-10 selection.
- Sammy Omosigho and Will Heldt continue to impress: Omosigho leads Power Four linebackers with a 91.9 overall PFF grade, while Heldt has earned grades above 74.0 in seven consecutive games.
- Jaylen McClain and Vicari Swain see their stock fall: McClain earned a career-low 39.5 overall PFF grade against USC, while Swain's grade has dropped to 52.3 over his past three games.
The Halloween weekend of college football may not have sprouted that many spooky upsets, but we saw plenty of close games between ranked teams decided in the dying moments.
Only one team inside the top 15 of the AP poll — The Ohio State Buckeyes — lost in Week 9. The Buckeyes boast more players on PFF’s 2027 NFL draft big board than any other program, but without quarterback Julian Sayin under center, they couldn't get close to USC.
Elsewhere, Drew Mestemaker’s Oklahoma State offense put up 49 points on the road against Iowa State and still lost via a last-second field goal. Now with three losses this season, the current top quarterback prospect appears likely to miss the playoffs.
With the draft big board beginning to take shape, here is who helped and hurt their stock over Halloween weekend.
Stock Up: WR Charlie Becker, Indiana
Charlie Becker looks nailed on as a first-round pick at wide receiver, but the question now is becoming just how high he could actually go. Indiana’s big-bodied wideout is gaining significant traction as a potential top-10 draft selection, and performances like his 149-yard game on Saturday are a big reason why.
Becker came through in the clutch for the Hoosiers against Minnesota. He made back-to-back receptions of 32 and 25 yards on either side of the end of regulation. The first put the Hoosiers in range for a game-tying field goal. The latter was a touchdown that put his team ahead in overtime.
Becker has now surpassed his receiving yardage total from last season, when he became incredibly productive down the stretch. Becker now has 1,397 receiving yards over the last 12 months, along with 12 touchdowns and 21 contested catches.
The 6-foot-4 wideout has made at least one contested grab in each of his last four games and has built excellent chemistry with quarterback Josh Hoover. It may not have been the prettiest win for the Hoosiers, but Becker looked fantastic every step of the way.
Stock Down: S Jaylen McClain, Ohio State
Ohio State’s problems extend beyond the absence of its starting quarterback. On the other side of the ball, the Buckeyes were comprehensively dismantled by USC, which averaged almost seven yards per play.
Safety Jaylen McClain was too often on the receiving end of big plays from the Trojans. USC tight end Mark Bowman put McClain in a highlight that will be played in college football video packages for years to come when he hurdled a practically upright McClain, and that was the least of the safety’s problems.
McClain finished the game with a 39.5 overall PFF grade, the second-lowest of any Power Four safety this weekend and by far the lowest of his career. He has otherwise been quite consistent over the course of his Buckeyes career, and this game isn’t a reason to start ringing alarm bells, but it must be accounted for.
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Stock Up: T PJ Williams, SMU
Williams saw his stock fall through the early portions of the season, having been tipped as a potential top-50 draft pick over the offseason and the crown jewel of SMU’s offensive line.
His 59.7 overall PFF grade before Week 8 hardly screamed future NFL offensive tackle. In particular, he was obliterated by Louisville’s Clev Lubin in September, a game in which he allowed six pressures on his quarterback.
Williams has rebounded nicely in recent outings. His 86.1 overall PFF grade over his last two games is the highest among all Power Four offensive tackles. Williams and the Mustangs came up short on the road against Syracuse, losing on a last-minute touchdown, but we must separate his draft stock from his team's overall performance.
The chances of SMU reaching the playoffs now look slim, but Williams still has a handful of games to prove his worth to NFL scouts. He’ll be up against the dominant Wake Forest defensive front that has been terrorizing opponents of late, along with a trip to South Bend for an interesting clash of styles against Notre Dame’s Boubacar Traore.
Stock Down: C Austin Kawecki, Wisconsin
Kawecki is the ninth-ranked interior offensive lineman, clinging to a spot near the bottom of PFF’s current big board. Wisconsin has always been something of a breeding ground for offensive line prospects, but it’s worth remembering that Kawecki came here following four years at Oklahoma State.
The Badgers were destroyed by Iowa over the weekend in a game that finished 30-0. The utter domination meant Wisconsin was unable to establish the run the way it typically can. Its offensive line looked totally out of its depth in this game.
While it’s fair to suggest that 5-3 Wisconsin has exceeded expectations so far this year, Kawecki has not. For the season as a whole, his 56.8 overall PFF grade is lower than in either of his two previous seasons at Oklahoma State.
He missed Wisconsin’s last two games before Saturday with a hand injury, which required him to move to right guard upon his return due to issues snapping the ball in his protective brace. This was just the second time Kawecki has posted a PFF run-blocking grade below 50.0 in his career. While his toughness should be admired, it wasn’t a great example of Kawecki’s positional versatility.
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Stock Up: LB Sammy Omosigho, UCLA
The undefeated UCLA Bruins didn’t have a massive task on their hands this week in nonconference action against Nevada, but their defense continued to look dominant in every facet, pitching a shutout and forcing four turnovers in the process.
Linebacker Sammy Omosigho is a big part of why this defense looks so good. This was his fifth game of the season with an overall PFF grade above 80.0. Omosigho is the highest-graded linebacker in the Power Four so far this season, with a 91.9 overall grade.
We highlighted UCLA safety Malik Hartford, who transferred from Ohio State, last weekend. Omosigho is yet another former promising prospect — the former 13th-ranked recruit in the state of Texas — who transferred from a recruiting powerhouse in Oklahoma.
There are tons of things to like about his game. The disruption he can cause as a blitzer is probably No. 1 above all else. Omosigho has 25 pressures on 80 pass-rushing snaps so far this year, along with six sacks. His pressure rate is almost three times higher than it was last year at Oklahoma.
Stock Down: CB Vicari Swain, South Carolina
The Gamecocks continued to roll on Saturday with their third consecutive SEC victory and are now climbing their way back up the AP poll. However, their recent success has been more a product of strong offensive production from LaNorris Sellers and Co. Defensively, they have allowed more than 30 points per game in conference play.
Vacari Swain is ranked among the top 10 cornerbacks on PFF’s big board but is struggling to take control of games in the South Carolina secondary. His overall PFF grade has dropped from 70.6 over the first five weeks of action to 52.3 in his three games since.
Swain allowed three receptions for 63 yards against Oklahoma, including a touchdown catch up the seam. His coverage play so far has been a step down from last year’s production, when he played alongside 2026 second-rounder Brandon Cisse. Swain has also missed nearly 20% of his tackle attempts this season.
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Stock Up: Edge Will Heldt, Clemson
Heldt’s performance in Clemson’s bounce-back victory over Florida State on Halloween wasn’t anything out of the ordinary by his standards, but he deserves recognition here for just how consistent he has looked this season.
Clemson’s Week 1 dismantling at the hands of LSU was a “burn the tape” game for every prospect wearing orange, and Heldt has looked fantastic ever since. He has posted seven consecutive games with a PFF grade above 74.0, and his overall grade since the season opener is 90.8 — the second-highest among all Power Four defensive linemen.
Heldt has the size and body composition to play on the interior of the defensive line, but Clemson defensive coordinator Tom Allen currently sees no reason to do so when Heldt looks so effective off the edge.
The sacks have somewhat dried up for Heldt of late. He has just two in his last five games. However, his pressure rate has remained at career-best levels over that span, and he continues to be a reliable presence setting the edge against the run.
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