As I sit here and recap Week 5, I can’t help but think about one thing: the Denver Broncos are 3-2. It doesn’t even feel real considering the schedule we’ve played and most importantly the way we’ve been winning. It’s kind of sickening, almost jarring, that the Broncos could be 5-2 when the Chiefs come to Empower Field at Mile High on November 1. Denver has to get through a couple of NFC West foes starting with Seattle at home on Thursday night but its well within the realm of possibility.

Sean Payton took over play calling, and it was actually one of Bo Nix’s worst performances of his entire career. And the Broncos still won the game, 23-17.

From an NFL Draft perspective, there is a ton of change around college football. UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava is a guy I’ve talked up in the 2027 class. The Bruins are cooking right now after knocking off Oregon on the road, but Iamaleava will sadly miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. He’s likely going to be a 2028 prospect.

Another 2027 QB in trouble is Texas’ Arch Manning after losing the Red River Rivalry simply because he panicked under pressure late in the game. He threw two 4th-quarter interceptions including one with less than a minute left which led to the game-winning field goal for Oklahoma’s Tate Sandell. He hasn’t shown the type of improvement you want in a future NFL quarterback and first round pick. I firmly believe he’s going to be a 2028 prospect at this point.

Oregon’s Dante Moore is another potential 2027 QB prospect that has played poorly and is now injured with a concussion. Hopefully he can come back soon and propel the Ducks back to relevancy. As for now, he’s falling down draft boards from his preseason top draft-eligible QB status.

It isn’t all bad for the 2027 QB class though, as multiple guys have played themselves into the top conversation. Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker has impressed me a lot since the opening loss to Tulsa. He’s young and he’s relatively unexperienced but he has a ton of raw tools that you love in an NFL QB. I’ve been saying he’s a 2028 guy until further notice… well further notice is here. With multiple injures to the 2027 class in addition to Manning’s slow development, that opens the door for an early declare like Mestemaker.

Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss is another guy we’ll be talking a ton about until draft night. He’s an absolute gamer with a rocket arm. The Rebels need to prove more as does Chambliss, but if he can pull them to a playoff berth the NFL is going to want him. He feels more like a Tyler Shough situation at this point than top 10 pick. I’d take him at the top of the second round.

Spoiler alert: My #2 ranked team in the country is Miami and QB Darian Mensah is big reason why. He’s completing 84% of his passes through five games and has thrown for 15 touchdowns with zero interceptions. The Hurricanes have an easy schedule, and if he remains this efficient for the full season he’ll be a first round pick. My major concern with Mensah is his arm strength. He doesn’t have an A+ arm, and I’d argue it’s closer to a firm B rather than a B+. That matters in the NFL. Did you see this throw from Jordan Love yesterday? My god man, this is arm talent.

I am a math guy, and I believe that is 65 yards in the air while fading left. Absolutely ridiculous throw.

All that to say, Mensah could still see his name called in round 1 if he keeps it up. Another guy in the top 50 conversation is Notre Dame’s CJ Carr should he declare. To be honest, I haven’t given the Fighting Irish much attention as they’ve been at the bakery eating cupcakes all season. I’ll be tuned in on Saturday when the Irish take on BYU in what will be Carr’s first real test. There are NFL throws littered on his film. Notre Dame will go as far as Carr takes them.

There are a couple other QBs that I think have that potential as well: South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers and USC’s Jayden Maiava. Both of those guys have been steady with Sellers showing tremendous improvement in the last couple of weeks. Sellers has a much bigger upside but Maiava reminds of Jacoby Brissett or Sam Darnold. He’s not ever going to be a top 10 QB in the NFL, but he can win you games. I think Maiava is a sneaky name to watch if USC keeps winning and more QBs fall to the 2028 class.

Despite LSU-Kentucky being one of the best games of the weekend, I still picked LSU to win by more than a touchdown. They lost in overtime on the road. I was also way too high on Florida. Again. Like… way too high. They got demolished at home by South Carolina. I watched Oklahoma upset the Associated Press’ #1 team in the Red River Rivalry. Missouri might actually be good?

The only thing about the SEC I know is that Georgia is and always has been my number one team since the debut of this poll prior to Week 0. Even if there was a controversial call that won them the game. I’m not getting into that; I’m so done with officiating in football. It’s bad at every level. It’s not my job to fix it, so I am choosing to not be mad at it.

I do want to make note of Oregon, who is still in my top 25. Without projected first round draft pick QB Dante Moore, I have a hard time faulting them for a hard fought loss against a top-15 opponent. I really think if Moore returns, this team will start moving back up the poll. I’m not ready to remove them entirely like I did with Florida. The Gators were top 5 two weeks ago for me and have been outscored 83-36 since. The Swamp? More like The Trash.

My updated top 25:

Game of the Week: Kansas State vs Kansas on Saturday, 10/17 — This may not seem like GOTW material, but when you grew up in Kansas and went to Kansas State for undergrad, this is maybe the ONLY game that matters this weekend. The Cats were curb stomped at home by Houston last week, while KU went on the road to Utah and held the game close until the Utes pulled away at the end. This is a true line in the sand. K-State has lost 2 games in a row over the last 3 weeks, while KU has some life after the way they played in a top-15 road environment. Kansas State hasn’t lost to the Jayhawks since 2008. K-State has 17 wins in a row in the Sunflower Showdown and has won 29 of the last 33 games dating back to 1993. It hasn’t been much of a rivalry in my lifetime, but the Hawks have a chance to end that streak as K-State is a mid at best team right now in Collin Klein’s first season as head coach.

Game of the Week 2: #3 Notre Dame at #10 BYU on Saturday, 10/17 — Notre Dame and CJ Carr get their first real test (1 of 2 all season) in Provo. If not for the Sunflower Showdown, this would be the best game. It will be the best game of the weekend for a lot of people and for good reason. BYU is one of the most underrated teams in the country. They have one of the best coaches in the country in Kalani Sitake. For Notre Dame, they too have an elite coach in Marcus Freeman. Can he lead the Irish to one of the biggest wins of his career? It’s not going to be an easy environment, but from a football perspective BYU is missing the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year running back LJ Martin. I like the Irish.

Game of the Week 3: #5 Ohio State at #4 Indiana on Saturday, 10/17 — Another game that the college football masses will be obsessed with, me being included. Heisman front runner, Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith, takes on a very good Indiana defense in a tough environment. The Buckeyes are going to need a big performance from Smith to score some points against a stour Hoosiers’ defense, but I think Ohio State’s defense is going to be just fine. Indiana QB Josh Hoover hasn’t looked elite by any means but don’t get it twisted: he’s been damn good. He has thrown for 17 touchdowns to zero interceptions with a career high in yards per attempt (10.6) and TD percentage (13.2%). Give me the nut!

I will get to Traitors in a second, but if you’re reading this and your girlfriend likes music: make her a playlist. I made a Crank 2 themed playlist based on last week’s newsletter and my girlfriend LOVES it. Life hack.

Traitors.

If you haven’t seen the show, you will be greeted by a wicked looking fella with pasty shoulders often wearing women’s blouses. Nothing wrong with that, I’m just painting a picture. They say the best storytelling is written, but I’m not sure I have words to describe his cunty antics. You can say that word now because it was in an episode of Adults (elite show).

The premise of the show is not too dissimilar from a cult classic board game called Secret Hitler. The idea of the game is that the faithful’s (or liberals) are trying to eliminate traitor’s (fascists) at the roundtable and vice versa. The board game is one of the best ever made, and the show has grown on me. I never watched because I wasn’t into the minor celebrity element. Now that it’s Joe Schmo from Tulsa, Oklahoma and 20 other randoms, I’m all in. It gives more of a Survivor feel and less brain rot reality TV.

I think we all know who college football’s number one Traitor is: Lane Kiffin. He’s the most polarizing coach in sports right now after a wild 2026 which saw him leave Ole Miss for the LSU head ball coach. He then went on to lose to his former team, womp womp. There’s just no doubt he’s a traitor, so we’ll vote him and LSU off right now. Besides the Tigers, I think Florida is clearly this week’s top traitor. Get them and their people-eating alligators out of here. Louisiana gators don’t eat people. Fun fact.

I’m going to look at few College Football Playoff contenders and determine if they are faithful (likely to make the playoff and continue good performance) or if they are a traitor (a team that shouldn’t be in the conversation for the CFP).

Missouri - Faithful

It’s been a wild year for Mizzou after their starting RB Ahmad Hardy was shot prior to the season. Starting QB Austin Simmons transferred from Ole Miss and has been lighting up SEC defenses. They have a good defense and can run the ball even without Hardy thanks to backup turned started Jamal Roberts. This might actually be a good football team. Simmons will face his former team this week as the Tigers have 4 opponents ranked inside the top 15 remaining on their schedule. It won’t be easy but they’ve looked dominant the last two weeks.

Oklahoma State - Traitor

I think it’s a nice story that Drew Mestemaker could vault into the first round of the 2027 NFL Draft despite his inexperience playing the position. But their defense isn’t that good. Not good enough to compete with top teams in the Big 12 and certainly not good enough to compete on a national stage. They go on the road to Houston this Saturday and still have to play Texas Tech. I’m not sure they have the firepower on defense to win big games.

Texas - Traitor

You could sit here and convince me its an Arch Manning issue, but that isn’t the overARCHing concern. I know you get the joke. Their defense has been poor at times, and Cam Coleman hasn’t taken the leap we thought he was capable of. Manning certainly threw away the OU game, but even high-level transfer prospects like Rasheem Biles have been relatively disappointing. If it wasn’t for Ohio State choking the game away in Austin, this would already be a two-loss team. Four of their next five will be against ranked opponents. The only one that isn’t is this Saturday against Florida, who was inside my top 5 two weeks ago. I don’t know the SEC but I do know Texas isn’t back.

Boise State - Faithful

This is a pretty legit Boise State team. They nearly took down Oregon (albeit two-loss Oregon) at the beginning of the season. QB Maddux Madsen has 13 passing touchdowns and hasn’t thrown an interception this season. RB Dylan Riley has already rushed for 835 in just six games. He’s added 7 total touchdowns and averages 10.9 yards per reception. There is of course the potential issue of an undefeated James Madison. If the Broncos finish 12-1 with a close loss at Oregon in Week 1, does that warrant a playoff berth over an undefeated JMU? That’s for the committee to decide. I’d lean Boise State. They are ranked higher, have/will be ranked longer, and they’d be winners of 12-consecutive games heading into the CFP.

As always,

GO BRONCOS