NFL Draft watch: Could Georgia TE Brock Bowers really be a top-five pick?

Every week during the college football season, Yardbarker will post a brief look at 2024 NFL Draft prospects and how their play over the weekend either helped — or hurt — their draft stock. 

Brock Bowers | TE | Georgia | PFF big board: No. 1 TE, No. 5 overall

Bowers might just be the best player in college football right now not named Caleb Williams. He’s caught fire the last two weeks, totaling 17 receptions, 278 yards and three touchdowns, and he single-handedly won the game for Georgia against Auburn over the weekend. Bowers had 130 yards in the fourth quarter, including the 40-yard, game-winning touchdown with 2:52 left to play to seal UGA’s fifth straight win.

The last tight end to impact the game as much as Bowers does was Kyle Pitts, who was taken No. 4 overall in 2021. Bowers will easily be a top-10 pick this year, and by the time the season ends, he could be a top-five selection and possibly even go in the top three.

Riley Leonard | QB | Duke | Pro Football Focus big board: No. 5 QB, No. 34 overall

In the waning moments of Duke’s 21-14 loss to No. 10 Notre Dame, Leonard suffered an injury to his right ankle that had him on crutches after the game. The 6-foot-4 junior didn’t exactly blow the doors off the stadium before the injury either, passing for 134 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 12-of-27 passing in what was arguably his worst game of the season.

The race to be QB3 in the 2024 draft is awfully tight with some stiff competition (Michael Penix Jr., Bo Nix, J.J. McCarthy, Quinn Ewers), Leonard can’t afford to miss any time or start stacking bad performances. Considered a potential top-15 pick early in the season, Leonard’s draft stock is starting to not look so promising.

Ray Davis | RB | Kentucky | PFF big board: not ranked

Trey Benson, Blake Corum, Donovan Edwards and TreVeyon Henderson are consistently mentioned among the top running back prospects for the 2024 draft, but after his performance in an upset of previously 22nd-ranked Florida, Davis might have worked his way into the conversation.

Davis set new career highs with 280 yards rushing and three touchdowns, averaging 10.8 yards per carry against the Gators, who had no answer for the senior transfer from Vanderbilt. Davis was projected to be a Day 3 selection before the Florida game, and now he might be looking at second- or third-round territory.

Kool-Aid McKinstry | CB | Alabama | PFF big board: No. 1 CB, No. 9 overall

Already considered the best cornerback in the NCAA, McKinstry further solidified that claim with a monster game against Mississippi State in which he allowed zero yards receiving on 32 coverage snaps with a pass defensed while adding two pressures, one hurry and one QB hit.

He’s allowed eight receptions on 16 targets this year for 81 yards and firmly established himself as the premier cover corner in college football. He began the year as a consensus first-round pick, but by the end of the season, he could be talked about as a potential top-five selection.

Brenden Rice | WR | USC | PFF big board: not ranked

The 6-foot-3 senior had his second straight game with multiple touchdown catches in a 48-41 win over Colorado on Saturday, also adding five receptions for 81 yards, and he could be a name to watch in the coming weeks. He and Tahj Washington are Williams’s two favorite targets, and with as much as the Trojans sling the ball around, it wouldn’t be surprising for Rice to have a breakout year.

He's currently projected to be an early-to-mid Day 3 selection, but with more performances like he had against Colorado and Arizona State two weeks ago (seven catches, 133 yards, two touchdowns), he could sneak into the Day 2 conversation. Teams are always looking for big-bodied receivers (he’s 6-foot-3, 210 pounds) who play with explosiveness and physicality.