Draft Week 04 / 2026
College football. An NFL Draft lens.When the space closes
Trevor Goosby and Brandon Baker take Texas’s line to Tennessee. Jeremiah Smith, 87 catches last year, gets Illinois. Leonard Moore meets a Purdue offense throwing for 366.7 yards a game. Five prospects, four games, September 26.
Saturday game times 4 games · All times Eastern
- Texas at TennesseeABCOfficial game details ↗
- Illinois at Ohio StateFOXOfficial game details ↗
- Notre Dame at PurduePeacockOfficial game details ↗
- Oregon at USCNBCOfficial game details ↗
September 26, 2026. Schedule checked October 1, 2026; times can change.
Texas goes to Knoxville at noon with Goosby, who has started all three games at left tackle this season, and Baker, 13 starts at right tackle last year and now inside at guard. Smith caught 87 passes for 1,243 yards in 2025 and gets Illinois in Columbus at the same hour. Leonard Moore’s Notre Dame plays a Purdue offense averaging 366.7 passing yards a game. Dante Moore, four first-half touchdown passes against Portland State behind him, opens Big Ten play at USC at night. Every question this week starts when a defender takes away the easy answer: a tackle’s first strike misses, a guard takes power in the chest, a receiver runs out of sideline, a corner gives up the inside, a quarterback loses his first read.
OT Texas
Trevor Goosby
Texas at Tennessee · · ABC
When his first punch misses, can he refit his hands without grabbing?
Goosby has started all three Texas games at left tackle this season and earned an SEC weekly honor after the Ohio State win. That answers the preseason question about his availability. The evaluation question starts after he reaches the rusher: his range gets him to the outside threat, and the next exchange shows whether he keeps control of it.
Watch the hands when the first strike slides off or fails to stop the rush. His report says it plainly: at his best he strikes first and controls the chest; when the first plan misses, he catches and grabs. The fix is to replace the hands with his feet still under him instead of leaning after the rusher. A quick throw can hide a lost rep. Stay with Goosby through the release and look for the space the defender made beside him.
Watch for
- After a missed strike, does he refit his hands without leaning?
- When the rusher comes back inside, is his base still narrow enough to move?
G Texas
Brandon Baker
Texas at Tennessee · · ABC
When power hits his chest at the snap, does he hold the quarterback’s step-up space?
Baker started all 13 Texas games at right tackle in 2025 and plays guard this season at a listed 315 pounds. His report splits: patient, square sets and awareness of stunts on one side, an anchor that does not yet match the frame on the other. Moving inside puts that argument a step from the quarterback. Against Tennessee, mark the space behind Baker at the snap and watch how much of it is left when the defender lands.
If the defender gets into his chest, can Baker stop the push with his balance intact? Holding that ground gives Arch Manning somewhere to step when the edge rush arrives. The run game asks a related question. Stay with Baker after he reaches his man: contact has to last until the back is past him. His position can look right at the snap and produce nothing if the defender slips off before the ball gets there.
Watch for
- Does direct power move him back into the quarterback’s step-up space?
- On a run block, is he still attached when the runner reaches the crease?
WR Ohio State
Jeremiah Smith
Illinois at Ohio State · · FOX
Can he beat the corner without running out of sideline?
Smith caught 87 passes for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025, and a corner has to defend both his speed and his adjustment to a bad throw. The detail still open is where the route ends. His report calls sideline spacing unfinished: separation loses value when the receiver leaves the quarterback no room to put the ball in bounds. Illinois is the next chance to watch the route before the catch becomes a body-control test.
Start with the release. Does Smith get past the contact and back onto a line the quarterback can use, or does the corner keep walking him to the boundary? Then compare the deep routes with the comebacks and the in-breakers underneath. The threat of his speed buys room for an ordinary completion. Taking that room and finishing the routine catch would be evidence alongside any contested one.
Watch for
- After press contact, how much sideline is left between his route and the boundary?
- When the corner gives ground, does he turn the underneath opening into a clean completion?
CB Notre Dame
Leonard Moore
Notre Dame at Purdue · · Peacock
From off coverage, does his first step keep the inside he lined up to take away?
Purdue comes in averaging 366.7 passing yards a game, by its own count. Moore started 10 games for Notre Dame in 2025 and finished with five interceptions and seven pass breakups. His case starts with patience: he stays square until the route declares, then plays the ball. The concern shows up earlier on some off-coverage snaps, when his weight settles on his heels and the receiver gets the first free step.
Watch his answer to an inside release. Does he move with the receiver and keep the relationship he lined up with, or concede it and recover? His reach and recovery burst can get him back into a play, but the window may already be open. On the short completions, follow the finish. Arriving under control and wrapping up is a different test from staying close enough to contest the throw, and his report wants both.
Watch for
- From off coverage, is he ready to drive forward and inside?
- After a short catch, does he close under control and finish the tackle?
QB Oregon
Dante Moore
Oregon at USC · · NBC
When the coverage rotates after the snap, how fast does he leave the first read?
Moore threw four touchdowns before halftime against Portland State. Last season he went 296 of 412 for 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and Indiana sacked him six times in the regular-season meeting. USC is the setting for the part a big line cannot answer: how fast he changes the plan when the defense changes the picture. His release and touch make a well-timed throw look easy. The question is whether the decision still arrives on time when the first target is gone.
Follow his eyes and his base together after a late rotation. A quick move to the next receiver is worth less if his feet never settle for the throw. Interior pressure adds the second demand: find the outlet before hurried feet turn a manageable play into an escape. When he does move, watch whether he keeps two hands on the ball through traffic and finds a platform before he throws. Those are separate decisions, and each can improve on a drive that ends without points.
Watch for
- When a defender rotates into the first window, does he get to the next option without a long pause?
- Against pressure inside, does he find the outlet with his feet and the ball under control?
After the games
Same five. A second look.
Published September 28, 2026
Jeremiah Smith went 12 for 217 and four touchdowns against Illinois, every score Ohio State threw. Dante Moore was done before halftime at USC. Trevor Goosby, Brandon Baker and Leonard Moore started in wins, and the snaps to pull on each are below. The preview above stays on the record.
- Trevor GoosbyTexas’s fourth-quarter touchdown drive opened with a sack, and that drive is Goosby’s week.
- Brandon BakerBaker’s week is the same drive, a yard closer to the quarterback.
- Jeremiah SmithIllinois could not cover him, and that was never the question.
- Leonard MoorePurdue scored 10, Moore made two tackles, and a corner’s stat line is the quarterback’s to write.
- Dante MooreMoore’s night ended on a slide in the second quarter, and Dylan Raiola got the win.
Read the follow-up: What Saturday settled ↗Follow the writing feed ↗Revisit your board ↗Run a mock draft ↗
Sources & reporting 14 references
Scouting context is synthesized from our existing master reports and their credited evaluations. This preview sets out what to watch; it does not claim a new film study. Official school publications supply the game details and current results. The Public Draft Board and its methodology are unchanged.
- Texas · official 2026 football schedule ↗
Texas at Tennessee, September 26, 11 a.m. Central (noon Eastern), ABC, Neyland Stadium.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Ohio State · Illinois kickoff announcement ↗
Illinois at Ohio State, September 26, noon Eastern, FOX.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Purdue · Notre Dame game preparation ↗
Notre Dame at Purdue, September 26, 2 p.m. Eastern, Peacock; 366.7 team passing yards per game through three games.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Oregon · USC kickoff announcement ↗
Oregon at USC, September 26, 4:30 p.m. Pacific (7:30 p.m. Eastern), NBC.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Oregon · Big Ten opener at USC ↗
Dante Moore threw four first-half touchdowns against Portland State; current Oregon quarterback context.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Texas · Trevor Goosby current biography ↗
Goosby started the first three 2026 games at left tackle; September 14 SEC weekly honor. Participation history is not a medical clearance.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Texas · Brandon Baker current biography ↗
Current Texas roster identity and offensive line role.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Notre Dame · Leonard Moore current biography ↗
Current Notre Dame roster identity. Historical injury accounts do not establish current availability.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Ohio State · Jeremiah Smith current biography ↗
Current Ohio State roster identity; no inference of medical clearance from older injury accounts.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Draftanomics · Trevor Goosby master report ↗
Pass-set range, hand replacement, balance against counters and run-blocking control.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Draftanomics · Brandon Baker master report ↗
Interior projection, conflicting anchor evaluations, balanced contact and sustained run blocks.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Draftanomics · Jeremiah Smith master report ↗
Vertical threat, press consistency, route variety, sideline spacing and routine catches.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Draftanomics · Leonard Moore master report ↗
Patient coverage, first-step leverage, recovery and tackling technique.
Checked September 25, 2026 - Draftanomics · Dante Moore master report ↗
Release, placement, late coverage changes, interior pressure and ball security.
Checked September 25, 2026