JD PicKell: Breaking down the College Football Playoff contenders through Week 3

With the college football season three weeks in, some teams have solidified themselves as contenders early. A lot of the familiar faces are back at the top when you talk about College Football Playoff predictions. With the elite of the elite still making their case, On3’s JD PicKell ranked his four playoff teams and his first two out on a recent episode of ‘The Hard Count’.

To this point in the season, PicKell still has the defending champions on top in his latest CFP update.

1. Georgia Bulldogs

“Starting at No. 1, it’s Georgia. Let’s just call a spade a spade. It’s the Georgia Bulldogs. They are the most dominant team in the country to this point…Stetson Bennett looks in total command of this offense, the defense doesn’t look like they’ve taken any step back by any stretch of the imagination. I think they’re gonna get tested by someone else down the line…(but) I’m curious to see if Georgia ever has to win ugly.”

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2. Ohio State Buckeyes

“A team that has won ugly so far. They beat a Notre Dame team that was ranked pretty high at the time…(and) Ohio State was able to find a way to win without their fastball. They scored 77 against Toledo. That is illegal in most states what they did to that program. CJ Stroud is continuing to progress as the guy. There’s nothing super concerning about Ohio State just yet. They haven’t played a ton of elite competition just yet but, the way that they beat Notre Dame, I just can’t get that out of my mind.”

3. Alabama Crimson Tide

“The reason they’re at No. 3 and not No. 2 for us is we saw some chinks in the armor against Texas. Texas may be a great football team…but Alabama was favored by 20 points in that game. If Bryce Young’s not on the sideline for the Crimson Tide, we may be talking about Alabama having one loss right now…I think we’ll learn a lot more about them as the season progresses…There’s still some things within this program that need to be addressed.”

4. Oklahoma Sooners

“Oklahoma showed me a lot against Nebraska. They did a lot of good things the first two games of the year, but they showed me who they are the first two games of the year is who they are against a Power-5 team too…I think Dillon Gabriel is going to be a guy that plays his best football later in the season as he progresses, as his offense progresses. Brent Venables has put his blueprint in place with that defense. Oklahoma’s a team I’m really excited about in a Big 12 conference with a lot of transition.”

5. Michigan Wolverines

“If you want to put Michigan at No. 4, I’m not gonna argue with you too much. Have they won every game convincingly? Absolutely. They’ve looked great. But even if they did (have weaknesses), wouldn’t they be sort of difficult to see to this point of the year? They’ve played Colorado State, Hawaii, and UConn. Folks, those three programs are arguably among some of the least in college football right now…We don’t know anything new about Michigan. What I do love is what they have at quarterback with J.J. McCarthy…As of right now, just based on their competition, we’re gonna go ahead and put them at No. 5.”

6. Clemson Tigers

“Clemson is a team that we will learn about as the year goes on. But the biggest question mark is the same as it was going into this year. What do you have at quarterback? Can DJ Uiagalelei, or Cade Klubnik, be the guy that allows your offense to match what you’re bringing on defense? The ACC is not going to be the gauntlet…They may have to go unbeaten to end up in the College Football Playoff. In order to do that, everyone thinks they need more production at the quarterback position…We’ll see what happens there but it all centers around the quarterback because the rest of this roster, especially on the defensive side of the ball, is really, really good.”