The 2024 Ultimate College Football Team draft

Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy proclaimed made a bold statement before last week’s NFL draft, and his hypothesis makes perfect sense. Because of the confluence of the COVID year and the introduction of name, image and likeness payments, more good players than ever are staying as long as they can in college football. With most of the COVID year players finally cycling out after this season, that means next year’s NFL draft could be the deepest ever. That also means the 2024 college football talent pool could be the deepest ever.

On Wednesday’s show, On3 national scout Cody Bellaire and I decided to have some fun with all this depth. We each picked an offensive and defensive scheme and tried to create the perfect team around it through a draft. Cody and I picked different schemes, but our draft boards clashed frequently at positions where talent is fairly scheme agnostic. But true to Nagy’s sentiment, neither one of us felt boxed in if someone we wanted got taken. There is an embarrassment of talent in college football this year, and it’s going to be thrilling to see on the field.

The game between Cody Bellaire University and Staples A&M would be incredible. Check out these rosters, and then read on to see how they were constructed. (Cody had the first pick.) 

Cody Bellaire University

1. S Caleb Downs, Ohio State

2. WR Luther Burden, Missouri

3. RB Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma State

4. LB Harold Perkins, LSU

5. DE Mykell Williams, Georgia

6. CB Will Johnson, Michigan

7. DT Mason Graham, Michigan

8. WR Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona

9. C Parker Brailsford, Alabama

10. DE Nic Scourton, Texas A&M

11. CB Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame

12. TE Colston Loveland, Michigan

13. OG Tyler Booker, Alabama

14. OT Emery Jones, LSU

15. LB Barrett Carter, Clemson

16. WR Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State

17. S Xavier Nwankpa, Iowa

18. LB Jay Higgins, Iowa

19. OT Josh Conerly, Oregon

20. OG Michael Ford, Kansas

21. S Dillon Thieneman, Purdue

22. QB Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

Staples A&M 

1. OT Will Campbell, LSU

2. WR Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State

3. Edge James Pearce Jr, Tennessee

4. DT Deone Walker, Kentucky

5. CB Travis Hunter, Colorado

6. OT Kelvin Banks, Texas

7. DT Kenneth Grant, Michigan

8. WR Cam Coleman, Auburn

9. S Malaki Starks, Georgia

10. DE Abdul Carter, Penn State

11. CB Denzel Burke, Ohio State

12. RG Tate Ratledge, Georgia

13. LG Donovan Jackson, Ohio State

14. LB Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma

15. LB Anthony Hill, Texas

16. S Xavier Watts, Notre Dame

17. Nickel Sebastian Castro, Iowa

18. RB TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State

19. QB Avery Johnson, K-State

20. C Jared Wilson, Georgia

21. RB Jadyn Ott, Cal

22. TE Benjamin Yurosek, Georgia

For his offense, Cody chose a power Air Raid scheme similar to what Lincoln Riley runs at USC. Think all the usual Air Raid passing concepts but married to a run game that embraces pin-and-pull blocking and runs between the tackles. On defense, he wanted to be a change-up. He created what he calls the Grim Reaper 3-3-5. Looking at his personnel, most opposing quarterbacks would feel like they’re about to meet the Grim Reaper.

Except my quarterback, because he’s protected by a wall of humanity and his skill set perfectly matches the scheme. You’ve probably noticed that unlike in the NFL draft, Cody and I chose quarterbacks very late in the process. This is because our QBs were so scheme dependent. (And also because we didn’t have other GMs trying to pick off our chosen QBs.) I’m running the Go-Go Gadget Offense.

I’ve stolen concepts liberally from UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion’s offense and Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell’s scheme. We’ll work primarily out of 21 personnel (two backs, one tight end), and we’ll marry a triple option-based run game with frequent vertical shots in the pass game. Our linemen won’t be cutting and scrambling like a service academy team. We’ll be working out of the shotgun and blocking plays similar to more conventional offenses. 

Staples A&M will run a 4-2-5 defense in part because most opponents will spread the field and throw a lot but also because the defensive line and secondary talent is deeper than the linebacker talent. Although when I look at it now, my defensive line is so nasty that my secondary may not even get any work.

Now let’s take a look at each unit…

Cody Bellaire University Offense 

QB Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

RB Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma State

WR Luther Burden, Missouri

WR Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona

WR Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State

TE Colston Loveland, Michigan

OT Josh Conerly, Oregon

OG Tyler Booker, Alabama

C Parker Brailsford, Alabama

OG Michael Ford, Kansas

OT Emery Jones, LSU

Gabriel isn’t going to top anyone’s NFL draft board, but he’s an exceptionally accurate, decisive college QB. He’s perfect for an offense that will have Burden and McMillan terrorizing defenses on the outside and Egbuka running across the middle. Cody went for Gordon early because he knew I also wanted the nation’s most complete back. Gordon would have been amazing in my offense, but he would gain a lot of yards running behind Booker and Brailsford. (Which is what Justice Haynes and Jam Miller get to do in real life.) 

Staples A&M Offense

QB Avery Johnson, Kansas State

RB TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State

RB Jaydn Ott, Cal

WR Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State

WR Cam Coleman, Auburn

TE Benjamin Yurosek, Georgia

OT Will Campbell, LSU

OG Tate Ratledge, Georgia

C Jared Wilson, Georgia

OG Donovan Jackson, Ohio State

OT Kelvin Banks, Texas

I’m definitely projecting more than Cody on offense, but my upside is higher. In terms of in-pad speed, Johnson is the closest QB we’ve seen to Lamar Jackson since Jackson left Louisville. Does that mean Johnson will be as good as Jackson? No. But it means he might. And even if he only comes close, he’s going to be a devastatingly effective college QB. In the scheme I plan to run, he’d be perfect. He’s only going to keep when he can absolutely gain yards, but the fear of Johnson, Henderson or Ott running the ball will keep secondaries from blanketing my two freshman receivers.

Yes, they’re both freshmen. I took Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith with my second-round pick because I knew Cody would grab him if I didn’t. All reports out of Columbus thus far suggest that Smith is completely living up to his recruiting hype and could immediately impact a loaded Ohio State offense. Auburn’s Coleman is a little more of a stretch, but if I gave actual coaches a chance to have him or some of the more established receivers — not Burden or McMillan, obviously — quite a few would want Coleman. He’s explosive in ways we haven’t seen from an Auburn receiver in years, and I think he would stress defenses opposite Smith.

Plus, with my offensive line, I’m not sure we even need to throw. Campbell and Banks are 2025 first-rounders. Ratledge has been a stalwart on the best trenches team in the country, and Wilson — who replaces Sedrick Van Pran in Athens — might be the best pure athlete of this group.

Cody Bellaire University Defense

DE Mykel Williams, Georgia

DT Mason Graham, Michigan

DE Nick Scourton, Texas A&M

LB Harold Perkins, LSU

LB Jay Higgins, Iowa

LB Barrett Carter, Clemson

CB Will Johnson, Michigan

S Xavier Nwankpa, Iowa

S Dillon Thieneman, Purdue

S Caleb Downs, Ohio State

CB Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame

Cody’s pick of Williams is brilliant in this scheme. He’s so versatile, and Georgia is so deep that we probably haven’t even seen all Williams can do on the field yet. Graham is the most technically perfect defensive tackle in the country, and Scourton should make an immediate impact at Texas A&M after returning home following two seasons at Purdue.

Cody took Downs first because he allows the secondary to morph into many forms. The role Downs plays was pioneered by Brian Urlacher at New Mexico, and Downs has the broad skill set (coverage, downhill tackling, ball skills) that allows him to do everything this defense (and Ohio State’s actual defense) need him to do.

The biggest question is what Cody gets out of Perkins. One of the big criticisms of LSU’s defense last year was the insistence on playing Perkins as an off-ball linebacker rather than just telling him to go get the ball. But in the 3-3-5, Perkins probably winds up starting a lot of plays on the line of scrimmage ready to chase the QB. That’s going to pay dividends for Cody.

Staples A&M Defense

DE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee

DT Deone Walker, Kentucky

DT Kenneth Grant, Michigan

DE Abdul Carter, Penn State

LB Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma

LB Anthony Hill, Texas

CB Travis Hunter, Colorado

S Malaki Starks, Georgia

S Xavier Watts, Notre Dame

Nickel Sebastian Castro, Iowa

CB Denzel Burke, Ohio State

I went for pure freaks on my defensive line. Walker and Grant are 340-pound plus humans who move much faster than anyone that size reasonably should. Walker can play anywhere on the line — including the edge. By now, we’ve all seen Grant chasing down Penn State back Kaytron Allen from behind. 

Careful, the big ten might decide Kenneth Grant is an unfair competitive advantage and harmful to player safety pic.twitter.com/Mhu5vJqOgE

— Maize & Blue Nation 🏈📸 (@MaizeBlueNation) November 11, 2023

Meanwhile, my edges are blindingly quick. Stutsman gives me a thumper in the middle, while Hill gives me off-ball speed (and another occasional pass-rush option) in a Mike linebacker body.

While Michigan’s Johnson probably lands higher on most boards, I had to take Hunter because he can cover plenty well and he gives me another elite receiver on the other side of the ball. 

Although I’m still not sure I even need to throw with that line, those backs and Johnson.

Can we play this game tomorrow?