And then, there was one.
One more chance for a majority of prospects to pad their résumés. One more game to fight for College Football Playoff seeds and bowl game destinations.
The college football regular season is entering its final lap, with a dramatic, captivating rivalry week on tap.
Week 13, the penultimate week of the season, featured a heavy dose of lopsided wins from highly-ranked teams against inferior opponents, a few narrow escapes and generally rocky quarterback play.
The countdown clock to the 2026 NFL draft in Pittsburgh now shows fewer than 150 days until commissioner Roger Goodell stands on stage and announces the newest crop of first-round picks.
Here’s who’s rising and falling on Sports Illustrated’s big board after Week 13.
RISERS
Carson Beck, QB, Miami
After a stock-sinking four-interception performance against Louisville in Week 8, Beck jumped on a life raft and steadied his performance. He played one of his cleanest, most productive games in Miami’s 34–17 road win over Virginia Tech on Saturday, going 27-of-32 for 320 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Beck has thrown eight touchdowns and no interceptions across the Hurricanes’ past three games, and he’s operated with improved confidence, efficiency and ball placement to lead Miami back to the CFP bubble.
Devon Marshall, CB, North Carolina State
Marshall may have delivered the best defensive performance in all of college football in Week 13. Florida State wideout Duce Robinson, the ACC’s leading receiver, had only two catches for 40 yards on nine targets against Marshall, according to Pro Football Focus, while Marshall recorded two interceptions and six pass breakups. The 5' 11", 200-pound Marshall is instinctive and disruptive at the catch point, and while he lacks high-end fluidity and deep speed, his ball production and physicality creates a Day 3 profile.
Max Klare, TE, Ohio State
Klare enjoyed his best game of the season in Week 13, logging seven catches for 105 yards and a touchdown against Rutgers. The 6' 5", 243-pound transfer is an athletic mover who runs nuanced routes, making him a headache to cover with his size, speed and deception throughout the route stem. Though his first year at Ohio State has been up and down in terms of productivity, Klare has a chance to boost his stock significantly during the Buckeyes’ closing stretch, including “The Game” vs. Michigan, a potential Big Ten championship game appearance and a College Football Playoff run.
Akheem Mesidor, edge, Miami
Perhaps overshadowed by consensus first-round pick and pass-rushing teammate Rueben Bain Jr., Mesidor has been brilliant this season for the Hurricanes. Mesidor, who stands 6' 3" and weighs 265 pounds, forced two fumbles and registered one sack and one-and-a-half tackles for loss against Virginia Tech. He finished with eight quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, the fourth-most in the FBS in Week 13. Mesidor will be a tricky evaluation for scouts, because he turns 25 in April. However, he’s athletic, powerful, versatile and proficient against both the run and pass, and he’s certainly NFL ready. He’ll likely fall to Day 3, but he has Day 2 tools and production.
Chris Johnson, CB, San Diego State
Johnson has been one of the draft’s biggest risers and appears well-positioned to be a Day 2 pick after a season marked by high-level ball production. The 6' 0", 195-pound senior has four interceptions this season, and he recorded another in San Diego State’s 25–3 win over San Jose State on Saturday. Johnson also made his first career sack, and he allowed one catch for no yards, according to Pro Football Focus. He’s given up only 19 receptions for 185 yards and no touchdowns this season. Johnson is quick-footed with the twitch and instincts to mirror routes—he’s sticky and flying under the radar in a good, though not elite, cornerback class.
FALLERS
Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama
The turnover bug has bitten Simpson, who’s thrown three interceptions in his past two games, including two during Alabama’s 56–0 win over Eastern Illinois. Simpson went 11-of-16 passing for 147 yards and no touchdowns while recording his first multi-interception game of the season. Simpson hasn’t been the same accurate, playmaking passer who rose into the Heisman Trophy and QB1 conversation in October, and he’s now firmly below Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Oregon’s Dante Moore at the top of the quarterback class. Simpson’s step backward is a hit to the quarterback class at large, but he has time—including a potential CFP run—to make it right.
John Mateer, QB, Oklahoma
Oklahoma is winning games—big games against good teams, at that—but Mateer’s productivity has taken a significant hit since returning from right-hand surgery on Oct. 11 against Texas. In his first four games as a Sooner, Mateer completed 67.4% of his passes while eclipsing 270 passing yards in each outing. Over his past six games against steeper competition, Mateer has a 58.2% completion rate and has thrown for less than 175 yards four times. Mateer has arm talent, athleticism and moxie, three core attributes of a potential franchise signal-caller. Still, the redshirt junior doesn’t appear close to the first-round pick he seemed to be capable of becoming during the first month of the season.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Five Prospects Who Improved Their 2026 NFL Draft Stock in Week 13.
