2018 NFL Draft Watch: Saquon Barkley continues to showcase his skills

Ron Clements

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2018 NFL Draft Watch: Saquon Barkley continues to showcase his skills image

Each week during this year's college football regular season we will highlight some of the top draft-eligible performers from around the country.

Saquon Barkley continues to assert himself as not only the top running back in next year's NFL Draft class, but the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy.

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While the Penn State running back ran for just 56 yards on 20 carries Saturday against Indiana, the 5-11, 230-pound junior returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown to set the tone for a 45-14 victory. Barkley, who has accounted for seven touchdowns this season, also caught four passes for 51 yards and even threw a 16-yard touchdown pass in the win. 

The Nittany Lions are certainly trying to boost Barkley's resume and he's making the most of those opportunities. 

Not to be overlooked in Penn State's win is 6-1 senior receiver DaeSean Hamilton, who caught nine passes for 122 yards and three touchdowns and is now Penn State's all-time leading receiver. 

No. 18 South Florida (5-0) had a slew of seniors put up big numbers in a 61-31 win over East Carolina. Quarterback Quinton Flowers, who is 6 feet, 215 pounds, threw for just 160 yards and two scores, but ran for another 93 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. Flowers has experience, in his third season as the starter, but will have to improve his accuracy as a thrower if he expects to play quarterback in the NFL. 

USF's Marquez Valdes-Scantling, a lanky and athletic 6-5 receiver, had six catches for 94 yards and a touchdown and two rushes for 80 yards and another score against the porous ECU defense. D'Ernest Johnson, a 5-10, 210-pound senior running back, had 16 carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns against the Pirates (1-4), who have now allowed over 60 points in two of their last three games and have surrendered at least 34 points in all five games this season. 

Here were a few more of Saturday's top NFL Draft-eligible players

J.T. Barrett, QB, Ohio State — There are questions about whether Barrett can be an NFL quarterback, but he's played well this season and looked great Saturday. The 6-2, 220-pound senior went 14 of 22 for 275 yards and three touchdowns in a 56-0 win over Rutgers. Barrett is completing 63 percent of his passes this season for 1,241 yards with 13 touchdowns and only one interception. He also has 263 rushing yards and running for 89 yards on 10 carries against the Knights. 

Dante Booker, LB, Ohio State — The 6-3, 240-pound senior had an interception to go with four tackles, two for loss, and a sack as the Buckeyes suffocated the Rutgers offense. 

Max Browne, QB, Pittsburgh — Browne had a monster game against Rice as the 6-5, 230-pound senior threw for 410 yards and four touchdowns on 28-of-32 passing in a 42-10 win over the Owls. After getting benched last week, Browne nearly matched his passing total through Pitt's first four games. 

Bradley Chubb, DE, North Carolina State — Chubb has been a one-man wrecking crew all season and added two sacks and 3 1/2 tackles for loss in a 33-25 win over Syracuse. The 6-4, 275-pound senior and first-round prospect now has 5 1/2 sacks on the year. Wolfpack linebacker Jerod Fernandez, a 6-foot, 224-pound senior, added a game-high 14 tackles in the win.

Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia — Chubb, and his backfield-mate Sony Michel, helped the Bulldogs cruise to a 41-0 win over Tennessee. Chubb, a 5-10, 225-pound senior, ran for 109 yards on just 16 carries while Michel, a 5-11, 215-pound senior, had 11 carries for 64 yards and a touchdown as Georgia completed just seven passes in the rout. 

Jordan Chunn, RB, Troy — The powerful 6-1, 235-pound senior ran roughshod over the LSU defense, racking up 191 yards on 30 carries with a touchdown in Troy's 24-21 upset at Death Valley. Chunn is strong, but also has surprising speed for a player his size. He did fumble twice, so that is one thing he'll have to clean up. 

Will Geary, DT, Kansas State — Geary dominated the Baylor offensive line to the tune of two sacks and three tackles for a loss in K-State's 33-20 victory. The 6-foot, 306-pound senior had just 7 1/2 career sacks entering the game with just one previous multi-sack game. 

Davon Grayson, WR, East Carolina — The 6-2, 187-pound senior continued to quietly put up big numbers and had five catches for 101 yards and a touchdown in the loss to USF. Grayson, who is ECU's primary receiver now that Zay Jones is in the NFL, has stepped into that role with 29 catches for 495 yards and five touchdowns. 

Natrell Jamerson, S, Wisconsin — Jamerson had a pair of interceptions, including one the 6-foot, 198-pound senior returned for a touchdown in Wisconsin's 33-24 win over Northwestern. He added six tackles and half a sack as the Badgers defense recorded eight sacks in the win.

Kerryon Johnson, RB, Auburn — Johnson, a 6-foot, 212-pound junior tallied 116 rushing yards on 23 carries and scored three times as the 13th-ranked Tigers rolled to a 49-10 win over No. 24 Mississippi State. Johnson appears to be back on track following a hamstring injury in Week 1, when he ran for 136 yards against Georgia Southern. 

Bryce Love, RB, Stanford — Love, a 5-10, 198-pound junior, broke Christian McCaffrey's single-game rushing record with 301 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-24 win over Arizona State. Love is putting on a show this season, rushing for at least 160 yards in each game and already has 1,088 yards and eight touchdowns through five games while averaging 11 yards per carry. 

Ervin Philips, WR, Syracuse — The Orange lost to North Carolina State, but Phillips did his part in a losing effort. The 5-11, 181-pound senior caught 17 passes for 188 yards in the loss after having just 27 catches for 232 yards entering the game. 

Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State — Rudolph has thrown for over 300 yards in every game this season and that continued Saturday as the 6-5, 230-pound senior threw for 376 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-34 win over Texas Tech. Rudolph has thrown for 1,909 yards with 16 touchdowns and three interceptions for the 15th-ranked Cowboys. 

Matthew Thomas, LB, Florida State — Thomas, a 6-4, 227-pound senior had his second double-digit tackle game and recorded his first two sacks of the year in a 26-19 win over Wake Forest. 

Levi Wallace, CB, Alabama — Wallace, a former walk-on, has settled into his first season as a starter The lanky 6-foot, 183-pound senior had two interceptions, including one for a score, as the top-ranked Tide rolled to a 66-3 win over Ole Miss. 

Ron Clements