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Welcome to college football’s new normal, where in Week 8, three teams in the top 10 lost, two ranked SEC teams needed overtime to survive on the road and UAB, fresh off firing coach Trent Dilfer, knocked off previously unbeaten Memphis as three-score underdogs.
The 2025 season has turned into college football’s version of anarchy, and it’s beautiful. Expect the unexpected. Better yet, embrace it.
Week 8 also delivered several vital performances for prospects in the 2026 NFL draft. After an uninspiring Week 7, several top quarterbacks delivered résumé-padding efforts. The top of the wide receiver class starred, and so did the draft’s RB1 and TE1 in Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love and Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq, respectively.
Big boards are far from set, but the picture at the top is growing clearer. After that? It’s largely in flux.
Here are Sports Illustrated’s draft risers and fallers from a hectic Week 8.
RISERS
Kadyn Proctor, OT, Alabama
Though he didn’t catch a screen pass or take a wildcat snap, Proctor stacked another quality performance in Alabama’s 37–20 win over Tennessee. Proctor allowed only one quarterback hurry against the Volunteers’ strong front, according to Pro Football Focus, and he’s given up just four total pressures over his past four outings. The surge has rescued Proctor’s draft stock, as the 6' 7", 366-pounder trudged through a difficult start to the season in which he allowed one sack and nine pressures in the first three weeks. Big, powerful and willing to enforce punishment, Proctor has the tools to be a first-round pick, and he’s starting to play at such a level consistently.
Chris Bell, WR, Louisville
Trending favorably toward being a top-five receiver in the class, Bell continued his stellar run in ACC play with nine catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns in the Cardinals’ stunning road upset over Miami. Bell has eclipsed 135 yards in each of Louisville’s first three conference games while catching 31 passes and scoring five touchdowns. At 6' 2" and 220 pounds, Bell is a gifted run-after-catch player with tremendous ball skills and route instincts. Ranked No. 26 in Sports Illustrated’s midseason top 50, Bell is firmly in the first-round discussion—and he’s making his inclusion more undeniable each week.
Derrick Moore, edge, Michigan
Moore entered the season as a likely Day 2 prospect, and after a slow start, he’s beginning to state a more convincing case. In Michigan’s 24–7 victory over Washington, the 6' 3", 250-pound Moore tallied two sacks, two tackles for loss, one forced fumble and four total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Voted a team captain this season, Moore is on pace to end his college career with over 50 appearances and 20 starts. Moore has a quick first step and wins both with speed around the edge or power through the chest of tackles.
Jadarian Price, RB, Notre Dame
Jeremiyah Love often steals the headlines in Notre Dame’s backfield, and Love had over 250 yards from scrimmage against USC. But don’t overlook his running mate, Price, who rushed 13 times for a season-high 87 yards and one touchdown, and scored another on a 100-yard kickoff return. The 5' 11", 210-pound redshirt junior is explosive, efficient and has plenty of tread left on his tires. Love is the draft’s best running back and a potential top-10 pick, but Price has run his way into Day 2.
Brendan Sorsby, QB, Cincinnati
Sorsby has flown under the radar while guiding the No. 21 Bearcats to a 6–1 record, and his film is littered with next-level throws. The redshirt junior is entertainingly sporadic—with his arm, he can access all parts of the field, and he flashes elite ball placement. Still, his decision-making and accuracy falter at times. Sorsby threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns against Oklahoma State, and he’s tossed 17 touchdowns to just one interception this season. Whether the 6' 3", 235-pounder is part of the 2026 quarterback class or waits until 2027, his arm talent, athleticism and extensive starting experience make him an intriguing option.
FALLERS
Carson Beck, QB, Miami
Beck spent the first six games of this season washing away the bad taste—and impressions—from the end of his time at Georgia, and he’d mostly succeeded. His accuracy, processing quickness and pocket management all looked the part of a Sunday player. But on Friday night, shades of Beck’s old self reappeared. He threw four interceptions in Miami’s 24–21 home loss to Louisville, the Hurricanes’ first loss of the season, and he struggled with pocket poise and decision-making under pressure. Beck, who entered 2024 as a potential first-round pick, hadn’t yet returned to those heights, but he’d done enough to at least reopen the conversation. Such a redemption arc hardly feels likely anymore, though Beck remains a plausible choice on Day 2.
Nick Singleton, RB, Penn State
Singleton entered the season rated higher than backfield mate Kaytron Allen, but Allen has been the better, more productive runner of the two this fall—a trend that continued in Penn State’s 25–24 loss to Iowa. Allen rushed 28 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns, while Singleton had only six carries for 15 yards. Singleton, a 1,000-yard rusher in both 2022 and ’24, has registered fewer than 40 rushing yards and 3.5 yards or less per carry in five of seven games this season. The two exclusions were against Florida International and FCS foe Villanova. The 6' 0", 224-pound senior has a quality blend of size, speed and pass-catching skills—he caught 41 passes last season—but his hesitancy and inefficiency this season have knocked him from a potential top-50 pick toward the Day 3 conversation.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cincinnati QB Among Prospects Who Improved Their 2026 NFL Draft Stock in Week 8.