Hellcats: Clemson Tiger and Kentucky Wildcat are the draft prospects of the week

Saturday’s standout showings stemmed from the south. Kentucky Wildcat running back Benny Snell dominated Mississippi State in an upset while Clemson defensive lineman Christian Wilkins singlehandedly shut down Georgia Tech’s offense. Their tremendous performances easily earn them player of the week recognition.

Snell continued an impressive 2018 season against a stacked Mississippi State defense. The Bulldogs line might have two future first round picks on it in Montez Sweat and Jeffery Simmons, but that didn’t stop Benny Snell from picking up 166 yards on the ground and FOUR touchdowns. Snell’s yards were hard earned as he picked an impressive ninety yards after contact (per PFF). The 20-year-old junior already has seven touchdowns in four games and is well on his way to his third straight thousand-yard season at Kentucky. At 5’11” and 230 pounds, Snell is ideally built for the NFL and is an old school brusier at the position. Kentucky will keep feeding him and he will rack up yards and wins on his way to NFL draft notoriety.

A few hundred miles away, Georgia Tech has collectively having an extremely bad day with Christian Wilkins on the other side of the ball. The pass-stingy Tech offense was further dissuaded from dropping back against Clemson given that Wilkins picked up a sack and hurry despite him only being on the field for five passing snaps. Wilkins was similarly disruptive against the Yellow Jacket running game and his stifling performance helped secure the win for Clemson. Wilkins’ name has been in the NFL draft cycle for a few years now and I feel like some have forgotten just what a force he is on the field. Wilkins might not be the specimen that his teammate Dexter Lawrence is, but he is an all-around solid defender who will make NFL teams very happy on Sundays.