2024 NFL Mock Draft Risers & Fallers: J.J. McCarthy, Tory Horton, Kyle Monangai

It’s always tough to determine the draft stock of an NFL Draft prospect outside of a handful of players. During the season of college football, the draft stock of these players and the needs of these teams fluctuate.

Through three weeks, that holds true.

We’ve talked about players such as Caleb Williams from USC, but we’ve also gone into detail about the type of talent that Will Sheppard from Vanderbilt possesses. Today, we’re going to focus on the offensive side of the football. Let’s jump into some risers and fallers for the 2024 NFL Draft.

2024 NFL Mock Draft Risers & Fallers

Risers

Tory Horton (WR – Colorado State)

Starting with Tory Horton of Colorado State, he had the best game of his career against Colorado in Week 3. Potentially, he had the best game of any receiver in the country all season. For starters, he hauled in 16 receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, he also completed a 30-yard pass for a touchdown. It was an all-around impressive day for the senior receiver.

Prior to playing for Colorado State, Horton had played at Nevada. During his career with the Wolfpack, he had 72 receptions for 995 yards and 10 touchdowns. Coming out of high school, he was a 3-star recruit (per 24/7 Sports) from Fresno, California, with offers from schools such as Montana. In addition to football, he also played baseball and basketball.

On tape, he displays long arms with a good overall frame that’s able to withstand contact. He has also shown quality ball skills whenever a ball is thrown in his direction. Lastly, there’s the return ability with Horton, as he’s shown that he can return punts. Currently, I haven’t seen any mock drafts with Horton in the first round, but there’s potential for him to move up and solidify himself in the day two conversation of wide receivers for the 2024 NFL Draft.

Kyle Monangai (RB – Rutgers)

It’s been a few weeks since Monangai had a viral blitz pick-up against Northwestern, but it’s time we circle back to his skill set. During the first game of the season for Rutgers, Monangai had a terrific blitz pick-up against a Northwestern defender. Meanwhile, he’s shown the ability to run north and south at ease. He displays consistent contact balance between the tackles, and he plays much stronger than his 5-foot-9 and 210-pound frame would indicate.

This blitz pickup from Rutgers RB Kyle
Monangai is fantastic! My goodness man. pic.twitter.com/DGfHA0aHzh

— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) September 3, 2023

So far this season, Monangai has 58 carries for 357 yards and five touchdowns. Currently, he’s averaging a career-best 6.2 yards per carry. With Michigan on tap for the Scarlet Knights, I’d keep tabs on Monangai to have a strong performance with his downhill running style against a Michigan defense that is giving up 81 yards on the ground per game.

Fallers

J.J. McCarthy (QB – Michigan)

The top-10 buzz on J.J. McCarthy seemed somewhat premature. Don’t get me wrong, he looks like he took a step forward as a passer, but this past weekend against Bowling Green it was underwhelming for the junior quarterback.

So far this season, McCarthy only has 12 incompletions, but three of them have been interceptions. Now, he does show that he can throw from a consistent base while also throwing with good anticipation. He has shown that he has the tools that can take him to the next level. The velocity on his passes is there towards the middle of the field, but some of the throws that need more air to carry deeper down the field were a bit underthrown against Bowling Green this past weekend.

It’s still early, so McCarthy can easily clean up the turnovers. Just keep tabs on how realistic it is for him to break into the top 10 of mock drafts on a weekly basis.