The schedule for the fourth week in college football includes another important contest in the SEC. Mississippi State faces the talented and upstart Kentucky Wildcats, a team foolishly not ranked in the top 25. The game is also set to be a one of the toughest defenses Nick Fitzgerald of MSU will face this season, as the Wildcats will sprinkle defenders throughout next April’s draft.

After a promising campaign in 2016, Fitzgerald watched his game regress last season as he made too many mental errors and bad throws as a junior. He correctly returned for his senior campaign and is off to a solid start. More often than not, Fitzgerald has beaten opponents with his legs this season but he has the physical ability to make all the next-level throws. How accurately those throws reach their intended target is another question altogether.

Fitzgerald will have his work cut out for him this weekend. Kentucky has a lot of NFL talent on their defense, starting with Week 2 riser Josh Allen. 

Allen has the measurables and computer numbers NFL teams desire in a front-seven player and has shown a great deal of development in his game. He’s a forceful linebacker with the ability to get pressure up the field and rush the quarterback. But Allen is much more than a one-dimensional defender, as proven against Florida  He’s also a solid run defender who can make plays at the line of scrimmage or in pursuit, and his ball skills on passing downs are improving.

Presently I grade Allen in the bottom third of Round 1.

Fitzgerald must also keep a watchful eye on safety Mike Edwards, one of the most underrated players at the position. 

Edwards is a three-down player who is effective against the run and the pass. He does not possess great size but has next-level ball skills and gets it between the ears.

Linebacker Jordon Jones is another underrated commodity who plays sideline to sideline and covers tight ends or even receivers who run shallow patterns in the short or intermediate field.