College Football Playoff races, Heisman Trophy races and coaching searches are already narrowing and the NFL draft is finally starting to peak out over the horizon. I touch on a little bit of all of that in this week's Cover 3.

1. What does the NFL think of the Baker Mayfield antics?

Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield really stirred things up over the weekend. By cursing at an opponent and punctuating it with an obscene gesture, he sent out a call to arms for all of college football's snowflakes.

Nevermind that every college football game has countless curses volleyed back and forth that the cameras don't catch, nevermind that his opponent set the tone for sportsmanship in the game by refusing to shake Mayfield's hand at the coin toss, and nevermind that he was the target of cheap shots and trash talk throughout the game from his one-win counterpart. Mayfield took the heat for what was a decidedly immature response.

His coach scolded him, the Big 12 scolded him, columnists called for a suspension, and in fact, Mayfield won't start and won't be a captain on Saturday when he plays in front of a home crowd for the last time on Senior Day. It's all utterly ridiculous. But ultimately no amount of hand-wringing, crusty columns or contrived soul searching from the Heisman electorate will allow Mayfield's gesticulating to neuter his ability. Like him or not, he's the best player in college football.

But the consensus is much less clear in the NFL. The only area that Mayfield's continued antics may have a real tangible impact is on his draft stock. I polled some contacts within a handful of NFL front offices to see if this latest episode would turn off any NFL teams or hurt his NFL stock. While the responses weren't exactly damning, no one that I talked to gave me a hard "no" either.

"Minimal damage. He will have the offseason and combine to repair," said one AFC executive.

"Maybe if all else is equal with another QB and they think they want a face of the franchise ... but very subtly if at all," said an NFC front-office member.

However minimal the impact, there's an impact. The quarterback position has a different set of criteria, a different expectation beyond just on-field production. One AFC front-office member I talked to boiled the Mayfield question down to a dangerous comparison.

"For undersized guys like that, you're looking for intangibles to make you feel like it's going to work out, like Russell Wilson's character and work ethic. He's not helping himself out in that regard and meanwhile he's solidifying the Manziel comparisons that he should be trying to avoid."

The league appears to be coming around to Mayfield having starter qualities. But the cautionary Manziel tale that still has some NFL general managers spooked is a big haunting element to Mayfield's NFL draft profile. The similarities in playing style, brash confidence and size draw obvious parallels. Mayfield will need to assure scouts that those similarities stop after the horn sounds.

2. Dreaming of a Chip Kelly-built Florida team

The Chip Kelly to Florida buzz is getting real, though whether it's Florida or UCLA at this point is anyone's guess. That's all the excuse I need to start day dreaming about Kelly's offense with UF's personnel.

From a skill perspective, Florida is set up nicely for Kelly's arrival. Despite the offensive struggles, that's actually been an area of recruiting strength of late for Jim McElwain. Antonio Callaway would be one of the best receivers in the country under any coach, but even if we assume Callaway never sees the field in Gainesville again due to his legal issues, wide receiver isn't an area lacking in talent for this roster. Tyrie Cleveland is a perfect outside vertical threat for Kelly with 4.3 speed and the ability to stretch a defense. Josh Hammond is a young receiver with a good feel for working the middle of the defense, and freshman Kadarius Toney has already emerged as a Swiss Army knife in a much less inventive offense. It's not as dynamic and speedy as his Oregon units but there are weapons already there.

Florida's 2018 recruiting class is heavy with pass-catchers and two in particular would be impact guys early: a dynamic space player in wideout Jacob Copeland and a 6-foot-5 tight end named Kyle Pitts who is exactly the hybrid athlete that Kelly would be able to mismatch with defenders.

At running back, freshman Malik Davis already looks like the best back on a roster with several quality options, and he packs the juice to capitalize on chunk play opportunities under Kelly.

Offensive line needs to improve but there are players on the roster that would seem to be perfect developmental fits for Kelly's system. Texas transfer Jean Delance comes to mind as a lengthy, raw, but extremely athletic lineman that just needs to develop. True freshman T.J. Moore has those same kind of qualities. Those are guys that have long term upside in a system that plays with Kelly's NASCAR pace.

But none of that matters without a trigger man and Florida doesn't have it. You can convince me that there's long-term potential with Feleipe Franks under center, but not in Kelly's offense. If Kelly arrives in Gainesville, it's transfer now or transfer later for Franks. Behind him, Luke Del Rio (if he continues playing), Kyle Trask and Jake Allen are no more equipped to be threats under Kelly. Those are pro-style quarterbacks recruited to a pro-style system. If there's an option on campus that best fits Kelly, it may just be wide receiver Kadarius Toney, a guy that played quarterback in high school and flashed at the position during the spring game back in April.

In the class of 2018, Matt Corral is committed and is 247Sports No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the country. But he's got some different traits than the other pro-style guys on the roster. He's got suddenness in the pocket, solid athleticism, big-time ability to throw on the move and he's got a 70-plus yard arm. Kelly drafted Matt Barkley with the Eagles and that's the type of quarterback he's getting in Corral, so there's evidence that Kelly sees a fit in that mold.

There's also quick-fix possibilities at quarterback. Maybe he digs up a graduate transfer from someone like Manny Wilkins at Arizona State, who's part of a crowded quarterback room. Maybe former No. 1-ranked QB Shea Patterson gets a restriction-free transfer opportunity out of Ole Miss due to NCAA penalties. Or Maybe Kelly goes the junior college route where he's found talents like Jeremiah Masoli before.

Quarterback issues are painfully familiar to Florida fans. But if Kelly were sitting in the head coach's chair, there would finally be reason for optimism that solutions were coming. The surrounding talent is the easy part.

3. Jonathan Taylor is one of the best ever

More people should be talking about the true freshman running back at Wisconsin. No one is doubting that Taylor has been a nice story, and he's even been mentioned in passing as a Heisman candidate, but if you really look at what Taylor is accomplishing, you quickly realize that he's putting together one of the best true freshman seasons at running back of all time. 

As he heads into his 12th game of the season, Taylor has rushed for 1,657 yards, scored 12 touchdowns and averaged a wild 6.96 yards per carry. If we just project out that Taylor hits his average marks against Minnesota this weekend, that puts him at 1,807 yards on the season. Even without a Bowl or championship game added to his totals, that leaves Taylor trailing only Adrian Peterson and Ron Dayne in single-season rushing yards for a true freshman.

Dayne, of course, is college football's all-time leading rusher while Peterson is a future Hall of Famer. That's pretty strong company. Within that group, Dayne was piling his yardage up on an 8-5 team, Peterson's squad was in national title contention like this year's Wisconsin team but Taylor accounts for 36.7 percent of the Wisconsin offense to Peterson's 32.2 percent in 2004. Taylor's 6.9 yards per carry tops both Dayne and Peterson as well as just about every other true freshman to ever put up big numbers (Marshall Faulk also averaged 6.9 yards per carry in 1991 and Nick Chubb averaged 7.1 in 2014).

Adrian Peterson was second in the Heisman voting in 2004. You could make a case that he was more deserving of the trophy than the winner, USC quarterback Matt Leinart. I can't make a case that Taylor should win it this year because of what Mayfield is accomplishing in Norman, Oklahoma, but there's no question that the kid should be in New York when the hardware is handed out. A strong showing against Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship catapulting his team to the College Football Playoff, and I think you're looking at the best true freshman season by a running back of all time.