The flame just went out on the Olympics, so is it blasphemy to talk something else?

How about college football?

While some of you may have been watching Olympic table tennis or sport climbing — I admit, I was — football practices have been ramping up.

The University of Hawaii football season is just weeks away — the Warriors kick off at UCLA on Aug. 28, one of three games on college football’s “opening day.”

So if you want to know what players to watch, who might be in the Heisman hunt and who might be future NFL stars, read on.

The Heisman watch usually focuses on quarterbacks (four of the past five Heisman winners have been QBs), so the short-list of slingers to track this year will be Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler and Georgia’s J.T. Daniels.

As far as the next top NFL Draft prospects, I consulted with a former decades-long NFL scout.

His top offensive player was a surprise to me while his No. 1 defensive player was not.

Leading the defensive prospects is a Duck. Quack! (I’m one of three generations of Oregon grads.)

Kayvon Thibodeaux is the first defensive player taken in many mock drafts.

He came to Oregon highly hyped as a 6-foot-5, 250-pound defensive end. I see him as a Steelers-type of standup edge guy more than a hand-in-the-dirt, take-on lineman.

The scout’s take on Thibodeaux:

He’s “athletic, alert, active, aggressive, quick, mobile,” an “excellent pass rusher” and is good against the run.

The scout’s top offensive player wasn’t Rattler or a receiver or a lineman, but the 6-3, 210-pound Daniels, a five-star recruit who started his career at USC, tore his ACL in the season opener of his second season in 2019, then transferred.

The scout’s assessment on the QB:

“Daniels is smart, an accurate passer, with good arm strength, with good pocket movement.”

If you’re a draft nerd — there are so many of us around now — then here’s the scout’s list of top players by position:

>> Quarterback — Daniels (top-10 pick), Rattler (6-1, 200), Matt Corral (Mississippi, 6-1, 205), Kedon Slovis (USC, 6-3, 205), Myles Brennan (LSU, 6-4, 207), Spencer Petras (Iowa, 6-5, 233). All except Daniels were rated as second-round talents, though all QBs get elevated as the draft approaches.

>> Running back — Isaiah Spiller (Texas A&M, 6-1, 215, end of the first round).

>> Wide receiver — George Pickens (Georgia, 6-3, 200, top-10 pick but tore his ACL in the spring) and Erik Ezukanma (Texas Tech, 6-3, 220, top-10 pick).

>> Tight end — Jalen Wydermyer (Texas A&M, 6-5, 255) and Jeremy Ruckert (Ohio State, 6-5, 250). The scout ranks both as end of the first round talent.

>> Offensive line: Darian Kinnard, Kentucky (6-5, 345), Kenyon Green (Texas A&M, 6-4, 324), Sean Rhyan (UCLA, 6-5, 318), Abraham Lucas (Washington State, 6-7 319), Vederian Lowe (Illinois, 6-6, 320). All are regarded as mid-first-round talents. All are tackles, except for Green, who’s a guard.

>> Defensive line: Thibodeaux (top-five pick), DE Tyreke Smith (Ohio State, 6-3, 265, mid-first round), DT Perrion Winfrey (Oklahoma, 6-4, 292, end of first round), DE DeMarvin Leal (Texas A&M, 6-4, 290, end of first round).

>> LB: Henry To’o To’o (Alabama, 6-2, 225, second round), Edefuan Ulofoshio (Washington, 6-1, 235, second round).

>> Defensive backs: CB Josh Jobe (Alabama, 6-1, 192, end first round), S Kyle Hamilton, Notre Dame (6-4, 218, end first round). CB Tre-Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, TCU, 5-9, 177 (second round). He’s LaDainian Tomlinson’s nephew.

UH should see some other top draft prospects, including a handful from UCLA.

Though the Bruins have a few top NFL prospects, their outstanding and athletic quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is not one of them. But he’s a dynamic two-way athlete who will be hard to contain in the Chip Kelly offense.

Rhyan was picked as high as No. 8 overall in one mock draft, though he wasn’t listed as a first-rounder in two others.

Running back Brittain Brown is considered a third-round talent. The 6-1, 210-pounder is a graduate transfer from Duke who played in all seven games for the Bruins last season. He averaged 6.6 yards per carry and had a huge game against Stanford, where he rushed for 219 yards on 29 carries.

Tight end Greg Dulcich was second on the team in receptions and led the team with five TD catches. The 6-4, 242-pounder averaged 19.9 yards per catch, which ranked second best in the nation among tight ends. He also ranked second in the nation among tight ends in receiving yards per game at 73.9.

The Warriors will see other talents throughout the season, including Nevada quarterback Carson Strong, whom many mock drafts have in the first round, though this scout doesn’t.

Players’ value will fluctuate during the season, depending on how they perform. So we’ll revisit this again, where a few new names will bust out of the shadows.