College Football Top 50
(google images)25. O- Ameer Abdullah, Soph. RB, Nebraska
D- Arthur Brown, Sr. LB, Kansas St.
Abdullah has stepped in with Rex Burkhead missing some time and has been a catalyst for a Nebraska offense that has averaged 42 points a game with 615 yards and 7 TD's. Brown anchors the Kansas State defense that is the only team with someone from all three levels of the D ranked in my top 25. Brown leads the team with 55 tackles.
24. O- Denard Robinson, Sr. QB, Michigan
D- Josh Francis, Sr. LB, West Virginia
"Shoelace" played horrible against my Notre Dame squad, and has had his issues throwing the ball with 9 interceptions. He makes up for it with 900 yards rushing, as Michigan comes attempts to come back from some tough losses early. As decrepit as the Mountaineers defense has been, Francis has made some plays with 3 sacks and 10.5 TFL's.
23. O- E.J. Manuel Sr. QB, FSU
D- Nigel Malone, Sr. CB, Kansas St.
Manuel has been climbing the charts lately with his improved production. He's thrown for 2,033 yards and 14 TD's. Malone leads the Wildcats with 5 PBU's, and has 2 picks and a forced fumble.
22. O- Robert Woods, Jr. WR, USC
D- Jordan Richards, Soph. S, Stanford
Sometimes the forgotten man in USC's high octane attack, he had his best game of the year against Colorado last week. He now has 44 catches for 492 yards and 9 TD's. Richards is the only safety in the top 25, with 8 PBU's and 2 picks.
21. O- Tajh Boyd, Jr. QB, Clemson
D- Alex Okafor, Sr. DE, Texas
Getting Sammie Watkins back up to speed after some lingering injuries and the horrid DB's he gets to play against in the ACC make Boyd a threat to crack the top ten at the end of the season. He's up to 20 touchdown passes after beating Wake Forest thursday night. Okafor lost his partner in crime in Jackson Jeffcoat for the year, meaning he needs to probably double his current sack total of 6 for the Longhorns to finish on a positive note.
(google images)20 O- Marcus Lattimore, Jr. RB, South Carolina
D- Jason Verrett, Jr. CB, TCU
Lattimore has gone from Heisman possibility, to someone who's once again battling injuries. He still has double digit touchdowns for a fading offense that doesn't have many other weapons. Verrett was all over the field against Texas Tech, and checks in with 4 Int's and 11 PBU's on the season for a young defense that could be absolutely nasty next year.
19. O- A.J. McCarron, Jr. QB, Alabama
D- Jackson Jeffcoat, Jr. DE, Texas
McCarron doesn't have the stats that jump off the page, simply because that's not how the Tide do business. He does however, have 16 TD passes and 0 Int's. His team is also a juggernaut, so the Heisman buzz will continue. I do think the Int streak ends today with Jonathan Banks getting him once or twice for Mississippi St. As I mentioned, Jeffcoat is out for the year. He now has an interesting decision about whether to go pro or not. He finishes the season with 9.5 TFL's and 4 sacks.
18. O- Taylor Martinez, Jr. QB, Nebraska
D- Calvin Pryor, Soph. S, Louisville
Martinez has shown improvement throwing the ball, so he's ahead of fellow dual threat QB Robinson for now. Pryor has been the best player on Louisville's very young defense. Pryor has 3 forced fumbles, 2 picks, and leads the team with 53 tackles before last nights game against Cincy.
17. O- Marcus Mariotta, Frosh. QB, Oregon
D- Will Compton, Sr. LB, Nebraska
Mariotta could hop up some spots when he plays some actual competition, as he's been getting pulled early in a lot of the Ducks' easy wins so far. He's arguably the best freshman in the country. Compton has stepped in for Lavonte David and contributed a team-high 58 tackles for the Huskers.
16. O- John Hubert, Jr. RB, Kansas St.
D- C.J. Mosley, Jr. LB, Alabama
Hubert gets lost in the shuffle with all of the "Octomus Klein" Heisman hype, but he is simply a banger that churns out yards for a unit that loves to pound the rock. He's at 663 yards with 8 TD's so far on the season. Mosley leads the Tide in tackles, and is getting a lot of NFL buzz on an extremely deep defensive unit.
15. O- Matt Barkley, Sr. QB, USC
D- Bradley Roby, Soph, CB, Ohio St.
Barkley hasn't lived up to expectations, but if he continues to have games where he goes 19-20 with 4 touchdown passes, he'll be in the top ten at the end of the year. He's now up to 22 TD's on the year, and has the weapons to easily get to 40. Roby leads the Buckeyes with 12 PBU's and has scored 3 TD's.
14. O- Todd Gurley, Frosh. RB, Georgia
D- Dee Millner, Jr. CB, Alabama
Gurley will be fighting it out with Marcus Mariotta for the freshman of the year on the offensive side of the ball. He's splitting carries with fellow Diaper Dandy Keith Marshall, but has put up 622 yards and 9 touchdowns to date. I'll be really interested to see how he does against Florida's stout run D in Jacksonville today. Millner has double digit PBU's, 2 picks, and essentially is the latest lock-down corner gettin a lot of draft hype in Bama.
13. O- Mike Gillislee, Sr. RB, Florida
D- Kevin Minter, Jr. LB, LSU
Gillislee has toiled in obscurity for a couple of seasons, but has had a breakout campaign in his senior season. He's at 652 yards and 7 touchdowns right now. Minter has really stepped up and been a tackling machine for the Tigers. His production jumps off the charts on a team where the Sam Montgomery's and Barkevious Mingo's of the world get more NFL love. Minter has 75 tackles, 4 PBU's 3 sacks, a pick, a forced fumble, and 9.5 TFL's. He's stuffing the stat sheet and then some for one of the best defensive units in the land.
12. O- Andre Ellington, Sr. RB, Clemson
D- Adam Davis, Sr. DE, Kansas St.
Ellington gets overshadowed by the Clemson passing game, but he's been just as good as the receivers on a team that could end up with only one loss. Davis and fellow DL mate Meshak Williams have been terrors for Kansas St, with Davis totaling 3 forced fumbles and 3.5 sacks.
11. O- Aaron Murray, Jr. QB, Georgia
D- Stephon Tuitt, Soph. DE, Notre Dame
Murray lost his best receiver in Michael Bennett to injury, but is probably the best QB in the SEC. He's thrown for 1,914 yards and 16 TD's to date. The matchup today with the Gators' secondary looms large for Murray's NFL stock, and Georgia's season. Manti Te'o gets all the hype, but Tuitt has been outstanding rushing the passer for the Irish. To date, he's registered 8 sacks, and has made Irish fans completely forget classmate Aaron Lynch's departure to USF.
10. O- Stepfan Taylor, Sr. RB, Stanford
D- Devonte Fields, Frosh, DE, TCU
Taylor, much like Gillislee, is an extremely underated offensive standout at the national level. He only needs 154 yards to get to 1,000 for the second straight year. Fields has come out of nowhere to have a comparable freshman year to that of one Jadevon Clowney. To put into perspective, Phil Steele only had him as the 30th best defensive lineman in his class, and he's now the 10th best defensive player nationally based on my numbers. These numbers include a whopping 13.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles.
9. O- Le'Veon Bell, Jr. RB, Michigan St.
D- Ryan Shazier, Soph. LB, Ohio St.
Bell did a lot of his damage early on, and both he, and his team have cooled off. I look for him to drop quite a bit the rest of the season. Shazier leads top 25 teams in tackles with 76, and has shown versitility with 8 pass breakups. Only a sophomore, I look for Shazier to get lots of NFL hype by next season.
8. O- Colin Klein, Sr. QB, Kansas St.
D- Terrence Garvin, Sr. LB, West Virginia
Klein is starting to get some Tebow-type love and is arguably the Heisman front-runner after his team smacked around Geno Smith and his boys last week. He showed, albeit against a horrible defense, that he can do more than run as he threw it for 300 plus. Garvin plays for that defense I spoke of, and has 4 sacks from his linebacker spot. It's amazing that anybody from that shitshow of a unit is ranked anywhere, but believe it or not, Garvin has made some plays.
7. O- DeAndre Hopkins, Jr. WR, Clemson
D- Manti Te'o, Sr. LB, Notre Dame
Hopkins has gone from second in command behind Sammie Watkins, to arguably and equal if not better player. He leads all top 25 teams with 909 receiving yards, and is strong candidate to go high in the draft whenver he comes out. Te'o is the face of the Notre Dame resurrgence, and arguably the face of college football right now. The personal tragedies aside, Te'o has 69 tackles and 4 interceptions as he captains what may be the best defense in all of college football.
6. O- Stedman Bailey, Jr. WR, West Virginia
D- Tank Carradine, Sr. DE, FSU
Taking the whole season into account, and not just the last two weeks is what one has to do when evaluating the West Virginia boys. Bailey has been tremendous as both he and Tavon Austin should both get to 1,000 yards and double digit touchdowns with ease. Tank Carradine has stepped in for injured Brandon Jenkins to pair with Bjoern Werner as probably the best defensive end tandem in all of the college game. He leads the team tackles, and has contributed 8 sacks.
5. O- Kenjon Barner, Sr. RB, Oregon
D- Jadevon Clowney, Soph, DE, South Carolina
Barner's numbers are insane, with 870 yards and 12 touchdowns. If he played for a team with less weapons, they would arguably be even better. Clowney has battled injuries lately, but he leads top 25 teams with 14.5 TFL's.
4. O- Tavon Austin, Sr. WR, West Virginia
D- Iko Ekpre-Olomu, Soph. CB, Oregon
As I mentioned earlier, Austin needs to be evaluated based on his whole body of work. Even with the collective terribleness against K-State, he was the only Mountaineer to score a touchdown. All in all, he's a threat both as a receiver and as a return man. Ekpre-Olomu is a relative unknown, but with 4 forced fumbles and 10 PBU's, he's been a standout on a defense that doesn't get nearly the amount of love it deserves.
3. O- Marqice Lee, Soph. WR, USC
D- Morgan Breslin, Jr. DE, USC
Lee barely edges out Austin for top wide receiver honors, as he has raced past Robert Woods as Matt Barkley's main go to guy. Right now he has 60 catches for 784 yards and 8 TD's. Breslin emerged from the JC ranks to come in and overshadow some of the other higher publicized linemen on the team to the tune of 8 sacks and 12 TFL's.
(google images)2. O- Geno Smith, Sr. QB, West Virginia
D- Bjoern Werner, Jr. DE, FSU
Geno Geno Geno, I don't even know where to begin. I don't question the numbers, even though it's a system that's meant for the QB to average about 9 million yards a game. What I do question is leadership. He looked like he doesn't really have what it takes in that department last week. He needs to stop forcing things if he wants to get back into the Heisman race. "The Germinator," has been an absolute terror for the Seminoles, again taking up some of the Brandon Jenkins slack to produce 8 sacks and 11.5 TFL's. Werner had good numbers in limited snaps earlier in his career, but now has become the best D-lineman in the country according to my metrics.
1. O- Braxton Miller, Soph. QB, Ohio St.
D- Jarvis Jones, Jr. LB, Georgia
Miller is doing the Denard Robinson thing far better than Mr. Robinson himself this year. Specifically, he's accounted for 21 touchdowns and over 2300 yards for a Buckeyes offense that has been the key in the teams' unexpected 8-0 start. Miller could easily win the Heisman in his sophomore campaign, much like what that Tebow guy did under Urban Meyer years ago. I watched Jarvis Jones single-handedly keep Georgia going on D earlier this year with all of suspensions leaving them shorthanded. He arguably won the Mizzou game by himself. To date, Jones has 36 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 9.5 TFL's and 3 forced fumbles. He also has picked off a pass and has 2 breakups, showing that he's not just a pass rusher. I look for him to have a huge day today against the Gators, cementing his status as the top defensive player in the land.
( google images)Best by Position:
QB- Braxton Miller
RB- Kenjon Barner
WR- Marqise Lee
DE-Bjoern Werner
LB- Jarvis Jones
CB- Iko Ekpre-Olomu
S- Jordan Richards
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