College Football: 25 breakout players to watch in 2016
By John Buhler
Houston Cougars running back Duke Catalon hasn’t played in a competitive football game since he was in high school back in 2013. However, two years of inactivity should give the new starting tailback for the Cougars fresh legs to run all over inferior competition in The American as the best mid-major program in the country.
Catalon redshirted at the University of Texas in 2014. Rather than playing a year of junior college ball in 2015, he followed former Longhorns offensive coordinator Major Applewhite down to Houston to play for Tom Herman’s on-the-rise football program.
Herman will have the Cougars offense humming in 2016 with a star quarterback returning in Heisman hopeful Greg Ward, Jr. Catalon is ready to make a name for himself and could be Houston’s version of an Ezekiel Elliott that Herman had to work with at The Ohio State University as Urban Meyer’s offensive coordinator on the Buckeyes’ National Championship team in 2014.
Houston should be a top 10 team this year and are likely bound to get the Group of 5’s New Years Six bowl bid again in 2016, presumably the last year before Herman’s team gets a unanimous invitation to join the Big 12.
While he might need a few weeks to shake off the rust, Catalon faces no pressure entering 2016. He’s in a great situation with the Cougars and should be one of the best tailbacks in the country in his first year as a starting running back in 2016.
Next: 10. Lamar Jackson.