College Football: 25 breakout players to watch in 2016
By John Buhler
The 2015 Iowa Hawkeyes may have taken a ton of flak for cakewalking through its embarrassingly easy schedule last fall en route to a 12-0 regular and a trip to Indianapolis to face the superior Michigan State Spartans in the 2015 Big Ten Championship, but they made it there nonetheless.
Again, Iowa will have itself an easy 2016 schedule in the Big Ten West. Iowa will probably be double-digit favorites to win every game this season, except when the Hawkeyes host the Michigan Wolverines in November. Even so, Michigan shouldn’t be more than a three-point favorite at Iowa City’s Kinnick Stadium.
Whether or not people are ready to admit it, the Hawkeyes have a very good chance at winning the Big Ten this year. Not only is their schedule favorable, but they have themselves a future NFL quarterback in C.J. Beathard and arguably the best defensive back in the country in senior cornerback Desmond King.
King was a Consensus All-American last year for Iowa and will be one of the greatest players in Hawkeyes history when he goes in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft next spring. He already has appeared in 40 games for the Hawkeyes, corralled 205 combined tackles, 6.0 for a loss of yardage, and has 11 career interceptions for 118 yards and a touchdown.
King is a known commodity in the Big Ten, but will be a name soaring up draft boards by bad NFL teams for next spring’s draft. He is the best player on the best team in the Big Ten West. If King can replicate or even expand on his 2015 season with Iowa, he will be a Unanimous All-American and possibly the next Jim Thorpe Award winner as the nation’s best defensive back.
Next: 1. Dalvin Cook.