What do the preseason Top 25 College Football Rankings for 2017 look like following the ever-important spring practices?
Fans going through college football withdrawals were able to get a fix in April with spring practices and spring games around the country taking place. Though not all have the pomp and circumstance of others or the same crowd as others, the importance of every spring game is critical. Both for programs and fans, it affords everyone the opportunity to assess where a team is at right now and what needs to be done over the next four months until the start of the 2017 college football season.
It’s important to remember that not all college football spring games are created equal. While one team may put all of the No. 1s on one squad and pit them against the No. 2s, other schools will essentially divide the talent evenly. That’s not really the point of the spring game, however. The purpose is to see the early product of what’s been worked on, which players are ready to vie for bigger roles and what areas of concern exist for teams.
Because of that, the host of spring games can ultimately affect the early outlook for the upcoming season. Moreover, these exhibitions can cause the early college football rankings to be shuffled a bit. That doesn’t mean anything is set in stone at this point because it’s not. But if questions are answered or if more questions are raised, the stock of teams can rise and fall.
Thus, we end up here at the end of the 2017 spring games. After the fact, what do the top 25 college football rankings shake out like and why? Let’s take a look at who rose and who fell after the spring on campus (or in Rome, if you’re Michigan).
Is this probably going way too far out on a limb? Possibly. After all, the Wyoming Cowboys went just 8-6 a year ago. Meanwhile, Wyoming isn’t exactly known as the recruiting capital of the world. And just for good measure, the Cowboys lost one of the most productive players in school history, running back Brian Hill, to the NFL draft after last season. Thus, it seems weird to have this team here.
Realizing all of that, there is also a simple truth to college football. Great quarterbacks win in the college ranks. The winning comes to varying degrees, but they have success at this level because they have the talent to play a prominent role at the next level. Thus, quarterback Josh Allen is why Wyoming comes in as high as they do.
The buzz on Allen grew exponentially throughout the 2016 season and it’s not hard to see why. At 6-5, 225 pounds as just a sophomore a season ago, he has the prototypical size and the physical tools as a passer to be a viable NFL quarterback. His production wasn’t as good as it should’ve been, but he can improve that in the 2017 season. What’s clear, though, is that he is a top-tier quarterback in the collegiate ranks and will be able to carry the Cowboys to certain degrees. If he’s good enough, that should mean Wyoming is a top-25 team.
The past two seasons for the Oregon Ducks have been quite the fall. A perennial elite in the college football world, 2015 and 2016 were both unforgettable outings for those in Eugene. That culminated with the 4-8 record last season that led to Mark Helfrich getting axed from his head coaching duties. Now, after not having a player drafted — another historic low — they bring in the enigmatic and exciting Willie Taggart to try to turn their fortunes back towards their standards.
One of the most noticeable things from this spring that Taggart brings to the table is an increased focus, and thus performance, on the defensive side of the ball. With a new staff in place and guys seemingly stepping up all over that side of the ball this spring, the Ducks’ path back to success is going to start with defense. That’s unfamiliar territory, but a positive step for this team under a new head coach.
Meanwhile, the offense remains a question mark for Oregon. Royce Freeman and weapons such as Darren Carrington are clearly in place. However, it’s hard to say how effective they’ll be if the quarterback play isn’t substantially improved from a year ago. Justin Herbert definitely wasn’t substantially better this spring, but he did show noticeable improvements from his hardships as a freshman a year ago.
This team is hard to peg at this point as Taggart still institutes his culture and way of thinking within the program. However, with his ability as a coach and the talent in Eugene, it’s hard not to be optimistic to a certain degree.
We’ll know early in the 2017 college football season whether Mike Leach’s Washington State Cougars can finally get over the hump, at least to some degree. They have a tough September slate that includes a date with Sam Darnold and the USC Trojans. The defense hasn’t exactly been the strength of the Cougars in recent years, which doesn’t bode well for their overall prospects. But this might be one of the better defenses that Washington State has had in some time.
With nine defensive starters coming back, Leach is going to have an experienced group on the field, and one that is going to be able to generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Though that’s not the end-all of defense, that can make life easier on a defense when playing in the Pac-12. Thus, there’s at least optimism and promise on that side of the ball for this group.
Meanwhile, the offense really shouldn’t be a worry for the Cougars. That, of course, starts with star quarterback Luke Falk electing to return for another year with Washington State. However, there’s more at play than just that with the offense. Despite losing Gabe Marks and John Thompson at receiver, they have Tavares Martin Jr. and Dezmon Patton, among others, ready to take up the mantle. They’ll be explosive, but it’s all about consistency and defense for Washington State to be taken seriously in 2017.
Of all the teams on these rankings, we probably learned the least about the Kansas State Wildcats. They were an underrated team a year ago and return eight starters on offense and six on defense, despite losing key playmakers on the defensive side of the ball in Jordan Willis and Elijah Lee. With that said, it’s hard to not have faith in a Bill Snyder coached team, even as the elder statesman of college football deals with his current healthy issues.
The key for the Wildcats in the 2017 season is going to be quarterback Jessie Ertz further developing as a true quarterback. He put his abilities as a runner on display a year ago and that was a big reason why Kansas State was competitive against the better opponents on their schedule. Yet, for the offense and thus the team to make progress, Ertz has to become at least a threat to effectively throw the ball so that defenses can’t sell out at stopping his legs from beating them.
On the other side of the ball, finding replacements for the production of Lee and Willis will be key as both players were huge in balancing out that unit. No one, in particular, stood out during the spring, but the unit as a whole looked fine and like a potential strength for this team.
With all this said, it’s hard to make any real assessment about if anything positive happened in the spring. Ertz didn’t play in the spring game as he’s rehabbing from shoulder surgery and he was far from the only projected key contributor to not be on the field. As such, it’s hard to say if they’re going to be any better or worse than we thought coming in.
This Miami Hurricanes team has so much talent all over the field on both sides of the ball. Watching the spring game in Coral Gables, it was impressive to see the overall talent level that head coach Mark Richt has on his team and what they could be capable of. The game of football is about making plays and you’d be hard-pressed to find an area on their roster where the Canes don’t have a guy capable of doing just that. Well, that is except for one very important position: quarterback.
Brad Kaaya departed for the NFL with hopes of being at least a mid-round pick but was ultimately left with the reality that staying at Miami would’ve been his best course of action. But alas, that’s a choice he and the Hurricanes have to deal with. The problem now for Miami is filling the void left by Kaaya under center. Even more problematic is that it’s still a race with no clear leader after the spring.
Malik Rosier and Evan Shirreffs both had their opportunities to take hold of the job and the effort to do so from both was tepid. It’s most likely going to be one of the two taking up the starting role, but that may not be the most promising thing for this team.
Perhaps either Rosier and Shirreffs will make strides before the fall and take up the mantle as the Hurricanes starting quarterback. If that happens and they look impressive, Miami is going to be in the hunt in the ACC with all of the talent that will be around them on offense and on the defense as well.
The Charlie Strong era in Texas was not exactly what he or anyone else had hoped it’d be. He was tasked with coming into a broken program with unrealistic expectations and fell short — like most any mortal man would. After his dismissal, though, he makes his way to the helm of a talented South Florida Bulls team. The expectations aren’t nearly as high, but the outcome in 2017 could be every bit as fruitful as what Longhorns fans believe their team should be every year.
At the heart of South Florida is star quarterback Quinton Flowers. A dual-threat player at the position, Flowers was exceptional in leading the Bulls to an 11-2 season last year. Flowers threw for 24 touchdowns to only seven picks while also rushing for over 1,500 yards and scoring an extra 18 times with his legs. With Strong coming in and bringing a Big 12 style of offense with him, Flowers could put up even more ridiculous numbers as a senior.
The two things that will be key for the Bulls, though, are going to be the defense and the running back position. For the former, Strong’s defense at Texas was abysmal last season. What’s more, the talent level certainly isn’t the same at South Florida. With that being said, Strong will be motivated surely and could help them step up on that side of the ball.
Meanwhile, the offense needs to replace Marlon Mack at running back with no lone candidate ready to do so. A committee could work in the new style of offense, but that remains to be seen. Either way, Strong, Flowers and plenty of talent makes for a promising Bulls team in 2017.
There’s no pastime in college football like overrating the Texas Longhorns in the preseason. After a 5-7 season, firing Charlie Strong and failing to live up to the absurd expectations, it goes to figure that there’s now plenty of optimism about what Tom Herman and the Longhorns can accomplish in the 2017 season. Following the spring game, though, that optimism might not be as unfounded as it has been in recent years.
Herman has a proven track record of establishing star quarterbacks that are highly productive in college throughout his time at Ohio State as an offensive coordinator and then as a head coach at Houston. That seems to already be happening with the starter from a year ago, Shane Buechele. The rising sophomore looked to have nothing but positive qualities on display this spring for Texas. He threw the ball with zip and accuracy while still remaining dynamic and able to create plays with his legs.
Even with the task of replacing D’Onta Foreman at running back still unsolved definitively, Herman has the offense heading in the right and more consistent direction heading into 2017. The biggest question, though, is another that remains unanswered in regard to the defense. However, there’s always a reason for hope when a new head coach joins a program and Herman is one of the best. Texas is trending in a decisively positive direction and should continue to do so heading into the fall and throughout the season.
Stanford Cardinal head coach David Shaw is one of the most underrated in college football. Even if his team isn’t abundantly talented, he’s going to have his team playing competitive and inspired football. In that regard, though, he might have one of his toughest tasks yet ahead of him as he tries to prepare Stanford for the 2017 season.
Replacing the overall production of Christian McCaffrey is the first and most obvious hurdle that the Cardinal have to overcome this upcoming season. That’s a tall task in itself, and one that they will at least look to Bryce Love to take on as far as running back duties go. However, we weren’t able to even get a glimpse of how capable Love is of doing that in the spring game as the running back was out of action due to injury.
Injuries were somewhat of an unfortunate theme for the Cardinal’s spring as returning starter Keller Chryst is still rehabbing a torn ACL that he suffered in the 2016 season. Thus, he was unable to give it a go at the spring game as well — though Ryan Burns looked stable in his absence.
With these questions remaining and the loss of playmakers like Solomon Thomas on the defense, it’s hard to truly diagnose what Stanford is going to look like. Frankly, they only come in at No. 18 due to the respect for Shaw as a head coach. Other than that, things could get dicey for this team.
One year ago, the West Virginia Mountaineers started out the season red-hot but then were somewhat exposed as they started facing higher levels of competition. For a team coming out of that situation, it might then be curious to see them lose the amount of talent and playmakers that they have from the 2016 squad and still have them firmly in the top 20. Yet, Dana Holgorsen had his team looking like a threat in the Big 12 once again during the spring.
At the heart of the promise that West Virginia showed in the 2017 spring game was Florida transfer, Will Grier. The quarterback looked like a stud at the helm of the Mountaineers offense and looked comfortable slinging it around to a group of largely inexperienced wide receivers. Grier has had his share of troubles in his college career. With that being said, if he can keep his nose clean (and off the juice), then Grier is going to be fully capable of keeping this offense producing at a high level.
The big issue for West Virginia is going to be figuring out how to improve the defense. Linebacker David Long will be pivotal to that, especially with playmakers having left for the NFL draft. He looked good this spring, but there’s still more that needs to be seen from the unit overall. Either way, Holgorsen has re-tooled well considering the immensity of his losses from a year ago.
There is almost certainly going to be a decline in the defensive play of the Florida Gators in the 2017 season. Reasons about why obviously start with the losses the team incurred in the secondary. Jalen “Teez” Tabor, Quincy Wilson and Marcus Maye are all in the NFL now, and there are no immediate candidates to replace those abilities in the defensive backfield it appeared this spring. Throw in the losses of Caleb Brantley, Jarrad Davis and Alex Anzalone and inexperience will be in play for this unit. However, doubting Florida’s defense at this point seems foolish.
Doubting Florida’s offense, however, would not be foolish. The Gators offense in recent years has been an eyesore and a woefully unproductive one at that. Even with a weapon like Antonio Callaway on the outside and an adequate offensive line, the quarterback play in Gainesville has been so unflattering that it’s hampered the team’s overall effectiveness.
Finally, this spring may have brought them an answer. Freshman signal-caller Feleipe Franks was one of the stars of the spring game for Florida as he looked poised and skilled with nice statistical success and very few mistakes. That’s promising for this team and could mean the world in the 2017 season. If Franks can be that player all season, the offense can be better than its been in a long time. Thus, even if the defense does take a step in the wrong direction, the team could still maintain or even improve this year.
Coming as a shock to no one, Louisville Cardinals quarterback and 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson looked every bit as dynamic and explosive as he did last year during his team’s spring game. He also showed some looks that we didn’t see much of from him in 2016, namely him not exclusively working in the shotgun and/or spread and trying to develop more traditional quarterback elements.
Jackson obviously is the greatest strength of this Louisville team. That type of talent isn’t found every day and the team, for the most part, will go as he goes. However, there are reasons to be concerned about this Cardinals team, starting on defense. Their defense wasn’t elite a year ago by any measure. Now they’re a unit forced to contend with the losses of some of their best playmakers, namely Devonte Field and Josh Harvey-Clemmons. If the defense underperforms, the task becomes much harder for Jackson and the offense.
Sneakily, though, Jackson and the offense are another reason for concern. Louisville’s offensive line was shaky down the stretch and put Jackson into bad situations. But also at play was the fact that defenses largely figured out the Cardinals offense — perhaps a reason for the more diverse looks for Jackson this spring. If they can’t improve the line as they’ve tried to this spring and if they can’t effectively expand their playbook, Louisville has potential to drop out of the top 25 college football rankings quickly.
Death, taxes and the Wisconsin Badgers putting together a double-digit win season. The certainties of life aren’t going to change in the 2017 college football season. Yes, Wisconsin saw a great deal of talent turn to the professional ranks, especially a defense that will have to contend with losing both T.J. Watt and Vince Biegel. With that said, they have the players in place to make sure that they won’t miss a beat on that side of the ball.
Jack Clichy and Conor Sheehy are the headliners returning for the Wisconsin defense. They were a fantastically deep unit a year ago behind their star players, which obviously works to their benefit heading into the 2017 season. The even more comforting part was seeing young players and transfers step up when necessary this spring. If that continues to happen, that’s a good sign for the Badgers.
On offense, Alex Hornibrook has the starting job locked down at quarterback as a reliable, solid and unspectacular option. They wouldn’t want anything but in Madison. The one area to be concerned would be the running game to help balance out Hornibrook. With Corey Clement being among those who left for the NFL, there’s no obvious replacement for the bruising running back. Maybe Bradrick Shaw is that guy or maybe it’s a committee. But with how vital the run is to their offense, that needs to still be determined.
Call it an epidemic of SEC teams, but quarterback play has really stifled the overall effectiveness of potentially elite teams in recent years. We’ve talked about Florida in that regard and it’s an issue that’s also affected the LSU Tigers in recent years as well. You can also add the Auburn Tigers to that list as, despite possessing a consistently terrorizing defense, have been so lackluster on the offensive side of the ball due to their quarterback play that it’s been difficult for them to maintain any level of national relevance.
If the Auburn spring game is any indication, that’s not going to be a worry anymore for the Tigers. Baylor transfer Jarrett Stidham took the helm for the Auburn offense in the spring and, quite simply, put on a show in doing so. He showed flashes during brief work in Waco of what he was capable of with a big arm and exceptional athleticism, but it was on full display in Auburn. Flanked by the likes of Kamryn Pettway in the backfield, this could be the best Tigers offense since Cam Newton — not that that’s saying a great deal.
With Stidham in place, the key for Auburn ironically may be figuring out how to maintain their effectiveness defensively. Dealing with the losses of Montravius Adams and Carl Lawson, they need to be dominant up front for the unit to be at its peak effectiveness. The hope is that players like Byron Cowhart, who has disappointed to this point in his career, can step up and do that.
After seeing an absurd eight defensive players drafted into the NFL, you would possibly expect that the Michigan Wolverines’ biggest strength from a year ago won’t be as much so in 2017. Simply because of turnover and the uncertainty it brings, that’s a possibility. But from what we saw this spring from Jim Harbaugh’s group, that’s unlikely to be the case. Once again, this team will win with their defense.
The No. 1 overall recruit from 2016, Rashan Gary, looked the part in the spring game as he could be a devastating defensive force for the Wolverines up front in the 2017 season. Meanwhile, they have linebackers in Devin Bush and Mike McCray who proved to be poised to stabilize the front seven despite the losses in a big way. Michigan’s defensive prowess maintaining may ultimately boil down to young defensive backs stepping up to assume the voids left by departing players.
However, it’s impossible to call Michigan even a top-10 team simply because of their offense. More specifically, because of quarterback Wilton Speight. He was steady at his best last season and his best was far from a consistent form for him. What’s worse, he didn’t show anything this spring to inspire confidence that he’s going to take a leap forward. Even with potentially better weapons on the outside, it’s all for naught if Speight can’t step up and be a consistent leader for the Wolverines.
Experience is going to be the most decisive factor for the Georgia Bulldogs, a team hoping that they can live up to their ranking after failing spectacularly to do so a year ago. That experience will come into play on both sides of the ball in Athens and, lucky for them, it looked to already be paying off throughout the spring and during the spring game.
That, of course, starts with rising sophomore quarterback Jacob Eason. It was never a question whether the physical tools were there for Eason as he assumed the starting role last season. However, he looked like a freshman in the worst sense of the word at many times with questionable reads, decision-making and plenty of instances of happy feet in the pocket.
A big cause of the happy feet, though, comes down to the fact that Georgia was abysmal up front on offense a year ago. They failed to keep Eason clean for any consistent or substantial amount of time and stifled the effectiveness of running back duo Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, both of whom return for the 2017 season. That line looked much more steady in the spring game, which is wholly promising.
What’s more, the Bulldogs defense is also littered with players with a vast amount of experience as they return 10 starters on that side of the ball from last year. The hope is that the unit improves as a result of that, and they too seemed to have done so in the spring game. If what we saw in Athens holds up, this will be a much more reliable Georgia team in 2017.
For my money, there might not be a better offense in the country coming into the 2017 season than the one Mike Gundy is ready to deploy with the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Both quarterback Mason Rudolph and wide receiver James Washington are back in the fray for 2017 and should only build on the immense success that they had a year ago. Rudolph, in particular, was phenomenal, secure and efficient last season and could really put on a show if he further progresses.
What’s more, the Cowboys added, even more, talent to that offensive unit and it was on display this spring. Tyron Johnson, a wide receiver who transferred from LSU, looked as good as advertised in the spring game and could provide a nasty complement to Washington in the Cowboys offense. When you give a player like Rudolph more weaponry — especially that high of caliber — opposing defenses are going to be stricken with fear.
Because it’s the Big 12, though, the question for Oklahoma State will be what it can provide on defense. The answer to that a year ago was 11 saloon doors to open the way for opponents to find the end zone. If the Cowboys are to compete on a national level, they must find something there and they might’ve in their secondary with graduate transfer Adrian Baker from Clemson. If he can provide a spark for that unit, this is a sleeper team that could surpass their in-state rivals.
Talking about the potential of what Saquon Barkley could do in 2017 would be overkill at this point. He’s a first-round NFL draft talent at running back and the Penn State Nittany Lions are going to feed him as such. The offense is going to run (no pun intended) through Barkley and that’s the way it should be, as well as giving them a strong baseline on that side of the ball. With that said, there are question marks that have yet to be fully answered that must be before we go anointing Penn State as being “back.”
The first area of concern ( a mild concern when you’re talking about a top-10 team, but a concern nonetheless) is the defense. Penn State is fine in the secondary with a game-breaking safety such as Marcus Allen in the fold, even after losing John Reid to injury this spring at cornerback. The key for them, though, is going to be players like Shareef Miller stepping up in the front seven. He was great in the spring game, but that has to be consistent for the defense to be up to snuff.
Perhaps more important for the Nittany Lions, though, is quarterback Trace McSorley. Having Barkley behind him will obviously aid his cause, but it’s not just about losing a player like Chris Godwin that hurts him. McSorley had his great moments in 2016 but also gave Penn State fans collective heart palpitations at times as well. He’s going to need to step up mentally as a leader and be a secure, stable presence for the offense to reach its potential.
When it comes to Washington this offseason and throughout spring practices, so much of the talk has been about replacing John Ross in the receiving corps. That seems like a silly notion to me. You don’t replace 4.22 speed with the route-running and playmaking of Ross. More importantly, though, is that the Huskies don’t actually need to find a so-called replacement for the speedy wideout. With Dante Pettis returning and a talented group behind him, quarterback Jake Browning will have plenty of weapons at his disposal.
For what it’s worth, Browning looked good in the Huskies’ spring game after having shoulder surgery following the 2016 season. And the offense also has running back Myles Gaskins to hang their hat on, and he’s both explosive and reliable in that regard.
The key for Washington returning to College Football Playoff type form in the 2017 season is going to be on the other side of the ball. Not only did they lose players to the NFL Draft, but they lost elite talent in the secondary with the likes of Sidney Jones, Budda Baker and Kevin King all departing. All three were taken within the first 1.5 rounds of the 2017 NFL Draft, even with Jones’ Achilles injury.
Throw in the losses of Elijah Qualls and Joe Mathis as well and this team has big holes to fill to remain as effective as they were in 2016 on that side of the ball. They still have a stud lineman up front in Vita Vea and talent with players like Jordan Miller to replace the losses in the secondary. However, whether or not they can live up to their predecessors is going to be vital to Washington reaching the heights they did a year ago.
Baker Mayfield, predictably, is the beginning and end of the Oklahoma Sooners. He’s proven over the past two seasons that, although it’s not always going to be pretty, his grit and leadership on the football field are near unmatched. Mayfield is a playmaker in the purest sense of the word and he showed that ability hasn’t gone anywhere (though staying out of trouble off the field might be the biggest key for him). With that said, his supporting cast might be just as effective as it was a year ago.
The 1-2 punch in the backfield of Samaje Perine and the much-maligned Joe Mixon was lethal for the Sooners a year ago. Oklahoma’s spring game revealed that they have a host of players who look ready and primed to at least replicate that effort as a committee. What’s more, Mayfield may have an even more dangerous weapon at receiver than Dede Westbrook in Jeffery Mead. Not only is the 6-foot-5 Mead towering in comparison to Westbrook, but he has the speed and playmaking ability that could make him near uncoverable.
Typical of Oklahoma and the Big 12, their offense is going to stay humming but will need their defense to be some level of competent if they’re going to be national title contenders. Their switching to a 4-3 defense this season in hopes of trying to stabilize that side of the ball more. If that works, and it did to varying degrees in the spring game as they’re still in an adjustment period, the Sooners will be able to compete with just about anyone.
It shouldn’t really come as a shock to anyone that the defending National Champions don’t occupy the top spot in these rankings. When you lose a leader and player like Deshaun Watson, there’s going to be a bit of a drop-off, even if one that’s short-lived. After Clemson’s spring game, though, it may not be that much of a fall from what Watson brought to the team and the period may be shorter-lived than expected.
Before even getting into what was on display the offense, Clemson is going to win on defense in the 2017 season. Christian Wilkins is a stud and an emotional leader for that unit. And he’s certainly not alone in terms of top-tier talent. With that said, there are plenty of great defenses in college football that can only do so much — just look at Michigan’s ranking here as their defense could be just as devastating as the Tigers’ this season.
What makes Clemson a contender to compete for back-to-back titles is the fact that their offense might be just as good as it was in 2016, or at least close enough to it. Veteran quarterback Kelly Bryant looked solid, but young stud Hunter Johnson looked the part as well and could be already in place to take over the offense. With weapons like Deon Cain helping on the outside and a solid offensive line, Dabo Swinney’s Tigers aren’t going away.
We know the story when it comes to the LSU Tigers. They’re one of the many elite SEC defenses and perhaps the absolute best. Even with many key contributors and leaders taking their talents to the NFL, that hasn’t changed when it comes to the 2017 team. That wasn’t even fully on display in their spring game as Arden Key wasn’t with the team after taking a personal leave of absence. However, it turns out when you recruit elite defensive talent year after year, your defense tends to stay elite.
As Ed Orgeron enters his first full season as head coach, though, the knock on LSU still remains their offense. Even with Leonard Fournette for the past three years, that unit has been largely anemic. And with another elite running back prospect in Derrius Guice ready to take over the load, the worry is that they’d still be the same one-dimensional mess that they’ve been for too many years.
Danny Etling isn’t an elite quarterback, but what we saw from him under new offensive coordinator Matt Canada was promising that the offense may actually be competent this season. They aren’t going to ask Etling to air it out like they’re in the Big 12 or Pac-12. What they are going to do is better set up the pass with the effectiveness of Guice and put Etling in better situations to make simple throws to move the sticks. If that strategy and scheme continue to progress before their 2017 season starts, the Tigers are a sleeper that is going to be in the College Football Playoff mix.
There’s a lot of buzz about the Ohio State Buckeyes coming out of their spring game. Well, there’s always buzz about the football team in Columbus, but more so than usual. With new offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson in tow, the offense showed new dynamics that they expect from J.T. Barrett in the 2017 season. When given the reins of the offense, it’s impossible to ignore the overall production that the dual-threat quarterback offers.
However, it’s also impossible to deny that the bulk of Barrett’s effectiveness or danger is derived from what he’s capable of when taking off. He’s an exceptional athlete with elite speed that opposing defenses truly aren’t capable of defending when it’s coming from the quarterback. What Wilson’s offense showed, though, is the desire to put more faith in the veteran signal-caller’s arm in the 2017 season.
Call it skepticism, but that doesn’t seem conducive to Barrett’s style of play. Throughout his many reps at Ohio State, his arm has been erratic and shaky for the most part. He possesses strength and poise as a thrower, but the mechanics and accuracy are wonky. Thus, relying on him to throw the ball downfield more seems like a curious hill to die on if that’s indeed what happens.
With that said, the Buckeyes still have talent on offense and can always fall back on what they’ve done with Barrett. What’s more, the likes of Tyquan Lewis will make sure that the defense doesn’t miss a beat after losing three key secondary pieces to the NFL Draft. However, putting them any higher than No. 4 with the offensive change for Barrett feels like jumping the gun.
The Florida State Seminoles relied on Dalvin Cook an exceptionally large amount in 2016. With then freshman quarterback Deondre Francois starting, that was the right call. However, Cook is now gone and the natural train of thought would be to say that the pressure is now on Francois to carry the offense. While the quarterback looked good and explosive during the FSU spring game, that may not be wholly the case.
As to why, his name is Cam Akers — and the freshman running back might be better than advertised. The spring game for the Seminoles was the Akers show as he did it all. He’s lightning fast in the open field with even more impressive burst when finding holes. Pair that with great vision and he’s going to be a stud from Day 1 in college football. He’s a potential Heisman Trophy candidate as a true freshman and that’s no hyperbole at all.
If that weren’t enough, the Seminoles defense is also set to get a boost with the return of Derwin James. After his 2016 was cut short due to injury, their defense was inconsistent and frankly suffered. Not only is that because of how impactful his play is, but he’s also the vocal and emotional leader of the unit. With James back in the fold, the defense looked ready to be formidable in 2017. Coupled with the explosive offense, look out for Jimbo Fisher’s group.
Call it getting aboard the Sam Darnold hype train or whatever, but the USC Trojans are back. Once Darnold took his position under center as the starter last season, the Trojans won nine games and looked like a College Football Playoff team that fell short due to the early games where they were without Darnold. Now the clear-cut No. 1 guy, there’s reason to be excited about the athletic freak with the massive arm at quarterback.
Admittedly, what the USC spring game did bring to light is that Darnold doesn’t have the same array of weapons and protection. The Trojans sent the heart of their offensive line to the NFL. What’s more, JuJu Smith-Schuster is also out of the picture. That puts the spotlight very much so on players like Deontay Burnett to step up and give Darnold the weapons he needs to succeed. In the spring game, he was that for the offense, which is promising. What’s more, the offensive line kept him “clean” in terms of pressure for the most part.
And while the USC defense may have lost talent as well, they’re still a largely veteran group that should actually progress from their inconsistency a year ago. Really, though, it all comes back to the quarterback. When you have a player who was the leader and clutch performer that Darnold was as a redshirt freshman, you have to feel confident that he’s going to do what it take every week to have his team in a position to win. It’s early, but no one in the Pac-12 is touching USC this season.
You’re kidding yourself if you don’t have the Alabama Crimson Tide atop the college football rankings after the spring games and practices. The show that was put on in Tuscaloosa was one of the most entertaining in the country during their spring game, which largely speaks to what lies ahead in 2017 for them. They may have had seven defensive players drafted this past weekend, but they aren’t going to miss a beat.
One of the narratives coming out of the Alabama spring game was if there would be a quarterback controversy between Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa after the freshman stunned everyone with a prolific and exciting showing. However, anyone supporting this must not know that Nick Saban is still at the helm for the Tide. Hurts is the quarterback and looked quite good himself after a slow start. His accuracy — especially on the deep ball — has improved and that was arguably his biggest concern after a strong freshman season.
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While the offense is more loaded than ever with their rushing attack still intact from a year ago and adding Najee Harris, it’s always about defense at Alabama. Despite the talent they lost to the draft, they only re-tooled. There was pressure coming from all angles on both teams and the run defense stifled these elite talents in the backfield with relative ease. It’s cliché to say that schools like Alabama only reload, but that’s the simplest form of what’s happened here. They’ll be dominant again.