College Football Rankings 2018: Alabama, Clemson top way-too-early Top 25

It’s no secret that just about every outlet that covers college football now posts a Way-Too-Early Top 25. If you have read others you may have noticed Oklahoma State is nowhere to be found. At first glance, that may make sense. However, there’s a lot left to like about Mike Gundy’s track record, and the Cowboys are likely to be favored in at least eight of their first nine games.

Strengths:

Looking for a dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate? Justice Hill could be the guy. Hill ran for 1,467 yards and 15 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2017, averaging a solid 5.5 yards per carry along the way and rushing for more than 100 yards eight times. Though he’s listed at just 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, Hill runs with great toughness, and has also proven himself dependable enough to carry the ball more than 200 times in back-to-back seasons, and improved as a receiver as well. added 31 receptions for 190 yards and a touchdown as well.

Gundy has a long history of producing high-scoring offenses no matter the experience available to him at quarterback, receiver, running back or on the offensive line. With Hill back for his junior campaign, expect Gundy to feed him even more than before, which should help the speedster rack up big numbers early while breaking in six new starters around him.

Weaknesses:

Yes, the Cowboys must replace one of the all-time great quarterback-receiver duos in Mason Rudolph and James Washington, as well as Marcell Ateman, who at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds could be a first round NFL Draft pick. Ateman hauled in 59 receptions for 1,156 yards – a 19.6-yard average – and eight touchdowns, all of which ranked second on the team to Washington.

Also, Oklahoma State must replace its three leading tacklers in addition to the team leader in sacks and tackles for loss from what was a mediocre defense.