30 college football players with the biggest shoes to fill in 2018
As rosters are trimmed by graduation and NFL Draft entries, we count down 30 college football players with the biggest shoes to fill in the 2018 season.
Another season of college football is in the books, and there was much to celebrate. Alabama clawed its way back to the top, with the help of a controversial decision by the College Football Playoff committee. The Crimson Tide staged one of the greatest come-from-behind victories in national championship game history to beat a resurgent Georgia squad in Atlanta to capture its fifth title under head coach Nick Saban.
The Bulldogs earned a spot in the final after outlasting Oklahoma and 2017 Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield in overtime in the Rose Bowl. SEC champions for the first time in more than a decade, and national championship contenders for the first time in over a quarter century, the Dawgs look like a worthy challenger in both the league and on the national stage for the foreseeable future.
But Georgia, like Alabama, Oklahoma and nearly every other FBS program, will look much different in 2018. Mayfield has exhausted his eligibility, as have Georgia running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. Linebacker Roquan Smith, the centerpiece of the Bulldogs defense, chose to forego his senior season, as did Alabama defender Minkah Fitzpatrick and more than 100 others across the country.
As we look ahead to next season and ponder the storylines that will play out on the field, we must consider the fact roughly one-quarter of every roster will turn over as players graduate, leave early for the NFL Draft, transfer, or leave the game. Some players may choose to retire, while others may suffer an even worse fate.
Hundreds of players across the college football landscape left big schools to fill for 2018. Here we take a look at 30 of the biggest.
Shoes to Fill: Tremaine Edmunds
One of three players on the Hokies defense to leave school early, and one of seven starters and nine member of the two-deep that must be replaced on that side of the ball, the loss inside linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is one of several holes longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster must deal with this spring and summer as Virginia Tech takes aim at an ACC championship in 2018. A physical specimen with a history of great production, Edmunds will likely be a first round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Last season, Edmunds led the Hokies with 84.5 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks three forced fumbles and 23 run stuffs — making him easily the most productive player on the unit. But second-leading tackler Andrew Motupapuaka and fellow linebackers Anthony Shegog and Sean Huelskamp have graduated, leading nearly the entire linebacker corps depleted of experience.
In fact, the only linebacker on the roster that made at least one tackle in 2017 is Dylan Rivers. A true freshman last season, Rivers signed with the Hokies as a four-star prospect ranked No. 259 in the 2017 247Sports Composite, No. 13 among outside linebacker prospects. The 6-foot-1, 233-pound Sherando native saw action in seven games and made three total tackles (two solo) – two of which occurred in the Camping World Bowl against Oklahoma State.
The only other linebacker who has earned a letter at Virginia Tech is Trent Young, who played special teams in six games during the 2016 season but did not see the field at all in 2017.