College football 2018: Top 30 breakout players to watch

Phil Steele probably surprised a few people when he included Arkansas State in his preseason Top 25. The Red Wolves finished third in the Sun Belt last year, going 6-2 in conference play and 7-5 overall. Arkansas State enters the 2018 season as early favorites to win the Sun Belt. With an offense that finished in the top-15 in both scoring and yardage a year ago, some even see them as a legitimate threat to run the table and to essentially play the part of UCF in 2018.

Senior quarterback, Justice Hansen, who threw for 3,967 yards and 37 touchdowns his second year as a starter in 2017, returns to lead the offense. He’ll be replacing two of his leading receivers from a year ago but will have a pair of big, physical receivers coming back in Kendrick Edwards (6’5″, 215) and Omar Bayless (6’3″, 200). Both had around 430 yards last year but Bayless was the big play guy averaging 13.8 yards per reception and finding the end zone six times.

Bayless is the kind of receiver who will make his quarterback’s life easier the more he sees the ball. He had multiple downfield one-handed circus catches last year and also showed the ability to catch short passes in traffic and turn the ball upfield to make big plays after the catch.

Arkansas State will need a big season out of Bayless in 2018 if they’re going to live up to the pre-season expectations and win their conference.