Who's Number One?

Most years in college football there are at least a couple very established teams who seem very likely to compete for a championship. However so far this year there has been not one team that has truly looked like the top overall team. The current number one team is Ohio State, and they have not played at all like it. They got a semi-impressive win at Virginia Tech but since then VT has lost to East Carolina (a decent non-power 5 team, but not exactly good) and let a very bad Purdue team hang around for a whole half. Then Ohio State goes and only beats Northern Illinois team by a touchdown and their all-star duo at quarterback have combined for 6 interceptions through 4 games. Ohio State has an unfair abundance of talent and some of the best coaches and facilities in all of college football. But they appear to have a championship hangover, which isn't surprising, it happens to a lot of past championship teams. If they want to get into the college football playoff they need to figure something out, and find some motivation.

The other Big Ten team in the playoff window, Michigan State, also seems to be underachieving. Their one premier win on the season was a 3 point home win against a then top 10 Oregon team. Last week Oregon was obliterated 62-20 at home by Utah, who I will talk about later. So now the significance and impressiveness of Michigan State's win is questionable. They also haven't been extremely impressive in their other games. Ole Miss has seemed very impressive this year and they might be the most qualified, but they whooped up two poor teams putting up 73 and 76 points in the two games. Then the Rebels traveled to Alabama and won 43-37, however Alabama had 5 turnovers. At a certain point you begin to wonder if those due to stifling defense, or just sloppy offense. Either way, Ole Miss still probably owns the best win of the season, or do they?

The Utah Utes have in my opinion one of the best cases to be number one up there with Ole Miss. Utah beat now #22 Michigan at home by one touchdown, but the last touchdown came with under a minute left. Then proceeded to play adequately against two lesser teams, and then obliterated Oregon on their field. Utah came out of halftime and proceeded to embarrass Oregon on a national stage 62-20. Now for one last underachiever, TCU (Texas Christian University), the Horned Frogs beat Minnesota, who seems to be way less impressive than we thought at the beginning of the year, 23-17 on the road, decent win. In week 3 they let a horrible SMU team score 37 points on them, but I shouldn't be surprised TCU barely plays defense. However last week was definitely the most concerning, TCU survived at Texas Tech 55-52 (No that's not a basketball score) on this play, and absolutely stole a victory Texas Tech. TCU has an elite offense, but in my opinion there is only so long a team can survive if they are constantly in shootouts.

Future Stars: Basketball Edition

I felt like previewing football prospects was getting old, so I decided I would switch to basketball for a couple posts. Unfortunately with college basketball there are about 5 or so programs that take the top prospects and get every thing they can out of them in their freshman year and then the players decide to go pro. I think there were it was about 7 of the top 10 draft picks in last years draft that were under 20, most of them just finished their freshman season in college. And in the 2014 draft top 4 were all "one and done's", and which colleges get these prospects? Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Arizona, and the rest are scattered among various other college football powers. So its very likely players I'm talking about here will be headlining next years NBA draft.

Jayson Tatum, 6,8" 195 lbs, SF, committed to Duke (not very surprising): Tatum is the 4th overall recruit in the 2016 class, and the top SF (small forward) in his class. I chose to preview Jayson Tatum because he attends the same high school as the newest Iowa basketball (my favorite team)  recruit, 4-star PF Tyler Cook. Also its likely that he will be the number one overall draft pick in 2016 for two reasons, one he committed the Duke University who is one of the top programs in college basketball and will for sure make sure that everyone knows who Jayson Tatum is. Also he plays Small Forward which is probably the most powerful and successful position in basketball (see Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and Paul George). The best SF's can handle and shoot the ball well, can play in the post due to their size, and their long wingspans allow them to defend well and block shots. And when you look at Tatum play, he meets almost all of those requirements.

One elite player comes to mind when you see Tatum's skills, and that player would be Kevin Durant. I know, big shoes to fill, however he has a lot of potential and already looks ready to be a college basketball star. He has good ball handling for his size but I think there's room to grow. Defense is a big question mark, he could be a fine defender, but most highlight videos don't preview defense. He got some big blocks, but there is a lot more to defense than just blocking a smaller defender driving into the lane. His shot looks good, but you could probably learn more from looking at his shot percentage. Tatum also has a decent arsenal of post moves, and his footwork is great. He can drive to the basket, finish at the rim, and contort his body to get a good shot.

 http://247sports.com/Player/Jayson-Tatum-25296

Future Stars: Martez Ivey and Iman Marshall

Martez Ivey, Offensive Tackle #73, Florida Gators: Martez Ivey is close to 6'6 and has gained about 25 lbs since getting to Florida. Ivey was ranked as the second overall player and top offensive tackle in the class of 2015. Ivey has very good size for a tackle it won't limit him in college or assuming he is successful enough to get there, the NFL. For Martez as is true with many other top prospects, high school football looked way too easy. Ivey pancaked (when the lineman pushes the defender flat on their back) numerous defenders and overpowered just about every single defender he faced. He was a large reason why his team the Apopka Blue Darters won the Florida state championship. There were also three 1,000 yard rushers on his team.

Due to his mobility Ivey was often used for pulling (when the lineman releases from his position and runs with the running back and blocks for him) in high school. However his speed won't be as effective in college, especially with the added 25 lbs. However the increased weight, which is likely mostly added muscle, will help him overpower defenders.  I think we might not know how good Ivey is at pass blocking until he plays in college. For one most high school teams base their offense on running, and secondly the size and skill of defensive lineman will go up vastly when he faces college players. 

Iman Marshall, Cornerback  #8, USC: Iman Marshall is the top rated cornerback in the class of 2015, and will likely get tested in college. Marshall enrolled at the University of Southern California and will be able to master his pass defense skills in the pass heavy PAC-12. Iman Marshall has good size for a corner at around 6'2" ,200 lbs, and has exceptional closing speed. Marshall isn't out of position very often, but if he is or if he is covering for a teammate Marshall can erase the gap and break up the pass. Marshall has a good burst, however he doesn't have a great acceleration. Marshall was good at using his hands to get the receiver off his route in bump and run coverage in high school but he may not be as successful with that in college. Marshall shows a good ability to quickly shed blocks and coming up to stop the run. Most importantly he gives the receiver a very small window to catch the ball and knows when to put his arms up to deflect the ball.



http://247sports.com/Player/Martez-Ivey-26822

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/highschool/football/os-hs-apopka-8a-state-football-final-20141213-story.html (Martez Ivey)

http://247sports.com/Player/Iman-Marshall-19987

Future Stars: Trent Thompson

When I started the Future Stars series with Ohio State my plan was to preview the best up and coming players on the top 10 teams, or playoff contenders. After one week however, I think I will shift to the top 10 or top 20 players overall. Given that this blog is spread out over time it the whole playoff contender idea doesn't make sense, for example Ole Miss beat Alabama on the road and now who knows if Alabama will get in. They surely can't lose another, plus now Ole Miss is suddenly a contender. So, from now on it will be the top 20 or so overall players starting with the 2015 class.

Trent Thompson, Defensive Tackle, #78 Georgia Bulldogs: Let me begin this by saying Trent Thompson is a big dude. He is around 6'3" 310 lbs. and he doesn't move like most people over 300 pounds do. Thompson was the #1 overall prospect in the 2015 class and for good reason. I didn't find a high school highlight yet where he didn't beat the poor offensive lineman in front of him. He has numerous different ways to get around the blocker, I saw simple sheds to the right and left, he carries enough power to simply bull rush and drive the blocker back. The most impressive thing about Thompson is his quickness and how fast he gets through the line. Thompson has a killer first step, on multiple occasions he simply sprinted past the lineman and into the backfield. He also doesn't give up on the play, I saw a couple plays where the ball carrier would be on the other side of the field and Thompson would sprint over and crush the unsuspecting opponent.

Thompson had a very impressive high school career racking up 232 tackles, 86 tackles for loss and 21 tackles for loss. Now one thing is clear, high school football and college football is not the same. For one thing Thompson will be only above average for a defensive tackle, as compared to seeming like a giant in high school. And playing in the SEC Thompson will see some elite lineman, I doubt he will be able to blow by every lineman like he could in high school. However he seems to have enough athleticism and pure strength to more than hold his own. I do not believe Thompson will be a starter this year, but as the season progresses he should see more playing time and will start to make an impact.


http://247sports.com/Player/Trent-Thompson-29432

Future Stars: Ohio State (cont.)

The third and final post in the Ohio State portion of the Future Stars series previewing up and coming players that I think will have an impact this year or in upcoming years.

Kareem Walker, 6'1" 210 lbs and Demario McCall 5'11" 180 lbs, both RB, both class of 2016: Ohio State added to their impressive streak of recruiting dominance by signing the top 2 overall running backs in the nation for 2016. I see two different backs when I watch the tape and Ohio State's offense supports the use of more than one running back. First we start with Kareem Walker who is currently the top overall RB for his class. Walker is more of the all around running back, he ran for around 2,800 yards and 26 TD's so far in his high school career. Walker has the ability to break tackles and maintain his balance through swipes at his legs. Another thing I noticed by watching his tape is his explosion through the hole, Walker is very good at finding the hole and can get to the second level pretty quickly.  Walker has a decent arsenal of juke moves and stiff arms however I think that is one thing he should aim to improve as he gets closer to his college career, as most of the moves he has now won't be as effective in Division 1 college football. Through watching some of his highlights you can see that Walker has two gears and he can switch into that second gear quickly and burst for a long run if he needs to.

Demario McCall is slightly below average in size for a running back, but that's not always a bad thing. He is very speedy and can hit the hole at nearly full speed if he tries. While Walker can bruise his way through arm tackles, but McCall can run around and through them with his speed. McCall has a smaller sample size than Walker as he only put up significant stats in his junior season, but he made the most of it putting up 1500 yards and 25 rushing touchdowns. I see McCall's role on this team being a running back that most runs to the outside maybe even lining up at receiver and running a jet sweep every now and then. It's likely that neither of these backs will see any time until Ezekiel Elliot is gone, however I think Walker will probably win the starting role.


http://247sports.com/Player/Demario-McCall-36189


http://247sports.com/Player/Kareem-Walker-37417

Future Stars: Ohio State (cont.)

This is a continuation on the Ohio State portion of Future Stars, an in depth look at players who I believe will have breakout seasons, or recruits who I think will make an impact.

Justin Hilliard #47 Linebacker, Freshman: Justin Hilliard is actually very similar to the last player I highlighted, Darron Lee. Both are speedy outside linebackers with average size, both are from Ohio originally, in fact if they don't play together one day, it's likely that Hilliard will replace Lee. Now as an Iowa fan I've heard of the name Hilliard, Justin's older brother was on the Iowa football team up until the start of the season if I remember correctly. C.J. Hilliard transferred not to long ago to the University of Ohio. Iowa had an outside shot of landing Justin Hilliard due to C.J. being on the team at the time but Justin ended up choosing Ohio State. I guess the University of Iowa and the Hilliard's just don't get along.

Now to the football part of Justin Hilliard, at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati Hilliard racked up around 190 tackles a dozen sacks and about 5 interceptions through the 3 years he started. Looking at highlights of both Darron Lee and Justin Hilliard you can easily notice the similarities, however there are certain differences. At times with Darron Lee it seems that he may commit too hard to landing a big hit which can influence his tackling ability in the open field. With Justin Hilliard I think he probably can hit just as hard as Lee however he does a good job of pursuing the ball and making a precise tackle, most juke moves can't shake him. Hilliard is slightly slower than Lee, but as a linebacker being slower than Darron Lee isn't exactly an insult. 

There are a few other unique parts of Hilliard's game, he showed a decent ability to make moves to shed blocks, even against bigger linemen. One other thing I noticed was Hilliard's ability to swat down passes as he rushed the quarterback. To sum everything up, one thing is very clear, Ohio State fans should feel very good about the outside linebacker position.

http://247sports.com/Player/Justin-Hilliard-30932

Future Stars: Ohio State

For my first few blogs I will begin a series previewing current players that I think will have breakout seasons or recruits that will be future stars. Of course the first team I start with will be the Ohio State Buckeyes, the defending national champions and current number one ranked team. Ohio State has an abundance of talent, especially young talent due to the great recruiting classes that Urban Meyer has pulled in #2 overall class in 2013, #3 in 2014, #7 in 2015, and well on their way to a top 10 class for 2016. Normally the players that a casual college football fan would recognize are the skill players like quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers. However certain players go unnoticed when they are at what appears to be a less important position. For example if you were to only watch the ball carrier, you might not notice a dominant lineman or cornerback. Especially with cornerbacks because if a cornerback is doing their job perfectly you wouldn't hear about it because the ball would never be thrown his way. Basically, I won't only be featuring skill positions.

Darron Lee, Linebacker #43, Sophomore: Lee went to New Albany High School in New Albany, Ohio where he played quarterback and defensive back. Lee actually scored 11 touchdowns through the air and 10 on the ground. Lee is a bit of a late bloomer he didn't put up any significant stats until his senior season of high school and was only a 3-star recruit when he committed to Ohio State. I have watched both his high school and college highlights and it is slightly surprising he wasn't rated higher as a recruit. I'm sure that he has improved since high school but he showed a lot of the skills he has now when he was in high school.

He is very speedy for a linebacker (explains why he was a QB and CB) and packs a lot of punch when he hits someone. On more than one occasion Lee has exploded into the backfield and leveled the ball carrier, his speed also allows him to set the edge better than most linebackers. Lee has the speed of a defensive back and the tackling ability of a linebacker. One of the reasons for this is because he is fairly average for a linebacker at about 6'2",230 lbs which may prevent him in terms of true power. He also has above average coverage skills for a linebacker because of his high school days. Last year he had 81 tackles including 16.5 TFL (tackles for loss), 2 fumble recoveries and 2 interceptions. He had a very good season last year as a freshman, but this year he will likely be a true game changer.

http://247sports.com/Player/Darron-Lee-19443