College Football News Preview 2022 preseason unit rankings, looking at the top ten offenses along with each ranking within the conferences.
Defense might win championships, but offense is more fun.
Who has the most talented offenses going into the 2022 college football season?
This isn’t a ranking of who’ll have the top statistical offenses – some high-powered attacks will put up massive yards and big numbers because of scheme and lesser opponents. This is about which offenses return the most experience, talent, depth, and … yeah, scoring and yards matter.
So call this a mix of the teams with the best combination of skill and stars with the expected production. Okay, enough stalling – if you think we whiffed by not having Western Kentucky or Texas Tech in the top ten, you’re probably not wrong.
These ten, though, are about to be among the best and most effective and the highest of levels – at least that’s where the expectations are set.
The top ten offenses of 2022 are …
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CFN Preview 2022 Preseason College Football Unit Rankings: Offenses
Unit Rankings By Conference: Offenses
Top 10 | ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
AAC | C-USA | Ind | MAC | M-West | Sun Belt
2022 Unit Rankings
QB | RB | WR&TE | OL | DL | LB | DB
1 Ohio State
Fair warning: Ohio State probably won’t have the No. 1 offense in college football again – it averaged 561 yards per game last year – so it might be more about its effectiveness and efficiency than the big numbers. Remember, last year’s O had to keep bombing away because the D wasn’t up to snuff. This year’s defense will be better.
There’s NFL talent all across the starting 11. CJ Stroud might be the nation’s best quarterback, TreVeyon Henderson might be the top running back, Jaxon Smith-Njigba might be the best wide receiver, and they all work around one of the best offensive lines in the country.
2 USC
It’s going to be a massive disappointment if this isn’t one of the most exciting offenses in college football. Getting QB Caleb Williams, RB Travis Dye, and receivers Jordan Addison, Mario Williams, and Brenden Rice from the transfer portal should provide an instant jolt to Lincoln Riley’s attack. As long as the line doesn’t disappoint, look out.
3 Alabama
The offensive line has to be better, the wide receiver talent isn’t quite where it’s been over the last few years, the running backs are just okay if Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs isn’t great, and … whatever. The O line is full of NFL-caliber blockers, the transfer portal helped the receiving corps, Gibbs could be devastating, and there’s that Bryce Young guy leading it all.
4 Texas
No pressure, Steve Sarkisian and the Texas coaching staff, but the talent level is more than good enough to win and win big.
There’s no excuse considering QB Quinn Ewers is a superstar prospect – shhhhhh, not everyone is assuming Arch Manning will walk in and take over next year – Xavier Worthy and Wyoming transfer Isaiah Neyor lead a great receiving corps, and Bijan Robinson might just win the Heisman. However, the O line has to be good enough to make it all go.
5 Utah
It took a few years to pivot a bit to more of a dynamic attack after years of pound, pound, pound, but this group can grind away, too. The offensive line is loaded with talent, the backs are in place, and Cameron Rising turned into a find as he led the way to the Pac-12 title. The one question is at wide receiver – it’s a young corps – but the tight ends are great.
2022 CFN Predictions For Every Game
ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
AAC | C-USA | Ind | MAC | M-West | Sun Belt
CFN 2022 Preseason Ranking of all 131 Teams
CFN 2022 Preview of all 131 Teams
6 Tennessee
The Josh Heupel offense all kicked in right away, and now it should go up a few notches after finishing ninth in the nation overall. Hendon Hooker is a terrific quarterback who’s starting to get his due, the receiving corps could be unstoppable if USC transfer Bru McCoy rolls, and the backs are good enough to crank up yards in chunks behind a line with a whole lot of potential all-star talent.
7 Ole Miss
This is a leap of faith ranking believing the transfer portal will bring the parts to keep the top 2021 SEC offense rolling. It’ll still be fast, it’ll still be explosive, and it’ll still tough to keep in check.
Running backs Zach Evans (TCU) and Ulysses Bentley (SMU) are great, USC transfer Jaxson Dart will push hard for the quarterback gig, and transfers are about to crank up the passing game. Now the O line has to keep defenses out of the backfield.
8 Wake Forest
The 11th best offense in college football last year – at least in yards – returns loaded. AT Perry is the star of a great wide receiver show, four starters return to a good line, the rotation of backs will be productive again, and in a league full of great quarterbacks, Sam Hartman might be the standout star.
9 Florida
For all of Florida’s problems last season, it still finished 15th in the nation in total offense. If you’re buying into the hype around QB Anthony Richardson – and you should – and if you think new head coach Billy Napier is about to make the O and ground game roll like he did at Louisiana – and you should – then believe the Gators are about to be in for a big offensive season.
10 Texas Tech
Fine, so stats matter. The offensive coordinator who made the WKU attack that finished second in the nation in total yards was brought in by new head coach Joey McGuire – look out. Zach Kittley will take the Red Raider attack up a few notches once the parts are in place after fall camp.
Texas Tech might not have settled on a starting quarterback quite yet, but that’s because it has three great options. The running backs will be ultra-effective for what they need to do, and the receivers will grow into statistical stars.
Unit Rankings By Conference: Offenses
Top 10 | ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
AAC | C-USA | Ind | MAC | M-West | Sun Belt
2022 Unit Rankings
QB | RB | WR&TE | OL | DL | LB | DB