Tag: best college football players

College Football’s Breakout Superstars: 21 For 2021 Preview Topics

21 for 2021 preseason topics: Five college football players who were already great, but are about to break out and become national stars.

21 for 2021 preseason topics: No. 11 The college football players who are already terrific, but are about to go to a whole other level. Here are five breakout national stars to watch for.

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You already know who most of the superstars should be going into the 2021 college football season, but which guys are about to go from very good to next-level amazing?

If you’re a die-hard fan you probably already know these five players below, and if you don’t, you’re about to.

They’re the great players about to go nuclear, and they’ll soon be a big part of your college football Saturdays – and most likely your NFL Sundays.

21 for 2021 Preview Topics (so far)  
21. Thoughts, Wishes, Hopes for 2021
20. Best Teams To Not Make CFP
19: Teams That Will Rebound Big
18. Teams That Will Fall Back
17: Every Power 5 Team’s Letdown Game
16. Expectations For New Head Coaches
15. Expectations For 2nd Year Head Coaches
14. Power 5 Hot Seat Coach Rankings
13. 21 Key Transfers You Need To Know
12. Group of 5 over Power 5 Upset Alerts

– CFN 2021 Preview: All 130 Team Previews

How’d we do on these calls over the past few years? We didn’t exactly go out on a huge limb, but again, the goal was/is to highlight the good players who might take their respective games up a several notches.

2019 Breakout Star Predictions

5. S Grant Delpit, LSU
Thorpe Award winner for the epic national title team.

4. RB Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State
Led the nation with 2,094 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns.

3. WR Laviska Shenault, Colorado
While he was okay, he didn’t blow up as expected with 56 catches for 764 yards and four scores.

2. QB Adrian Martinez, Nebraska
Martinez hit just 59% of his passes for 1,956 yards and ten touchdowns with nine picks in 2019, and he ran for 626 yards and seven touchdowns.

1. RB Najee Harris and/or Brian Robinson, Alabama
Harris turned it on to finish with 1,224 yards and 13 touchdowns, Robinson was second on the team with 441 yards and five scores. Harris also caught seven touchdown passes.

2020 Breakout Star Predictions

5. QB Sam Howell, North Carolina
He threw for close to 3,600 yards with 30 touchdowns and seven picks, and now he’s being talked about as a possible No. 1 overall draft pick.

4. LB Hamilcar Rashed, Oregon State
He couldn’t get his 2020 going – he was banged up all year and fought through injuries. A pass rushing terror in a a dominant 14-sack, 22.5-tackle for loss run in 2019, he failed to come up with a sack with 23 tackles and two tackles for loss.

3. DE Gregory Rousseau, Miami
Opted out on the season, but he was still the 30th overall pick by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

2. QB KJ Costello, Mississippi State
Yeah, this call didn’t work, but he’ll forever be remembered for the 623-yard, five-touchdown day to beat LSU to start the season.

1. RB Najee Harris, Alabama
Ww went back to the well from our 2019 No. 1 spot, thinking Harris would go up another whole level from his great 2019 season – and he did. The Doak Walker winner led the national champion Tide team with 1,466 rushing yards and 26 scores, along with 43 catches for 425 yards and four touchdowns.

Five (potential) College Football Breakout Superstars

5. DE George Karlaftis, Purdue

– CFN 2021 Purdue Preview

The Big Ten is going to have to deal with him again.

Karlaftis started out his Purdue career as a dominant force with 54 tackles with 7.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss in an All-Big Ten season. He was steady, sensational, and relentless with his sack production spread out over the 2019 season and with at 1.5 tackles for loss in eight games.

All primed and ready to roll for a massive 2020, he couldn’t get going with COVID issues along with a leg injury. He only saw time in three games, but he came up with a sack against both Iowa and Illinois to start the season, and then that was about it.

Now he’s back.

The 6-4, 275-pounder is a mortal lock to earn All-Big Ten honors both on the field and in the classroom, and he’s a repeat of the 2019 season away from being a sure-thing first round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft – and possibly a top 15 selection.

He’ll get a few games to warm up before being part of the national discussion. Oregon State and UConn should be in big trouble before he’s turned loose on Notre Dame.

NEXT: Florida’s next amazing defensive back

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PFF Top 101 – One Notre Dame Star Checks in at 73

I ask because Pro Football Focus is ranking the best 101 players nationwide in 2019.  So far they’ve covered 26-101 and Notre Dame has just one representitive on the list.

Spoiler alert:  it’s not Chase Claypool.

When Notre Dame’s football team handed out their end of season awards in December the Team MVP went to Chase Claypool without much question.

Claypool was the best player on one of Notre Dame’s best offenses in program history and spent the first day at the Senior Bowl turning heads for all the right reasons.

But was Claypool the best player on Notre Dame last season?

I ask because Pro Football Focus is ranking the best 101 players nationwide in 2019.  So far they’ve covered 26-101 and Notre Dame has just one representitive on the list (I have trouble believing any Irish player comes in the top-25).

Spoiler alert:  it’s not Chase Claypool.

Checking in at No. 73 is Kyle Hamilton who they recently ranked the fifth-best returning safety in college football for the 2020 season.  Here is what PFF had to say about the young Notre Dame safety today:

The fabulous true freshman safety for the Fighting Irish wowed in his first season in South Bend, picking off four passes and breaking up another five while allowing just seven catches to be caught into his primary coverage. He missed a few too many tackles to come away with an elite-graded season overall, but he more than made up for that with his prowess on the backend. He didn’t allow a single reception over 20 yards and saw a completion percentage of just 30.4% when he was the primary coverage defender. In fact, he allowed a passer rating of just 1.6 when he was targeted, and no, that’s no typo…one point six. He made 38 solo tackles, and 12 of them went down as a defensive stop. He continually began to improve his overall game grades as the season wore on — the sky is the limit for No. 14.

Hamilton was great, no question about it.  He was a big part of the Louisville opener and by the middle of the year, the USC game specifically the defense was creating gameplans based on their faith in him not getting beat deep.  I can’t say how much credit that is worthy of for a freshman.

Is Hamilton the player you think who will be the best for Notre Dame in 2020 however?

I certainly only expect him to improve in his sophomore and junior seasons.  However, after an incredible Camping World Bowl showing and some marquee names leaving a very good defense I’m interested to see if a year from now how high Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah may show up the best players of 2020 list.

We’ll save plenty of this conversation for the months we still have to wait to get to football season again but it’s unlikely that any other Notre Dame players make the list that ranks Hamilton at 73 today.