Tag: RJ Young

C.J. Stroud high atop R.J. Young’s top five Heisman candidates for 2022

Fox Sports top five Heisman candidates #GoBucks

The 2022 college football season has officially kicked off and with it the race for the Heisman Trophy has begun. Although no legitimate candidates played in Week 0 (sorry Chase Brown) we will see numerous candidates during Week 1, including two Ohio State players.

Our lovely friends at Fox Sport and RJ Young have compiled their preseason list of five Heisman Trophy candidates and some of these names are obvious, but it is always interesting to see which players raise your eyebrow. Those that are familiar with RJ Young’s podcast, “The Number One Ranked Show,” might have already seen this list, but it’s worth a read or listen. Let’s dive in.

One College Football analyst believes Notre Dame is in Tier 2 of CFB

Not a bad place to be

The Irish are ranked high, high enough to be seriously considered as one of the few teams that could actually finish as the College Football Playoff champion. Count Fox Sports RJ Young among the believers: His pre-season college football tiers were announced today.

Tier 1 was dominated by the SEC: Alabama, Texas A&M, Georgia and Ohio State were the four teams in it. Tier 2 included the Irish along with Utah, Michigan State and Baylor. The third tier had one more team than the previous two: Arkansas, Clemson, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and USC.

There are plenty of arguments to be had about the tiers, but Notre Dame being in the second does make sense. New head coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag], new starting quarterback [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] and extremely difficult season-opening game (Ohio State) seemingly combined to cause Young to hesitate putting the Irish in the top group.

It will be fun to look back on this after the regular season and championship games are played to see how accurate Young was.

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National analyst: ‘Put your big boy britches on, lil ol’ Clemson’

A national college football analyst recently released his preseason top 25 rankings ahead of the upcoming season. FOX’s RJ Young has Clemson at No. 10 in his preseason top 25. Alabama is No. 1 in Young’s rankings, followed in order by Ohio State, …

A national college football analyst recently released his preseason top 25 rankings ahead of the upcoming season.

FOX’s RJ Young has Clemson at No. 10 in his preseason top 25.

Alabama is No. 1 in Young’s rankings, followed in order by Ohio State, Texas A&M, Georgia, Utah, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Baylor and Arkansas, with Clemson rounding out his top 10.

Explaining his ranking for the Tigers, here’s what Young wrote:

As a rule, I usually dock teams for losing both coordinators and their defensive line coach ā€” one of the two most pivotal position coaches on any staff ā€” but if there is any head coach who can endure such seismic change, it’s Dabo Swinney.

If offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter can flip quarterbackĀ DJ UiagaleleiĀ into the kind of quarterback his talent foreshadows, Clemson could find itself back in the CFP this season.

Put your big boy britches on, lil ol’ Clemson.

Young has seven SEC teams ā€” Alabama (No. 1), Texas A&M (No. 3), Georgia (No. 4), Arkansas (No. 9), Ole Miss (No. 17), Kentucky (No. 21) and Tennessee (No. 25) ā€” in his rankings, while he just three ACC teams in his rankings with NC State (No. 18) and Miami (No. 19) joining Clemson.

Where is Clemson in these post-spring rankings?

With spring practices in the books, national outlets/writers/analysts have been releasing their post-spring Top 25s ahead of the 2022 college football season. Clemson (10-3, 6-2 ACC in 2021) fell one spot in USA Today’s post-spring Top 25 and is now …

With spring practices in the books, national outlets/writers/analysts have been releasing their post-spring Top 25s ahead of the 2022 college football season.

Clemson (10-3, 6-2 ACC in 2021) fell one spot in USA Today’s post-spring Top 25 and is now ranked No. 5 behind (in order from Nos. 1-4) Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

“The focus will again be on the offense as D.J. Uiagalelei enters his second year as the starting quarterback,” USA Today’s Erick Smith wrote. “Uiagalelei was expected to seamlessly grab the baton from Trevor Lawrence, but he struggled last season and didnā€™t look great in the teamā€™s spring game. Cade Klubnik enrolled early and could push for playing time if those struggles continue. On the plus side, the defense should be salty with lineman Myles Murphy and K.J. Henry among the standouts in the unit. The early schedule is much easier this season without an opener against Georgia. That could help ease some of the struggles before the start of the significant ACC games come.”

CBS Sports, meanwhile, has the Tigers ranked No. 11 in its post-spring Top 25.

“I’m not buying that Clemson won 10 in an “off” year,” CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd wrote. “The conclusion here is that program declined in general and needs to get its mojo back quickly. Something is up with D.J. Uiagalelei’s game. It has to be fixed for the Tigers to ascend back to the top of the ACC. Both coordinators left. Dabo Swinney continues to complain about NIL and the transfer portal. That can’t be good for transfers looking at the Tigers. The question has to be asked: Is Clemson’s dynasty over when its ceiling for 2022 is only the ACC title?”

The top 10 in Dodd’s post-spring Top 25 is comprised of Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Oklahoma, Baylor, Michigan, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Utah and Arkansas, in that order.

Fox Sports’ RJ Young also released his post-spring Top 25 and has Clemson ranked No. 12 behind (in order from Nos. 1-11) Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas A&M, Baylor, Arkansas, Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Utah.

Other ACC teams ranked in the aforementioned post-spring Top 25s are NC State (No. 10, USA Today), Wake Forest (No. 17, USA Today; No. 21, CBS Sports), Pittsburgh (No. 22, USA Today) and Miami (No. 12, CBS Sports).

Clemson will kick off the 2022 campaign against Georgia Tech on Sept. 5 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

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Sooners DL Isaiah Thomas sounds off on Lincoln Riley’s departure for USC

On the RJ Young Show, Sooners’ defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas shared his thoughts on Lincoln Riley’s departure for USC.

Much has been said since [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] left the Oklahoma Sooners to take the head coaching job at USC. Several former and current Sooners have voiced their feelings on the move, with many of them doubting that Riley, according to him, made the decision in the span of 12 hours.

Now in South Carolina, [autotag]Austin Stogner[/autotag] and [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag] have made it clear that they don’t look back on the 2021 season fondly with Rattler calling it “toxic” and Stogner doubting the truthfulness of Riley’s words.

Future NFL draft pick and former Sooners defensive lineman [autotag]Isaiah Thomas[/autotag] recently gave his perspective on the Riley departure on Fox Sports Analyst RJ Young’s “The Number One Ranked Show.”

You can find the entire interview linked above, but here is what Thomas said on Lincoln Riley’s exit:

Thomas says that the football team was called in for a 2 p.m. meeting, which was odd because they typically didn’t have team meetings after a game. While in the parking lot prior to going inside for the meeting, Thomas got a phone call from a “reliable source.” That source told Thomas that his coach would be leaving for USC.

Much like every Sooners fan on the planet, he didn’t believe it when he first heard it. Then Riley came in to talk to the team.

Thomas says in the interview that he’s not mad at Lincoln Riley for leaving. He understands the reality that college football is a business and that the opening at USC was a good opportunity.

The thing that Thomas has a problem with is how Riley left the Sooners. Thomas felt like the way Riley left just wasn’t “him.”

“It’s just how he left, not because he left. Riley always stood on the table for me. Always had my back,” Thomas told Young. “I specifically remember many team meetings where he’d point me out specifically… He’d always use me as an example in a positive way. So it was just mind-boggling how he left knowing the type of guy he was.”

It sounds like Thomas didn’t buy the “phone call after the game and slept on it” story that Riley gave the team in a five-minute speech. Yes, five minutes. Lincoln Riley gave his players nothing more than a five-minute talk and then left the room.

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Where Texas football lands in Fox Sports’ spring Top 25 rankings

Will Texas start the season in the top 25?

Not many outlets are buying the Texas hype this offseason, which is awfully rare.

Texas has been in what seems to be a never ending cycle of starting the season ranked, winning a couple games to jump up in the rankings, and then plummeting after devastating losses.

The first season under Steve Sarkisian was no exception to the trend, as the Longhorns started the season ranked before quickly falling out of the rankings as they had a midseason collapse for the ages.

However, R.J. Young of Fox Sports believes that Texas will turn it around and should start the season ranked. Young released his early top 25, and the Longhorns landed at No. 20. Here is what he said about Texas ahead of the season:

Perhaps no program piqued my interest more during the 2022 transfer portal cycle than the Longhorns. With the transfer additions of former Ohio State quarterback Quinn Ewers, Wyoming wideout Isaiah Neyor and Alabama tight end Jahleel Billingsley, combined with running back Bijan Robinson and wide receiver Xavier Worthy, Steve Sarkisianā€™s offense should be formidable.

If defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski can flip the defense into one of the nationā€™s best instead of one of its worst, thereā€™s no reason to believe Texas canā€™t contend for a Big 12 title and invitation to the CFP ā€” but that remains a sizable if. Getting Texas native and former Ohio State cornerback Ryan Watts to transfer to the Forty Acres should help.

Both the offense and defense will need to take major steps in order for the team to even contend in the conference. While every program has playoff aspirations, it is certainly rare to go from sub .500 to playoff contender. The Longhorns need their new additions on both sides of the ball to step up, and they may even need to make some late additions to the roster from the transfer portal in order to truly have a chance.

Which bowl does this analyst project Clemson to play in next season?

A college football analyst recently made his way-too-early predictions for next season’s New Year’s Six bowl games. FOX college football analyst RJ Young projects Clemson to play in the Orange Bowl against Arkansas. If they can get improved play at …

A college football analyst recently made his way-too-early predictions for next season’s New Yearā€™s Six bowl games.

FOX college football analyst RJ Young projects Clemson to play in the Orange Bowl against Arkansas.

If they can get improved play at the quarterback position from rising junior D.J. Uiagalelei or five-star true freshman Cade Klubnik, the Tigers figure to be the preseason favorite from the ACC to make it to the Orange Bowl — if not get back to the College Football Playoff.

Clemson (10-3, 6-2 ACC) saw its streak of six straight conference titles and six concecutive CFP appearances come to an end this past season, but still managed to reach at least 10 wins for a school-record 11th consecutive season.

Following a 2-2 start with two losses in the month of September, the Tigers won eight of their last nine games, including six straight victories down the stretch capped off by their 20-13 win over Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl on Dec. 29.

Clemson is slated to open the 2022 season against Georgia Tech on Monday, Sept. 5 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as part of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game weekend.

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CFB Analyst RJ Young lists Michigan State as one of top 20 teams in country

RJ Young of FOX Sports is high on the Spartans right now

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Michigan State has already started earning some respect nationally after their 2-0 start to the season. That includes RJ Young of FOX Sports.

Young released his post-Week 2 rankings on Sunday and he has the Spartans higher than most around the country. Young has Michigan State listed as the No. 18 team in the country after this past week. That ranks fifth in the Big Ten.

Check out the complete rankings below:

I’m very excited about the Spartans’ start to the season, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to rank them this high. A win against, Miami (FL) this week and I’ll be on board with Young.

Regardless, this is pretty cool to see Michigan State back in the national conversation of being a team people should keep an eye on this year. Let’s hope they can keep it up.

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National analyst shows no respect to Clemson in his Top 25

A national college football reporter and analyst showed no respect to Clemson in his ranking of the top 25 teams in the sport after Week 1. RJ Young of FOX Sports released his top 25 and has the Tigers all the way down at No. 11 in his ranking. …

A national college football reporter and analyst showed no respect to Clemson in his ranking of the top 25 teams in the sport after Week 1.

RJ Young of FOX Sports released his top 25 and has the Tigers all the way down at No. 11 in his ranking.

Clemson (0-1) is now ranked No. 6 in both the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll following its 10-3 loss to Georgia last Saturday after previously being ranked No. 3 in the AP poll and No. 2 in the coaches poll.

Here is Young’s full top 25:

  1. Alabama
  2. Georgia
  3. Ohio State
  4. Oklahoma
  5. Penn State
  6. Texas
  7. Southern Cal
  8. Oregon
  9. Iowa
  10. Texas A&M
  11. Clemson
  12. UCLA
  13. Notre Dame
  14. Utah
  15. Iowa State
  16. TCU
  17. Coastal Carolina
  18. Arizona State
  19. Cincinnati
  20. Virginia Tech
  21. Wisconsin
  22. Kansas State
  23. NC State
  24. Rutgers
  25. Florida State

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Does Notre Dame have a Heisman sleeper on their team in 2021?

Could Notre Dame have a player who could contend for the Heisman Trophy in 2021?

Part of winning the Heisman trophy is having some social media hype, or really hype of any kind heading into a season. After finishing in the top 10 nationally in rushing, Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams should be getting said hype heading into next season. Fox Sports RJ Young is firmly on the hype train, naming Williams one of his Heisman sleepers entering next year.

What Williams has going for him this coming season is the fact that the Irish will be breaking in a new quarterback and will have to lean on Williams in order for the new signal caller to get comfortable. The bad news is that his vaunted offensive line has been gutted, with just center Jarrett Patterson as a returning starter.

If the offensive line acclimates themselves quickly, which is entirely possible due to the talent the room possesses, Williams will surely be in the Heisman conversation. Building on the 1,125 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns is what you expect from Williams.

He also caught 35 balls for 313-yards and a score, so the goal is to get over 1,500 all-purpose yards. If Williams can get over that mark next year, he will firmly be in the Heisman conversation.