So last year, it was Leonard Fournette at LSU, Nick Chubb at Georgia, Samaje Perine at Oklahoma and Jarvion Franklin at Western Michigan. Out in the West, Nick Wilson was an instant star at Arizona, Royce Freeman arose quickly at Oregon.
Then, there was Justin Jackson at Northwestern who was a total surprise to most.
Back down in the South there was Marlon Mack at South Florida and Dalvin Cook at Florida State. Then, there was Joseph Yearby at Miami, Ralph Webb at Vanderbilt, Jalen Hurd at Tennessee, Jon Hilliman at Boston College and Larry Rose III at New Mexico State.
Those guys were just the ones that stood out the most. There was also Sony Michel at Georgia, Elijah Hood at North Carolina, Stanley Williams at Kentucky, Madre London at Michigan State.
I can’t remember a better year for new Running Backs.
This year, it seems to be the Quarterbacks. Oh, there were some freshmen Quarterbacks last season, too, with Brad Kaaya at Miami, redshirt freshman Quarterback at Arizona Anu Solomon, JT Barrett at Ohio State and Deshaun Watson at Clemson and there were a few more.
But, in the very first game of 2015 one of the very brightest of future stars got his first career start in the bright lights of Los Angeles in Josh Rosen at UCLA. Everybody across the nation is starting to get on the Josh Rosen bandwagon and this wagon is off and rolling and picking up steam. In four games, Rosen has thrown for 963 yards and 7 Touchdowns. His very first game was against Virginia and he threw for an impressive 350 yards. In his third game, BYU threw some things at him that he has never seen before and they messed with his head a little bit and he threw 3 Interceptions. But, Rosen learned from that experience and came back strong against Arizona and carved that defense up.
BYU, incidentally, tried the same defenses against Michigan and Jim Harbaugh’s team ate them up. I will be surprised if Rosen is not UCLA’s next Heisman winner. The guy just has some kind of presence about him and it might be time to call him a star and not a future star.
Up in the Great Northwest Jake Browning of Washington started their first game of the season against Boise State. Browning had a rough evening against the Broncos, but clearly Washington Coach Chris Petersen is building for the future and stuck with Browning. So far this season, Browning has thrown for 996 yards and 5 Touchdowns for the 2-2 Huskies.
Brett Rypien at Boise State is the son of former NFL Quarterback Mark Rypien and has taken over the starting role for the Broncos. Starter Ryan Finley started the first games, but was struggling. Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin replaced Finley with true freshman Rypien and he responded with a huge game on a nationally televised Friday Night game throwing for 321 yards and 3 Touchdowns in leading Boise State to a route over Virginia on the road.
Jarrett Stidham is going to be the next star Quarterback at Baylor, that much is really clear. He is a true freshman from Stephenville, Texas which is the high school that made Baylor head football coach Art Briles famous. Stidham has gotten limited playing time, but has completed 12 out of 15 passes for 167 yards and 2 Touchdowns. He will be Baylor’s best athlete at Quarterback since Robert Griffin III.
Jeff Smith at Boston College is a true freshman from St Petersburg, Florida and has been forced into duty by the injury to starter Darrius Wade. He may split time with fellow freshman Troy Flutie the nephew of the great Doug Flutie. Smith is not as good as a passer currently as the young Flutie, but he is a tremendous athlete. At the moment, young Jeff Smith prefers to take off running with the ball instead of throwing it down field.
Tanner Mangum was forced into starting at BYU by another injury to Taysom Hill. Of course, he is 22 years old like many BYU freshmen. But, he is still legally a freshman and a talented one at that. Michigan did make him look bad, but he has led BYU to an interesting start including one Hail Mary pass against Nebraska to break their hearts in new coach Mike Riley’s first game.
Kelly Bryant is a freshman Quarterback at Clemson who probably won’t unseat starter Deshuan Watson, but he could be the future at the position for the Tigers.
Chason Virgil – Fresno State is playing as a true freshman which is invigorating because of the way he was treated by Dan Mullen and Mississippi State. Virgil was an early enrollee for Miss State until they pulled his scholarship offer at almost the last minute. Luckily for him, he found a place to go in Fresno State. Fresno has had 2 first round draft picks at Quarterback which is two more than http://collegefootballcrazy.com/chason-virgil-fresno-state-quarterback/
Mississippi State has ever had. I just blogged about him here:
Lamar Jackson at Louisville has been in and out of the lineup and has been injured. But, we all thought that Reggie Bonafon last year’s freshman sensation was the future at Louisville. This year, it appears as if it is Lamar Jackson.
Chase Litton – Marshall: This guy has enormous potential and is 6-6, 207. He is a talented freshman from Florida and with his height, or length as they say these days he can’t help but be compared with Memphis Quarterback Paxton Lynch.
Drew Lock at Missouri is going to be a serious star. He’s probably one of the top 2 or 3 on this list. He was a star basketball and football player at Lee’s Summit, Missouri and could have played either at the college level. But, football is clearly his future. He has played in limited opportunities and has completed 15 passes in 25 attempts for 225 yards.
But, now Lock is getting the opportunity to take over the starting position thanks to the indefinite suspension of Missouri starter Maty Mauk. We’ll know more about Lock after this weekend when Lock is finished with his game against South Carolina.
Seth Collins is an up and coming star at Oregon State. Nobody really wanted Collins coming out of high school and he looks fantastic. Has a great arm, although he’s erratic at this point. But, he is so athletic and fleet afoot. In four games, the Oregon State Beavers have struggled to a 2-2 start under new coach Gary Andersen. But, Collins is a future standout. In four games, he has thrown for 581 yards and run for 306 yards. Collins, Andersen and the Beavers will continue to get better, but as of now they are facing growing pains. Anyone that watched the Oregon State Spring Game could tell that Seth Collins was a future star. He is intriguing.
Lorenzo Nunez is in the lineup at South Carolina by default. But, before injuries crippled other South Carolina Quarterbacks there was already talk of the talented Nunez getting some playing time. Nunez is just now getting going, but has passed for 202 yards and run for 235 yards. He is a talent and will continue to get better. This weekend, it will be Nunez of the Gamecocks against Drew Lock of Missouri, both true freshmen Quarterbacks.
According to a research in Pennsylvania, “People with higher level of copulation act have 30% more antigen immunoglobulin than who don’t do.” (Antigen protects from cold and Click This Link cialis mastercard flu and provides an effective immune system). Pomegranates reduce plaque buildup in arteries The world the truth about canadian cialis no prescription artery plaque builds up. Musli Power X-Tra is formulated using extracts of 8 buy viagra samples exotic herbs 1. There are many ordine cialis on line factors can induce prostate infection, such as eating right, performing exercise, maintaining healthy weight and healthy diet.
Quinten Dormady at Tennessee is a back up to Volunteer star Quarterback Joshua Dobbins and may never become a full time starter for the Volunteers as they have a commitment from the top Quarterback in the country for next season in Jacob Eason. But, Dormady looked great in the Spring Game and has looked impressive in limited playing time this season. If Eason comes in and beats out Dormady, look for him to star elsewhere, but he is a talent and needs to play somewhere. He is a big, strong kid that’s very athletic and has a super strong arm.
Kyler Murray is a pint sized freshman Quarterback at Texas A#M. He’s a star in the making, but right now the Aggies seem to be all Kyle Allen.
Bo Schneider at Central Florida which also happens to be the school that produced Blake Bortles. UCF is struggling this year and so is true freshman Bo Schneider, but he clearly has some talent.
Dwayne Lawson at Virginia Tech may be their future at Quarterback. Starting Quarterback Michael Brewer went down in the first game and back up Brendan Motley has been forced into starting duties. Lawson is the current back up. At 6-6, 230, Lawson definitely looks the part and should be a star in the making.
A freshman out of Durham, North Carolina is Kendall Hinton of Wake Forest. Hinton is equally good running and throwing and the Demon Deacons could use some talent at that position.
Brent Stockstill at Middle Tennessee State is the son of former Florida State Quarterback Rick Stockstill and current head coach at MTS. The current starter at Quarterback has thrown for over 1,200 yards and 12 Touchdowns after 4 games. He replaced Austin Grammer, last year’s starter.
Garrett Smith at Louisiana Monroe is the new starter and has thrown for 650 yards so far.
Jerrod Heard took over the starting role for the struggling Texas Longhorns. The team has a ways to go, but Heard is a bright spot. He has thrown for over 600 yards and run for nearly 300.
Will Grier may be the new Florida Quarterback, apparently depending on the mood of new coach Jim McElwain. Grier was one of the more highly recruited players in the country coming out of high school and he redshirted a year ago. Lucky for him, the Gators made a change at head coach because Will Muschamp ruined Jeff Driskel and probably any other Quarterback at Florida during those trying times. Grier had his best game as a Gator and helped them come from behind to beat
Tennessee yet again.
Hayden Moore of Cincinnati came off the bench last Thursday Night and threw for a remarkable 557 yards and 4 Touchdowns in a losing effort against Memphis. Gunner Kiel is the starter there, if healthy, but he keeps getting injured which will give Moore more time to play.
Clayton Thorson – Northwestern: He started in game one against Stanford. He’s rough around the edges but has the tools. The Wildcats are a conservative team but Thorson has thrown for nearly 600 yards and run for 141.
DeShone Kizer – Notre Dame: The Irish really don’t redshirt, but Kizer could be considered a redshirt freshman and he has been incredible so far in 2015. Starting the season as a back up, Kizer has been forced into starting duties by the season ending injury to Malik Zaire. Kizer threw the game winning Touchdown against Virginia and has continued as a star since.
Jason Driskel – Florida: Atlantic the younger brother of Jeff Driskel formerly of Florida. The older Driskel seems to be a brand new man since he transferred to Louisiana Tech.
Sean White – Auburn: Got his first start and playing time this past week against Mississippi State. He has enormous potential.
The 2014 recruiting class was one of the best ever featuring many, many future stars, but it was thick at the Running Back position.
The 2015 season just might be one of the better ones in decades for Quarterbacks.