19 for ’19: 19 key offseason topics: No. 11 The players who are already terrific, but are about to go to a whole other level.
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They’re already some of the best players in college football, and you already know who they are. At least you should.
They’re about to take their games up a whole other level. After big 2018 seasons, they’re about to go nuclear and become even bigger college football stars.
5. S Grant Delpit, Sr. LSU
The problem was marketing and national name recognition.
LSU’s main headliner is head coach Ed Orgeron. QB Joe Burrow became a story throughout the season, Devin White was one of the nation’s top linebackers, and CB Greedy Williams had the name to go along with the NFL game.
Even the kicker became a thing, as Cole Tracy had a magnificent season with a few big-time clutch kicks on a national stage.
Oh sure, Grant Delpit earned All-SEC honors and was given plenty of respect by those who knew his game, but again, this wasn’t exactly his team.
That changes now.
In 2019, be shocked if he’s not the best safety in college football, a player in the chase for the Thorpe Award, and a likely top 15 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
He finished third on the team with 74 tackles, with five interceptions, five sacks, nine tackles for loss and nine broken up passes. More than the stats, he’ll be the main man for another amazing LSU defense.
NEXT: The speed, speed, and more speed …
4. RB Chuba Hubbard, Soph. Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State had a good season, but it was a bit of a rebuilding one after losing QB Mason Rudolph, WR James Washington, and a few other key parts. It didn’t help that star back Justice Hill was a bit banged up and ended up missing the last three games of the season.
Into the void stepped Chuba Hubbard, a 6-1, 207-pound redshirt freshman from Canada with decent size – even ifs he’s a bit thin – and otherworldly speed.
Built like a dream safety or wide receiver, he turned into a special part of the offense over the final four games of the season.
Little used when Hill was rocking and rolling, Hubbard ran for over 100 yards in three of his last four games, and gave Oklahoma fits with 104 yards and three scores in the shootout loss.
A nice target, he caught 22 passes with two scores, was a solid kickoff returner, and showed off his home run hitting ability late in the year. Now the burner should be a highlight machine throughout 2019.
NEXT: Oh yeah, that guy …
3. WR Laviska Shenault, Jr. Colorado
Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top wide receiver, and Oklahoma State’s Tylan Wallace is returning after finishing as a finalist, but the race for the honor might be over if the guy in Boulder can stay in one piece.
Arguably the best player in college football over the first five games of the 2018 season, he ripped up UCLA for 12 catches for 126 yards, tore into Arizona State for 127 yards and two scores on 13 catches – along with two rushing scores – and was on pace for 120 catches before getting hurt.
He managed to come back after missing three games, but the Colorado season was in the midst of a deep nosedive.
The 6-2, 220-pounder caught ten passes for 102 yards against Washington State when he returned – and finished the season with 86 catches for 1,011 yards and six scores with five rushing touchdowns – but the injuries took their toll.
Trying to get back from shoulder and toe problems, he’ll be good to go this fall for new head coach Melvin Tucker. If No. 2 is in one piece, the Buff offense is going to be deadly.
NEXT: You know this is coming …
2. QB Adrian Martinez, Soph. Nebraska
The problem for Adrian Martinez might just be his own conference.
Everyone will want to see what’s coming at Wisconsin with Alex Hornibrook gone – can freshman Graham Mertz really be the guy right away?
Is Nate Stanley about to blossom into a real, live NFL prospect at Iowa? What will Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson do at Northwestern? Just how good will Elijah Sindelar be as the full-time quarterback at Purdue under Jeff Brohm?
Will Michigan State get better quarterback play? Who’ll be the guy at Penn State? Can Shea Patterson take Michigan to another level, and just how good will Justin Fields be right away at Ohio State, and …
Nah. Along with Fields, Martinez is going to be the Big Ten’s star of star quarterbacks.
All he did as a true freshman was get his feet wet in the Scott Frost offense by completing 65% of his passes for 2,617 yards and 17 scores with eight picks.
Throw in the 629 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, and everything looked right on track for Martinez to be the right guy to be in the right offense under the right coach at the right time for the next few years.
This season, the expectations are going to be set through the roof as a possible Heisman candidate as he leads Nebraska into Big Ten title contention.
No pressure.
NEXT: Next NFL running back up …
1. RBs Najee Harris, Jr. and/or Brian Robinson, Jr. Alabama
No, you don’t get better after losing Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs, but Alabama might just have a stronger running game, at least in terms of yardage total.
Last year the Tide didn’t hit the 3,000-yard mark, but that’s partly because Tua Tagovailoa was winging it all around the yard.
However, it was hard for any back to find a groove when Harris, Jacobs, Brian Robinson and Najee Harris were all fighting for playing time. And now the Bama concern is – boo hoo – that the backfield is down to two NFL running backs instead of four.
Robinson can more than handle the workload, but the hope is for this to be when Najee Harris busts out and becomes the back who was considered among the nation’s top prospects in 2017.
The 6-2, 227-pound Harris isn’t Derrick Henry in terms of size, but he’s big, quick, and has the power and toughness to blow past the 1,000-yard mark after finishing second on the team – behind Damien Harris – with 783 yards and four scores averaging 6.7 yards per carry.
Robinson is also very big, also very tough, and also very fast, being used on kickoff returns and running for 272 yards and two scores. Now he gets his shot to show off what he can do.
This won’t be a thunder and lightning tandem – they can both be both things.
These two have the talent and potential to combine for close to 300 carries and well over 2,000 yards.
Because Tagovailoa and the NFL-caliber receivers he’s throwing to won’t be enough.
