20 for 2020 key offseason topics: No. 11 The college football players who are already terrific, but are about to go to a whole other level.
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They were among the best players in college football in 2019, but they either flew a bit under the radar or they didn’t become household names. That’s about to change.
The perfect player who fits the description was on last year’s list. Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard is back, but he’s an established superstar. These five are on the verge of being there.
5. QB Sam Howell, Soph. North Carolina
He’s not all that big, and he’s not all that mobile, and he doesn’t have the biggest arm, but as a true freshman, he showed it.
Originally a key part of Willie Taggart’s 2019 Florida State recruiting class, Mack Brown and company swooped in and flipped Howell to be the main man to run the North Carolina offense. In a rebuilding job, the hope was for the true freshman to be ready right away, and then let him work through his mistakes as the team matured and the talent started to come in.
Instead, Howell came out rocking, bombing away for 245 yards and two touchdowns in the season-opening win over South Carolina, and hitting Miami for 274 yards and two scores with no picks in either one.
The Tar Heels won both games, and the season was off and running.
There were a string of losses the middle of the season, but Howell handled himself like a seasoned pro in close game after close game.
There were a few multi-interception games – the two in the loss to Appalachian State were a problem – but he only threw seven picks on the season and had two or more touchdown passes in every game.
He needs to be more consistent, he took a few too many chances, and there were too many misfires in key moments, but for a true freshman to hit 61% of his passes for 3,641 yards and 38 touchdowns with just seven interceptions in his first year, he wasn’t bad.
NEXT: The best pass rusher you probably don’t know, Part 1
4. LB Hamilcar Rashed, Sr. Oregon State
Utah’s fantastic defensive front was loaded with superstar pass rushers.
Oregon’s D line was outstanding, and it was a decent year as a whole for Pac-12 defensive lineman.
But it was a hybrid linebacker from Oregon State who turned into the conference’s best playmaker in the backfield.
Utah’s Bradlee Anae came up with 13 sacks – only one other player hit double digits.
Hamilcar Rashed led the Pac-12 with 14 sacks, lived behind the line with 22.5 tackles for loss – Anae was second with 14 – and pounded out 62 tackles from his spot on the outside. Unlike Anae – and others on the top of the statistical sheet – Rashed didn’t have a bowl game or Pac-12 Championship to add to the numbers.
A solid recruit out of Phoenix, the 6-4, 238-pounder came on as a sophomore with a strong 58-tackle, 11.5 tackle for loss season, and then it all came together last year.
He generated at least a tackle for loss in each of the first ten games, crushed Cal and Arizona with three sacks, had five games with double-digit stats, and was all over the field in game after game.
He’ll be keyed on from the start, but the Beavers should have a stronger linebacking corps overall to make up for it.
NEXT: The best pass rusher you probably don’t know, Part 2
3. DE Gregory Rousseau, Soph. Miami
The 2019 Miami football season wasn’t a total disappointment.
The offense might have struggled and sputtered, but the defensive side did its part. The linebacking corps was solid, the secondary was fine, and the team led the ACC – and was fourth in the nation – in tackles for loss and was sixth in the country in sacks.
The star of the show is returning.
6-7, 253-pound Gregory Rousseau was a good recruit who stayed close to home, but his true freshman season stopped before it got going after he hurt his ankle. Fine as a redshirt freshman, he led the ACC in sacks with a dominant and consistent season.
His size and frame matter, but he’s quick off the ball for his size, too. He kept on coming in game after game, registering at least one sack in nine of the team’s 13 games, finishing with 15.5 sacks, 19.5 tackles for loss, and 54 tackles.
With Temple pass rusher Quincy Roche transferring in, the pressure won’t be on Rousseau to handle the load on his own. It’ll be another great year for the Miami D, and with D’Eriq King likely taking over at quarterback, the O should do its part, too.
NEXT: Just stay healthy … just stay healthy …
2. QB K.J. Costello, Sr. Mississippi State
In last year’s version of Great Players About To Go Nuclear, we got a few of the players right, but we missed on the biggest one of all.
But who saw Joe Burrow doing that?
Let’s now put the pressure on Stanford transfer KJ Costello to take Mississippi State up several levels into national championship status quite yet, but the tools are there to not only come up with a big season, but to put up unbelievable numbers as – possibly – the most talented NFL-caliber quarterback Mike Leach has ever had as a head coach.
Of course, Costello has to get there first.
He wasn’t going to be a part of spring ball, and there has to be a fall camp with enough time to step in, learn the system, and get the timing down. He also has to be able to stay healthy last year after getting beaten up early and playing in just five games.
However, if he’s in one piece and he’s able to grab the job, he has the 6-5, 222-pound size, the next level arm, and the experience to be the triggerman to put up mega-stats in the Leach attack.
As a junior, he came up with one of the greatest passing seasons – 3,540 yards and 29 touchdowns with 11 picks – in Stanford history. If all goes well, he’ll put up record numbers for MSU.
NEXT: Next NFL running back up …
1. RBs Najee Harris, Sr. Alabama
Let’s do this again.
Najee Harris was No. 1 on last year’s Great Players About To Go Nuclear list, but that was couched a bit by combining him with Brian Robinson.
Robinson ran for 441 yards and five scores, and he might have an expanded role this year, but Harris led the team with 1,224 yards and 13 touchdowns, and he caught 27 passes with seven scores.
Was that “going nuclear?” That might be a bit of a stretch, but he had a better season than you might think.
The Bama offense focused around Tua Tagovailoa winging it around the year, so Harris wasn’t needed as a workhorse. He still ran for over 100 yards against Southern Miss and Texas A&M, and he was up there in the Best Player on the Field debate in the epic shootout loss to LSU – he ran 19 times for 146 yards and a score, and caught three passes for 44 yards and a touchdown.
But when Tagovailoa went down against Mississippi State, Harris stepped up.
He ran for three scores in the win over the Bulldogs, and he come up with his two biggest run totals of the season in the final two games with 27 carries for 146 yards and a score against Auburn, and with 24 carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns in the Citrus Bowl win over Michigan.
He turned into the player everyone thought Alabama was getting when he was the No. 1 of No. 1 recruits in 2017, and he looked more than ready to make the jump to the NFL.
But he’s back, he’ll combine with Robinson to provide a killer 1-2 punch, and he should be in for a 1,500-yard season as one of the SEC’s biggest stars.
PHOTOS: Sam Howell Credit: James Guillory, Najee Harris Credit: John David Mercer, Hamilcar Rashed Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
