Yesterday we kicked off our Big Ten football Q & A sessions by talking about the teams that could contend for the Legends & Leaders Division titles. Today we will take a look at some of the unknown players in the conference who could become stars this season.

Joining us once again today to discuss Big Ten football will be Joe Beale of the Ohio State blog Eleven Warriors, Kevin McGuire of the Nittany Lions Den, and Andrew Coppens of the Wisconsin blog MadTown Badgers.

[box] Question # 2: Name me a few unknown players that could become stars this season[/box]

Joe Beale – Eleven Warriors: Purdue running back Akeem Hunt: with uncertainty at the quarterback position and a new head coach who likes to run the football, the talented junior could have a breakout year. I think he will need to, or else the Boilers’ offense will sputter.

Nebraska wide receiver Jamal Turner: last season Turner had a modest 32 receptions, but he is very explosive and is poised for a big season in 2013. He will also be a threat in the return game on kickoffs and possibly punts as well.

Freshman defensive backs Dymonte Thomas of Michigan and Eli Apple of Ohio State: both players enrolled early and impressed the coaches in their respective spring games. With OSU’s Bradley Roby possibly facing a suspension, opportunity may come knocking for Apple sooner than he thought. As for Thomas, he looks like a natural for the blitzing nickel back in Greg Mattison’s defense, and could displace current nickel back Courtney Avery by season’s end.

Kevin McGuire – Nittany Lions Den: Some of the players that nationally may fly under the radar may include Northwestern’s all-everything Venric Mark. The guy is a touchdown waiting to happen every time he steps out on to the field. But those who follow the Big Ten have already taken note of Mark’s abilities. If Northwestern makes some noise in conference play this season, more people will begin to notice what Mark is doing.

Purdue has a couple players worth watching to see if they can get the Boilermakers going. Quarterbacks Rob Henry and Danny Etling, whichever wins the primary duties, should be interesting to watch as Purdue attempts to get back to a passing offense Drew Brees might be proud of.

Indiana also has a quarterback we should pay attention to with Tre Roberson. Penn State has a few young players to pay attention to that could help build the offensive core, but for now just remember the name Deion Barnes. The defensive end led the Nittany Lions in sacks last season and earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.

Andy Coppens – Madtown Badgers: There are a good amount of newer faces in this conference stepping out of the shadows of their successful mentors and for me there are two names that really stick out as players that will end up being household names. One is Melvin Gordon at Wisconsin, while he’ll share carries this year he’s got home run hitting potential and showed his ability between the tackles to the Camp Randall crowd for the first time this spring and it was awesome. As for the other name, I’m looking at Nick VanHoose, a sophomore cornerback at Northwestern who was on the short list of names for last season’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

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