College Football Notes – 02.13.15 

 

Who Has Best 2015 College Football Roster Based on Past Recruiting Cycles?

An excellent article about which 2015 rosters contain the best college football players, based on recruiting rankings. Which as the article points out, are pretty darn accurate in predicting that there are only 12 teams that will be vying for the National Championship next season.

College Football Offenses That Will Struggle After 2015 NFL Departures

I’m not a big fan of the Bleacher Report slideshows, but this one contains some good info. ASU, losing QB Kelly, WR Strong & OT Douglas is one of the teams mentioned in the article.

Ten Pac 12 players that can make an immediate impact in 2015

USC has three listed and Oregon has two, and that doesn’t include recently transferred QB Vernon Adams from EWU. The Devils have Davon Durant, the #1 JC LB.

Scouting report on quarterback transfer Vernon Adams

Speaking of Adams, here is a pretty in-depth scouting report covering his strengths & weaknesses and what he brings to Oregon’s offense.

The weakest position group on each SEC roster

A brief rundown of each SEC teams biggest position of need heading into Spring practices. Several teams appear to be in need of a QB, including Bama, UGA & LSU.

Change in illegal man downfield rule could boost defenses

GoSooners sent me an ESPN article on proposed rule changes for next year along with some thoughts about the illegal man downfield rule. This morning I came across this article, which goes into detail on that rules change. It sounds like it could definitely be a boost for defenses. Here are GS’s comments:

The one that stuck out for me is the new ineligible receiver downfield proposal. Changing the rule from 3 yards downfield to 1 yard could potentially have some big implications for teams like Baylor because they really push the envelope with this rule. Opponents have said that it is especially hard to read pass or run with their offense since their lineman often fire off the line of scrimmage like run blocking when they pass. I think it could have significant effects and cause them to lose a step at the point of impact. Losing that advantage is huge at the Power 5 level.

Former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis diving into next stage of life

This one is for GoSooners reading pleasure because I know what a BIG Charlie Weis fan he is. Unfortunately Charlie thinks “it’s highly doubtful that I will ever coach again.” Sorry GS, no more fading Fat Charlie.

 

BIG 12

Here are a few Big 12 articles that caught my attention this week. Hopefully GoSooners can give us his thoughts on each of these. 

Boykin says “TCU may be the best team in the country.”

Would you expect him to say anything else? The Horn Frogs return 16 starters (10 on offense and 6 on defense), so he might be right.

Oklahoma State in early ESPN College Football Playoff projections

This article is just a summary of this ESPN Insider article, which you need to be a subscriber to read. The article, written by ESPN’s Brad Edwards, predicts Ohio State, USC, Auburn & Oklahoma State as next years four playoff teams. His criteria? Quarterback play, recruiting, returning starters and schedule.

OK, I can definitely see Ohio State & USC meeting all 4 of those requirements, and Auburn is only missing a proven QB. But the Pokes?

Haven’t we been reading and discussing that “elite” recruiting is a requirement for National Championship consideration? I do not believe Oklahoma State qualifies in this category. They do not recruit at anywhere near the level that Texas and OU do in the Big 12.

In fact, based on the CFBMatrix composite recruiting rankings over the past four years, the Pokes trail not only Texas and OU, but they also trail TCU, West Virginia, Texas Tech and Baylor in the Big 12.

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