ESPN: top 100 CFB players going into the season

Submitted by oriental andrew on August 15th, 2023 at 4:05 PM

We've had the athletic freaks list, the preseason all americans list, now it's the top 100 players irrespective of position. Where do Michigan players rank? Starting with the top 10:

  1. Caleb Williams, USC
  2. Brock Bowers, UGA
  3. Marvin Harrison Jr, osu
  4. Harold Perkins Jr, WR LSU
  5. Drake Maye, UNC
  6. Michael Penix, WA
  7. Blake Corum, MICHIGAN
    1. Corum, a driving force for Michigan's drive to a second straight Big Ten title and CFP berth, was a Doak Walker finalist, unanimous All-American and Big Ten Running Back of the Year in 2022 (1,463 rushing yards and 18 TDs). He had eight straight 100-yard rushing games from Sept. 24 through Nov. 19 last season.
  8. Jordan Travis, QB FSU
  9. Jared Verse, DL FSU
  10. Mykel Williams, DE UGA

17. Donovan Edwards

  • Edwards had 991 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in 2022. He established a career-high 216 rushing yards in Michigan's 45-23 victory at Ohio State last year. He rushed for over 100 yards five times last season.

19. Zak Zinter

  • A member of Michigan's offensive line that won a second straight Joe Moore Award (best offensive line in the country), Zinter was a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2022. The Wolverines rushed for 238.9 yards per game, fifth in the FBS.

39. JJ McCarthy

  • McCarthy was a Davey O'Brien semifinalist in 2022 with 2,719 passing yards and 22 passing TDs, helping pilot Michigan to a second straight College Football Playoff appearance. He added 306 rushing yards and five scores on the ground. He threw for a career-high 343 yards in the Wolverines' loss to TCU in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.

55. Will Johnson

  • Johnson finished second on the Wolverines with three interceptions. He had a career-high eight tackles in Michigan's decisive 45-23 victory at Ohio State while picking off two passes in a 43-22 victory over Purdue as the program claimed a second straight Big Ten title. Johnson was part of a secondary that ended the year sixth in the Big Ten in passing defense (191.8 YPG).

56. Junior Colson

  • Colson recorded 101 tackles (42 solo) to lead a Wolverines' defense that finished third in the country in rushing defense (85.2 YPG) and fifth in the FBS in scoring defense (13.4 PPG). He had double-digit tackles in four games last year, paced by 15 in a 43-22 victory over Purdue in the Big Ten championship.

Michigan has 6 players repped. So does osu. Also, Joe Milton is #76. 

MGoBoard
Football

mooseman

August 15th, 2023 at 4:16 PM ^

Best of luck to Joe, but I'm not sure who has gotten more mileage from a single bowl game performance: Joe Milton or the buckeyes. 

At least Milton won.

Joined: 07/10/2008

MGoPoints: 35498

mgoja

August 15th, 2023 at 4:16 PM ^

It would have been nice if the intro to the article provided some elaboration on how the authors defined "best". 

Brock Bowers is really really good.  I'm not sure that he should be #2 on the list.  But if "best" is intended to measure how well each player plays his position relative to some sort of ideal for that position (say Michael Barrett), then perhaps there's a good argument to make him #1.  Yet the article lists 4 QBs in the top 10 -- so clearly the impact of the position carries some weight.  All in all giving these players a numerical ranking from 1 to 100 feels like a pointless exercise intended more to gather clicks than to illuminate.

Joined: 11/29/2022

MGoPoints: 2506

S.G. Rice

August 15th, 2023 at 4:24 PM ^

It would have been nice if the intro to the article provided some elaboration on how the authors defined "best". 

 

Pretty sure it does.  IIRC, respondents were asked whether player X was better than player Y.

 

Edit:  "Methodology: Voters were presented with a series of one-on-one votes. For example, "Who should be ranked higher for the 2023 season: Blake Corum or Caleb Williams?" Think of it as an Oklahoma drill of statistical reasoning. More than 10,000 votes later, these were the results."

Joined: 07/18/2008

MGoPoints: 23187

mgoja

August 15th, 2023 at 4:34 PM ^

Player X is considered better than player Y based on what criteria?

I'd pick Williams over Corum because I think he can impact a game more than Corum.  And I'd  tend to rate offensive lineman lower -- conceptually something along the lines of wins above replacement.  If that's what the authors are doing, fine.  Would simply be good if they made it clear.

Joined: 11/29/2022

MGoPoints: 2506

Vasav

August 15th, 2023 at 6:30 PM ^

The NFL position values are a bit different than that (and yours probably align with most fans and pundits) - LT, QB, RT, Edge, DT/G, C, LB, WR, K, DB, TE, RB, P, LS

So ignoring the specialists - NFL RBs are the least valuable (but some of the most charismatic). NFL is a different game tho, but I do think generally, OL are WAY underrated by analysts because they're so much less statistically evaluatable.

Joined: 12/13/2009

MGoPoints: 19255

Amazinblu

August 15th, 2023 at 4:25 PM ^

Great idea on the approach - and, adding the position to all of the names might be helpful too.

Bowers is a very strong player - tough to defend and tackle - as Michigan knows from the game against Georgia during the CFP.    Georgia's roster is stacked - and, I wonder if the QB's in the running in Athens have the ability to deliver the ball accurately to him and the rest of the receiving corps.  My guess is - Georgia will continue to be a very tough out.   The only tougher games on their schedule until the SEC CCG are - hosting South Carolina in week 3 and @ Tennessee in week 12.

Joined: 01/22/2010

MGoPoints: 41285

oriental andrew

August 15th, 2023 at 5:52 PM ^

Fine, I'll do it for the top 5 at least. Position Rank, Name (overall rank)D

QB: 

  1. Caleb Williams (1)
  2. Drake Maye (5)
  3. Michael Penix (6)
  4. Jordan Travis (8)
  5. Bo Nix (14)

RB: 

  1. Blake Corum (7)
  2. Donovan Edwards (17)
  3. Raheim Sanders, Ark (18)
  4. Quinshon Judkins, Ole Miss (22)
  5. Will Shipley, Clemson (26)

WR/TE:

  1. Brock Bowers (2)
  2. Marvin Harrison Jr (3)
  3. Emeka Egbuka (13)
  4. Rome Odunze, Wash (20)
  5. Malik Nabers, LSU (37)

OL/G/C: 

  1. Joe Alt, ND (11)
  2. Olu Fashanu, PSU (16)
  3. Zak Zinter (19)
  4. Cooper Beebe, KSU (27)
  5. Sedrick Van Pran, UGA (42)

DL/DE/Edge:

  1. Jared Verse, FSU (9)
  2. Mykel Williams, UGA (10)
  3. Jer'zahn Newton, ILL (35)
  4. Bralen Trice, Wash (62)
  5. Tyler Davis, Clemson (66)

DB/CB/S:

  1. Kool-Aid McKinstry, ala (12)
  2. Malaki Starks, UGA (40)
  3. Kalen King, PSU (45)
  4. Cooper Deean, Iowa (46)
  5. Will Johnson (55)

LB:

  1. Harold Perkins Jr, LSU (4)
  2. Jeremiah Trotter Jr, Clem (21)
  3. Jamon Dumas-Johnson, UGA (24)
  4. Dallas Turner, Ala (28)
  5. Barrett Carter, Tenn (34)

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 56088

Amazinblu

August 15th, 2023 at 4:29 PM ^

NIL has influenced some decisions - we all know that.

I wonder if Caleb Williams has solidified his NIL deal with Ulta Beauty - and, their entire group of nail polish products - including Jin Soon, Chanel, and Dior.

Joined: 01/22/2010

MGoPoints: 41285

Walmart Wolverine

August 15th, 2023 at 5:54 PM ^

Bruce Feldman's freak list dropped today.

1.   Nyckoles Harbor
2.   MHJ

6.  Kris Jenkins

people inside the Michigan program think he’s now ready to take a huge step forward as an impact guy. He’s up to 307 pounds and is more powerful and explosive than ever. He did 32 reps of 225 on the bench and did 760 pounds on the combo twist. Only last year’s top Freak, Mazi Smith, some 30 pounds heavier, did more slinging around 800 pounds.

Jenkins recently did a Turkish get-up with a 170-pound dumbbell — the heaviest Herbert has ever witnessed. Jenkins does pull-ups with a 100-pound weight strapped to his waist. He also moves incredibly well for being a 300-plus pounder, running a 7.16 3-cone, a 4.33 shuttle, broad-jumping 9-8 and vertical-jumping 34 inches.

Jenkins’ shuttle and 3-cone times are both almost two-tenths of a second faster than the quickest interior defensive lineman did at this year’s NFL combine. His broad jump would be tied for the best. His vertical jump would be second-best, and only Smith topped his number on the bench press.

12.   Amorion Walker

he’s made an eye-catching transformation since arriving at Michigan at 156 pounds. Now, he’s 6-3 1/4, 180 pounds and has crazy athleticism. This offseason he blazed through the 3-cone drill in a stunning 6.10 seconds.

“It’s the fastest time I have ever seen and likely the fastest I will ever see,” strength coach Ben Herbert says. That time is almost a full half-second faster than the fastest time recorded at the combine last spring (Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 6.57). It would also blow away the combine record of 6.42 set 12 years ago by Oregon’s Jeff Maehl.

Walker’s 3.89 shuttle would’ve been tops at the combine as well. Smith-Njigba ran a 3.93 with Brandin Cooks’ 3.81 in 2014 the record. And there’s more: Walker vertical-jumped 42 1/2 inches. He did 11-4 in the broad jump and he clocked a 4.34 40, and he did it out of a two-point stance.

20.  Sonny Styles
38.  Zane Durant

50.  Alex Orjii

The 6-3, 237-pound sophomore quarterback ranks No. 1 on the team in its cumulative KPI score, which is made up of 48 Key Performance Indicators they use to track frame analysis: flexibility/mobility; strength/power; and agility/speed.

73.  Roman Wilson

 

Penn State with a bunch of guys, maybe the most in the conference

(paywall)
https://theathletic.com/4768413/2023/08/15/bruce-feldman-college-football-freaks-list/

Joined: 08/25/2008

MGoPoints: 458

tragictones

August 15th, 2023 at 6:50 PM ^

Not coincidentally,  247 also dropped their top 100 players list today

 

https://247sports.com/college/penn-state/LongFormArticle/college-football-2023-best-players-rankings-caleb-williams-marvin-harrison-brock-bowers-drake-maye-214272512/

 

Looks like Michigan, Penn State, and Ohio State all have 5

Joined: 07/23/2010

MGoPoints: 1232