ESPN. Top 100 players in CFB
They have only announced 80-100.
Tied 83
Jake Ryan
Michigan Wolverines
Linebacker
Redshirt senior
After an injury-shortened 2013 season, Ryan could put himself among the Big Ten's elite defenders this fall. Poised for a surge after his sophomore year, when he earned All-Big Ten honors, Ryan has had a tackle for loss in 25 of his past 30 games.
they will still have Johnny Football number 1. Maybe for the next 10 years. The only person i can think of who ESPN would put above him is LeBron James.
No Tebow is still #1
Johnny Football is #1 ... Tebow is the Holy Father.
above Manziel, but below LeBron.
Ryan at #83 is actually pretty generous given his injury-shortened season last year and his move to a new position. I'll take it!
Given past performance, I still view JMFR as the best player on UM's team. Therefore, I'd predict no one ahead of him. However, I think Funchess-hype (and NFL-potential) may put him ahead. DG may also get a nod as a 5th year QB with great talent. I don't think Clark or Countess make the list...nor should they at this point. Hopefully, by end of year, this list features many more in the winged helmet.
Do you guys think Michigan will have any others in the Top-100? Maybe besides Funchess?
Dennis Norfleet because he's run back like 18 kickoffs so far
Don't forget about the telegraphed jet sweeps
He better add some straight-line speed to his squabbles if he's going to house kickoffs.
But only if swag is one the metrics used in the evaluation.
You spell his name Northfleet.
SRK, for today's moment of levity.
Norfleet is totally better than Stevie B., because the hype for this Junior is totally normal, right?
83? GTFO
He is in the top-fifty.
If it weren't for the injury, I'm sure he would be.
But what about the injury?
If it weren't for the injury, I'm sure he would be.
If it weren't for the injury, I'm sure he would be.
If it weren't for the injury, I'm sure he would be.
There's no way he's one of the top 50 best in CFB. If that top 50 was evenly split between offense in defense, you're saying Ryan is one of the top 25 defensive players in CFB, and there's just no way that's true.
When you're putting together a list of the top players in CFB, its a little tough to fault someone for going heavy on the SEC a year after they just had 63 players drafted into the NFL -- more than double any other conference. And over the past decade+ the SEC has had far more drafted into than any other conference and its not even close.
So unless you think the talent scounts in the NFL have an SEC bias too, get out of here with this ESPN = SEC homer crap. They are the best confernce. Get over it.
but it' not due to any tie=ins of any nature. It is, however, due to the recruiting practices that allow, if necessary, any SEC team to get a fresh 25 every year. Of course due to the need for experienced players and some players proving their worth early, this does not happen. However, very few fifth year players, unless they were just waiting for the underclassmen to get drafted, on a percentage basis when compared to other conferences are asked to stick around.
If you can, and they can, flirt a total disregard for the numbers handed down by the NCAA, they are certainly going to take advantage of them. When, if they should do a poll of bb players, don't look for 100 because you only have five starters per game, and don't look for SEC heavy choices. They will get more fb players for the above reasons. BB, on the other hand, allows players to leave earlier, if they decide to attend at all, so there won't be a like list. This is an honest assessment of a dishonest practice.
Like others, I would agree that if not for the injury, Ryan is probably in the discussion for being somewhere in the upper half of this list simply because he has shown that he is an excellent linebacker.
I am pretty confident in the switch to MLB though because I think Ryan is what yuo would perhaps want there in the new alignment, so it will be interesting to see if this is perhaps a case of Ryan being underrated on this particular list, I would think.
However, considering that there might be perhaps 10-15 Big Ten players (guessing, of course) on the list, it's a relatively high compliment from this standpoint.
As essentially the 1st team all conference, except a little better because it will surely have 1st and 2nd team All-SEC because they are that much better than everybody ever. So, they consider Jake Ryan to be one of the best ~14 players in the B1G.
so all this nonsense about msu "developing" players....
well... Ryan is likely gonna get drafted in the top 3 rounds.... Bullough even with his HGH, didn't....
and didn't RR burn Ryan's redshirt? Imagine if we did what msu does, and redshirt everyone.
He's a redshirt senior this upcoming year. And naming one player compared to another one player doesn't really mean a whole lot. Both coaching staffs have some "3-stars" (Bullough was a 4-star, FWIW) that they can claim they developed, and 4-stars the others didn't. Regardless, Bullough was a hell of a college football player, which is what most of us care about.
I would be thrilled if Michigan got to the point of redshirting nearly everyone.
If Braxton Miller is anywhere in the top 10, which I imagine he will be because of all the Urban Meyer love, I will vomit with rage.
The kid's ability to throw a football is maybe a step above Denard's. That's obviously not saying much
I hate Ohio, but Miller has improved his throwing considerably. He threw 24tds and 7ints last year with a higher completion pct than Denard ever had. Hate to admit it but he's probably the best rushing qb in cfb, won a ton of games blah, blah. That being said, I hate Ohio! He's still top 25 though.
Could his trhowing get any worse though? There was no where to go but up for him when it came to throwing the ball
I was referencing two things, russale2012's assertion that Miller's throwing was/is only marginally better than Denard and that Miller is probably in the top 25% of this best 100 list. To answer your question yes it could. Denard regressed as a passer, Braxton has gotten better every year. Miller's first two years passing statistics are comparable to Denards last two, they've trended in opposite directions.
I would take Devin over Braxton any day of the week for what it's worth. Denard is one of my all time favorite players at UM, but his passing acumen left a lot to be desired. I actually think that both Devin's will make an appearance on this list. They both have huge pro potential and as others have noted are on numerous cfb award watch list.
He'll be much higher after this season.
Give him some time, and I'm sure he will be higher. Just needs to prove himself
All because of injury he is this low... However I am interested to see if and where Funchess is on the list, he is a special talent that should be one of the if not the best in the country