Five-Star Check Up: Class of 2013 Five-stars who are still in college
Every Monday during the college football season we will check in on five five-star prospects to see how they’re performing and if they are living up to the lofty billing that led them to be ranked at the top of the Rivals100. For the first week of the college football season we take a look at some of the old timers in the five-star club, the remaining members of the Class of 2013 that are still in college football.
The No. 6 prospect in the Class of 2013, Bigelow has struggled to live up to his lofty ranking coming out of high school, mainly because of injuries. After redshirting in 2013 and missing all of 2014 with a knee injury, Biglow flashed his potential for the Trojans in 2015 before once again missing all of 2016 with another knee injury. This year he’s healthy and he finally got back on the field in USC’s 49-31 victory over Western Michigan on Saturday, playing and recording one tackle.
Another five-star signee of USC in the Class of 2013, Browne opened 2016 as the starter for the Trojans but eventually gave way to Sam Darnold and elected to transfer to Pittsburgh for his final year of eligibility. In his first start for the Panthers, he had his share of ups and downs and finished with 140 yards passing and a touchdown in a 28-21 overtime victory over Youngstown State.
A subject of quite of bit of intrigue over the years Thomas is now a redshirt senior for the ‘Noles. Before he ever arrived in Tallahassee Thomas asked for a release from his scholarship in the spring of 2016, but eventually he was talked into sticking with Florida State. After playing in a few games a freshman, he was injured, leading to a redshirt year and he also missed the 2015 season after being suspended. His career finally came alive in 2016, when he led the Seminoles in tackles. After missing most of preseason camp, Thomas returned to form on Saturday, leading the Seminoles with 10 tackles in their 24-7 loss to Alabama.
One of the top running backs in the Class of 2013, Tyner started his career at Oregon and played a major role in the Ducks’ run to the National Championship Game in 2014. But after suffering what was deemed a career-ending injury, Tyner medically retired and sat out the 2015 and 2016 seasons. After deciding to return to football and being ineligible to play for the Ducks, Tyner transferred to the rival Oregon State Beavers, where he has appeared in both of the team’s games this season. On Saturday in the Beavers’ 35-32 win over Portland State, he had two carries for 10 yards.
Coming out of Memphis (Tenn.) Central in 2013, Herron vaulted to five-star status after an impressive showing at the 2013 Army All-American Game. His time at LSU has been anything but smooth as he struggled to be productive early in his career and also ran into troubles off the field, including an arrest for a bicycle theft in 2014. Herron finally started to tap into his talent in 2015 and 2016, becoming an important part of the Tigers’ rotation. This season, he’s expected to see an expanded role, but Herron didn’t appear in LSU’s season-opening 27-0 shutout of BYU and appears to be running out of time to live up to his lofty ranking.