Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.
The college football season is past the halfway point, so we have a good sample size to work with when it comes to true freshmen. The annual mid-season Farrell Freshman 15 continues today, highlighted by the best freshman quarterback in the land.
MIDSEASON FARRELL FRESHMAN 15: Nos. 4-6 | 7-9 | 10-12 | 13-15
MIDSEASON FARRELL 50: Nos. 1-50
THREE-POINT STANCE: More top true freshmen to watch
The skinny: Dobbins picked up his offer from Ohio State in mid-February and only waited a couple of weeks before he committed to the Buckeyes. He also considered Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M at the time of his decision. Dobbins’ performance since his arrival in Columbus, plus an injury to running back Mike Weber, quickly earned him playing time as a true freshman. He has excelled in the Ohio State offense this fall with 863 yards and five touchdowns, while averaging 7.6 yards per carry.
Farrell’s take: Dobbins was highly regarded and ranked coming out of high school despite missing nearly his entire senior season with a broken ankle. His combination of speed, leverage and the ability to catch the ball had him remain in our Rivals100 despite questions about how effective he would be upon his return. In a great year at running back in the 2017 class, we had him only behind Najee Harris (No. 1 in the country), Cam Akers (No. 3) and D’Andre Swift (No. 35). We believed in him and now believe even more. This kid could be special.
The skinny: Smith took a late November official visit to Ohio State, but after taking one to Tennessee the following weekend, he committed to the Vols soon after. The amount of positives on the Tennessee offensive unit have been few and far between this fall, but Smith is one any Vols fan can get excited about. He has started each of the eight games for the Vols so far at right guard and while he has experienced a few inconsistencies, which can be expected as a true freshman offensive lineman in the SEC, his overall performance has been impressive.
Farrell’s take: This was one of the more controversial rankings in recent memory because everyone except for Rivals had Smith as a five-star and one website had him No. 1 overall. No. 49 nationally isn’t so bad, but No. 8 at offensive tackle is a bit low clearly, at least so far, as he’s been impressive at guard. One of our question marks was whether Smith was a tackle or a guard, but either way he’s outplayed his ranking so far, and it wasn’t a low ranking at that. He’s been beyond impressive.
The skinny: Taylor initially committed to Rutgers in early May, but then flipped to Wisconsin after an official visit to Madison in October. With the Badgers’ long history of producing elite college backs and with a lack of depth at the position, expectations were high for Taylor. However, not many people envisioned his level of productivity this fall as a true freshman. Already with 1,185 yards and 11 touchdowns on 161 carries, Taylor has quickly become one of the more dominant backs in the country.
Farrell’s take: I had Taylor on my Commit Fit list when he signed in February because of his combination of size, power and quick feet in the Wisconsin offense, but I never expected him to reach this level so fast. The Badgers have done so well with New Jersey/New York-area running backs over the years, and this kid is clearly next. He broke former Badgers star running back Corey Clement’s South Jersey rushing record his senior season and has been compared with Clement often, although he’s a bit more physical. Taylor’s balance, especially, stood out when scouting him.
