Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with the top five teams based on roster talent, his Farrell Freshman Five and a look at breaking up the Big Ten divisions.
MORE THREE-POINT STANCE: Saturday's Shine and Shame | SEC hot seats
TOPS IN TALENT
The loss of talent can often cripple a team, but in recent years we’ve seen numerous teams simply reload their rosters and march through a tough schedule - and this year is no different. Last year, during the season my top five for roster talent was Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, LSU and Florida (yes, Florida). How have things changed, if at all, this season?
1. ALABAMA
Alabama once again leads the charge with very few weaknesses on the roster. The Tide are led by elite NFL prospects like Minkah Fitzpatrick, Calvin Ridley, Da’Ron Payne, Damien Harris, Jonah Williams and many, many others. This roster is loaded with future NFL stars and is as deep when it comes to talent as any in the nation. No surprise here, huh?
2. CLEMSON
The Tigers miss quarterback DeShaun Watson badly, but are loaded at almost every other position. Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence, Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant form the best defensive line unit in the country, Deon Cain and Ray-Ray McCloud are elite playmakers on offense, Mitch Hyatt is a potential franchise NFL left tackle and Dorian O’Daniel has emerged as one of the best linebackers in college football. You’re going to see a ton of these guys in the NFL in the next few years.
3. OHIO STATE
The defensive line has been overrated, but there is still plenty of talent, led by Nick Bosa, Sam Hubbard, Dre’Mont Jones and Tyquan Lewis. Jerome Baker is an elite linebacker and the secondary has talent despite being inconsistent, led by Denzel Ward. On offense, J.T. Barrett is up and down, but still one of the more dangerous quarterbacks in the country, and running back J.K. Dobbins is a future star. Billy Price is probably the best center in football, and up and down this roster there is NFL talent, which is why its puzzling the Buckeyes have been blown out twice this season.
4. USC
Talk about underachieving a bit? The USC roster is loaded with top prospects and young talent, led by Sam Darnold, Ronald Jones II, Deontay Burnett and others. Cameron Smith and Porter Gustin are freaky talents at linebacker, and Jack Jones and Iman Marshall have all the talent in the world but lack focus, for whatever reason. Stephen Carr is an example of the young talent on the roster, as is Tyler Vaughns, but they can’t seem to put it together consistently.
5. FLORIDA STATE
This is how sad things are at FSU - and how poorly this team has been coached. On defense alone, players like Brian Burns, Derrick Nnadi, Josh Sweat, Matthew Thomas, Tarvarus McFadden and Derwin James could all make a case down the line for first- or second-round consideration, and that doesn’t even include guys with great potential who haven’t put it together yet, like Stanford Samuels and Levonta Taylor. Yes, the offense stinks, but Auden Tate has NFL potential, and running backs Jacques Patrick and Cam Akers will be playing in the NFL someday for sure. Ryan Izzo is a very good tight end and Deondre Francois can be an elite quarterback if he comes back healthy. I considered teams like LSU, Michigan, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Auburn for this spot, but FSU has the most NFL-ready talent of all of them overall, and yet it stinks as a team. Go figure.
FARRELL'S FRESHMAN FIVE
The Farrell Freshman Five is back this week with a look at the best true freshman performances from the past weekend.
1) Cam Akers, Florida State – Akers had his breakout game behind a weak offensive line against Syracuse with 199 yards and 2 scores on 22 carries. He’s going to be a great one.
2) Jake Fromm, Georgia – Fromm had to throw the ball to win. That’s right, that hasn’t happened that much this season. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 196 yards and two scores.
3) Tristan Wirfs, Iowa – A true freshman starting at right tackle against a very talented defensive front of Ohio State and he kept his quarterback clean for the most part. Impressive job.
4) Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin – Maybe we’re just becoming used to Taylor dominating as 29 carries for 183 yards and a score is now routine.
5) Larry Rountree, Missouri – In a huge win over Florida, Rountree had 83 yards and three scores as well as averaging 32.7 yards-per-return as a kickoff returner.
BIG TEN MAKEOVER
I’ll skip my weekly Heisman watch because, let’s be honest, Baker Mayfield has it wrapped up for now, barring something crazy happening. So, instead of that, I figured I’d take a look at restructuring the Big Ten, as many have suggested because of a lack of parity. Some have said there should be zero divisions in college football - like the structure in the Big 12 - but I disagree. I like divisions, I just don’t think the balance of power in the Big Ten is fair with the East versus West structure. It’s not fair from a traditional aspect, from a recruiting aspect or from any other aspect you can think of. Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State alone will have an advantage in recruiting and roster talent over every team from the West, and mediocre programs like Maryland and Rutgers and Indiana have about as much a chance to win their division each year as I have of dating Charlize Theron. So let’s not go to stupid names like LEGENDS and LEADERS, but instead come up with some non-geographical names and put the following teams in each division
DIVISION A
This keeps the traditional rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan alive (sorry Michigan State), and makes for a much more competitive division with the addition of Iowa and Northwestern. Sorry Purdue, Minnesota and Illinois, you’re out of luck, but someone has to be.
DIVISION B
Michigan State and Penn State already have a rivalry of sorts, and now Penn State-Wisconsin and Wisconsin-Michigan State can become a thing. This makes for a much more exciting “second” division in the conference and some new matchups that would draw some interest. The biggest goal of changing things up is to get Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State out of the same division. Mission accomplished, right?
My assumption? Most Big Ten fans would hate this, but change is hard.
