We have finally made it to the first Saturday in the 2019 season, where we have football that counts. All day we will have incredible games that will begin some teams’ journey to the college football playoff. Before we get into the top 10 players in College Football, I just wanted to quickly toss in some predictions for who I think will make the final 4 this year.
- Alabama
- Ohio St.
- Texas
- Clemson
Getting into those picks, I don’t think the PAC-12 gets a team in the playoff again nor do I think the SEC gets 2 teams in. I truly can see Clemson getting tripped up at some point this season but with that high octane offense it will not be more than once. Texas has the opportunities to get in with potentially 2 games against Oklahoma and 1 against a feisty LSU team led by their stout defense. Plus I think that offense will put up crazy numbers all season, and I see them following the footprint of Oklahoma the past few seasons. There was a part of me that wanted to put Wisconsin in here because Jonathan Taylor is the truth and I regard him very highly as you will see. I just couldn’t pull the trigger because all around I don’t think they are as talented as Ohio St. Alabama number 1 for me as they bring back Tua and arguably the best receiving corps in the nation along with an experienced defense that is looking to shake off that blowout loss against Clemson last year. With that being said I will take Bama over Clemson, Ohio St. over Texas and in the national championship I believe Alabama gets back to the promised land. Teams that I would watch out for to make a final 4 push would be: LSU, Georgia, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Notre Dame. Now let’s get into the top 10. If you missed the previous 10 players on this list, click here.
10. Jake Fromm QB Georgia
2018 stats and/or awards: 67.4% 2761 yards 30 TDs 6 INT
#2 in SEC in completion percentage (#9 in NCAA)
#9 in SEC in passing yards
This is the guy who made 2 different QB’s transfer from Georgia, who in turn went to their respective schools and made a combined 3 QB’s transfer. Fromm has been nothing but consistent since arriving at Georgia. Some people may look at him as a game manager, but I see Fromm as a leader of this offense. In games last season against Alabama, Florida, Texas, and Auburn, Fromm completed 64% of his passes with 11 TD’s and 2 INT’s. Fromm should take the next step with this deadly offense this year to prove he isn’t just a game manager.
9. AJ Epenesa DE Iowa
2018 stats and/or awards: 37 total tackles, 16.5 TFL, 10.5 sacks, 3 Pass deflections, 4 FF
Led Big 10 in sacks and forced fumbles (#9 in NCAA in both)
Epenesa versus Chase Young will be a debate for best edge rusher in the Big Ten and most likely the entire NCAA. Epenesa wins more with power and explosiveness in contrast to Young who wins with speed and finesse. Epenesa just showed more production last year so as of right now I have him ahead but I think both will be top draft picks come 2019.
8. Andrew Thomas LT Georgia
2018 stats and/or awards: SI.com All-America First Team
2018 Associated Press & Walter Camp All-America Second Team
2018 Coaches All-SEC First Team
2018 Associated Press All-SEC Second Team
A guy who probably deserves much credit as anybody when you talk about Georgia’s rise back to prominence is Andrew Thomas. He keeps Fromm clean from backside pressure, only allowing 11 pressures all season out of 657 snaps played. He has the size and power that will no doubt make him a force to reckoned with in a conference that is won mainly inside the trenches.
7. Rondale Moore WR Purdue
2018 stats: 114 catches 1258 yards 12 TDs, 21 carries 213 yards 2 tds
2018 consensus all american
Led NCAA in receptions
Led Big 10 in receiving yards and TDS (#8 in TDS for NCAA)
Averaged 20.1 yards per kickoff return
#2 in kick return yards in Big 10
Rondale Moore was a 4 star recruit who came out and got 313 all purpose yards in his first college game. From there it was just a lot of the same as he dominated almost every category and was a problem every time he had the ball in his hand. Purdue’s main priority offensively has to be scheming a way to consistently get the ball in Moore’s hands in open space. If he has a few yards of space he can turn that into consistent big gains against most college players due to his great speed and short area quickness.
6. Travis Etienne RB Clemson
2018 stats: 1658 rushing yards, 24 TDs, 8.1 yards per carry
2018 ACC Player of the Year
Led NCAA in rushing TDs
Led ACC in rushing yards (#4 in NCAA)
Led ACC in yards per carry (#5 in NCAA)
#1 all time in ACC in yards per carry (7.8)
Trevor Lawrence will get most of the hype and it is deservedly so, but if that is gonna cause defenses to sleep on Etienne good luck. Etienne is one of the best offensive weapons in the nation. Etienne has great vision while running with patience, that combined with a great burst to and through the hole. He also has sneaky strength and isn’t easy to tackle. Clemson’s offense has no weaknesses and if their defense can hold strong another playoff appearance seems likely.
5. Jerry Jeudy WR Alabama
2018 stats and/or awards: 68 catches 1315 yards 14 TDs 19.3 yards per reception
2018 Consensus All-American
2018 Fred Biletnikoff award
#10 in NCAA in receiving yards (#2 in SEC)
Led SEC in TDS (#3 in NCAA)
#4 in SEC in receptions
The speedy leader of the Alabama receiving corps which may be the best in the nation, ranks in at number 5 here. His acceleration and ability to change direction on a dime is the best in college at the moment. The production matches the ability and traits as he took home the award for best receiver in college football last season. Another year with Tua should only raise Jeudy’s draft stock as he looks to break out on Sunday’s in the near future.
4. Grant Delpit S LSU
2018 stats and/or awards: 74 total tackles, 9.5 TFL, 5.0 sacks, 5 INT, 9 PD’s
2018 Consensus All-American
Led SEC in INT’s (#10 in NCAA)
This guy may be the most NFL ready player in college right now. He continues the tradition of great LSU defensive backs and will definitely be a top 10 pick at the very least. He has elite ball skills and has also recorded at least 1 tackle in every game he’s played. Delpit can do almost everything asked from the safety position and will be the leader of a LSU defense that has high hopes this season.
3. Trevor Lawrence QB Clemson
2018 stats and/or awards: 65.2% 3280 yards 30 TD’s 4 INT’s
2019 national champ 20/32 347 yards 3 tds 0 int
Led ACC in passing TD’s
Led ACC in yards per attempt
#2 in passing yards and completion percentage
This may be the hot take of the list, as Urban Meyer recently said he thought Lawrence was the best college QB he’d ever seen. There is a lot to love about Lawrence’s game, he has the size needed from the QB position along with the arm strength and can be deadly accurate on deeper throws. I will go into why I think Tua is better, but I think it is extremely close and you cannot go wrong with Lawrence as he has all the tools to be a Heisman candidate not only this year but next year as well.
2. Jonathan Taylor RB Wisconsin
2018 stats and/or awards: 2194 rushing yards 16 TD’s 7.1 yards per carry
2018 Consensus All-American
2018 Doak Walker award
Led NCAA in rushing yards
Led Big 10 in rushing TDs (#9 in NCAA)
#25 all time in yards per attempt (5 in Big 10) 6.9
Jonathan Taylor is a cheat code in the college game. I think he could go to the NFL right now and rush for 1200+ yards. He ran a 4.42 40 in high school, and if you combine that with his ability to just purely bulldoze opposing linebackers, I don’t see how you can truly stop him. This guy had 5 games of 200+ yards with one of them going for 321 and 3 touchdowns. Those numbers don’t lie, Taylor will be a stud and has to be the first running back selected in the upcoming draft.
1. Tua Tagovaiola QB Alabama
2018 stats and/or awards: 69.0% 3,966 passing yards 43 TD’s 6 INT’s
In my opinion Tua Tagovaiola is the best player in college football in 2019. I think his ability to read and scan defenses in addition to his athletic skill set makes him an elite QB prospect. His deep ball is a thing of beauty and while it didn’t work for him in the National Championship game last year, you can’t let that game take away from what he did all of 2018. He was so good that early in the season he would be dominate the first half and get to take the second half off. 6 games of 4+ touchdowns, Tua was just consistently great for the first 12 games and we shouldn’t led the last few blind us from what he was and what he could be.
