The chances of any form of the school football season being played in 2020 seem to worsen over time. However, like the band that continued to play as the Titanic sank into the Atlantic Ocean, we continue to advance.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 have already stopped gambling this fall, but maybe the CCA, big 12 and SEC will check to save something?
For today’s edition of “Suspend Disbelief,” let’s talk about the X factors: guys that still star, but probably want to be to keep their groups up to their potential.
Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State were well established as pre-season favorites to succeed in the school playoffs. These groups don’t want the X factors to be the most productive in the country, so they may not be covered here.
However, there are more than a dozen groups on the other side of this cup line that can compete for a national championship if a single escape candidate hits the mark.
It is from this collection of groups that we decided on the most important X factors of the CFB and indexed them in alphabetical order through the school.
Please note that this is not intended to capture each and every team with a decent chance of achieving the last 4 games of school football.
It should be noted in particular that neither Oklahoma nor Penn State appears on the list, even though any of them would open the season in the AP’s Top 10. Teams that reach the cup only have alignment conditions with clearer opportunities for X-points to thrive.
The defensive line of downtown and the soul of Auburn last season. Derrick Brown, Marlon Davidson and company have compensated for a true successful quarterback in their first year and a respectable ground game, but nothing compared to what the Tigers had in 2010, 2013 and 2016.
However, Auburn will have his seven most sensible without Nick Coe, pick No. 7 (Brown) and No. 47 (Davidson) in the 2020 NFL Draft.
That probably means that Derick Hall and Coynis Miller Jr. rise to the starting line-up, despite a combined total of 22 tackles in their career without a catch.
However, in all honesty, it is probably more a matter of intensity graphics than an accusation of its potential. Miller among the 150 most sensible recruits in 2018, as Hall in 2019. Neither has had an immediate impact, but they are still expected to play a key role in this defense. If they’re willing to do so in 2020, Auburn will be tough in a loaded division.
Projection 2020: tackled, 11.5 tackled for defeat, 5.5 catches
The escape here is undeniable.
He has been transferred to Florida, has been granted immediate eligibility and will seek a new beginning in the Sunshine State.
And definitely the opportunity is there to take with the Gators. Lamical Perine showed no notable numbers as a senior (676 yards, six touchdowns), but was obviously number one on the ball carrier’s depths table.
Dameon Pierce (305 yards, four touchdowns) becomes the alleged starter with Perine out, but that’s no guarantee. Lingard can win the task if he proves that the knee injury is him. Even if he does not serve as an initiator, he deserves to be prominent as the main endorsement.
2020 projection: runs, 502 yards, six touchdowns
To put it lightly, Cordale Flott will be tested.
He’s not just at the SEC, where he’ll face quarterbacks like Kellen Mond, Kyle Trask and K.J. Costello, however, will also start in front of the counterattack’s most productive corner, Derek Stingley Jr., whom those talented quarterbacks will seek to avoid as much as possible.
With the 2020 draft picks Grant Delpit and Kristian Fulton offstage, much of that duty will fall to Flott. And assuming the Tigers aren’t going to have one of the biggest offenses of all time for a moment in a year in a row, they’ll want the defense to be even better if they hope to repeat.
In fact, Flot was not expected to be a key contributor as a true rookie last season. Ranked 610th most productive player in the 2019 category, it is only the fourth-highest-rated corner in the LSU signatories organization.
But he ended up watching action in thirteen games, adding an opposite start to Ole Miss. He had 15 tackles and four assists. He sees a lot more playing time.
Projection 2020: 43 tackles, passes defended, two interceptions
These numbers are, in order: running attempts, yards consistent with hauling, receptions and yards consistent with catches.
And Notre Dame is in the market to have an effect on artists after wasting each of its top 3 receivers (Chase Claypool, Cole Kmet and Chris Finke), as well as its main runner (Tony Jones Jr.). Aside from field marshal Ian Book’s 546 yards per land, Lenzy had many more total yards since the scrum (454) than any other Members of the Fighting Irish.
The 5’11”, 180 pounds did not attract much attention last year, however, thanks to a similar length and speed, comparisons with the old wide receiver of Notre Dame Will Fuller V (6’0″, 184 lbs) will be common and inevitable. If you did it correctly, Fuller led the Fighting Irish in receptions, yards and touchdowns in 2014 and 2015 before being decided on the first circular of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Lenzy’s upper limit may not be as high, however, he gains great advantages by fitting one of the favorite goals of one of the country’s best-established quarterbacks.
2020 projection: receptions, 989 yards, 8 touchdowns
For all of the national attention paid to quarterback Justin Herbert, stingy defense was arguably the biggest reason Oregon spent much of last season in the hunt for the College Football Playoff. The Ducks held six opponents to seven points or fewer and allowed just five rushing touchdowns in the entire season.
The defensive line and the sideline look solid. In fact, the latter unit would have been ranked among the most productive in the country if the Pac-12 had not postponed its season. But the supporter was a bit of a question after Troy Dye and Bryson Young graduated.
The Ducks still wouldn’t have had a selection to depend on the real freshman scholars Justin Flowe and Noah Sewell.
The good news is that those 5-star recruits were the No. 1 and No. 2 supporters in class 2020. It’s not like they’re throwing walk-ons into the fireplace and just hoping for the best.
Another good news is that the Ducks have earned a reputation for making the most of freshmen. Oregon’s 2019 highest productive signatory Kayvon Thibodeaux, who had more catches (9.0) than any other genuine recruit. Penei Sewell and his prized recruit in 2018 and has temporarily become one of the most productive offensive linemen of the last decade of school football. Penei Sewell may be the first overall pick in the 2021 draft, and it is hardly incomprehensible that Thibodeaux can claim the name in 2022.
If Oregon’s good fortune with freshmen continues, the Ducks may have the number one defense the next time they play. But if Flowe and Sewell want the year to exploit their collective potential, the Ducks can have a mess on their hands in the middle of defense.
Projection 2021: 127 tackled, 8.5 catches
Fun Fact: This isn’t even the first time I’ve written about Tarik Black as one of the biggest potential X-factors in college football. It looked like he would be a major player in Michigan’s offense before the 2018 season. But after a 2017 campaign that was cut short by a broken left foot, he suffered a broken right foot just days before the Wolverines’ 2018 season opener and missed the majority of that campaign as well.
In Sam Ehlinger, they still have one of the most experienced field marshals in the country. However, his two favorite goals have disappeared. Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson have combined for 253 receptions over more than two seasons and placed first in the team in receptions and yards per reception in 2019.
They still have Brennan Eagles (32 receptions, 522 yards, six touchdowns in 2019) as the planned No. 1 catcher, but the rest of the intensity table is in play. Don’t be if Black takes the moment’s position and eclipses his totals over the last three years with Michigan.
2020 projection: 39 receptions, 497 yards, touchdowns
Except injury, Isaiah Spiller will be the star of the Texas backfield. Shut-off completely. He had 10 touchdowns and 1,149 total yards in the scrum last year as a rookie. While much of that damage has occurred against non-SEC enemies: it has accumulated 439 yards on the floor and five touchdowns against Texas State, Lamar and UTSA, however, is one of the five most sensible ball carriers at this year’s convention. Year.
Aggies also necessarily have a beginner ball carrier in the form of senior quarterback Kellen Mond. The double-threat quarterback has run for 1,315 yards and 18 touchdowns in the more than 3 seasons, a who averaged nearly exactly 10 career attempts consistent with the game.
But even with this duo, Texas A-M stood at the back of the SEC in yardage on the court consistent with last season’s game and stopped through above-average defenses. In five games (all losses) against Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia and LSU, the Aggies averaged 60.8 yards on the court and had two touchdowns.
If it can emerge as a valid backfield backup, A-M has a much greater chance of winning the loaded SEC from the West. And with Jashaun Corbin, Cordarrian Richardson and Jacob Kibodi offstage, Ainias Smith turns out to be the only option to fill that void.
Projection 2020: 75 runs, 423 yards, touchdowns; 30 receptions, 317 yards, 4 touchdowns
Maybe the “X factor” isn’t a proper description for Nakia Watson. This name is regularly reserved for guys who can do a few hundred yards or some catches or intercepts during the season, when it is almost certain that the ball carrier leaving Wisconsin will run more than 1000 yards.
With the exception of the 2015 season, the Badgers averaged at least two hundred yards on the court consistent with the game for more than a decade. Whether it’s John Clay, James White, Montee Ball, Melvin Gordon, Corey Clement or Jonathan Taylor, he covered up the quarterback, this guy has sometimes excelled.
And with Taylor offstage, it’s time to find out if Watson can follow that trend or if the Wisconsin offense, which also replaces receiver Quintez Cephus, will collapse.
Perhaps the largest X factor in Watson Wisconsin, however, its limited pleasure is seamlessly the main explanation for why Wisconsin is an X factor, if that makes sense.
Watson had 74 runs for 331 yards and two rookie touchdowns. For the sake of the Badgers, I hope you will at the transport shipyard branch at this time of year. But even if you don’t, expect a good dose of touches. Clement averaged only 4.4 yards consistent with the race in 2016, however, he still had 1,375 yards and 15 touchdowns thanks to Wisconsin’s unwavering commitment to the race.
Projection 2021: 196 runs, 1024 yards, touchdowns
Probabilities provided through Caesars. Recruitment data through 247Sports, unless otherwise stated.