Ten Best Big Ten Players in 2009

If the bowl season gave the Big Ten a kick in the crown jewels, then the offseason hasn't been much good to the conference either—especially with the defections of some of its best players. At the last look, juniors Beanie Wells (OSU), Shonn Greene (Iowa), P.J. Hill (Wisconsin), and Aaron Maybin (PSU) all declared for the NFL Draft, leaving many to think: Is the Big Ten just the Big East in disguise?

Fear not, says Alex Ferguson—here are some players that will reignite your hope in Big Ten football this year (apart from John Clay at Wisconsin—we couldn't find a photo!!).

Terrelle Pryor

To say that Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor made a splash in his year at Ohio State would be to completely underestimate what the tall guy did in red this season.

Put him down as an early Heisman contender.

Evan Royster (Penn State)

Penn State's Evan Royster ran for over 1,200 yards and 12 TDs in Penn State's Rose Bowl season.

Arrelious Benn (Illinois)

Get this: Arrelious Benn amassed over 1,000 yards last year—averaging at 15 yards a touch. And that's with a quarterback who generally made opposition secondaries his favorite receivers.

Arrelious Benn, the junior at Illinois, is one of the best wide receiving threats in the NCAA—let alone the Big Ten. Ignore him at your peril.

Dan "Boom" Herron (OSU)

"Boom" Herron is likely to replace Beanie Wells in the backfield. He made quite a splash in 2008, running for nearly 500 yards and six TDs for the Buckeyes. He added another one against Texas in the Fiesta Bowl.

Juice Williams (Illinois)

Quite possibly the most exciting quarterback in the Big Ten, Isaiah "Juice" Williams needs to learn when to throw the ball to his own player. He didn't do a whole lot of that last season, throwing too many INTs in a bowl-less season for the Illini.

But on his game, Williams is absolutely brilliant. Ignore him at your peril.

Brandon Minor (Michigan)

It wasn't great to be a Michigan Wolverine this year. But Brandon Minor's 533 yards last season—despite being out for one game—weren't too shabby. Particularly as Michigan had to spend most of their time in the air after going behind early and having to chase the game.

Jewel Hampton (Iowa)

This kid can both hurt you on a punt return or running through the defenders as an undersized, speedy running back.

Shonn Greene may be gone—but in 2009, we could be talking about Jewel Hampton...if his first name's a female "rock" star!

Daryll Clark (Penn State)

Daryll Clark was one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten in 2008, and there's no question that he could do it again in 2009. He's got enough speed to hurt defenses on short yardage, and has the arm to hurt secondaries, too.

The only problem: Who will replace Penn State's unbelievably good wide receiving corps?

Eric Decker (Minnesota)

After making rude comments about Minnesota football in 2007, it seemed right that the Golden Gophers would bite me in the butt in 2008. They did.

A lot of this was due to the play of junior wide receiver Eric Decker, who had over 1,000 yards receiving and seven TDs in a brilliant season for the Gophers, which resulted in a bowl game.

John Clay (Wisconsin)

Wisconsin won't be missing a lot in the backfield—despite the decision of P.J. Hill (pictured) to go for NFL riches. Sophomore John Clay actually had a better season than Hill did last year—so expect more this year.