12 College Football Players with the Biggest Shoes to Fill in 2013

The nation's record holder for career rushing touchdowns, best offensive lineman and best linebacker to ever have a fake girlfriend have all left college football to play on Sundays.

This list is about the players that must fill that void.

Though it's doubtful that any Notre Dame linebackers will come up with a story that approaches anything Manti Te'o is going through right now, if the Irish are going to stay near the top of college football's elite, his replacement is going to need to play out of his mind.

But he's not alone.

The players on this list must fill holes left by departing legends who take with them tons of experience, loads of hardware and even some major records.

Not to mention the biggest "hoax" to hit the market in quite some time.

Good luck.

12. Max Wittek, QB, USC

USC quarterback Matt Barkley did not have the senior season that he was expected to produce.

He struggled with injury, finished the season with 15 interceptions and struggled against every ranked team he faced.

Even so, he was a solid quarterback, and led an offense that was a thing of beauty when it was hitting on all cylinders.

Now Max Wittek gets the chance to step up and see what kind of impact he can have for Lane Kiffin's team.

Wittek got the nod in the last two games of the Trojans' season as a true freshman, and even though they lost both games, he's still the most talented QB on the roster.

Replacing over 3,700 yards passing and 36 touchdowns is not going to be an easy task for Wittek.

11. Drew Allen, QB, Oklahoma

Those not well acquainted with Oklahoma football might assume that Blake Bell was Landry Jones' backup in 2012.

That's due to the Sooners' "Belldozer" package, in which Bell came onto the field during trips to the red zone to bully his way through opposing defenses and into the end zone.

But Bell is not a great passer, he only attempted four passes last season, one an interception, one a completion and the other two both incompletions.

It's Drew Allen who is more likely to take over as the starter for Bob Stoops, and he's got a huge vacancy he must fill.

Landry Jones is the longest tenured quarterback in Oklahoma history, starting 50 games for the Sooners over the course of his great career.

Jones put up over 4,000 yards passing in each of his final three seasons, and over 3,100 in his freshman year.

He passed for a total of 112 scores in his illustrious career, and leaves as one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the history of the program.

Allen has his work cut out for him.

10. Paul Millard, QB, West Virginia

West Virginia quarterback Paul Millard has a small sample size of work for us to look at from the 2012 season.

He only completed nine of 19 attempts, two of them for touchdowns and one for an interception.

Compare that to the resume of the man he must replace.

Geno Smith put up a whopping 42 passing touchdowns, scored two more on the ground, threw only six picks and amassed over 4,200 yards.

He's been one of the greatest, if not the greatest, quarterbacks in WVU history, and Millard will not have an easy time filling his shoes.

9. Chris Casher, DE, Florida State

Florida State defensive end Bjoern Werner was the leader of the Seminoles defense last season, a unit that allowed only 253 yards per game, good enough for second in the nation.

Werner finished second in the nation in sacks, hitting double digits with 13, and posted 18 tackles for loss.

Florida State has some tough opponents in their conference next season, and a ton of talent leaving.

Casher has to find a way to produce and fill the huge gap left by Werner if Jimbo Fisher's team wants  to compete in 2013.

8. John Fulton, CB, Alabama

Time after time, Notre Dame and quarterback Everett Golson challenged All-American cornerback Dee Milliner in the BCS title game.

And time after time, the Alabama star demonstrated why he will go in the first round of this year's NFL draft.

Milliner is the best corner available this season, and has the tools needed to be a productive corner at the next level for a very long time.

He will be sorely missed at Alabama.

Even with all kinds of top recruits lining up to replace departing players, it's difficult to replace a stud like Milliner without missing a beat.

7. Tyrell Taylor, DE, Texas A&M

21 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, nine quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, two blocked kicks and two passes broken up.

That's what Damontre Moore did this season.

And he's gone.

Tyrell Taylor must step up and try to produce for Kevin Sumlin's squad.

While he's a talented guy with plenty of athletic ability and potential, Moore had an incredible season, and his production will not be easily replaced.

6. Jarrett Grace, LB, Notre Dame

Yes, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o has been in the headlines since the national title game for all the wrong reasons.

First, he played his own "girlfriend" in the title game against Alabama, disappearing in the biggest game of his career.

Then the news of the whole Lennay Kekua hoax exploded into the public stream of consciousness, and Twitter and the rest of the sports social media universe has talked about little else since.

But all "Te'oing" jokes aside, the linebacker produced at an extremely high leve during his career at Notre Dame.

While most of us will remember him for this incident, Notre Dame must now figure out how to replace the production that left with the best defensive player at the school in quite some time.

That's where Grace must step in and make a difference.

My suggestion?

Have a press conference with your girlfriend at your side as soon as possible.

5. Jermauria Rasco, DE, LSU

LSU's defense was decimated by players leaving early for the NFL.

Chief among those were ends Barkevious Mingo and Sam Montgomery.

The two were the best defensive end tandem in college football last season, and wreaked havoc on opposing offenses all season long.

Rasco has little to no experience, and while he is not alone in replacing both Mingo and Montgomery, there is no question that he is the next up-and-coming talent at the position for Les Miles.

The Tigers have all kinds of questions to answer at end, with Rasco and few others to provide the solution to this personnel problem.

4. Germain Ifedi, LT, Texas A&M

Ifedi is going to be the next man up to help protect Heisman winner Johnny Manziel.

All-Everything left tackle, Luke Joeckel, left to play on Sundays, almost guaranteeing that now the Aggies will have two of the top five picks in the upcoming NFL draft.

Besides Joeckel, defensive end Damontre Moore is also projected to go early in the draft.

Much of Manziel's success this season came from his ability to extend plays that broke down and produce while on the run, but the Aggies rushing attack and Manziel's success were helped by having Joeckel paving the way.

It will be interesting to see how well Manziel performs with some new faces in front of him.

3. T.J. Stripling, LB, Georgia

Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones is projecting as an extremely high draft pick come April.

That leaves a gaping hole in the middle of Georgia's defense that Stripling must try to fill.

Jones finished last season with 24.5 tackles for loss, seven forced fumbles, 20 quarterback hurries, three passes defended, 14.5 sacks and an interception.

He left as one of the top defenders playing in the college game, and that stat line from his 2012 campaign reinforces that belief.

Some SEC teams, LSU and Alabama, seem to have no trouble reloading with young guys, and if Georgia is going to take that next step to elite status, Stripling must step up next season, and step up big.

2. Chad Lindsay, RG, and Ryan Kelly, C, Alabama

Alabama has two offensive linemen in Chance Warmack and Barrett Jones that are potential first-round draft picks this season.

While Nick Saban's team is again loaded with a plethora of young talent, those are not shoes that can be filled easily.

Jones leaves the game having played in three national championship wins, while Warmack boasts the biggest paunch on record at a national title game:

"

contrary to popular belief, the great wall of china cannot be seen with the naked eye from space. unlike chance warmack's belly, of course.

— C.J. Schexnayder (@kleph) January 14, 2013"

All jokes aside, Warmack is an excellent lineman, and will be missed.

With an offense that is predicated on rushing the ball, both new starters, Kelly and Lindsay, are going to need to show vast improvement if the Tide offense is to approach the level of effectiveness it has enjoyed with Warmack and Jones as centerpieces.

1. James White and Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin

Montee Ball departs Wisconsin as the NCAA leader in rushing touchdowns.

James White and Melvin Gordon are going to split time in the Wisconsin backfield in his place in 2013.

Good luck making up for that loss in production.

White and Gordon are not too shabby themselves, as White averaged over six yards per carry, and Gordon averaged 10 per attempt in 2012.

Death, taxes and great running back play at Wisconsin are all certain, but White and Gordon have the largest shoes to fill of anyone in 2013.