10 College Football Players We Overlooked in Preseason

College football coverage has gone mainstream the past few seasons. Even smaller schools have writers publishing daily updates during spring and fall camp—and doing it, importantly, on a digital platform—which makes it hard for players get overlooked.

Alas, some players managed to fly under the national radar this preseason, eluding widespread praise and expectation when they probably deserved both. Those who follow the team might have expected their success, but those who do not did not.

The list that follows differs from a "breakout" list because it's stricter in its definition of "overlooked." Kenny Hill has been better than we expected; but we thought he would be great. James Conner has been better than expected; but we thought he would be great. Etc., etc., etc.

Rather, the players on this list are ones most people hadn't heard of at the start of the season. If they had, it had probably been in passing, as someone to "keep an eye on" instead of a star.

But so far, they are playing like the latter.

CB Robertson Daniel, BYU

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BYU's defense has remained strong despite personnel attrition, and Robertson Daniel has been its brightest bright spot.

Even against Virginia last weekend—the first game this season in which the Cougars allowed more than five yards per play—Daniel played a starring role, recording four tackles, breaking up two passes and coming down with a crucial interception in the third quarter (when BYU was trailing 13-10 and wanting for a positive play).

Daniel was a solid starter for a good defense last season, but he has blossomed into a star in 2014. He has the size (6'1") to match up with bigger receivers on the outside, which should make him a valuable NFL draft commodity next spring.

DE Obum Gwacham, Oregon State

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A converted receiver who just started playing defense, Obum Gwachum has been among the biggest surprises of the early season.

Like most converted receivers, his speed and length are rare for a defensive lineman, but the immediacy of his production is unusual. He has three sacks in his first three games at his new position, leading Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net to call him "Ziggy Ansah light."

Ansah, of course, was a freak athlete who barely knew how to play football when he arrived at BYU but eventually became a top-five NFL draft pick. It's much, much, much too early to heap similar praise on Gwachum, but his background as a receiver/high-jumper and immediate production lends itself to such comparisons.

Keep an eye on how he plays against Pac-12 offensive linemen.

LB Tank Jakes, Memphis

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Tank Jakes is quickly becoming this year's Shaquil Barrett: the "Group of Five" linebacker who posts ridiculous stats and leads his team to a resurgent season (as Barrett did with Colorado State in 2013) without anybody seeming to notice.

Memphis has played well each week in 2014, highlighted by a seven-point loss at UCLA and a 19-point win against Middle Tennessee. In those two games, Jakes has recorded 19 tackles, seven tackles for loss, four sacks, one pass breakup, one interception and two forced fumbles. 

Again: Those are his stats for two games.

The Tigers have impressed on both sides of the ball and look like a genuine threat to win the AAC. Head coach Justin Fuente has done a remarkable job turning around a barren program, and the development of Jakes is a feather in the cap of his coaching staff.

CB/PR Will Likely, Maryland

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Will Likely was a 3-star recruit, even though he has the talent of a 4-star (and maybe even a 5-star) prospect.

Will Likely is also 5'7".

Those things are not unrelated.

Likely has proved as much through four weeks this season, blossoming into a star on defense and special teams for Maryland. His 69-yard punt return against West Virginia tied the game in the fourth quarter, and his 88-yard interception return was a game-changer against Syracuse. He also recorded nine tackles against the Orange.

"Pound-for-pound Maryland's Will Likely was one of the best high school football players in his class," tweeted JC Shurburtt of 247Sports after Likely's return against West Virginia. "Just small."

His production has been anything but.

RB Samaje Perine

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To their credit, Oklahoma's players, coaches and writers tried to warn us about Samaje Perine all offseason. But we didn't listen. We chalked it up as spring- and fall-camp bluster—a product of that time of year when seemingly everyone can look great.

Perine, however, has not looked like the product of bluster on the field. He was sharp in a supporting role during nonconference play, and he broke out with 242 rushing yards and four touchdowns against West Virginia in relief of injured starter Keith Ford.

Ford played well before fracturing a bone in his right leg, and he won't be ignored when he returns in (hopefully) a few weeks. But Perine, a true freshman, has done enough to demand at least a timeshare for the rest of the season. When you have what appears to be the next Jeremy Hill in your backfield, you don't let him ride the bench.

Especially if you're competing for a national title.

WR Nelson Spruce, Colorado

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Nelson Spruce had 55 catches for 650 yards last season. We knew he could be at least decent. But those numbers were considered dubious because he played alongside Paul Richardson, a future second-round draft pick who commanded weekly double teams.

(He also plays for Colorado—so nobody seemed to care.)

Spruce has proven he can be more than at least decent in 2014, though, catching 37 passes for 518 yards and seven touchdowns in four games. He's been remarkably consistent from week to week, never finishing with fewer than seven catches, 97 yards or one score.

Only a junior, Spruce has adequate size (6'1", 195 lbs) and great hands, and he looks quicker after shedding weight this offseason. The Pac-12 is loaded with wideouts, but if he continues at his current pace, Spruce will be in the discussion for first-team all-conference honors come December.

OLB Max Valles, Virginia

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Max Valles first made his name as a freshman on Virginia's scout team, when he was asked to play (and excelled in) the role of BYU linebacker Kyle Van Noy during practice.

Since that time, he has gradually gotten better, especially in 2014, when he has registered 19 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one forced fumble and four pass breakups through four weeks. He is long and insatiable off the edge, and he's stacked up well against three quality opponents (UCLA, Louisville and BYU).

Of course, Valles benefits from playing with Eli Harold, Henry Coley and Daquan Romero, who demand the attention of blockers and allow him to avoid double-teams. But his ability to win one-on-one matchups with speed and length is a valuable commodity regardless.

It won't be long before the next great pass-rusher gets tasked with imitating Valles on the scout team.

DB Armani Watts, Texas A&M

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Armani Watts did not wait long to make an impact for Texas A&M. In the first half of his first career game, he broke up a couple of deep South Carolina passes with crushing hits, separating ball from man on what would have been a pair of long completions.

He recorded an interception in the second half of that game, and although the level of competition has made it hard to gauge, his production has not waned these past few weeks. He has remained strong in coverage and ranks third on the team with 20 tackles.

Fellow freshman Myles Garrett has had an equally big impact on the A&M defense, but he was the No. 2 overall player and top defender in the 2014 class. He was supposed to be this good, this soon.

Watts ranked way "down" at No. 207.

He was not supposed to be as good as he's been playing.

WR Kevin White, West Virginia

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The Biletnikoff Award is Amari Cooper's to lose. Four weeks into the season, that is one of the few things we know for certain. But of all the receivers fighting for second place, no one has a better shot of stealing it from Cooper than his Week 1 foil, Kevin White.

In four games this season, White has caught 42 passes for 633 yards and three touchdowns. The only time he failed to top 140 yards or reach the end zone was against Towson, when West Virginia won 54-0 and he got to rest for most of the second half. The majority of his stats have come on a neutral field against Alabama (the No. 2 team in the country), on the road against Oklahoma (the No. 4 team in the country) and on the road against Maryland (3-1 on the season).

He is not just beating up on scrubs.

Because of this early success, pro scouts have compared White with Larry Fitzgerald, per NFL.com. He is 6'3", fast, strong, polished and excels at snatching passes from mid-air. Most folks thought White would be decent in 2014, maybe even very good, but they didn't think he'd be an All-America candidate

If the season ended today, he'd make the first team.

DT Anthony Zettel, Penn State

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Anthony Zettel has made the most of his move from end to tackle, as he leads the Big Ten with seven tackles for loss through four weeks.

Those numbers are great in a vacuum—especially for an interior rusher—but they look even better in context. Zettel had just one TFL in two games against the MAC but three apiece against UCF and Rutgers.

"They have a good defensive line in general but No. 98, we couldn't handle him in the second half," said Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood after losing to Penn State, per Kevin Ryan of 247Sports.com. "That kid is a good football player and we didn't do enough to control him.

"He controlled the second half of that game."

Note: All recruiting info refers to 247Sports composite rankings