Current Stars with Best Shot to Be in College Football Hall of Fame Someday
It is difficult trying to put history into context as it happens. What separates a current college football star from a college football legend? Which household names will endure?
Predicting which current stars will make the College Football Hall of Fame gets even harder when you factor in the importance of tangible accomplishment. Predicting Hall of Famers is predicting future Heisman winners, conference champions, etc.
If I had all of those answers, I'd live in Vegas.
Nevertheless, here is a list of eight current players who have put themselves in a position to make a run. Most of them are veterans—players who have already achieved some milestones—but I've also included some underclassmen who are off to fast starts.
Sophomores such as Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa and Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche were tempting to include because I think they have a shot to make the All-America team this season, and if they returned next year looking for their second All-America season, they would have a great case to make the Hall of Fame.
However, neither of those players would have a great case if they don't make the All-America team this season, especially since they both look good enough to declare early for the 2016 NFL draft.
Cases such as that were omitted, but perhaps I'll make an updated projection after the season, when we have more information.
For now, chime in below and tell me whom else you'd add.
RB Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
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Ameer Abdullah is the active FBS leader in all-purpose yards, having gained at least 1,000 every season since he was a freshman in 2011.
If he continues at his current 2014 pace, he would finish a 13-game season with 7,226 career all-purpose yards and a 14-game season—one which includes a Big Ten Championship Game—with 7,419.
The latter total would put Abdullah at No. 7 on the all-time yardage list. Only former Clemson running back C.J. Spiller would have gained more than him in a power-five conference.
If Abdullah finds a way to accomplish that and tacks on a Doak Walker Award, a spot on the All-America First Team and/or a Big Ten Championship and spot in the College Football Playoff, he would leave Nebraska with a fringe-Hall of Fame resume.
He's a bit of a long shot, but it's possible.
K Roberto Aguayo, Florida State
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Roberto Aguayo is 14 of 14 on field goals this season, one of just six players in college football who has yet to miss a kick. Not one of those other five players has 14 attempts, and only two have even 10.
Which is to say that Aguayo is well on track to make his second consecutive All-America team and win his second consecutive Groza Award. Since the first Groza was awarded in 1992, the only other two-time winner was another Florida State Seminole, Sebastian Janikowski (1998-99).
What's more, Aguayo is on pace to break the all-time NCAA record for kicking accuracy, having hit 35 of 36 field goals in his career. Add to that the national championship he won last season (and the repeat he's competing for in 2014) and you have perhaps the most impressive kicking resume in the history of college football.
Oh, and did we mention he's only a sophomore?
DE Myles Garrett, Texas A&M
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Myles Garrett was the No. 2 overall recruit in the country this past cycle, per the 247Sports composite rankings, and has managed to exceed all expectations. His 7.5 sacks are tied for No. 6 in the country, placing him just a half-sack behind Jadeveon Clowney's SEC record for freshmen (with four or five games left to play).
Because of the team he plays for, pass-rushing opportunities will not be sparse for Garrett these next two or three seasons. Kevin Sumlin's offense puts up points, quickly, and is loaded with young 5-star prospects at quarterback and all of the skill positions. Opponents of every prowess will need to throw to keep up with the Aggies.
They will need to throw a lot.
Garrett has coupled once-in-a-generation skill with immediate production and the perfect situation to continue posting stats.
It is hard to get off to a much better start than he has.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
QB Jared Goff, Cal
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Jared Goff is on pace to throw for 4,610 yards and 45 touchdowns if Cal plays 13 games (i.e. makes a bowl) this season.
After throwing for 3,488 yards and 18 touchdowns as a freshman in 2013, that would give him a total of 8,098 passing yards and 63 touchdowns through two years.
Assuming he plays two more years and posts identical numbers to those of 2014, he would then finish his career with 16,196 career passing yards and 126 career touchdowns. Both of those stats would place first in Pac-12 history, second in power-five conference history and top five in FBS history.
Yes, getting Goff's numbers to that point requires some specious extrapolation. But that doesn't mean his doing so is impossible. The estimate above might even be on the conservative side because it doesn't project for Goff's numbers to improve in 2015 and 2016.
Former Mike Leach assistant Sonny Dykes is the perfect head coach with whom to break passing records, and Cal's five leading receivers this season are a sophomore, a sophomore, a junior, a freshman and a sophomore. He has everything he needs to bull his way toward a surprising place in the NCAA record book.
"[Goff] is a polished pocket passer with A-plus arm talent and a terrific feel for the position," wrote former NFL scout Bucky Brooks of NFL.com this offseason. "He is capable of making every throw in the book with zip and velocity, while also displaying the timing, touch and anticipation to make finesse throws down the field."
Goff has learned how to win games this season, during which Cal is 5-2, and it wouldn't be a giant shock if he led this young-and-already-potent offense to a Pac-12 title at some point (most likely 2016).
In that case, he would have a decent argument for inclusion.
QB Marcus Mariota, Oregon
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Marcus Mariota's Hall of Fame resume depends entirely on the end of this season. Barring something unforeseen, he will not return as a senior in 2015. These next few months will be his last chance to leave a mark on the sport of college football.
But he's in a good position to leave that mark regardless. He's the current betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, per College Football Talk, and Oregon will almost definitely make the College Football Playoff should it win the rest of its games.
As for statistical bravura, Mariota's QB rating of 191.0 this season is less than a point behind the all-time mark set by Russell Wilson at Wisconsin in 2011 (191.78). He has 19 touchdowns to zero interceptions despite playing behind a leaky, injury-plagued offensive line.
Mariota's problem, though, has never been getting off to fast starts. It's been finishing the season strong. He did win the Fiesta Bowl in 2013, so it's not like doing well this postseason would make him a one-year wonder, but still, he would be well-served to keep up the pace.
Beating Stanford would be a really good place to start.
S Cody Prewitt, Ole Miss
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Cody Prewitt was the only member of the Associated Press first-team All-America defense that returned to school this season. He is well on his way to making that team for a second time in 2014.
Any two-time first-team All-American will be considered for the CFB Hall of Fame, even if Prewitt does not strike a public chord the way his resume suggests he should. He is not an icon or a newsmaker or even a household name. He is not the most "memorable" player.
But he is, bar none, one of the best defensive backs in college football, and he has been for multiple seasons. If he leads Ole Miss to its first SEC Championship since 1963 and/or helps it make a run for the national title, his name will be etched into college football lore.
Also, he's a Youtube clip waiting to happen.
LT Cameron Robinson, Alabama
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Cam Robinson is a true freshman who starts at left tackle for Alabama and already looks like one of the best offensive linemen in America.
Seriously, it would not be a surprise to see him flirt with making the All-America team this season. He has been every bit that good. He keeps quarterback Blake Sims clean against the pass but is especially advanced against the run, a point to which Texas A&M safety Howard Matthews can attest.
Pro Football Focus featured Florida vs. Alabama as its game of the week earlier this season, and Robinson graded out as the best offensive player on either team. After that performance, even head coach Nick Saban, who is famous for his stoicism, was eager to sing Robinson's praises.
"He’s getting better and better, and I think he’s playing with more confidence because of the knowledge and experience that he has," Saban said, per Marq Burnett of the Montgomery Advisor. "He has played better every game, and he played his best game the last game."
Robinson was the No. 4 overall recruit in the 2014 cycle, placing two spots behind the aforementioned Myles Garrett. Garrett got the best of Robinson when the two squared off in practice before last year's Under Armour All-America Game, but Robinson avenged that showing during Alabama's 59-0 beatdown of Texas A&M last weekend.
This is what a Hall of Fame left tackle looks like.
QB Jameis Winston, Florida State
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Jameis Winston is 20-0 as a starter. No player in FBS history has ever started his career with more wins. One of those 20 wins was the 2014 BCS National Championship, which he won as a redshirt freshman.
That same year, he also won the Heisman Trophy.
Does that guarantee Winston a spot in the CFB Hall of Fame? On the field, there is no doubt he has earned it. Especially if he wins a second national title (possible) or Heisman Trophy (not as possible) this season, he will have the resume of a first-ballot inductee.
But the character of Winston is polarizing. It is difficult to find a consensus on the man behind the No. 5 jersey. He was never charged during last year's sexual assault investigation, but he displayed a blithe lack of self-awareness by shouting sexually charged obscenities on campus (leading to a one-game suspension) in 2014.
At his best, he's an immature head-case.
That former SMU running back Eric Dickerson and former Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth are both not in the Hall of Fame is telling of the method of the voting process. If you are the type of person voters do not want to be associated with, they will leave you out.
Winston still has such a strong case that he cannot be excluded from this list. He has accomplished too much, too soon.
Only time will tell whom he's rubbed the wrong way indelibly.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
