Report Card Grades for Top 10 College Football Freshmen Post Week 11
Now more than two-thirds of the way through the regular season, enough time has passed that we can give fair grades to the top 10 players from the 2014 recruiting class.
Who has lived up to expectations? Who has surpassed them? Who has not had the season we all had hoped?
To be clear: This article is grading the top 10 prospects from the 247Sports composite rankings. It is not my own subjective ranking of the 10 best freshmen in the country. Grading the 10 best freshmen would be asinine, since all of them—by definition—have been great.
Instead, this piece is looking back at the 10 freshmen with the highest ratings before the season and grading how they've fared in Year 1. The grades were based on production and how they've looked on film and did not give weight to the size of preseason expectations.
Sound off below to let us know which top-10 freshman has had the best debut season.
10. Kyle Allen, Texas A&M
1 of 10
Stats: 55-of-95, 647 yards, 8 TD, 4 INT; 11 carries, 19 yards
Kyle Allen lost the job out of spring camp to Kenny Hill, which for the first half of the season—the half where Hill played his way into the Heisman Trophy conversation—looked like it might block Allen's path to starting at Texas A&M for at least the next couple of seasons.
Hill imploded (on and off the field), however, leading Kevin Sumlin to name Allen the starter two weeks ago against Louisiana-Monroe.
Allen struggled in his first start but last week led the Aggies to a massive road upset at Auburn. For those keeping score, that means 50 percent of his college starts have been abject disasters, but the other 50 percent have been Walter Camp Award-worthy.
The sample is too small to make sweeping judgments, but the way Allen played on the Plains was an encouraging start. He'll face an even better defense when the Aggies host Missouri Saturday.
Grade: B+
9. CB Tony Brown, Alabama
2 of 10
Stats: 9 tackles (1 TFL), 1 pass breakup
Tony Brown has been a solid rotational corner for Alabama this year, starting whenever Eddie Jackson has been too hurt to play.
He didn't log a snap against LSU last week, however, failing to see the field for the first time all season. He had no tackles against Arkansas and Texas A&M and didn't play the ball in coverage on a Tennessee touchdown before the bye, which might explain his absence.
Brown was thrust into a tough spot when Jackson tore his ACL during spring camp. There's a lot to like about his skill set, and the reps he's earned this year will no doubt aid his development, but he's been noticeably worse than some of the other names on this list.
Grade: C+
8. WR Speedy Noil, Texas A&M
3 of 10
Stats: 37 receptions, 477 yards, 4 TD; 1,094 all-purpose yards
Speedy Noil fought through early injuries to validate his ranking as the No. 1 wide receiver in the recruiting class.
KD Cannon has been nice and all...but has he done THIS!?
The 2013 SPARQ national champion has looked the part of a once-per-class athlete, using his fluid combination of speed and length to slide past defensive backs. He had 11 catches for 105 yards against an Ole Miss secondary that is probably the best in the country.
"He's like Santonio Holmes with muscles," defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said of Noil, per Bruce Feldman of FoxSports.com.
That is a surprisingly apt description.
Grade: A
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7. CB Adoree' Jackson, USC
4 of 10
Stats: 29 tackles (4 TFL), 5 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble; 482 all-purpose yards
Adoree' Jackson started the year on offense, catching four passes for 36 yards and a touchdown in Week 1 against Fresno State.
USC is loaded at wide receiver, though, which allowed Jackson to move back to defense full-time a few weeks later. And it didn't take long for him to become the best cornerback on the team.
Jackson was especially sharp against Utah in late October, breaking up a pass and forcing a fumble on the USC goal line. He also returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown—his only trip to the end zone since Week 1 but surely not the last of his career.
"I know the coaches want me to get in," Jackson said of eventually returning to offense, per Lindsey Thiry of the Los Angeles Times. "But at the same time, it’s that I need to be on defense."
Anywhere they put him these next two—yes, two—years, the Trojans have found a skill player worth building around.
Grade: A
6. S Quin Blanding, Virginia
5 of 10
Stats: 102 tackles (1 TFL), 2 INT, 6 pass breakups
Quin Blanding is already one of the best tacklers in the country. His numbers are not inflated by the system or the teammates around him; they are an accurate depiction of how good he has been.
Blanding is No. 10 in the country and No. 1 in the ACC with 102 tackles through 11 weeks. The next-highest freshman is Derek Ibekwe of New Mexico State (85), and the next-highest freshman from a power-five school is Nigel Bowden of Vanderbilt (74).
Both of those guys are linebackers.
"Before it's all said and done, he will be as good as anybody's been here," head coach Mike London said of Blanding, per Mark Giannotto of The Washington Post.
Based on what's already been said and done, it's hard to disagree.
Grade: A
5. DE Da'Shawn Hand, Alabama
6 of 10
Stats: 5 tackles (2 TFL), 2 sacks
When he's played, Da'Shawn Hand has looked pretty great. Despite limited reps, he ranks fourth on Alabama with two sacks.
The problem is how often he hasn't played. He is technically on the two-deep behind D.J. Pettway at defensive end but almost never sees the field at meaningful junctures. After notching sacks against Texas A&M and Tennessee, he didn't get off the bench against LSU.
It's hard to get early burn at Alabama, even as a 5-star recruit. The players blocking Hand's path are either upperclassmen, former blue-chippers or both. It's not an indictment that he has played so few reps this season, but it does make him a difficult case to grade—no matter how good he's looked in mop-up duty.
Grade: C-
4. OT Cam Robinson, Alabama
7 of 10
How He's Looked
Dominant.
He's looked dominant.
And not just for a freshman, either. Cam Robinson has looked dominant by any objective, age-independent measure.
He's been the best true freshman in college football.
Robinson has done well in pass protection but is especially advanced as a run-blocker. Alabama doesn't trust the right side of its line, so it pounds the ball behind Robinson and Arie Kouandjio. And even though opponents know what's coming, they can't stop it.
At 6'6", 323 pounds, Robinson already cuts the figure of an NFL tackle. He has the toughness to excel at the position, too. After suffering a high ankle sprain against Tennessee, he was back on the field two weeks later to start against LSU in Tiger Stadium.
Grade: A+
3. ATH Jabrill Peppers, Michigan
8 of 10
Stats: 8 tackles; 6 all-purpose yards
Jabrill Peppers injured his leg in September and hasn't played since Week 4.
Michigan head coach Brady Hoke announced last week that Peppers would be shut down for the season, saying, "He's improved, but he's just not going to be where you want a guy to be who has that kind of ability," per Dan Murphy of ESPN.com.
There is not much else to say except to comment on what a shame this has been. Peppers will apply for a medical redshirt but does not seem like the type of player who will need to stay in college for five years. He has an NFL future ahead of him—and soon—which means this injury likely cost us all a year of watching him.
Grade: Incomplete
2. DE Myles Garrett, Texas A&M
9 of 10Stats: 46 tackles (12.5 TFL), 11 sacks, 1 pass breakup, 9 QB hurries, 1 blocked FG
Myles Garrett has been a machine for Texas A&M this season—and I say that despite knowing his sack numbers are inflated.
In other words, I say that despite knowing eight of Garrett's 11 sacks have come against Lamar, Rice and Louisiana-Monroe. He has "only" recorded three sacks in six SEC games, four less than Tennessee true freshman Derek Barnett has recorded in just five SEC games.
Having said that, Garrett has impressed with more than just his pass-rushing abilities. He has also been a force against the run, as Bleacher Report's Michael Felder explained in the video above.
"[Garrett is] an every-down defensive end, a guy that can hold the edge versus the run," raved Felder. "...And I think for that reason, he's a better overall, more advanced player than Jadeveon Clowney was as a true freshman at South Carolina."
Far be it from me to disagree.
Grade: A+
1. RB Leonard Fournette, LSU
10 of 10
Stats: 152 carries, 736 yards, 7 TD; 1,333 all-purpose yards
Leonard Fournette has not been the best player from the 2014 class. Neither has he been the best running back (Royce Freeman) or even the best running back in his conference (Nick Chubb).
What he has been, however, is consistent. He runs hard on every play, and he gets better every week. He was especially good against Ole Miss in Week 9, rushing for 113 yards on 23 carries against a defense that was literally trying to rip the facemask off his helmet
Grading Fournette requires muting all context. It's unfair to grade him against his preseason expectations. This isn't basketball, where freshmen routinely become All-Americans; it's football, where flirting with 1,000 rushing yards in the SEC is a stellar debut.
Grade: A-
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