10 College Football Rosters That Will Look Completely Different in 2015
As if you needed another reason to devote the next two weeks to bowl games, here's this sobering reality: Many of the teams you'll be watching won't look anything like this next season.
The combination of outgoing seniors and standout juniors (who either have declared or are projected to declare for the NFL draft) means that the rosters of several top teams will have a very different look when the 2015 campaign begins next September.
With that in mind, these bowl games will serve as a going-away party for many of the best players in the country, and where that talent is lumped together, it also may mean the end of an era of prosperity for their teams.
Here's a look at 10 schools whose 2015 rosters figure to have the biggest shakeup.
Alabama Crimson Tide
1 of 10
For the second year in a row, Alabama is going to have to replace a senior quarterback who was integral to the team's success. But this time around, the Crimson Tide appear like they'll also need to fill in several holes at the skill positions.
Quarterback Blake Sims is one of 12 senior starters listed on Alabama's most recent depth chart, eight of whom are on offense. And that's not including running back T.J. Yeldon and wide receiver Amari Cooper, juniors who are both expected to turn pro.
Fellow wideouts Christion Jones and DeAndrew White are seniors, as are three offensive linemen. The defense—which had five players get drafted last season—will lose linebackers Trey DePriest and Xzavier Dickson, among others. Junior safety Landon Collins is ninth on Bleacher Report NFL draft analyst Matt Miller's Big Board, making it very likely he'll leave early as well.
Thankfully for Alabama, it's more a matter of reloading than rebuilding, thanks to perennial star recruiting classes. Nevertheless, the 2015 Tide will look vastly different from the team preparing for the Sugar Bowl against Ohio State.
Auburn Tigers
2 of 10
The backbone of Auburn's offense the past two years has been a strong run game, orchestrated by a mobile quarterback working with hard-running backs and a dependable offensive line. That figures to continue next season but with several new participants.
Quarterback Nick Marshall, running back Cameron Artis-Payne and center Reese Dismukes are among the five senior offensive starters. Auburn also loses No. 2 rusher Corey Grant, leaving freshman Roc Thomas (214 yards, two touchdowns) as the team's top returning rusher.
The Tigers could become more of a passing team next year under quarterback Jeremy Johnson, who threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns in the first half of the season opener when he started for the suspended Marshall.
However, he'll be working with at least one fewer option on the outside, as junior wide receiver Sammie Coates has already declared for the draft.
But with coach Gus Malzahn's reputation for offensive innovation, don't expect too much of a dropoff in production from Auburn, though, writes Jordan Cox of SaturdayDownSouth.
"He has a plethora of weapons at his disposal, and with his creativity, Auburn running backs are preparing to dominate the SEC again in 2015," Cox wrote.
East Carolina Pirates
3 of 10
East Carolina, the fifth-ranked offense in the country, isn't just losing most of its top players. It's going to have to move on after losing the owners of many school records and one FBS career mark.
Quarterback Shane Carden, receivers Justin Hardy and Cam Worthy and running back Breon Allen were all integral to the Pirates going 8-4 and averaging 532.8 yards and 37.2 points per game. And they're all seniors—four of 11 starters who will graduate.
Carden has thrown for 11,557 yards and 84 touchdowns in three seasons, while Hardy will depart as the FBS career leader in receptions with 376 (not including what he collects in the Birmingham Bowl against Florida). Allen, a first-year starter, had 869 rushing yards and eight TDs.
The Pirates defense loses six starters, including standout linebacker Brandon Williams.
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Florida Gators
4 of 10
Florida isn't a very senior-heavy team, but it's still going to look a lot different next season under first-year coach Jim McElwain. That's because the Gators figure to be losing at least four juniors to the NFL draft.
Defensive end Dante Fowler, running back Matt Jones and two offensive linemen (D.J. Humphries and Tyler Moore) have either declared or are expected to do so, according to Bleacher Report's Matt Miller. Humphries has refuted reports he's made a decision already.
The loss of Fowler would be most significant, as he has 5.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. The line losses would be big, too, as McElwain would need to rebuild his blocking unit to replace seniors Max Garcia and Chaz Green.
Florida State Seminoles
5 of 10
Will he or won't he?
Before the season, the talk was that 2013 Heisman winner Jameis Winston would stick around for two more years. But after an up-and-down on-field performance (and far too much off-the-field activity), the redshirt sophomore quarterback seems destined to turn pro once Florida State is done with the playoffs.
"Jameis loves college football, but I think he's going to be one of the top two players drafted," Florida State Jimbo Fisher said on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike show Friday. "He's got to make a choice. He's got to see what he wants to do. But it would not shock me either way."
He won't be the only one likely headed out early. Cornerbacks Ronald Darby and P.J. Williams and defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. could also turn pro, adding to an impressive group of departing seniors who will make the 2015 FSU team almost unrecognizable compared to the current group.
Among the seniors are wide receiver Rashad Greene, Mackey Award-winning tight end Nick O'Leary, running back Karlos Williams and four-fifths of the starting offensive line.
FSU has a chance to win back-to-back national titles, but the potential for a three-peat would have to happen with a completely revamped team.
Kansas State Wildcats
6 of 10
When Kansas State needed a big play on offense this season, it turned to quarterback Jake Waters to find either Tyler Lockett or Curry Sexton downfield or used his scrambling ability to pick up key yards. And when the Wildcats defense had to make a stop, odds are defensive end Ryan Mueller was involved.
The same won't be said about the 2015 Kansas State team, which graduates 11 senior starters, including almost all of its offensive playmakers and its best players in every part of the defense.
Lockett, who has 93 receptions for 1,351 yards and nine touchdowns, is the school's all-time leader in receptions (236), yards (3,546) and TDs (27) and also has six career kickoff- or punt-return TDs. No. 2 receiver Curry Sexton has also had a big year, while Waters' two seasons at quarterback have seen him throw 38 TD passes and run for 14 scores.
Mueller has 20 career sacks, including six this season.
Ole Miss Rebels
7 of 10
Ole Miss began this season with seven straight wins behind a lockdown defense and a gunslinging quarterback. The school already appears to have its successor for the latter, but the Landsharks have some holes that will need to be filled to perform just as well in 2015.
Senior quarterback Bo Wallace has been fun to watch the past three years, but graduation looms after the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31. The Rebels have signed junior college transfer Chad Kelly, who figures to be a top candidate to start next year and resume an FBS career that began at Clemson but ended when he was dismissed from that team in the spring.
"He's worth the risk for Ole Miss and can absolutely keep the Rebels in the conference title conversation," Bleacher Report SEC lead writer Barrett Sallee wrote.
Replacing senior defensive backs Senquez Golson and Cody Prewitt won't be as easy. Golson was second in the country with nine interceptions, while Prewitt had two, and seniors accounted for 13 of the team's 19 picks and all four of its defensive touchdowns.
Oregon Ducks
8 of 10
Marcus Mariota was eligible for the NFL draft last season as a redshirt sophomore, but he chose to return to Oregon for 2014. It was a smart decision, as he owns the Heisman, has the Ducks in the playoffs and figures to be one of the top draft picks next spring.
That assumes he turns pro, which seems like a foregone conclusion at this point. And odds are Oregon coach Mark Helfrich has been preparing for such a departure, though it's by no means the only significant loss the Ducks will have to deal with for 2015.
Injuries on the offensive line this season have forced Oregon to turn to younger players to protect Mariota and block for freshman Royce Freeman, which should help ease the transition of losing three starters, including All-Americans Hroniss Grasu and Jake Fisher.
The Ducks defense will lose some significant pieces, too, most notably in the secondary. Ifo Ekpre-Olomu has been a lockdown corner for several years, while safety Erick Dargan leads the team with six interceptions.
West Virginia Mountaineers
9 of 10
West Virginia just lost its offensive coordinator to another school, as Shannon Dawson left the Mountaineers to take the same job at Kentucky. Whichever replacement head coach Dana Holgorsen brings in to help run the offense will be working with many new pieces.
The Mountaineers rank 11th in the FBS in total offense, paced by a passing attack that averages 314 yards per game. But that group is senior-heavy, with quarterback Clint Trickett and top wide receivers Kevin White and Mario Alford all set to move on after the Liberty Bowl against Texas A&M.
Potential heir apparent Skyler Howard, a sophomore, started West Virginia's regular-season finale after Trickett sat out with concussion-like symptoms. He threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns in that win over Iowa State, but seniors Alford and White combined for 134 of those yards and two of his three TD passes.
West Virginia should return its top two rushers, Rushel Shell and Wendell Smallwood, as well as a good chunk of its defense.
Wisconsin Badgers
10 of 10
Paul Chryst has returned to its roots at Wisconsin, where he was offensive coordinator for seven seasons before spending the past two years as Pittsburgh's head coach. He was the architect of some great offenses during that time in Madison, but he'll be starting over in 2015.
Melvin Gordon has already said he's turning pro after the Outback Bowl against Auburn on Jan. 1, though Wisconsin has Corey Clement returning to help ease the loss of Gordon's 2,336 rushing yards and 29 total touchdowns.
There aren't experienced linemen waiting in the wings to replace three seniors starters, though, which will make for some growing pains in the run game.
Chryst will also be working with an overhauled defense, particularly at linebacker, where seniors Derek Landisch and Marcus Trotter have been a big part of a unit that ranks fourth nationally in yards allowed.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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