10 College Football Predictions for 2015 Spring Practice
College football teams are gearing up for spring camp, which means we've almost reached the second major tentpole of the offseason (the first being national signing day).
It's hard to make predictions for spring workouts, since so much of what happens is internal and therefore not reported to the public. Now is when coaches do the most actual coaching, preparing underclassmen for their new roles on the two-deep depth chart.
Still, there are enough big developments out there to watch for—and from those, there are enough potential outcomes to make predictions.
What will be the biggest (foreseeable) storylines of the next two months? Sound off below and let us know what you think.
Braxton Miller Does NOT Try a New Position
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With All-Big Ten quarterback J.T. Barrett and national champion winner Cardale Jones ahead of him, Braxton Miller has heard calls for a position change. He could morph into a "Slash" type player and allow the Buckeyes to keep as much talent on the field as possible.
But even if head coach Urban Meyer does plan on moving Miller, the switch won't happen during spring camp, lest Ohio State tip its hand. Why not maintain the element of surprise?
Miller was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013 but missed last season with a shoulder injury, opening the door for Barrett and Jones to emerge. Meyer said he doesn't expect Miller to throw with velocity until May, per Anthony Rothman of 97.1 The Fan, but that doesn't mean OSU will work him other places.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who underwent the same shoulder issue as Miller, called the Buckeyes quarterback and lifted his spirits this offseason, according to Miller's QB tutor, George Whitfield, who explained the story to David Briggs of the Toledo Blade:
"[Brees] had the same procedure, and [Miller] knows that with Brees, it seemed like it was all but over and he more than revitalized himself and turned himself into a Hall of Fame quarterback. He's got every confidence from that standpoint. I always smile when people say his shoulder seems shot, that it's time to get to running back, time to get to punt returner.
"
Yeah. This guy can still be a quarterback.
Christian Hackenberg Looks Like Himself Again
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Christian Hackenberg took his first step toward recovery in the Pinstripe Bowl, throwing for 371 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions in a double-overtime win over Boston College.
Still, the former 5-star recruit had a disastrous sophomore season, which before the Pinstripe Bowl included eight touchdowns and 15 interceptions. The media billed Hackenberg as a Heisman candidate, and he couldn't have flopped much harder than he did.
Some of that can be forgiven, though, after head coach James Franklin replaced Bill O'Brien last offseason. Every quarterback suffers through a learning curve when the rug is yanked from under him; teenage quarterbacks are even more susceptible.
But now he's had another few months to learn the playbook, and if his comments toward the end of last season are any indication, he's fully committed to turning a negative into a positive.
"I thought it was the best thing that could possibly happen to me," Hackenberg told reporters of his season from hell. "I learned a lot."
Penn State returns its top three wide receivers (DaeSean Hamilton, Geno Lewis and Chris Godwin) and welcomes back injured tight end Adam Breneman, a top-50 recruit in 2013. If coach Herb Hand conjures even moderate improvement from the offensive line, which has terrible in 2014, Hackenberg has everything he needs to succeed.
He'll win some people over in spring ball.
Hot-Seat Talk Dominates the ACC
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Spring is supposed to be the season of optimism. Real games are more than six months in the future, and every team in 0-0.
But the ACC's mood is different. Three of its 14 head coaches—Al Golden of Miami, Larry Fedora of North Carolina and Mike London of Virginia—are squarely on the hot seat, and Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech would join them if not for his legend status. Others such as Scott Shafer of Syracuse and Dave Clawson of Wake Forest could use a big year, too.
Perhaps they can play their way out of this.
Paul Johnson of Georgia Tech was on the hot seat before last season, but his Yellow Jackets made an unlikely run to the ACC title game and Orange Bowl. There are ways turn a morbid spring and summer into a positive fall.
But things must get worse before they get better, which means Golden, Fedora and London have long spring camps ahead of them. The questions they receive will be more cynical than optimistic.
And, really, they have earned that.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Josh Rosen Wins the QB Job at UCLA
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Josh Rosen was the No. 1 quarterback in the 2015 recruiting class. Adam Kramer of Bleacher Report took it one step further, calling Rosen the No. 1 overall player. Either way you slice it, he's a gem.
More than that, he's a gem who enters a perfect situation.
Brett Hundley declared early for the NFL draft, leaving just Jerry Neuheisel and Asiantii Woulard on the quarterback depth chart. Neuheisel is fine enough but feels more like a backup than a starter, and Woulard, while gifted athletically, does not possess an FBS-level arm.
UCLA returns all 10 offensive starters around the QB, which in most cases means it would prefer not to start a true freshman. In a vacuum, the team would prefer a quarterback with meaningful FBS experience—one it knew could take advantage of such rare continuity.
In this case, however, Rosen is so far out of his competition's league that benching him would be a bigger risk than playing him. It won't take long for head coach Jim Mora to realize (and admit) that.
Rosen could win this job before summer.
…But the Other 5-Star Freshmen Fall Behind
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Other than Rosen, two other 5-star quarterbacks enrolled early: Blake Barnett of Alabama and Jarrett Stidham of Baylor.
Like Rosen, each joins a program that lost its starting QB from last season, but unlike Rosen, neither is a favorite to start in 2014. Barnett has Florida State transfer Jake Coker, longtime contender Cooper Bateman and redshirt freshman David Cornwell to contend with, while Stidham has to compete against high-achieving backup Seth Russell.
Barnett and Stidham are dual-threat prospects whose mobility brings a new edge to their teams. But no matter how well Blake Sims and Robert Griffin III fared at Alabama and Baylor, respectively, Nick Saban and Art Briles have never been the type to start true freshmen.
Not when there are safer options ahead of them.
Jim Harbaugh Goes All James Franklin on the Recruiting Trail
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James Franklin burst onto the recruiting trail last offseason, declaring at his introductory press conference that he would "dominate the region" and then quickly making good on his promise.
Jim Harbaugh uses less bluster at Michigan, but he's more the type to speak softly and carry a big stick. His resume at San Diego, Stanford and with the San Francisco 49ers does the talking for him.
"He kind of molded Andrew Luck into what he is today," said future Michigan quarterback Zach Gentry, a top-200 prospect in the class of 2015 who flipped to U-M from Texas, per Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press. "When Jim Harbaugh is calling you, you're excited."
Expect that excitement to have a quick effect on the 2016 recruiting trail. Like Franklin in 2014, Harbaugh will budget his time to get a jump on next year's class—and he'll need to after signing only 14 players this cycle.
Thirteen Top 225 prospects have "warm" interest in Michigan, per 247Sports:
- DT Rashan Garay (No. 2)
- OT Ben Bredeson (No. 31)
- QB KJ Costello (No. 42)
- WR Dylan Crawford (No. 47)
- DE Josh King (No. 49)
- DE Rahshaun Smith (No. 61)
- OT E.J. Price (No. 74)
- OT Erik Swenson (No. 131) *already committed*
- DE Devin Asiasi (No. 148)
- LB Dontavius Jackson (No. 154)
- TE Luke Farrell (No. 191)
- CB David Long (No. 204)
- DE Khalid Kareem (No. 224)
Harbaugh's about to make moves on all of them.
Lincoln Riley Is a Quick Hit in Norman
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Oklahoma's offense hit rock bottom in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Quarterback Trevor Knight looked lost, and the Sooners committed five turnovers in a 40-6 loss to Clemson.
But the hiring of former East Carolina offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley (and his subsequent reinstallation of the air raid) gives OU fans a reason to feel giddy. Riley is a Mike Leach disciple with a pioneering mind, and he's never had this much talent at his disposal.
Seriously, look at the skill positions.
Running back Samaje Perine, who as a true freshman set the single-game FBS rushing record against Kansas, is a leading Heisman candidate. He'll be joined by former 5-star recruit Joe Mixon, a classmate of Perine's who missed last season with off-field issues but is back as a redshirt freshman.
Receiver Sterling Shepard, a legit All-American candidate, chose his senior year over the NFL draft and will be joined by Durron Neal, Michiah Quick, K.J. Young and 4-star JUCO transfer Dede Westbrook.
With so many talented skill players, Riley can train either Knight, Texas Tech transfer Baker Mayfield, redshirt freshman Justice Hansen or a rejuvanted Cody Thomas to run his offense capably. He doesn't need an All-Big 12 quarterback; he just needs someone decent.
At the very least, one of those guys is decent.
One of Oregon's Spring QBs Emerges
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Remember when Jake Coker transferred to Alabama, and we all decided he would be the starter, but he couldn't enroll for spring camp, and then Blake Sims played well and won the job and led Alabama to the College Football Playoff?
Yeah, me too.
It's unlikely that Vernon Adams, the transfer QB from Eastern Washington, will waltz into the starting role when he arrives this summer. He was courted by Oregon to start, but head coach Mark Helfrich will give 2014 backup Jeff Lockie, redshirt freshman Morgan Mahalak and Georgia Tech transfer Ty Griffin a chance to make their marks.
Mahalak in particular presents a high-upside alternative. He was an Under Armour All-American in 2014 and has the size (6'3") and speed of a poor man's Marcus Mariota. He took a redshirt for a team that made the national title game, too.
Mariota did the same in 2011.
Notre Dame 2015 Becomes the UCLA of 2014
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UCLA won the 2014 Offseason National Championship, rising as high as No. 7 in the first Associated Press poll of the season.
Why was everybody (myself included) so eager to buy on the Bruins? Well, they had an up-and-down mobile quarterback with a rocket arm (Hundley), a speedy young linebacker with All-America potential (Myles Jack) and 16 returning starters.
Which brings us to Notre Dame, another team with an up-and-down mobile quarterback with a rocket arm (Everett Golson), a speedy young linebacker with All-American potential (Jaylon Smith) and even more than 16 returning starters (19, per Phil Steele).
See what I'm trying to get at?
The Irish are slightly different than the Bruins, since Golson, unlike Hundley, is not locked into the starting job. He'll compete with redshirt sophomore Malik Zaire, who started and rotated with Golson during the Music City Bowl upset of LSU.
Still, with so much talent returning from a team that—despite some obvious low moments—beat Stanford and LSU and hung with Florida State, we'll forgive the bad and jump on the Notre Dame bandwagon. (The "we" here being college football's media at large.)
Will Brian Kelly's team make us regret it?
SEC and Pac-12 Quarterbacks Emerge as Heisman Sleepers
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The most recent Heisman Trophy odds at Bovada, courtesy of Odds Shark, list 16 quarterbacks: five from the ACC, four from the Big Ten, three from the Big 12 and only two apiece from the Pac-12 and SEC.
This seems counterintuitive since (a) the Pac-12 and SEC are widely considered the best leagues in America, and (b) quarterback is widely considered the most important position on the field. How, then, could the Pac-12 and SEC have the fewest Heisman-caliber quarterbacks?
Expect that paradox to fix itself.
Players such as Kyle Allen (Texas A&M), Jake Coker (Alabama) and Joshua Dobbs (Tennessee) from the SEC and Mike Bercovici (Arizona State), Kevin Hogan (Stanford) and Anu Solomon (Arizona) from the Pac-12 can all play their way into the conversation during spring camp. Even though not all of them will, the smart money favors at least two or three names emerging from that list.
My personal favorites? Allen, Dobbs and Solomon. But any of those six could realistically get there, as could much-hyped youngsters such as Rosen (UCLA) and Jacob Park (Georgia).
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
