Big Ten Football: Ranking the Best Seniors in the Conference
With spring practices underway at all but a few Big Ten programs, coaches and fans alike will be looking for the next crop of top Big Ten football seniors to emerge. With experience comes expectations, not only for outstanding statistical impact, but for on-field and locker room leadership as well.
These players are entering their final season of eligibility, but simply being a senior isn't enough to make a list. We're looking for players that have the ability to be a leader for their respective teams or units, both as voices of experience for underclassmen and where it matters: on the field.
In that vein, we've gone ahead and identified the top returning seniors in the conference you should watch in 2015 to make a major impact.
No. 7: Jason Spriggs, OT, Indiana
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The only reason Indiana's explosive offensive and top-notch ground game doesn't get more attention is that the number in the loss column tends to be greater than the number in the win column at season's end. But don't blame the offensive line.
Offensive tackle Jason Spriggs returns in 2015 for his fourth season as a starter after being pressed into early duty as a true freshman all the way back in 2012.
The roster is a little deeper nowadays, but Spriggs has developed into an integral part of the offensive scheming in Bloomington during his tenure. At Indiana, you need to shoot hoops to really get noticed, but even by Indiana football standards, Spriggs is an unheralded guy.
Were the Hoosiers putting up more wins, Spriggs would be raking in the honors and awards. As it stands, he'll just have to settle for a little love spread elsewhere around the offense; Tevin Coleman isn't a first-team All-Big Ten selection without Spriggs opening up holes, and there's no way any Hoosier ever sniffs the 2,000-yard mark without a guy like Spriggs leading the way up front.
No. 6: Leonte Carroo, WR, Rutgers
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Leonte Carroo was quietly one of the conference's most productive wide receivers in 2014. He was one of only three Big Ten receivers to finish with more than 1,000 yards and will be the only receiver returning with 10 or more receptions for touchdowns.
With the Scarlet Knights breaking in a new quarterback in 2015, the experience at wide receiver should help out a lot. Rumor has it that quarterbacks enjoy athletic wide receivers who are big targets, good at catching the football and agile and speedy after the catch. That's Carroo in a nutshell.
Just how explosive can Carroo be this season? Consider this: He had just 55 receptions in 2014, by far the lowest total among the Big Ten's top five receivers, yet he finished second in the conference—just 112 yards behind Big Ten leader Tony Lippett—in total yards.
No. 5: Josh Ferguson, RB, Illinois
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With all of the great rushing performances we saw in 2014, it might seem odd to some for us to name Illinois' Josh Ferguson as one of the conference's top seniors in 2015. But considering that the Big Ten will lose more than 4,500 yards of junior output from 2014 (just from two guys, no less) and the general lack of any other 2014 juniors returning for their senior seasons, Ferguson's place on our list seems to make a bit more sense.
But don't start thinking that Ferguson's selection is a charity pick for the Illini senior. Last season, Ferguson averaged over five yards per carry and found the end zone eight times on 146 carries. That's about on par with Indiana's Tevin Coleman's touchdowns-per-carry ratio from last season and beats out Minnesota's David Cobb.
With another season of experience and maturity under his belt, Ferguson could soon emerge as a powerful offensive weapon for the Illini—a team that badly needs all of the offensive weapons it can find these days.
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No. 4: Anthony Zettel, DT, Penn State
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It probably doesn't matter what modifier you use for a top-10 list: top Big Ten seniors, top Big Ten linemen, top Big Ten defensive players. Penn State's Anthony Zettel belongs on all of them.
Zettel's impact goes beyond his stats, but his stats are impressive. Last season, Zettel had 17 tackles for loss, second in the Big Ten and in the top 20 nationally. Zettel also finished third in the conference with eight sacks. He also forced a fumble and swatted down five passes at the line of scrimmage last season.
But Zettel has been a vocal leader of a team that until recently has been wading through the quagmire of crushing NCAA sanctions. Now clear of such a burden, Penn State is free to compete for divisional and conference titles—something that could happen sooner rather than later with senior leadership from guys like Zettel.
No. 3: Shilique Calhoun, DE, Michigan State
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There are few players in the nation, much less the Big Ten, that opposing offensive coordinators, offensive linemen and quarterbacks fear more than Michigan State's Shilique Calhoun. Easily the conference's top returning defensive line player, Calhoun looks to add to his already impressive career numbers at Michigan State (which include 16.5 sacks and 29 tackles for loss).
Michigan State's defense lost its coordinator when Pat Narduzzi left East Lansing to take over as head coach at Pitt, but the MSU defense still retains its talented core, particularly up front.
With Calhoun ready to tear through opposing offensive lines for one more season, don't expect any major defensive falloff from the Spartans in 2015.
No. 2: Briean Boddy-Calhoun, DB, Minnesota
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You don't rebuild a football program without some program-wide effort. But it also takes some occasional standout individual performances to get things really rolling along. That's where Minnesota's Briean Boddy-Calhoun comes in.
Gone are the days of the Golden Gophers losing to FCS programs. Instead, Minnesota is now chasing down a Big Ten West Division title. Those title runs don't happen without solid defense, and the Gophers' pass defense is led by Boddy-Calhoun and his five interceptions from 2014. No returning senior has more.
Boddy-Calhoun also managed to recover a fumble, make 51 tackles (two for loss), force two fumbles and break up nine passes last season. He'll clearly be a leader for the Gophers on defense in 2015, and his performance will be integral to any success his team enjoys in 2015.
No. 1: Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State
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Michigan State's Connor Cook has been often overlooked when it comes to any list of the best quarterbacks in the nation, but there's one stat with which no one can argue: Cook is 23-3 as a starting quarterback, including 16-1 against the Big Ten. No other returning Big Ten quarterback comes close.
OK, so maybe Braxton Miller might be in the running for the best senior in the conference, but with an open question about whether Miller even returns to Ohio State (and whether or not he secures the top spot on the Buckeyes' depth chart if he does), we're giving the nod to Cook.
Cook led the Big Ten last season with 3,214 passing yards. He was also the only Big Ten quarterback to throw more than 16 touchdowns (Cook had 24) while also throwing fewer than 10 interceptions (Cook had eight).
Add in a plethora of departures from upperclassmen following the 2014 season that gives the Big Ten a very young look to it, and Cook finds himself even further up the senior hierarchy for 2015.
In fact, we can't think of another senior in the conference poised to make a bigger impact for his team's fortunes this season, which is why MSU's Connor Cook is our top Big Ten senior for 2015.
Follow Bleacher Report National College Football Featured Columnist David Luther on Twitter.
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