College Football Freshmen Turning Heads During Spring Practice
Almost every major program has opened spring football camp, although spring break limited reps at most schools with early- or mid-March openings.
Regardless, redshirt and true freshmen have made a quick impact on some of those practice fields, and especially at schools that opened camp in late February. It's hard to keep a firsthand eye on everything, but the early reports and highlight clips look great.
We'll update freshman progress with a new list at the end of spring practice once more teams have played extended reps, but for now here are 10 freshmen whose performances have turned heads.
Sound off below, and let us know which players we missed.
RB Jacques Patrick, Florida State
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2015 Class Rank: 40 RB Rank: 4
Head coach Jimbo Fisher has raved about Jacques Patrick, whose size (6'1", 232 lbs) makes him a factor in the Florida State running back rotation.
"That big body—he runs natural, sees cuts, makes natural cuts and that’s a big load when he comes through there, man," Fisher said of Patrick, per Brendan Sonnone of the Orlando Sentinel.
Fisher also gushed about Patrick's hands—"He has great hands. Not good hands, but great hands."—and pass protection.
The 'Noles return Dalvin Cook as their feature back, but Fisher prefers to spread carries among multiple players, as David M. Hale of ESPN.com outlined last offseason. Mario Pender (5'10", 204 lbs) will fight Patrick for touches but lacks the pure size to replace Karlos Williams, last year's power back, to the same degree as Patrick.
OG Javon Patterson, Ole Miss
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2015 Class Rank: 52 OG Rank: 3
In the days leading up to spring camp, Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said Javon Patterson would get "all the reps he wants and then some," according to Ben Garrett of Ole Miss Spirit.
Three weeks later, per another report from Garrett, Patterson has already become one of Freeze's favorite players.
These reports fall in line with the pre-spring prognosis on Patterson: i.e., that there's a strong chance he starts from Day 1. Ole Miss needs a new starting guard, and after sliding Laremy Tunsil into the lineup as a true freshman in 2013, Freeze is unafraid to roll the dice.
"Several area high school coaches, scouts and recruiters alike would be 'stunned' if he didn't start his first game in Oxford," wrote Riley Blevins of The Clarion-Ledger in February.
So far, he's right on track.
DB Jabrill Peppers (Redshirt)
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2014 Class Rank: 3 ATH Rank: 1
Jabrill Peppers has come back with a vengeance.
Injuries cost him his true freshman season, but now he's healthy enough to do flips from the defensive backfield.
More than that, he finally knows his position. The Wolverines tried him at numerous spots last offseason, but now he's a pure safety. And according to defensive backs coach Greg Jackson, who played 12 years in the NFL and spent the past four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, he's shown the "it" factor that defines special players.
Jackson's full quote, per Mark Snyder of The Detroit Free Press:
"Reminds me of Rodney Harrison when I played. He reminds me of Rodney: enthusiastic, intense during practice, full speed to the ball all the time. He's a kid that's hungry, ready to prove himself and a guy like Peppers, you can't teach hustle, he's just got it, just got that knack of being a football player. If we just keep him going in the right direction coaching him, I think he's going to be a really good player.
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"Jabrill's been impressive," added head coach Jim Harbaugh, per Nick Baumgardner of MLive.com. "[He had] a desire to take as many reps as he can take. Whether it's a drill or in a team [situation]."
WRs Chris Platt and Ishmael Zamora, Baylor (Redshirt)
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2014 Class Rank: 598 WR Rank: 83 [Platt]
2014 Class Rank: 361 WR Rank: 49 [Zamora]
Corey Coleman and KD Cannon will carry Baylor's receiving corps next season. Jay Lee and Davion Hall will compete for reps, too.
But Chris Platt and Ishmael Zamora will make an impact.
They're too good not to.
The redshirt freshmen played well all March and balled out in Baylor's spring game. Jake Trotter of ESPN.com and Shehan Jeyarajah of The Dallas Morning News both mentioned Platt and Zamora among their five biggest takeaways from the scrimmage.
As a high schooler, Platt played both football and track and won three state titles in the 400-meter dash. Because of his size (5'11", 165 lbs) and speed, he will compete to start in the slot next season. Zamora (6'4", 220 lbs) has a harder path to playing time, as he's blocked by Coleman and Cannon, but his ceiling is even higher.
Bears head coach Art Briles has compared Zamora with former BU star Josh Gordon, according to Jeyarajah.
TE Milan Richard, Clemson (Redshirt)
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2014 Class Rank: 318 TE Rank: 12
In some ways, tight end is the keystone position of Clemson's offense. Michael Palmer, Dwayne Allen and Brandon Ford played starring roles from 2008 to 2012, but injuries and poor development have led to diminished production the past two seasons.
Redshirt freshman Milan Richard was not the pre-camp favorite to fix that, but he's emerged this spring as the No. 1 option. Head coach Dabo Swinney called Richard a joy to coach, per 247Sports—which also called Richard one of Clemson's five biggest surprises this spring.
"Thus far through spring camp Milan Richard leads the race at tight end," Cory Fravel reported. "The redshirt freshman is putting in work in spring ball picking up where he left off on the scout team last fall. He is the future and perhaps the present at that position, so don’t be surprised to see him making noise this fall for the Tigers."
Side note: Richard's uncle is Herschel Walker. So, y'know, genetics.
ILB Cameron Smith, USC
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2015 Class Rank: 190 ILB Rank: 7
As a recruit, Cameron Smith ranked lower than USC's other freshman linebackers, Osa Masina, Porter Gustin and John Houston, by a wide margin. However, he's the only one of those four who enrolled for spring camp, and he's taken full advantage of his head start.
"What he's shown is that he's a better athlete than we gave him credit it for," head coach Steve Sarkisian said of Smith, whose size (6'3", 240 lbs) for the inside linebacker position was never in doubt.
As long as he keeps turning heads in spring camp, he'll enter summer workouts with a leg up on Gustin and with a real chance to start over Lamar Dawson, Michael Hutchings and Olajuwon Tucker.
CB Kevin Toliver II, LSU
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2015 Class Rank: 8 CB Rank: 2
Kevin Toliver II spent more than 800 days committed to LSU before stepping on campus—the longest spell of any Les Miles recruit.
In two weeks of practice, he's made up for delayed time.
Toliver recorded an interception during the Tigers' first scrimmage and is competing with sophomore Ed Paris to start opposite junior Tre'Davious White. Even if Rashard Robinson plans to re-enroll this summer, as reported by James Smith of NOLA.com, Toliver and Paris will compete for the No. 2 job.
"I think Toliver is a very, very talented guy," said Miles, per Lawrence Barreca of The Advocate. "I think Ed Paris is every bit as capable as any. There’s really good competition there. There are similarities between the two. They are both very physical, very tough guys, and both have great speed and ball skills. I think we’ll be fine at corner."
"The fact that Kevin Toliver II is pushing Ed Paris for a starting job shows just how talented of a player Toliver really is," added Cody Bellaire of And The Valley Shook.
Paris was the No. 42 overall recruit in 2014.
OT Connor Williams, Texas
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2015 Class Rank: 419 OT Rank: 44
Texas opened spring camp on March 25—hey, that's today!—so Connor Williams has made his mark in workouts instead of live drills. Still, we can make an exception and add him to this list based on the magnitude of the glowing reviews from Austin.
Williams was the star of winter workouts and went from also-ran to potential Day 1 starter at left tackle. In fact, Jeff Howe of 247Sports projected that would happen on his post-national signing day depth chart, listing Williams over senior Marcus Hutchins.
Williams played tight end in high school and has an upside commensurate with Jason Peters or Lane Johnson—converted tight ends who became useful NFL starters. Head coach Charlie Strong said Williams is already up to 285 pounds—up from 6'5", 275 pounds as a recruit—and mentioned his unique athletic potential, per Howe.
"Williams will carry 295-300 pounds well and he'll do it soon," added Scipio Tex of Barking Carnival. "The former TE from Coppell is on a rocket growth curve and the plateau is nowhere in sight."
LB Dedrick Young, Nebraska
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2015 Class Rank: 623 ATH Rank: 49
Dedrick Young fills a position of need and has practiced so well that redshirting now seems unlikely. The Huskers lose starting weak-side linebacker Zaire Anderson and inside linebacker Trevor Roach, and there's not a ton of depth to replace them.
According to Mike'l Severe of The Bottom Line, a radio show hosted by the Omaha World-Herald, Young looks the part as a physical specimen (6'1", 220 lbs) and proved he could hold his own in coverage. He doesn't have the size to play inside but could fit nicely at "Will."
"Dedrick Young is picking things up really fast for a guy that should be going to his prom here soon," linebackers coach Trent Bray told reporters, according to Rich Kaipust of the World-Herald.
For Nebraska's sake, let's hope he keeps that up.
Note: All recruiting info refers to the 247Sports composite rankings.
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