Ranking the Top 25 Seniors Heading into the 2015 College Football Season
Give a college football coach the choice of having star power or senior leadership, and the vast majority are going to go with experience over talent. Having players who have been there before, who have been through the fire and are now taking their final journey, is a resource that no team can have enough of.
When those seniors are also among the best players in the country is icing on the cake.
Because players can enter the NFL draft following their third season in college, the senior class tends to have its talent level knocked. But plenty of standouts choose to return for their senior seasons, while other late bloomers don't reach their full potential until that last year of school.
Here's our list of the top 25 seniors heading into the 2015 season ranked based on their overall abilities and how much their teams will count on their skills and experience this fall.
25. Nelson Spruce, Colorado
1 of 25
Position: Wide receiver
Height, weight: 6'1", 195 lbs
Nelson Spruce is never going to be described as a big-play wideout, at least by normal definitions. With a career per-catch average of around 11 yards, Spruce is better described as a possession receiver, one who can always be counted on to get open and collect tough yards, often over the middle.
Spruce did that constantly last season, catching 106 passes for 1,198 yards and 12 touchdowns. He had four games with at least 10 catches, including 32 over a two-game span for 351 yards and four TDs.
With 205 career catches, Spruce needs just 15 to become the school's all-time leader. He needs only 295 yards and four TDs to top both of those school lists as well.
24. Jonathan Williams, Arkansas
2 of 25
Position: Running back
Height, weight: 6'0", 223 lbs
As one of two 1,000-yard rushers Arkansas produced last season, Jonathan Williams set himself up for a possible jump to the NFL. Instead, he's got another year to run behind the Razorbacks' pro-sized offensive line, and that extra experience should help him at the next level.
Williams ran for 1,190 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, and because of the presence of fellow standout running back Alex Collins, he only carried it 211 times. For his career, Williams has 406 carries, which made coming back for one more season less risky than for more heavily used ball-carriers.
23. Jalen Mills, LSU
3 of 25
Position: Safety
Height, weight: 6'0", 194 lbs
As one of the most impacted programs when it comes to early NFL entry, LSU got a much-needed boost by Jalen Mills choosing to play his senior year in Baton Rouge. With the Tigers losing two other starters from the secondary, getting Mills back was a big win for a school with a reputation of having some of the best defensive backs in the nation.
“We put a target on ourselves calling ourselves 'DBU,'" Mills told Scott Rabalais of The Advocate. "Whether you feel like it or not, we have to come in every day and give 110 percent."
Last season Mills had 62 tackles with an interception, three tackles for loss, a fumble return, five pass breakups and two quarterback hurries, per CFBStats.com.
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22. Sheldon Day, Notre Dame
4 of 25
Position: Defensive tackle
Height, weight: 6'2", 285 lbs
Sheldon Day's impact on Notre Dame's defense has gone up each season he's been in the program, from a reserve in 2011 to a part-time starter the following season and then last year's slot starting 11 games in the middle of the line. Now that he's back for his final year, Day is arguably the Fighting Irish's most important player on that side of the ball.
Though his numbers (40 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, one sack) weren't huge, he drew enough attention to open up opportunities for linebacker Jaylon Smith and others to make big plays. Expect more of that this season as Notre Dame brings back all but one starter on defense.
21. Josh Doctson, TCU
5 of 25
Position: Wide receiver
Height, weight: 6'3", 195 lbs
TCU's offense featured five different players who caught at least 30 passes last season, but only one topped 41 receptions. That would be Josh Doctson, who emerged as the Horned Frogs' go-to wideout in 2014 and figures to again be in that role this fall.
Doctson had 65 receptions for 1,018 yards and 11 touchdowns, catching at least five passes in eight different games while going for more than 100 yards on three occasions. He caught four TDs over TCU's final three games, including two in the blowout win over Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl.
A Texas native, Doctson began his career at Wyoming before transferring and sitting out the 2012 season.
20. Byron Marshall, Oregon
6 of 25
Position: Wide receiver
Height, weight: 5'10", 200 lbs
A 1,000-yard rusher in 2013 who became a 1,000-yard receiver last season, Byron Marshall has shown his versatility within Oregon's offense. Now he sets his sights on being a senior leader, something the Ducks need badly with Marcus Mariota moving to the NFL and creating a huge leadership void.
Marshall was moved to receiver last year after the team lost Bralon Addison in the spring to a knee injury and because of the presence of Thomas Tyner as well as incoming freshman Royce Freeman. Freeman ran for a freshman school-record 1,365 yards with 18 TDs, while Marshall was the Ducks' leading receiver with 74 receptions, 1,003 yards and six TDs.
Marshall also ran for 392 last year. In his career he has nearly 3,100 all-purpose yards but now becomes a full-time receiver as he preps for a pro tenure at that position.
19. Jack Allen, Michigan State
7 of 25
Position: Center
Height, weight: 6'2", 295 lbs
With 30 career starts in the middle of Michigan State's offensive line, Jack Allen is a major reason why the Spartans have been able to develop into an offensive juggernaut (and Big Ten power) instead of just being known as a defense-first program.
Allen's reliability at center was key to MSU's offensive line only yielding 11 sacks and 52 tackles for loss in 2014, and this fall the Spartans will call on him to help open holes for a new running back as well as he did for Jeremy Langford the past two seasons.
18. Sterling Shepard, Oklahoma
8 of 25
Position: Wide receiver
Height, weight: 5'10", 195 lbs
An injury-plagued career has prevented Sterling Shepard from living up to the potential he showed as a freshman in 2012, as each of the past two years has seen him finish with 51 receptions following 45 in that first season.
Shepard had only one catch in Oklahoma's last five games in 2014, a groin injury slowing him during that final stretch. The year before he was knocked out of a game by a hard hit and then missed the following contest, taking awhile to get back to full strength.
Now fully healthy for his final season, Shepard can finally be the top-flight receiver the Sooners have been missing the past two years and as they move over to an Air Raid offense.
17. Devon Johnson, Marshall
9 of 25
Position: Running back
Height, weight: 6'1", 243 lbs
Marshall's huge 2014 season (and near-perfect campaign) was paced by an unstoppable offense that featured one of the country's most prolific passers in quarterback Rakeem Cato. But if not for the hard running of bullish back Devon Johnson, the Thundering Herd wouldn't have won 13 games.
Johnson ran for 1,767 yards last year, sixth most in the country, scoring 17 touchdowns on just 206 carries. His 8.58 yards-per-carry average was the best of any rusher with at least 200 touches and enabled him to top 100 yards in 10 of his 13 games.
With Cato gone, Marshall's offense will become even more reliant on Johnson's running, which could put him in line for an even bigger season.
16. Keenan Reynolds, Navy
10 of 25
Position: Quarterback
Height, weight: 5'11", 195 lbs
The option run game that Navy uses is one that is meant to offset the major difference in talent between what the Midshipmen can recruit and what opponents are able to land. It's hard getting top-notch athletes to commit to a program that includes a stretch in the military afterward.
But Keenan Reynolds is the kind of athlete who would likely star at numerous other FBS schools and not just ones that run the option like Georgia Southern or Georgia Tech. It's hard to argue it's just the system that has enabled Reynolds to set numerous records for rushing by a quarterback and be in line to become the all-time leader in rushing and total TDs scored.
Reynolds has scored 64 TDs on the ground in his three seasons, 13 short of Montee Ball's FBS record, while he's 19 behind Ball's time mark for total scores.
15. Dadi Nicolas, Virginia Tech
11 of 25
Position: Defensive end
Height, weight: 6'4", 236 lbs
The latest in a long line of great down linemen at Virginia Tech, Dadi Nicolas isn't as big as some of his predecessors such as Bruce Smith, Corey Moore or Luther Maddy. But that doesn't make him any less impactful or effective despite the kind of size that makes him more likely a linebacker at the pro level.
Last season Nicolas had 18 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks while also recording 26 quarterback hurries, according to CFBStats.com. He also made 71 tackles, a large tally for someone up front, as Nicolas got involved in both the pass defense and in stopping the run, further enhancing his value as a future linebacker.
14. Spencer Drango, Baylor
12 of 25
Position: Offensive tackle
Height, weight: 6'6", 310 lbs
It's unlikely that Spencer Drango's first NFL job will be with a team that throws as much as Baylor does, but whoever drafts him next spring can take solace in knowing that Drango would be able to handle the job of protecting a quarterback's blind side over and over and over.
Last season Drango started all 13 games at left tackle, giving him 35 starts for his career, and he was a key reason why the Bears only allowed 24 sacks despite Bryce Petty and his backups dropping back for 519 pass attempts.
WalterFootball.com projects Drango as the No. 19 overall pick in the 2016 draft.
13. Kevin Hogan, Stanford
13 of 25
Position: Quarterback
Height, weight: 6'4", 225 lbs
Following up a superstar like Andrew Luck is no easy task, but Kevin Hogan has handled it about as well as possible. Now entering his fourth year as Luck's successor at Stanford, the narrative has turned away from whether Hogan was capable of being a standout himself to what he needs to do this season to prepare for an NFL career of his own.
Hogan threw for 2,792 yards and 19 touchdowns last year, completing 65.9 percent of his passes, though he struggled in the red zone as the Cardinal did as a whole. He had nine red-zone TDs but only completed 53.7 percent from within the 20-yard line.
With Stanford replacing a large chunk of its defense, the offense will need to be more efficient this season, adding even more weight to Hogan's shoulders in his final year at the helm.
12. Brandon Doughty, Western Kentucky
14 of 25
Position: Quarterback
Height, weight: 6'3", 210 lbs
A senior for a second straight season, thanks to being granted a sixth year of eligibility due to time lost because of multiple knee injuries, Brandon Doughty gets to extend a college career that took awhile to get going but now has more momentum than any other passer's in the country.
Doughty led FBS in passing last year with 4,830 yards and 49 touchdowns, obliterating his own school record of 2,857 yards set the year before. In leading Western Kentucky to five straight wins after a 3-5 start, Doughty tossed 24 TD passes and had four 300-yard games, including efforts of 491 yards and eight TDs against Marshall and 486 yards with five TDs in the Bahamas Bowl.
With 7,800 career yards, Doughty is the active FBS leader, and if he can match his 2014 numbers he'll end up among the top 25 passers of all time.
11. Devontae Booker, Utah
15 of 25
Position: Running back
Height, weight: 5'11", 203 lbs
Not many people knew of Devontae Booker before he hit the field for the first time at Utah last season, and it took awhile before anyone outside of the Beehive State was aware of his exploits. But after five straight 100-yard rushing games (including a monster 229-yard, three-touchdown effort in overtime against Oregon State) this all started to change.
When the year was done, Booker had run for 1,512 yards with 10 TDs, helping the Utes win nine games for their best record since joining the Pac-12.
The junior college transfer was a workhorse, with eight games of 23 or more carries, and he'll once again be the focal point of Utah's offense.
10. Reggie Ragland, Alabama
16 of 25
Position: Linebacker
Height, weight: 6'2", 254 lbs
Alabama hasn't had a lot of standout seniors during Nick Saban's tenure, since most of the top Crimson Tide players turn pro after their junior season. This was an option for Reggie Ragland, but the smarter move was to spend one more year in college so he could hone his skills for the next level.
And as a result, Alabama will have one of its best front sevens ever—with Ragland's presence as the Will linebacker, it will be a major team strength. That was also the case in 2014, as Ragland had 95 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss.
Ragland heads into this fall as the top-rated inside linebacker of the senior class, per NFLDraftScout.
9. D.J. Foster, Arizona State
17 of 25
Position: Wide receiver
Height, weight: 5'11", 205 lbs
D.J. Foster's motivations for coming back as a senior were twofold: to improve his pro stock and enhance Arizona State's chances of winning the Pac-12. Both involved Foster needing to make a major change, though, which is why after three seasons as a running back he'll be working as a slot receiver this fall.
After leading the Sun Devils in rushing with 1,081 yards and nine touchdowns last year, Foster is helping to fill a void at receiver left by the early departure of Jaelen Strong (as well as the season-ending injury to projected No. 1 wideout Cameron Smith). It's not like he's going in cold, though, having caught 62 passes for 688 yards and three TDs in 2014.
Foster has 163 career receptions, which is fifth most in school history, and he's well within reach of Derek Hagan's ASU record of 258.
8. Eric Striker, Oklahoma
18 of 25
Position: Linebacker
Height, weight: 6'0", 221 lbs
The linebacker position has been a good one for Oklahoma over the years, and Eric Striker heads into his final season right there in the discussion for being among the best the school has ever produced. If he can put up another year like in 2014, when he led the Sooners with nine sacks and 17 tackles for loss, his case will be that much stronger.
Adding to his reputation was Striker's reason for coming back, which didn't have much to do with his draft stock—he was projected as an early-round pick—but instead was in response to Oklahoma struggling to an 8-5 mark last season.
"I don't want to go out like this," Striker said after the Sooners' blowout loss to Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl, per the school's Twitter account. "I'll be back at OU because I'm a winner."
7. Dak Prescott, Mississippi State
19 of 25
Position: Quarterback
Height, weight: 6'2", 230 lbs
The poster boy for Mississippi State's rise to a level of prominence it had never experienced before is back for an encore this fall, and Dak Prescott hasn't minced words in explaining why he's returned to the Bulldogs.
"When I decided to come to Mississippi State, it wasn't about competing for a championship for one year or making a run for one year," Prescott told Michael Bonner of The Clarion-Ledger. "It was about competing for championships and making this a program that's not a one-hit wonder."
Last year Prescott's play helped lift MSU to No. 1 in the country for several weeks amid a school-best 9-0 start, as he averaged 341.2 yards per game of total offense and accounted for 42 total touchdowns. But the Bulldogs faltered down the stretch, losing three of four (including to Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl), and the sting of that backslide was among the reasons that Prescott cited for coming back.
Prescott might have to do even more this season, as top running back Josh Robinson turned pro, though he will have his top two receiving targets back.
6. Cody Kessler, USC
20 of 25
Position: Quarterback
Height, weight: 6'1", 210 lbs
The lineage of USC quarterbacks is one filled by players who kept getting better as their careers progressed as well as several of late who have decided a full slate of college seasons was in their better interest than turning pro.
Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Matt Barkley all played for the Trojans as seniors, and their final years included some of the best performances in school history and among the top team efforts of the past quarter-century. And Cody Kessler is prepared to join that illustrious list for his third year as starter.
What he's done to this point is already impressive, especially in 2014, when his 39 touchdown passes tied Barkley's single-season school record and his 3,826 yards were only 116 shy of Palmer's USC mark. Kessler only tossed five interceptions in 452 attempts, mastering both the downfield throw and the ability to hit players over the middle in traffic.
5. D'haquille Williams, Auburn
21 of 25
Position: Wide receiver
Height, weight: 6'2", 216 lbs
Last year gave us only a taste of what D'haquille Williams is capable of doing, as the junior college transfer was limited to 10 games due to injury and a suspension that kept him out of Auburn's bowl game. He was also playing in an offense that valued the run far more than the aerial attack, which accounted for Williams only catching 45 passes (but still averaging more than 17 yards per reception).
Now that he's set to be the No. 1 option in a passing game that figures to be much more prolific—something cemented by the Tigers officially naming Jeremy Johnson their starting quarterback on Monday—we should get to see a lot more of why ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. expects Williams to be the top wide receiver taken in the 2016 draft.
"He'll be the guy, he'll be the main entity," Kiper said, per James Crepea of the Montgomery Advertiser.
That also means he'll be the one SEC secondaries will be most worried about, similar to how Amari Cooper was every defensive back in the South's worst nightmare in 2014.
4. Connor Cook, Michigan State
22 of 25
Position: Quarterback
Height, weight: 6'4", 218 lbs
Few players have made the steady-but-never-stopping progress that Connor Cook has made since becoming Michigan State's starter early in his redshirt sophomore year.
Ever since being given his first shot at meaningful time in September 2013, it's been nothing but up for Cook, to the point that he's heading into his final season as the nation's top senior quarterback and one who could find himself the first taken at his position in the 2016 draft.
Cook is rated first among senior passers for 2016, per NFLDraftScout, and WalterFootball.com projects him as the No. 9 overall selection next spring.
As a starter Cook has won 22 of 24 games, most recently a 42-41 victory over Baylor in the Cotton Bowl that saw him lead the Spartans back from down 20 points entering the fourth quarter. He threw for 314 yards that day, one of four 300-yard games he had for a team that's been known more for its defense than what it does with the ball.
3. Shilique Calhoun, Michigan State
23 of 25
Position: Defensive end
Height, weight: 6'5", 256 lbs
Fully aware that he could be a relatively high draft pick had he decided to turn pro this spring, Shilique Calhoun instead chose to spend one more year at the school that turned him into a star. By doing so, he'll not only enhance his stock, but also keep alive the long run that Michigan State has been on as a defensive power, even with so many losses on that side of the ball from last season.
"This will be our biggest senior leadership team," Calhoun told Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press. "Just because you're becoming a senior doesn't mean you're necessarily going to lead. You have to be forced into those positions, and that sort of just turns."
Calhoun seems more than ready to be a leader based on his words and his actions, which on the field the past two seasons have included 15.5 sacks and 26.5 tackles for loss.
2. Shawn Oakman, Baylor
24 of 25
Position: Defensive end
Height, weight: 6'9", 280 lbs
Do not adjust your computer screen or mobile device; Shawn Oakman really does loom that largely over opposing offensive lines. That tends to happen when you've got the body of an NBA power forward but have instead devoted your athletic endeavors toward downing ball-carriers and quarterbacks rather than dunking basketballs.
Oakman is as imposing a figure as there is in college, and the Internet is well-aware of this. Images of him from last season have been converted into various memes, most carrying the theme that he's not to be messed with.
But he's more than just a scary-looking player. He's also one of the game's top edge-rushers, coming off a year when he had 11 sacks, 19.5 tackles for loss, broke up three passes and forced three fumbles.
A former Penn State signee who sat out both the 2011 (redshirt) and 2012 (transfer) seasons, Oakman is still coming into his own as a player. That's not good news for opposing passers and rushers who will end up being his unwitting test subjects this season.
1. Trevone Boykin, TCU
25 of 25
Position: Quarterback
Height, weight: 6'2", 205 lbs
Trevone Boykin finally discovered himself in 2014, and what he found was far better than anyone could have imagined.
His rise from a player with immense talent but no set position—he bounced around from quarterback to running back to receiver the year before—to one of the game's most dangerous weapons was integral in TCU becoming a national power that contended for a playoff spot, and he's the main reason the Horned Frogs are among the favorites to make this year's semifinals.
He's also one of the front-runners for the Heisman Trophy, coming in at 15-2, according to Odds Shark.
Last year Boykin was fourth nationally in total offense, averaging 354.5 yards per game (which was slightly more than Heisman winner Marcus Mariota produced for Oregon). He threw for more than 3,900 yards, ran for another 700-plus and, including a receiving touchdown, was responsible for 42 TDs.
A blend of a strong arm and mobility that is hard to find, Boykin will again be a force to be reckoned with in 2015. And if he can match last season's performance, look for TCU to be battling for a national title.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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