College Football's 10 Most Valuable Backups for 2015
Here's the thing about offseason All-American and all-conference lists: They're good in theory...until something goes wrong or changes.
Football is a violent, unpredictable sport. Injuries happen all the time and there's never a good time for them. And because we're talking about college kids here, suspensions and academic casualties are part of the process, too.
That's when the backups step into the spotlight. In the following slides are 10 of the most valuable backups in college football based on key positions/groups that figure to play a huge role in a team's success. Some backups act as great insurance policies for loaded depth charts. Others are relative unknowns who would need to play big as a replacement. Value, after all, has a different meaning to everyone.
Arkansas Fullback Kody Walker
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What's better than having a two-headed monster like Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins in your backfield? Having Kody Walker, a retired monster truck, serving as a fullback and backup rushing option.
Walker's time with the Razorbacks was plagued early on by injuries, but over time, he's become a key, albeit underappreciated, component of the offense. Walker, who is listed at 6'2" and 250 pounds on his school bio, had a huge spring game with 174 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries.
It's a luxury for Arkansas to have that much depth in the backfield. While Brandon Allen continues to improve as a quarterback, there's no doubt the Hogs' bread and butter is in the ground game. If either Williams or Collins—or both—sustain injuries, head coach Bret Bielema knows he can still ground-and-pound his way to a win with Walker.
Baylor Offensive Lineman Tanner Thrift
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Forget for a moment about how ridiculously talented Baylor is at the skill positions. The Bears are just as impressive up front along the offensive line. Undoubtedly, the key to that unit is left tackle Spencer Drango, an All-Big 12 and All-American candidate.
That means Drango's backup exiting spring, redshirt sophomore Tanner Thrift, could play an important role if Drango gets hurt.
Go back to 2013 when Drango sustained a season-ending back injury. Coupled with the loss of wide receiver Tevin Reese, Drango's absence hurt Baylor's vertical passing game. Now, fast forward to this year. Drango is still around, but the Bears have a new quarterback in Seth Russell. Protecting him is crucial to the team's success.
The Big 12 has some nasty defensive ends, like Oklahoma State's Emmanuel Ogbah and Oklahoma's Charles Tapper. Now, imagine being Thrift and having to block one of those guys when defenses are deliberately keying in on you.
Putting pressure on the quarterback is how you slow Baylor's offense (see the game against West Virginia in 2014). Drango does an excellent job of protecting the backfield, so Thrift would have big shoes to fill.
Clemson Quarterback Nick Schuessler
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Provided he can stay healthy—which, as we saw last season, is a a big "if"—Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson is on his way to being the ACC's best at his position. With Watson recovering from an ACL injury this offseason, though, it was up to Nick Schuessler to move the Tigers offense in the spring.
And that's exactly what he did, being labeled the Offensive MVP by co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott.
Watson brings a whole other dimension to Clemson's offense with his athleticism. But if Watson continues to sustain injuries, Clemson has to have confidence that Schuessler can keep racking up the yards and points. The difference between Watson and Cole Stoudt a year ago was glaring.
From the the look and sound of it, however, the Tigers have every bit of confidence in Schuessler.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Florida Defensive Back Duke Dawson
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The term "backup" in a place like the defensive secondary can get a little confusing; it largely depends on what type of defense a team rolls out onto the field. For instance, junior defensive back Brian Poole actually started 10 games last year for the Gators and finished second with 10 passes broken up, but split his time between the nickel and cornerback positions.
Sophomore Duke Dawson is more of a true backup for the Gators at both cornerback and safety. For that reason, he gets the nod here over Poole, even though you could make an argument for either.
As Ryan Black of the Ledger-Enquirer opined in May, Florida has perhaps the best secondary in the country with Vernon Hargreaves III, Jalen Tabor and others. Since the offense is a clear work in progress, it'll be up to the defense to keep games within reach. Dawson roams around and does a couple of different things in the secondary, so he acts as a plug-and-play type of player in relief.
LSU Running Back Darrel Williams
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LSU's offense will almost always go through the ground game, but that's only heightened by the fact that the Tigers have questions at quarterback. Sophomore running back Leonard Fournette should build off a 2014 season that saw him lead the team with 1,034 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Behind Fournette, fellow sophomore Darrel Williams should see his role increase after rushing 64 times last year. No longer will LSU be able to rely on seniors Kenny Hilliard and Terrence Magee. Rather, Fournette and Williams are now the veteran players in the backfield. With incoming freshmen Nick Brossette and Derrius Guice joining the group, Fournette and Williams have to become leaders.
Fournette is the main attraction, but no player should ever have to carry the entire load of an offense. The running game will likely be counted on again to move the chains, but Williams serves as an important player who can keep the Tigers grinding away on the ground.
Michigan State Defensive End Demetrius Cooper
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Once again, Michigan State should have one of the best defensive lines in the Big Ten, if not the country. The star of that D-line is edge-rusher Shilique Calhoun, the former Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year. An emerging star up front should be redshirt sophomore Demetrius Cooper.
Whether Cooper starts games in 2015 or not depends largely on whether Lawrence Thomas moves inside to defensive tackle, as noted by Mike Griffith of MLive.com. For now, Cooper is the No. 3 defensive end. However the Spartans line up, Cooper should see more playing time. As a redshirt freshman in 2014, he finished tied for second on the team with five quarterback hurries.
"Last year they toughened it out and played probably 700 or 800 plays, (and) I had close to 200 or 300, I knew my role,'' Cooper told Griffith. "I know this year my role will be a lot bigger with Marcus Rush gone and I'll have to do what I have to do.''
With Calhoun departing after this season, Cooper is on track to emerge as the next great edge-rusher for the Spartans.
Ohio State's Backup Quarterback
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It's impossible to be specific here because, well, we're not sure yet who the backup is going to be. No one is. J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones or Braxton Miller could all start, or serve as a backup, in 2015.
No matter how the depth chart shakes out, recent history shows there's value in being a backup quarterback for the Buckeyes. Barrett started every regular-season game in 2014, winning 11, after it was announced that Miller would miss the season because of a lingering shoulder injury. Following Barrett's ankle injury against Michigan, Jones won three postseason games: the Big Ten championship, Sugar Bowl and national championship.
The kind of life insurance policy Ohio State has at quarterback is unrivaled by any other program at the moment. What's more is that Jones, who theoretically could have left for the NFL this year, doesn't even view himself as the top quarterback on the roster.
"I'm working harder than ever," Jones told Austin Ward of ESPN.com. "I understand that I want to be the starting quarterback of this team, but I know I have two guys in front of me who are working just as hard."
TCU Quarterback Bram Kohlhausen
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Ah, yes. The unknown backup quarterback who at a moment's notice could be asked to take the field with the game on the line.
Exiting spring, that title goes to Bram Kohlhausen for TCU. The Houston transfer saw action in just four games last year, completing 7-of-9 passes. Still, he's listed above redshirt freshmen Foster Sawyer and Grayson Muehlstein on the post-spring depth chart.
Senior Trevone Boykin is the preseason Heisman candidate who could lead the Frogs to a Big 12 championship and playoff appearance. What would the offense, which ranked second in the nation in points per game last year, look like without Boykin? It's unclear, but head coach Gary Patterson called the backup quarterback spot his biggest area of concern, according to Jake Trotter of ESPN.com).
Make of that what you will, but the quarterback is obviously a huge part of the Frogs' Air Raid offense. There's tremendous value in the next guy being able to step in and put up solid numbers.
Tennessee Offensive Lineman Coleman Thomas
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Tennessee's offensive line two-deep isn't set in stone yet. You wouldn't expect that to be the case after last year's disastrous results. The Vols finished dead last in the SEC with 43 sacks allowed, an average of 3.31 per game.
According to B/R colleague and Tennessee lead writer Brad Shepard, senior Mack Crowder is the presumed starter at center after starting 11 games there a year ago. However, sophomore Coleman Thomas could push for the starting job. As a freshman, Thomas also started five games at right tackle.
There's a lot of hype around Tennessee this offseason to make a run in the SEC East race. There's certainly enough talent on the roster to make it happen, but the Vols have to improve in quarterback protection. The center has to be one of the smartest guys on the field at all times, if not the smartest. Crowder's experience helps in that regard, but if Thomas is thrust into a starting role, he has to be ready to run that offense up front with dramatically better results than last year.
USC Quarterback Max Browne
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For one more year, Cody Kessler will lead USC's offense. As one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country in 2014, Kessler has his eyes on a Heisman and playoff appearance this season. If something were to happen to Kessler, though, Max Browne would be the next man up.
If the Trojans' spring game was any indication, the offense should be in good hands. Head coach Steve Sarkisian said the April scrimmage "was Max Browne's game," per Heather Dinich of ESPN.com, and he certainly wasn't wrong. The redshirt sophomore completed 24-of-37 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns.
The passing game should be the focal point of the offense thanks to the departure of running back Buck Allen. If Kessler isn't able to play, Browne would have to show he's capable of moving the sticks through the air.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
