Power Ranking the Top College Football Freshmen from October
Like that, November is here. On Tuesday, the College Football Playoff selection committee will release its first Top 25 for the 2015 season. While about a dozen teams still have realistic playoff hopes, let's not forget there are impact freshmen helping those teams.
With that in mind, we have our own power rankings for the top freshmen in college football from the month of October. More weight was given to specific stats/performances over the last four weeks, but overall season numbers were considered as well.
Since the Football Bowl Subdivision is nearly 130 teams strong, we realize we've probably missed some under-the-radar guys. Feel free to share your standout frosh in the comments section below.
Honorable Mentions
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We're not going to get everyone; that's the nature of power rankings. But it also feels terrible completely leaving other deserving players out. Here are a few freshmen who, despite just missing the cut, deserve to be recognized.
Utah wide receiver Britain Covey: He's emerged as Utah's best receiving target and had seven catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns against USC.
Alabama cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick: He's second on the team with two interceptions, both of which came in a win over Texas A&M. He also has a punt return for a touchdown, seven pass breakups and has shown a nice skill set in pass-rushing situations.
Michigan State running back LJ Scott: LJ Scott and Madre London have split carries in the Spartans offense, but Scott has 5.64 yards per carry and a team-best nine touchdowns on the ground.
15. Missouri Defensive End Walter Brady
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Missouri's defensive line continues to be the strength of the team. Give a ton of credit to Tigers D-line coach Craig Kuligowski, who does as good a job as anybody in college football at coaching up his players. Through two months, Mizzou is tied for third in the SEC in sacks.
One of the new stars along the D-line is freshman Walter Brady. He is tied for first on the team with six sacks. He's also recorded an interception against South Carolina, a pass breakup against Vanderbilt and has two additional quarterback hurries on the year.
Mizzou has fielded some outstanding defensive ends over the past couple of years. At this rate, Brady can be one of the next great ones.
14. Florida Wide Receiver Antonio Callaway
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Florida needed to find an answer in the passing game other than Demarcus Robinson. Freshman Antonio Callaway has emerged as that answer. In fact, in some ways, Callaway has surpassed Robinson as the Gators' go-to guy in the passing game. Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel even went so far as to say Callaway has "overshadowed" Robinson.
He's not entirely wrong, either.
Robinson is still the team's leading receiver in terms of receptions, but Callaway leads everyone with 418 yards and three touchdowns. His last two games, against LSU and Georgia, he's had at least 100 yards receiving. He also had 112 yards against Tennessee.
If Callaway can keep up this production, he'll skyrocket up future freshman power rankings.
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13. Louisville Quarterback Lamar Jackson
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Louisville's quarterback rotation appears to have settled on Lamar Jackson. In the long run, that's a good thing. Jackson is a special talent and, given time, will blossom into a heck of a player.
Jackson's a better threat running the ball now. He's had three 100-yard rushing games, the most recent of which came in early October against North Carolina State. However, he has made some beautiful throws as well. He's thrown six of his eight touchdowns in the past month and had his best game against Florida State (339 total yards).
All the tools are there; they just have to come together at the same time. That takes experience.
12. TCU Wide Receiver KaVontae Turpin
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While Josh Doctson continues to get Biletnikoff Award consideration, the not-so-little secret out of Fort Worth involves one of the smallest players on the team: wide receiver KaVontae Turpin.
Next to Doctson, Turpin has the second-most receptions (25) and touchdowns (6) on the team. He had his first 100-yard receiving game against Texas and continues to be a versatile weapon in the running game and on special teams.
Turpin is other-worldly in the open field, which is a perfect complement to Doctson's physical, downfield game. The moment defenses try to double up on Doctson, it leaves one less guy to defend Turpin in the open field. That's a huge problem.
11. Pitt Safety Jordan Whitehead
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Pitt has been one of the pleasant surprises in college football, all while playing without star running back James Conner, who is out for the year with a knee injury. First-year coach Pat Narduzzi has done a great job with the Panthers.
Freshman Jordan Whitehead has been one of the most productive players in college football at his position. He leads the team with 61 tackles, and two of his three double-digit tackle performances have come in October (versus Virginia and North Carolina).
Whitehead has been consistent against the run and the pass, but his specialty right now is in run support with three tackles for loss.
10. Texas Linebacker Malik Jefferson
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Don't let Texas' ugly 24-0 loss to Iowa State deter from pointing out bright spots. Texas linebacker Malik Jefferson continues to be one of the most outstanding defenders in college football.
Though his overall numbers haven't been as high in October, he still recorded a season-best two sacks against Oklahoma. He's a punishing hitter, and though he's still adjusting to the college game, he has good instincts on where to be.
Missed tackles have been a problem, but that's not just him. Texas' defense as a whole has struggled there. A higher ranking would have meant Jefferson is being mentioned on name alone. His October wasn't quite as good as his September, but he's still been one of the most reliable defenders for Texas.
9. Georgia Defensive Tackle Trenton Thompson
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Trenton Thompson has been an absolute beast for Georgia up front. He has at least four tackles in two of four games this year, which are good numbers for the interior of a D-line. He also has a couple of tackles for loss and quarterback hurries.
Georgia's run defense has been average in October, but it's not for a lack of effort on Thompson's part. He's an immovable force when he does play the defensive tackle spot.
“Trent, he does a really good job of using his hands and getting separation from the blocker and being able to shed him and go make a play,” head coach Mark Richt said of Thompson, per Jason Butt of Macon.com. “D-linemen, it's hard to find guys that can get off blocks, and because of him using his hands the way he does."
8. Texas A&M Wide Receiver Christian Kirk
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Before getting into Christian Kirk, we have to at least acknowledge Aggies quarterback Kyler Murray.
Though he's served as a backup/complementary quarterback through most of the season, Murray got his first start in Week 9 against South Carolina—and did Murray ever deliver. He recorded 379 yards of offense and two touchdowns. However, it's been Murray's biggest opportunity since Week 1 against Arizona State. With that said, we'll table Murray until November to see if he keeps it up.
Now, on to Kirk. One of college football's breakout stars in September has kept up the good work in October. He still leads the team in receptions (47), receiving yards (662) and is tied for first with four touchdowns. Though he didn't have a 100-yard receiving game in October, he came close twice: versus Mississippi State and Alabama. He also returned a punt for a touchdown against the Tide.
If Murray pans out and ends up being the guy for A&M, here's betting these two will make an explosive duo for at least the next two years.
7. Penn State Running Back Saquon Barkley
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The household name for Penn State over the last few years has been quarterback Christian Hackenberg, which is ironic given how much the Nittany Lions offense has struggled. Hackenberg is the polarizing pro prospect with all the right tools, but it's been an up-and-down collegiate career marred by scheme fit and poor pass protection.
The bright spot for Penn State's offense has been freshman running back Saquon Barkley. Despite missing two games due to injury, Barkley had 26 carries (career high) for 194 yards against Ohio State on Oct. 17. He's also scored a rushing touchdown in each of his last two games. He leads all freshmen in the Big Ten with 102.29 yards per game.
He's been a bruising back, too, breaking 30 tackles on 86 rushes and averaging 4.59 yards after contact, per Pro Football Focus.
6. UCLA Quarterback Josh Rosen
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Josh Rosen has been far more quiet during October. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, UCLA lost back-to-back games against Arizona State and Stanford. The Bruins also very well could have lost to Colorado. In short, the buzz on Rosen has naturally cooled.
Secondly, Rosen continues to look like a freshman—as one would realistically expect. He's great one moment, and he's looking quite 18-year-old-ish the next.
But none of that is to take away what's been done. In his "worst" performance in October, against the Sun Devils, he still threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns.
Rosen remains excellent. He ranks among the top 25 passers in college football in yards per game. It's just that the chatter around him has died some.
5. Alabama Wide Receiver Calvin Ridley
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No one can simply replace Amari Cooper, but Alabama has found a new No. 1 wide receiver for 2015, and his name is Calvin Ridley.
In addition to leading the Tide with 45 catches for 525 yards, he had back-to-back 100-yard games in the month of October. He's also caught at least seven passes in each of the last three games. He was named the SEC's Freshman of the Week following Alabama's 38-10 win over Georgia.
Alabama is still a run-first team, but the emergence of Ridley gives quarterback Jake Coker a reliable weapon downfield to open up even bigger lanes for running back Derrick Henry.
4. Florida State Safety Derwin James
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There have been only a handful of teams in college football that have played multiple impact freshmen. One of them is Florida State.
So, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention defensive end Josh Sweat and running back Jacques Patrick. Patrick finally had a breakout game against Syracuse (162 yards, three touchdowns), and Sweat has quietly been disruptive as an edge-rusher.
But safety Derwin James is playing at another level. He's third on the team with 39 tackles and five tackles for loss, and he has two forced fumbles. Against Syracuse, James had 12 tackles (two for loss) and one forced fumble.
“He's learning to not play hesitant. Playing fast,” head coach Jimbo Fisher said of James last month, according to Brendan Sonnone of the Orlando Sentinel. “And he made some mistakes. Some of them, there's mistakes and you can't see. But sometimes he'll play so hard he'll overcome them or somebody else will.
“Everything's not perfect but his adjustments, his ability to blitz, tackling in space. I mean, he's emerging into the kind of football player we thought he could be."
3. Iowa State Running Back Mike Warren
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With Oklahoma running back Samaje Perine having a fairly quiet sophomore campaign—comparatively, that is; he still has 711 yards rushing and nine touchdowns—the Big 12 rushing title is more wide-open. That's good news for Iowa State redshirt freshman Mike Warren.
Warren is second in the Big 12 behind only Baylor's Shock Linwood in yards per game and name awesomeness. After a slow start against Northern Iowa and Iowa, Warren has rushed for at least 100 yards in five of the last six games.
However, Warren does lead the Big 12 with just over 19 carries a game. There aren't many winnable games left on Iowa State's schedule—then again, Texas wasn't supposed to be a winnable game, either—but with the way the Cyclones entrust Warren, he could be a valuable piece in possibly getting this team back to a bowl game.
2. Michigan Safety Jabrill Peppers
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It's hard not to be a fan of Jabrill Peppers' game. He's versatile, contributing on special teams and offense as well as his usual role on defense. In fact, against Minnesota, he scored his first collegiate touchdown as a member of the offense.
But Peppers is so physical, too. He has seven pass breakups on the year, which is second on the team and a solid number for a safety, and he knows how to play the ball and be disruptive.
He's the best player Michigan has, period. Head coach Jim Harbaugh recognizes this and gets Peppers involved in any way he can. As far as value goes, there aren't many better than Peppers—if any.
1. USC Linebacker Cam Smith
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Cam Smith, don't have yourself a game. Have yourself a season.
The freshman linebacker has been exceptional. He leads USC with 66 tackles and is tied for first with three pass breakups. All three of his team-leading interceptions came against Utah in a 42-24 win, one of which he returned for a touchdown.
"Cameron is very instinctual," Trojans linebacker coach Peter Sirmon told Mark Whicker of the Los Angeles Daily News. "We saw that on film when he was in high school and we saw it when he graduated early and joined us this winter.
USC's defense boasts some of the best defenders in college football, like linebacker Su'a Cravens and cornerback Adoree' Jackson, but Smith is climbing his way up into being mentioned in the same breath as those two.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand. All stats courtesy of CFBStats.com.
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