The Best College Football Players You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald is at the top of the list of college football players who are putting up Heisman numbers in relative obscurity.

Unless you've been staying up past your bedtime to watch Hawaii games, chances are you have yet to see the big-armed QB who has thrown for 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions. If that's the case, it's time to start setting that DVR so you can wake up Sunday morning and soak in one of the more entertaining players in the country.

Of course, time-zone differences aren't the only reason a player could be racking up stats without becoming a household name. Some of these guys—like Ole Miss RB Scottie Phillips and Boston College DE Wyatt Ray—were preseason afterthoughts compared to their more well-known teammates. Others are doing their thing for teams that don't much matter in the grand scheme of things.

Regardless of what caused them to begin the year in anonymity, all nine of these players are drastically exceeding preseason expectations and deserve more national attention.

So let's give it to them, shall we? Players are listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Darrell Henderson, Memphis RB

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Darrell Henderson is performing at a level of excellency that other players can only dream about. The Memphis RB has efficiently and mercilessly destroyed both Navy and Georgia State in the past two weeks, tallying a combined total of 27 rushes for 445 yards and five touchdowns.

That's 16.5 yards per carry over the span of two games, which is nothing short of ridiculous.

Henderson is the only player thus far this season to carry the ball at least 13 times in a game while averaging at least 16 yards per carry, and he did so in back-to-back weeks. Khalil Tate was the only player to rush at least 13 times for 16-plus YPC in the entire 2017 season. Prior to Henderson, those marks were only hit 21 times over the course of the previous 18 seasons, and Melvin Gordon was the only player to do it twice in a career.

But it's more than just a two-game stretch of dominance for Henderson.

Despite splitting carries with Patrick Taylor Jr., Henderson rushed for at least 100 yards in each of the final five games* of last season. Combined with the start of this campaign, he's at 1,134 rushing yards (141.8 per game) and 12 touchdowns over his last eight—not to mention 18 receptions for 233 yards and two scores and 12 kick returns for 222 more yards. That's almost 200 all-purpose yards per game, which is Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley territory.

The most incredible part is the efficiency. Thus far in his career, Henderson has never carried the ball more than 15 times in a game, even though he's averaging 11.9 yards per carry over his past eight games.

He's only listed at 5'9" and 200 lbs., so it's no surprise that Memphis isn't handing him the ball 35 times per game. To limit his risk of injury at that size, the Tigers need to use him similar to the way Ole Miss used 5'8" Dexter McCluster a decade ago. Still, it's hard to believe how sparingly they are using the most unstoppable player in the country.

Henderson is averaging 14.5 yards per carry for the season. No other player with at least 35 carries can boast a rate higher than 8.3. 

*Excluding the bowl game, which he missed due to injury. Not surprisingly, this resulted in Memphis's pithiest offensive output of the year.

Terrence Horne Jr., South Florida KR

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In two out of three games this season, true freshman Terrence Horne Jr. was a total non-factor. Between the opener against Elon and the Week 3 win over Illinois, he had one carry for four yards, one reception for four yards and one kick return for 18 yards.

But in the week in the middle, this 5'7" track star had 283 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns.

Just about all of his damage came in the return game, as Horne took back-to-back kickoffs to the house in the first quarter against Georgia Tech. He finished the afternoon with 264 kick-return yards. That's the most in a single game by any FBS player since Oregon State's Victor Bolden in November 2013. And he became the first player to reach 260 yards on fewer than seven returns since Clemson's Justin Miller back in 2004.

It's no wonder Illinois just kept booting the ball into the end zone for touchbacks rather than giving Horne the chance to run wild again.

Horne also did a little bit of damage from scrimmage against Georgia Tech, finishing with four touches for 19 yards and a touchdown.

Once the Bulls figure out how to get him more consistently involved as a scat back or a slot receiver, Horne's speed is going to be a major problem for opposing teams.

D'Eriq King, Houston QB

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D'Eriq King

While big-name programs like Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State get more than enough national attention for multiple players to soak up the spotlight on an annual basis, Group of Five schools aren't afforded that luxury. And at Houston, Ed Oliver is the name that even casual fans of the sport have known for several years.

The Cougars' defensive tackle is incredible. He may well be the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL draft. But they've got one hell of a weapon at quarterback, too, who is going to help them compete with UCF, Memphis and South Florida for the AAC title.

D'Eriq King was primarily a wide receiver over the first season-and-a-half of his career at Houston. He made 58 receptions for 492 yards and three touchdowns. But in Houston's eighth game last year, King took over for an ineffective Kyle Postma—who had previously taken the job from a turnover-prone Kyle Allen—and never looked back. King averaged 247.2 passing yards, 66.6 rushing yards and 2.6 combined touchdowns in the last five games of last season.

He was just getting warmed up.

Now cemented as Houston's primary QB, King has thrown for 12 touchdowns and rushed for four more without a single interception through three games. If it weren't for his mediocre completion percentage (58.7), he'd have one of the highest passer ratings in the country. But at least those incomplete passes haven't been interceptions, so no big deal.

With 16 combined passing and rushing touchdowns, King has paced this offense to at least 45 points in every game thus far.

And it's not like the level of competition is about to get any stiffer. The Cougars draw Texas Southern this weekend before beginning a journey through AAC play that does not include games against either UCF or Cincinnati—likely the two best defenses in the league. In a conference where McKenzie Milton, Quinton Flowers and Riley Ferguson have all put up massive numbers in recent years, expect King to do the same.

Cole McDonald, Hawaii QB

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Cole McDonald

Most people ignored those four Week 0 games back in late August. There were neither ranked teams nor power-conference teams in action, so national intrigue was minimal at best.

But those of us who did tune in for that sneak peek of the 2018 season were rewarded with an early glimpse at Hawaii QB Cole McDonald.

At first, it was just fun to sing his name, as in, "Cole McDonald had an arm, e-i-e-i-o." As he continued his rampage against opposing defenses, though, it became less of a little ditty and more of a Heisman campaign slogan.

McDonald has thrown for at least 300 yards and multiple touchdowns in all four games. He is cumulatively at 1,486 yards and 15 touchdowns without an interception. Assuming Hawaii becomes bowl eligible and thus plays 14 games, that puts McDonald on pace for 5,201 yards and 52.5 touchdowns.

If he got there, McDonald would join Fresno State's Derek Carr (2013) and Hawaii's Colt Brennan (2006) as the only players in the past 15 years to reach at least 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a single season—each of whom finished top 10 in the Heisman voting that year, despite playing for an off-the-radar team.

It was supposed to be a rough year for Hawaii after former starting QB Dru Brown and leading WR Dylan Collie transferred out of the program. Little did anyone know that the freshman who attempted just nine passes in the entire 2017 season would come out and grab the bull by the horns.

As long as McDonald keeps this up, we're sure to have something fun to watch into the wee hours of the night on Saturdays.

Scottie Phillips, Ole Miss RB

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Almost every starting SEC running back is a well-known name, but Scottie Phillips is an exception to the rule.

Phillips was ranked as a top-50 JUCO transfer by most scouting sites, but he still wasn't one of the top-five players in the 2018 Ole Miss recruiting class, per 247Sports.

At no point in his detailed preview of Ole Miss in August did SB Nation's Bill Connelly even mention Phillips. And that's not a knock on Connelly. It's just evidence that no one knew what to expect from Phillips, and also a reminder that almost all of the preseason attention given to this team centered around the elite passing game and the fact that it is still banned from postseason play.

Certainly no one was expecting Phillips to come in and darn near lead the SEC in rushing, yet here we are. He torched Texas Tech for 204 yards and a pair of scores on just 16 carries in the season opener, and he followed that up with another 107 yards and two touchdowns against Southern Illinois.

Phillips had a rough game against Alabama last week, but who didn't? If we take out D.K. Metcalf's 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the game, Phillips led all Rebels in yards from scrimmage with 44 of them. And in spite of that dud, he is still averaging 118.3 yards per game and 8.3 yards per carry.

Buy stock while you can, because Phillips is going to bounce back in a big way this weekend against Kent State. In two games against FBS opponents (Illinois and Penn State), the Golden Flashes have allowed 581 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.

Wyatt Ray, Boston College DE

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The 2019 draft class has an overabundance of talented defensive linemen. A recent mock draft from Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports has a total of 10 defensive ends and tackles projected as first-round draft picks. That's more than were taken in the first and second rounds combined (nine) this past April.

But the man who is currently leading the nation in sacks (tied at 5.0 with Clemson's Clelin Ferrell) isn't even one of those projected first-rounders. That player is Boston College's Wyatt Ray, and he was responsible for all four of the Eagles' sacks in last Thursday's key road win over Wake Forest.

BC's senior edge rusher has only recorded nine solo tackles on the season, but that's because his lone mission is to get to the quarterback. And he is accomplishing it admirably. Ray already has more sacks in 2018 than he had in any previous year.

He is the overlooked half of Boston College's dynamic duo of defensive ends, as teammate Zach Allen is one of those potential first-round picks. They are going to wreak havoc on opposing offensive tackles all season long. (In case you're wondering, the Eagles get to roll through Florida State's offensive line on Nov. 17.)

Corey Sutton, Appalachian State WR

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If you have heard of Corey Sutton prior to now, chances are it wasn't for his on-the-field accomplishments.

After making a mere four catches as a freshman at Kansas State in 2016, Sutton became a poster child for the hypocrisy of the NCAA's amateurism model. Sutton announced in early May 2017 that he was transferring out of the program, but Kansas State tried for several weeks to block the move by refusing to release him from his scholarship. KSU head coach Bill Snyder even went so far as to drag Sutton's name through the mud by casually mentioning failed drug tests that had nothing to do with anything, per Jordan Heck of Sporting News.

It was a whole saga that went on for nearly a month, but Sutton was finally released and later landed at Appalachian State. And he is already making the most of his second chance.

In the season-opening near-upset against Penn State, Sutton led the Mountaineers with six receptions for 87 yards. And in a Week 2 blowout of Charlotte, he made three catches for 155 yards and a pair of touchdowns, highlighted by this curl route that turned into a 90-yard catch and run.

App State's Week 3 game was rained out, but Sutton is currently third in the nation in yards per reception and tied for eighth in receiving yards per game. He's the only player who appears in the top 12 on both lists. And as long as the Mountaineers keep calling his number throughout Sun Belt play, he should remain near the top of those national rankings.

Jalen Thompson, South Alabama CB

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At the end of the 2016 regular season, Jalen Thompson was rapidly emerging as one of the better young defensive backs in the country. Over South Alabama's final four games, Thompson had 15 solo tackles, four interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) and two other passes broken up. He was a pivotal piece of a secondary that ranked ninth nationally in passing yards allowed per game.

Unfortunately, Thompson was ruled academically ineligible for the entire 2017 season and subsequently forgotten by most of us.

Now that he's back out there as a redshirt junior, he's up to his old tricks again. He already has three interceptions and four other passes broken up through three games.

In South Alabama's lone win of the season, Thompson got a pick-six midway through the third quarter that sparked a 25-0 Jaguars run to overcome a 15-point deficit. Not only did he start South Alabama's rally, but he ended Texas State's hopes for one with his second interception of the game. Thompson returned this one 29 yards to the Texas State 4, setting up a touchdown which put the game out of reach.

All told, that's seven interceptions (two touchdowns) and six passes broken up over the course of his last seven regular-season games. Considering there were only two players who had at least seven picks and six passes defended in the entire 2017 season, that's one heck of a pace Thompson is setting.

Brandon Wright, Georgia State Punter

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Not surprisingly, there weren't any photos in our database of the punter from a Group of Five school that has only been playing at the FBS level for six seasons, so please enjoy this picture of the head coach (Shawn Elliott) who gets to reap the benefit from the massive leg of his punter (Brandon Wright).

Per CFBstats.com, no punter in the past decade has averaged better than 48.05 yards per punt over the course of a full season. But Wright is on track to leave that mark in the dust.

Through three games, Wright is averaging 53.0 yards per punt. Ten of his 14 punts have traveled at least 50 yards, including a 65-yarder against North Carolina State and a 64-yard punt against Kennesaw State.

The bizarre thing about this is Wright—who also doubles as Georgia State's primary place kicker—wasn't much of a punter until this season. As a redshirt freshman in 2016, he averaged a mere 39.8 yards per punt. Last year, he split punting reps with Oliver Holdensen and only twice averaged better than 47.0 yards per punt in a single game.

As a result, Wright wasn't even one of the 27 punters named to the Ray Guy Award watch list this preseason.

But given how anemic Georgia State's offense is, Wright should continue getting a lot of opportunities to boot the ball with all his might. He just might be able to stay above a 50-yard average all season.

Kerry Miller covers college football and men's college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @kerrancejames.