Ranking the Best Position Units in College Football Right Now
It's feasible to be a very good college football team if you're a jack of all trades and master of none, but the best teams are typically the ones who dominate one particular area or position unit to a laughable degree.
With that in mind, we've ranked the 10 best position units in the country heading into the second half of the season.
And we're going all over the board with these. Three Group of Five teams will be represented, not to mention four offense, four defense and two special teams units.
There's little debate, however, that Ohio State's offense and Georgia's defense belong in the top two in one order or the other. At this point, that's looking like the dream national championship pairing, provided you're a fan of unstoppable forces going up against immovable objects.
Honorable Mentions: Baylor's rushing attack, Army's rushing attack, Iowa's secondary, Texas A&M's returners, Virginia's wide receivers.
10. Cincinnati's Secondary
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Say what you will about the quarterbacks/offenses Cincinnati has faced thus far this season, but the Bearcats secondary is statistically one of the best in recent history.
Opponents are completing just 50.7 percent of pass attempts and have a passer efficiency rating of 89.72 against Cincinnati. Both of those marks rank first in the nation. And if maintained through the end of the season, the Bearcats would be the first team to hold opponents to a PER of 92 or lower since 2011 Alabama. (Not the last time we'll mention that defensive juggernaut today.)
Cincinnati has three times as many interceptions (12) as passing touchdowns allowed (four), which hasn't been done since Boise State's preposterous 18-4 ratio in 2012. The Bearcats also have more interceptions than passing touchdowns allowed in each of their last six games.
Cornerback Ahmad Gardner is very likely going to be a first-round draft pick in the spring, and you have to assume there's going to be a spot in the NFL for his counterpart, Coby Bryant, who has eight interceptions and 33 passes defended since the start of 2018. Arquon Bush has also been great as the nickelback in Cincinnati's preferred 3-3-5 scheme with three picks this season.
9. Troy's Hybrid Linebackers
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Strength of schedule has to be taken into consideration, of course, but have any of you fine folks realized how good Troy's defense has been this season?
No opponent has scored 30 points nor gained more than 370 yards against the Trojans. Take out the three touchdowns that came directly from turnovers by the offense and their defense is allowing just 16.6 points per game, which is just a night-and-day transformation from two seasons ago when they allowed 34.8 points on average.
The biggest reason for their dominance on defense has been the play of edge-rushers/Bandit linebackers Javon Solomon and Richard Jibunor, as well as spear/nickelback T.J. Harris.
That trio of hybrid linebackers has accounted for 18.5 sacks, 25.5 tackles for loss, five interceptions and a pair of forced fumbles. That trio is also the primary reason Troy is leading the nation in both tackles for loss per game and sacks per game.
If the Trojans were to maintain their current rate of 4.43 sacks per game, it would be the highest single-season mark in at least the past 12 years, per CFB Stats.
That's probably not going to happen since they still have games left against Coastal Carolina, Appalachian State and Louisiana. Then again, who thought they'd get five sacks against Liberty, or six against Georgia Southern, which runs more than twice as often as it passes?
8. Wisconsin's Front Seven
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If Wisconsin could throw the ball even a little bit, it would probably be undefeated right now.
That's because the Badgers run defense has been downright suffocating.
Holding opponents to 1.87 yards per carry and 53.3 rushing yards per contest is "video game on the easiest setting" domination.
Wisconsin limited Eastern Michigan to 16 yards on 18 carries.
Notre Dame was held to three yards on 32 carries.
Most recently, Purdue ran the ball 24 times for negative-13 yards.
Even the 179 yards allowed against Army was impressive, considering that triple-option attack is otherwise averaging 335 yards per game this season.
Establishing the run on offense and stuffing the run on defense has been Wisconsin's M.O. for a while now. Opponents have been held below 100.0 rushing yards per game by the Badgers in five of the past six seasons. But Leo Chenal, Jack Sanborn and Co. have really kicked it up a notch this year.
Ending the season with games against Nebraska and Minnesota—each of which is averaging north of 200 rushing yards per game—might bump Wisconsin's year-end mark up into the 72-75 range, which was around Georgia's nation-leading mark in each of the past two years. Then again, the Badgers might even be able to get that number below 50 over the course of the next three weeks against Iowa, Rutgers and Northwestern.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. San Diego State's Punter/Kicker
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In the 86-year history of the Heisman Trophy, there has never been a kicker or punter who placed in the top 10 of the vote. That eternal drought will most likely continue for another season.
But if San Diego State's undefeated season continues for much longer, there are going to be more and more people falling in love with Matt Araiza.
Through seven games, Araiza is averaging 54.0 yards per punt, which is simply outrageous. From 2000-2020, the only person to punt the ball at least 15 times and average at least 50 yards per punt was Texas A&M's Braden Mann with a mark of 51.0 in 2018.
We're not talking about a small sample size with Araiza, either. He has already punted 45 times this season and has had at least one punt travel 64 or more yards in each of his seven games. He had an 81-yard punt on Saturday against Air Force, which wasn't quite as long as the 86-yarder he boomed the previous week against San Jose State.
Ready for the fun part?
Araiza is also San Diego State's kicker and has already made three field goals of more than 50 yards this season. In fact, in each of the last two games, he made a field goal of at least 51 yards and had a punt of at least 81 yards.
I have my doubts that has ever been accomplished in a single game before, but it has almost certainly never been done in back-to-back games. This guy is putting the "special" in special teams.
6. Michigan State's Punt Coverage/Return Teams
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As incredible as Matt Araiza has been punting the ball for San Diego State, the Aztecs have had some trouble finishing the job, allowing 180 yards' worth of punt returns.
Michigan State, however, has held opponents to just 16 yards in punt returns, making much better use of Bryce Baringer's impressive average of 49.2 yards per punt.
The Spartans also boast the best punt-return average in the country with nine returns for 209 yards (23.2 yards per return) and two touchdowns.
Jayden Reed had an 88-yard touchdown against Western Kentucky and a crucial 62-yarder against Nebraska.
In the second half of that game, Michigan State's offense went colder than ice, going the full 30 minutes without a single first down. But they still managed to get the game into overtime because of Reed's touchdown and because Baringer repeatedly flipped the field with punts of 55, 54, 46, 65 and 66 yards, which yielded negative-one return yard for the Cornhuskers.
In a league like the Big Ten where everyone can play defense and field position is paramount, having the conference's top punter and its top punt returner has been a significant factor in Michigan State's 7-0 start. Let's see if it pays dividends down the stretch against Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State.
5. Ole Miss' Quarterback
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Let's skip right past the argument over whether a single quarterback counts as a "position unit" and just agree that this one has been mighty impressive.
The biggest reason Ole Miss' Matt Corral didn't finish top 10 in last year's Heisman vote was his occasional affinity for throwing the ball to the wrong team. In 2020, he had both a five-interception game against a weak LSU defense, as well as a six-interception game against another sub-par defense in Arkansas.
Thus far in 2021, however, just one pick in a campaign with 15 passing touchdowns and nine rushing touchdowns. He's also completing 67.6 percent of his pass attempts, averaging 9.2 yards per pass attempt and averaging 4.7 yards per rush attempt.
Hard to argue with that level of efficiency.
Corral wasn't anywhere close to 100 percent this past game against LSU after suffering an injury late the previous week against Tennessee, but he still battled well and even came away with the first reception of his career on a gadget play that helped jump start the Rebels offense late in the first half.
In program history, Ole Miss has never won 10 regular-season games. It has seven 10-win seasons, but those all included a bowl game victory. But with Corral leading the way, it feels like this team could go 11-1 and maybe even sneak into the College Football Playoff conversation.
4. Alabama's Quarterback
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Well, if we're putting Matt Corral on the list, we pretty much have to put Bryce Young right ahead of him, seeing as how it has been impossible to mention one without mentioning the other throughout this season.
Like Corral, Young has been remarkably efficient.
Young's 31-of-43 effort against Tennessee in Week 8 brought his year-to-date completion percentage up to 70.0. He has 26 passing touchdowns against three interceptions. And even those three picks were calculated risks on third-down plays deep in opposing territory. Obviously you'd prefer to never throw interceptions, but at least he pins the other offense inside its own 20 when he does mess up.
While he still has a long way to go to try to catch up to Corral in the "proven mobility" department, Young has dabbled in the art of scrambling in recent weeks, rushing for 18 yards against Mississippi State, as well as 42 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Tennessee. Considering he was at 22 carries for negative-20 rushing yards through his first six games, that's a fairly significant change that opposing teams now need to keep in mind when trying to slow down the many weapons in this offense.
If you feel like Young hasn't been that good, it's probably just because we were spoiled by his predecessors. Mac Jones and (when he could stay healthy) Tua Tagovailoa put up just absurd numbers from 2018-20 while getting to throw to eventual first-half-of-the-first-round draft picks Henry Ruggs III, Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith.
That shouldn't make what Young has been able to accomplish with John Metchie III and Jameson Williams any less impressive, and it wouldn't stop the sophomore from winning the Heisman if the vote was held today.
3. Michigan's Offensive Line
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It took seven years at Michigan to get there, but Jim Harbaugh finally has an offensive line putting up numbers on par with what he had at Stanford back in 2010.
That Cardinal team allowed just six sacks in the entire season while also averaging 5.2 yards per carry and better than 210 rushing yards per game. Eventual No. 1 pick Andrew Luck stole most of the spotlight, but that team blocked so well it could run the ball in a phone booth and rarely got itself into trouble with big negative plays.
Flash forward to today and Michigan has allowed just three sacks, is averaging better than 250 rushing yards per game and is leading the nation in tackles for loss allowed at a rate of just 2.0 per game.
To be clear, that lack of sacks has nothing to do with the quarterback's mobility. Cade McNamara might as well be a statue in the pocket with 15 carries for negative-12 yards. However, the big uglies in the trenches have done a masterful job of keeping that statue from taking hits.
Not only has the pass protection been excellent, but the run blocking might be the best in the nation. It hasn't mattered whether it's Blake Corum, Hassan Haskins or Donovan Edwards toting the rock, because there are almost always holes to be found.
It's going to be fun in Week 9 when that offensive line faces a Michigan State defense averaging nearly four sacks and almost seven tackles for loss per game, but expect the Wolverines to win that battle at the point of attack.
2. Ohio State's Wide Receivers (but Really Its Entire Offense)
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Before ever seeing C.J. Stroud attempt a pass for the Buckeyes, everyone had a strong suspicion that the redshirt-freshman quarterback was going to put up Heisman-caliber numbers while leading one of the highest scoring offenses in the country.
And that's because of the loaded receiving corps.
Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson both entered the season as All-Americans at wide receiver after combining for 93 receptions, 1,452 yards and 13 touchdowns during OSU's eight-game 2020 campaign. That duo has picked up right where it left off with 68 catches, 1,123 yards and 14 touchdowns through seven games.
Better yet, that duo has evolved into an unguardable trio with Jaxson Smith-Njigba accounting for 29 receptions, 551 yards and three scores.
If by some miracle the opposing team is able to cover all three of those stars on any given play, it probably means that tight end Jeremy Ruckert is running free, or that there's a check-down option to TreVeyon Henderson, who is averaging 21.0 yards per reception out of the backfield.
We should wait and see how things go down the stretch against tougher defenses before fully diving into this conversation, but this Buckeyes passing game appears to be every bit as lethal as what LSU had in 2019 and what Alabama had last year.
Perhaps the biggest testament to the sheer amount of talent in this group is the fact that Jameson Williams is Alabama's leading receiver with 710 yards and six touchdowns, despite transferring from Columbus to Tuscaloosa in May since he probably wasn't going to get many reps with the Buckeyes. That and Julian Fleming—the No. 3 overall recruit in the 2020 class—barely seeing the field speaks volumes to what opposing secondaries need to deal with here.
Just for good measure, Ohio State is averaging 6.2 yards per carry and might have the best running back in the nation in Henderson.
1. Georgia's Linebackers (but Really Its Entire Defense)
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If you felt so inclined, you could put several of Georgia's defensive units in the top five. The Bulldogs have been that dominant in allowing just 6.6 points and 209.1 total yards per game.
But what these linebackers have done against the run and in the pass rush is the most incredible part.
Led by Adam Anderson, Nakobe Dean and Nolan Smith, Georgia is holding opponents to 2.2 yards per carry and 64.3 rushing yards per game. Arkansas, Auburn and Kentucky are each averaging north of 190 rushing yards per game, but they had a combined total of 85 carries for 172 yards against the Dawgs, who have allowed just one rushing touchdown all season.
Georgia also has 25 sacks this season, as linemen Devonte Wyatt, Jordan Davis and Travon Walker have made quite the habit of shoving guards and tackles backward at the line of scrimmage.
The Bulldogs don't force many turnovers—10 through seven games. Why bother getting greedy, though, when offenses have had such a difficult time trying to even string together two first downs against this force of nature?
Overall, Georgia is allowing 3.59 yards per play, and you have to go back to 2011 Alabama to find the last team in that general vicinity. After holding undefeated LSU to 92 total yards in a 21-0 shutout in the BCS Championship, that Crimson Tide defense ended the year at 3.32 yards allowed per play.
Georgia does still have regular-season games remaining against Florida, Tennessee, Missouri and Georgia Tech, each of whom is averaging better than 6.2 yards per play. Not to mention the presumed SEC Championship against Alabama and possibly games against Ohio State and Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff. At least one of those offenses will likely figure out how to move the ball against this defense, keeping Georgia from finishing anywhere close to that 3.32 'Bama mark.
But let's be real: Comparing offenses of today—especially those in the SEC—to what they were a decade ago, finishing the year with anything below 4.0 yards allowed per play would be an amazing achievement. And this defense is well on its way to that feat.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
