College Football Recruiting 2012: The Top 5 Candidates for Freshman of the Year

We all see what Sammy Watkins, Jadeveon Clowney, Marqise Lee and a few others are doing. It's "Freshman of the Year" quality work by those guys.

But for 2012, who are the recruits that, with combined factors of depth chart, talent/skill level, position and potential system, could rival the aforementioned players' freshman seasons?

That's what we're about to find out, so let's get going!

5. Kent Taylor, TE

Look out for this guy. Seriously. Taylor is a 6'5", 215-pounder that plays TE but has the ball skills of a WR, and he runs pretty well, too.

He can be used as a joker type, a move guy, an H-back, fullback, slot, in-line TE and even red-zone WR. With his length, ball skills, hands, speed and versatility, he's like a cross between Jimmy Graham and Michael Egnew.

Taylor will decide between Florida, Penn State, Florida State and Georgia on October 27th.

4. Stefon Diggs, WR

Diggs is a versatile player at 6'0", 190 pounds. He plays some WR, some RB, some defensive back and is a great return man, but many project him as a WR in college.

Diggs is dangerous with the football in his hands, and while he may not time well speed-wise, on game day he's among the most explosive players on the field. He has a little Sammy Watkins to his game with good quickness, and he's an excellent RAC player.

Florida, Maryland, Cal, Florida State, Auburn and Miami are just a few to name in the hunt for Diggs.

3. Keith Marshall, RB

When you have 4.32 speed, then chances are you are going to be on a lot of lists. Marshall is a terror to defenses because he's a prime-time home-run threat with the ball.

The 5'11", 190-pounder has great breakaway speed, explosiveness, quickness and elusiveness. I liken him to LeSean McCoy and feel he should be able to step in right away as a true freshman and make some dazzling plays.

That could be at Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Notre Dame or a few other schools. We'll know by December.

2. Dorial Green-Beckham, WR

DGB is a monster WR who should be able to become a main cog in an offense as a freshman. As good as Robert Woods was a true freshman, and Sammy Watkins and Marqise Lee have been, DGB has just as much and probably more talent than even they do.

At 6'6", 220 pounds, with sub-4.4 speed, Green-Beckham has drawn comparisons to Andre Johnson, Vincent Jackson and Calvin Johnson.

I fully expect him to have a large impact wherever he lands, should it be Oklahoma, Missouri, Alabama, Texas, Auburn, Arkansas or others.

1. Rushel Shell, RB

Freshly committed to Pitt, Shell has the tools to be the total package in college.

He's 5'11", 215 pounds, with very good speed, run strength, vision and quickness.

Should Ray Graham head off to the NFL after this year, I think Shell automatically can become lead dog in the Panther rushing attack and have an impact in the same fashion as Isaiah Crowell has for Georgia.