10 College Football Stars Who Peaked Too Soon

In this day and age of social media and ESPN highlight shows, it’s easy for a college football player to gain national notoriety and fame basically overnight.

Nowadays, if a player has one outstanding game on a big stage, all of a sudden everyone’s ready to hand him the Heisman Trophy and make him a No. 1 draft pick.

Then inevitably, as time wears on, the player comes back down to Earth and the hype begins to wear off, reminding us that we need to stop getting so worked up and caught in the moment.

Here’s a look at 10 notable college football players who got our hopes up and then inevitably came back down to Earth this season.

10. Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor

Baylor QB Robert Griffin III was the September star of college football after he took down TCU on opening weekend and carried the Bears to a 3-0 record, all while putting up insane passing numbers.

Since then, though, Baylor has hit the skids, losing three out of their last four games to superior opponents, and Oklahoma State put the final nail in Griffin’s Heisman coffin this past weekend, when the Cowboys embarrassed Baylor 59-24.

The electric junior signal-caller is still one of the best players in college football, but we’ll have to put his Heisman campaign posters back up in the attic until next season.

Griffin’s pro stock has also taken a bit of a hit lately, and he’s slowly starting to lose ground on the three big junior prospects—Andrew Luck, Matt Barkley and Landry Jones.

It might be wise for Griffin to return for his senior season and make another run at the Heisman in 2012.

9. Russell Wilson, QB, Wisconsin

Two weeks ago, QB Russell Wilson was one of the hottest names in college football and he looked ready to make a serious run at a Heisman Trophy and carry Wisconsin to not only a Big Ten championship but possibly a national championship as well.

After back-to-back heartbreaking losses, that’s all gone out the window.

Wilson came to Wisconsin with the intentions of competing for a national championship, but now he’s going to have to do everything in his power just to get the Badgers back in the Big Ten race.

Don’t feel too bad for him, though. Wilson has a nice pro baseball career to fall back on after the season ends.

8. Quinton Coples, DE, North Carolina

After a sensational breakout junior campaign last season, many were projecting Quinton Coples to be a sure-fire top-five pick before the season started. While Coples certainly possesses that type of ability, he hasn’t shown it on the field on a consistent-enough basis this season.

The 6’6’’, 285-pound senior has a respectable 4.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss, but he hasn’t been the dominant defensive force that many were expecting him to be.

Some have accused Coples of playing not to get hurt, and whether that’s a fair accusation or not (remember, he has been facing a lot more double-teams), it’s obvious that if he doesn’t start playing up to his potential, the pro scouts will start questioning if he really is worth a top-five pick.

7. Darron Thomas, QB, Oregon

Not many people outside of Eugene, Oregon were expecting Darron Thomas to step in for Jeremiah Masoli last year and guide the Ducks to the national championship game, but Thomas did just that.

His performance in his first year as a starter earned the junior signal-caller national attention and a ton of accolades, and there were high expectations for him and fellow backfield mate RB LaMichael James this season.

An opening-weekend loss to LSU definitely put a damper on those preseason hopes, though.

Still, Oregon has managed to win its last seven games and climb back into the Top 10, but Thomas’ efficiency hasn’t been as good as many thought it would be and there are now even some people calling for freshman quarterback Bryan Bennett to replace him.

Thomas’ job should be safe for now, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s let down his many supporters with a disappointing junior campaign.

6. Alshon Jeffery, WR, South Carolina

As a big Justin Blackmon fan, I had to hear from the many Alshon Jeffery supporters every time I wrote an article calling Blackmon the best wide receiver in college football during the summer.

The comments always sounded something like “No way, idiot, you’ll see, Jeffery’s a top-five pick, guaranteed!”

Well, I’m here to say once again that Alshon Jeffery is not on the same level as Justin Blackmon and his 2011 season is clear enough evidence of that.

After leading the SEC in receiving as a sophomore in 2010, Jeffery’s production has taken a nosedive this year, as he’s caught just 33 passes and only scored five touchdowns.

Admittedly, you can blame some of that on inconsistent quarterback play, but hey, Michael Floyd hasn’t exactly had the most consistent quarterback play either and he’s still been able to produce at a high level.

Jeffery is not the best receiver in college football and he’s not a future top-five pick like some of those commenters guaranteed.

Once he runs a 4.65 40 at the combine, maybe his fans will start to realize that.

5. Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan

Denard Robinson has been living off the first five games of the 2010 season for over a year now, and no matter how many times Michigan State exposes him, it doesn’t seem to matter.

Yes, Robinson is an electric athlete, but he’s also the same player who lost six out of his last eight games last season and the same quarterback who currently leads the Big Ten with 11 interceptions.

How about we let Michigan beat a ranked team this year before we start calling Denard Robinson an elite player?

Deal?

4. Tajh Boyd, QB, Clemson

Oh, Tajh Boyd.

Just when we were ready to start believing in you as a Heisman contender and ready to start believing in your team as a title contender, you mail in a no-show performance and lose to Georgia Tech.

Oh well.

Boyd, who is only in his first year as a starter, certainly has a bright future ahead of him, but it remains to be seen if he’ll ever be able to get back to the level he was at just a week ago, when he led the Tigers to a Top Five national ranking.

3. Vontaze Burfict, LB, Arizona State

I’ll admit, I was one of the people who jumped on the Vontaze Burfict hype train this summer and I’m now feeling a little dizzy after that train has come screeching to a halt this season.

I loved Burfict for his attitude and his tenacious play, but he just hasn’t seemed like the same player this season and maybe the All-American talk over the summer got to his head a little bit.

The junior 'backer isn’t even leading his own team in tackles this year, and it seems like he lost a little of that fire we saw from him in the first two years of his career.

It also doesn't help that he's a walking personal foul waiting to happen.

2. Brandon Jenkins, DE, Florida State

Florida State DE Brandon Jenkins was one of college football’s most prolific pass-rushers last year, as he racked up 13.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss during his eye-opening sophomore season.

This year has been a different story, though.

Jenkins, who many projected as a first-round pick before the season began, hasn’t come close to matching his production from last year, notching just 3.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss.

The 6'3'', 265-pound junior has some work to do if he wants to gain back the respect he had before the start of the season.

1. Ryan Tannehill, QB, Texas A&M

Before the season began, many ranked Ryan Tannehill as the top prospect of a weak senior quarterback crop and it made sense considering the way Tannehill resurrected Texas A&M in 2010, carrying the Aggies to six straight wins to close out the regular season.

But Tannehill and his team haven’t been able to live up to their preseason billing this year, as they’ve choked away three games in the second half and have fallen completely out of the Top 25.

Tannehill has some nice numbers—2,322 passing yards, 18-7 TD-INT ratio—but the fact that he hasn’t been able to get the job done in the second half will really hurt him in the eyes of NFL scouts.