The college football picture for the most part stayed in focus during a lackluster slate of games in Week 2.
Among notable talking points when it comes to scouting, though, is Alabama’s defense, which shut down another talented offense. It’s time to start thinking historically about this Crimson Tide unit.
MARVEZ: Lessons from NFL Week 1
Elsewhere, Royce Freeman leads the running back discussion in the country and for the 2017 NFL Draft, as this class looks like the Year of the Running Back. Also in this week’s draft spotlight is a nugget on Cooper Rush, recanted allegations on a one-time top prospect and something you missed.
Time to start appreciating Alabama’s defensive greatness
In terms of future NFL draft picks, the 2011 Alabama roster is something to marvel at; it’s second only to the 2001 Miami Hurricanes’ two-deep depth chart in terms of players eventually drafted. The 2011 Crimson Tide defense saw 12 players listed on the opening two-deep depth chart drafted at some point over the next three years. That defense held opponents to 4.44 yards less per play than the FBS average that year, by far the best in the country and the best for a Nick Saban defense at the college level.
But the 2016 version may be even better.
The Tide held USC, one of the most talented rosters in the country, to just six points and under 200 yards of total offense. And in Week 2, they held Western Kentucky to just 10 points … the same Western Kentucky that fielded the fifth-ranked offense in the country in 2015 and averaged 44.3 points per game.
Defensive end Jonathan Allen is poised to be a top 10 pick. Senior linebackers Tim Williams, Reuben Foster and Ryan Anderson all have top-four-round grades from NFL scouts. Eddie Jackson is the top senior strong safety in the country. Marlon Humphrey may be the best cornerback Saban has had while at Alabama, and he’s had three first-round picks so far.
Saban recruits the top prospects in the country, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to see his classes turn into an NFL feeding ground. But it’s more than just that. Saban’s defenders generally offer better instincts, more intuitive fundamental techniques and added responsibility on the field to make decisions. Saban’s defenders feed off each other because he lets them; he rarely isolates players yet still manages to give them the freedom to maximize their athletic ability.
MORE: Questions for Top 10 college teams after Week 2
This 2016 crop isn’t just recruiting as usual for Saban. His developing fingerprints are all across this roster, and NFL teams appreciate it. Despite a rotation at running back and a platoon at quarterback, the Crimson Tide seem bound for the College Football Playoff and a potential undefeated season on the backs of potentially one of college football’s best defenses of the last decade.
Royce Freeman and Oregon: under-appreciated back
Royce Freeman is one of the country’s most talented running backs, and Oregon is one of the most dynamic teams in the country. Yet now that the days of Chip Kelly and Marcus Mariota are firmly in the rearview mirror, the Ducks and their talent haven’t been at the forefront of the national spotlight.
But for the 22nd-ranked Ducks, who will be be supporting an FCS transfer quarterback for the second straight year — this time Dakota Prukop formerly of Montana State — Royce Freeman has shouldered the load.
The 5-11 running back offers a remarkably thick lower half. He weighs 230 pounds but still likely will run in the 4.4s at the Combine. He’s able to pick up speed in a hurry, but it’s his low center of gravity and stout body type that allow him to work through tacklers and keep his speed and balance through traffic.
And, with jump cuts like this on top of it, defenders can’t help but hesitate: Four jump cuts in a six-yard window en route to a redzone touchdown, at 230 pounds …
In a draft class filled with top-flight running backs, Freeman will need to continue to carry Oregon’s big play workload on his shoulders if he hopes to continue to be recognized. He’ll be a top-two-round pick, but he’ll need to keep up his 9.2 yards per carry pace if he hopes to carry the Ducks to a Pac-12 title berth, something well within their grasp.
What I’m hearing
— Now-former Auburn running back Jovan Robinson was kicked off the team over the summer, in large part due to an allegation that he pushed a female friend into a door and caused serious injuries. The woman in that instance has since recanted those statements, saying she made it up because she was upset. I’ve been told there were other frustrations during Robinson’s time at Auburn, but none that would have warranted him being kicked off the team other than this. He was among the best JUCO prospects before coming to Auburn, and he has NFL potential. He hasn’t played yet for his new school, Valdosta State, but he’s already back on scouts’ radars as they further investigate both this allegation and other instances at Auburn. If Tyreek Hill can get drafted in the fifth round, Robinson’s allegations shouldn’t hold him back too much.
— We’re just two weeks in, but there’s already talk of how special the 2017 NFL Draft class can be. Most draft classes have strengths at a few spots, or a few top-tier prospects. But the 2017 class has arguably the best running back, tight end and cornerback classes of the last 10 years, along with the next elite defensive prospect in Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett. The 2014 class is vaunted as the best in recent memory, but if this quarterback class continues the promise it has shown thus far, led by DeShone Kizer and Deshaun Watson, it’ll be a class to remember. Maybe this is why the Browns decision to start investing in 2017 draft picks during the 2016 draft cycle.
WEEK 3: Best college games to watch
Player spotlight: Cooper Rush, QB, Central Michigan
If you didn’t know him from last week’s passing mention, you might know Cooper Rush now: he’s the quarterback behind the improbable Central Michigan hail mary win over Oklahoma State. But that was Rush’s fourth passing touchdown of the game, and his play up to that point, along with a strong 2015 season, is why NFL scouts like him as an early- to mid-round safer quarterback option.
His arm talent to the perimeter is nothing to get overly excited about. Running a screen- and short-area-based offense, Rush isn’t asked to threaten down the sidelines much. But it was his efficiency and placement in the short area that kept drives alive against a quietly talented Oklahoma State defense. And when the defense allowed, Rush finished with two vertical throws (before his hail mary) that led to touchdowns. He finished 7-of-7 on third and fourth downs.
NFL teams covet high-upside quarterbacks, and we’ll continue to see QBs taken atop the first round. But drafting quarterbacks in the NFL is still somewhat of a dart-throwing game, and having more darts to throw — and having safer options to consider in the mid-rounds — is exactly why Rush might be coveted by his senior season’s end. It mifht only take another game or two for Rush to pass Ole Miss’s Chad Kelly in NFL teams’ minds.
Weekly Top 10: best running backs in the country
1. Leonard Fournette, LSU (Jr)
2. Christian McCaffrey, Stanford (Jr)
3. Nic Chubb, Georgia (Jr)
4. Dalvin Cook, Florida State (Jr)
5. Royce Freeman, Oregon (Jr)
6. Saquon Barkley, Penn State (Soph)
7. Samjae Perine, Oklahoma (Soph)
8. Jalen Hurd, Tennessee (Jr)
9. Elijah Hood, North Carolina (Soph)
10. Duke Catalon, Houston (RS Soph)
MORE: 10 best Week 2 performances
Something you missed
The former Mr. Football of Kentucky during his senior year of high school, Patrick Towles, is on his second college team after transferring from Kentucky to Boston College for his final college season. Towles has made his fair share of questionable off-field decisions and erratic on-field decisions as a passer, but his arm talent and velocity is on par with Ryan Mallett and Joe Flacco as one of the strongest to come out of the college level in the last 10 years. Here’s a 50-yard throw the senior made in the team’s win over UMass this weekend, in which he flicks the ball and puts right on the money without much labor contorting his body.