Conference Review: BIG 10

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With college football in full swing, we’ll be bringing you a review of the “Big Five” conferences each and every week. These recaps will feature sections for “Premier Conference Performer,” “Rising Players,” “Falling Players,” and a special Freshman spotlight. These weekly reviews will keep you up-to-date on all the happenings in devy leagues and allow you to keep tabs on future dynasty league assets. By the time the NFL Draft rolls around, you won’t see too many strangers.

Premier Conference Performers

Melvin Gordon, RB Wisconsin
27 rushes for 259 yards and one touchdown  

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Despite Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon carrying the team to respectable total yardage numbers, the Badgers still couldn’t manage a victory over the weekend. What Gordon is doing, when you consider the chaos the Wisconsin offense is going through right now, is incredible. They have no quarterback, they have no wide receivers other than Alex Erickson, and even he’s very limited compared to what they need. You’d never consider Wisconsin a powerhouse for those positions, but they’ve also never been a weakness like this, either. Even tight end is looking grim. With all that considered, and with teams stacking the box to stop the run, Gordon is sitting at a sultry 8.3 yards per carry on the season, outperforming my wildest expectations.

Tevin Coleman, RB Indiana
21 rushes for 184 yards and one touchdown

Not much of an outing by the standards Tevin Coleman has set, but this was because they pulled him in the middle of the third quarter. North Texas didn’t put up much of a fight and this game was over before it started. Chalk this one up as another plus performance for Coleman, a true college workhorse. I’m really excited to see what he does the next two weeks against Iowa and Michigan State.

Rising

JT Barrett, QB Ohio State
267 passing yards and four touchdowns, 71 rushing yards and one touchdown

It appears Ohio State has finally hit their stride, and JT Barrett coming into his own is one of the main reasons. While it’s way too early to give a full quarterback evaluation on Barrett as a prospect, there’s been some promising control of the offense. Barrett spread the ball around nicely and ran when needed, a great performance and a great move in the direction of being an NFL quarterback. Unlike wide receiver and running back though, you can’t see instantly if a quarterback has that ‘wow’ factor. A quarterback doesn’t impress you by jumping over defenders or fully extending on catches, it’s more of a progressive evaluation as the season goes along. If he can continue to be mistake free and lead Ohio State to success this season, I will continue to watch and slowly build a comparison/draft round grade. All that said, don’t let that take away from his promising start.

Tony Lippett, WR Michigan St
Four receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns

Tony Lippett has become Connor Cook’s main man, and he finally got to fully display his abilities on Saturday. Lippett has scored at least one touchdown in every game so far this season, displaying a bunch of functional abilities that translate to the next level, and it was more of the same against Nebraska. My favorite part in his performance were two beautiful hands catches he had down the sideline, both can be seen here. I’m not usually a big fan of Big Ten Wide Receivers, as they’ve burned me a number of times, but If Lippett can keep up this pace, I could see him end up as a real, live NFL receiver from the Big Ten. Much different games, but BJ Cunningham would be a good player comparison at this time, at least until we see more.

Falling

Devin Funchess, WR Michigan
Five receptions for 71 yards

Long story short, Michigan needs a change at quarterback, and someone who can get Devin Funchess the ball. In the mean time, I’m a tad worried. If Funchess was the superstar many claim him to be, he should be carrying this offense regardless of who’s throwing the ball. Leonte Carroo has Garry Nova, Tyler Boyd has Chad Voytik and Deandre Smelter plays for Georgia Tech, this hasn’t stopped them from producing. Funchess hasn’t scored a touchdown since his week one performance against Appalachian State, the longest streak of his college career. Either way, Funchess is a sure-fire NFL receiver; this is simply the first chink in the armor.

Players to Keep an Eye On

Ezekiel Elliot, RB Ohio State
24 carries for 138 yards

After 52 carries in the last two games, I think Ohio State has their next bell cow running back. Ezekiel Elliot is a big bruising back that we’ve come accustomed to seeing from Ohio State and usually being the bell cow for them is a good sign you get drafted in the first few round of the NFL draft. The former four-star recruit has a ton of work and improvements to make before that time comes, but as of now, I like the trajectory of the true sophomore.

Akeem Hunt, RB Purdue
30 carries for 177 yards and one touchdown

After two very promising years to open his career Hunt fell off the map in what was supposed to be his breakout junior year. Hunt went as Purdue went, and they hit a borderline all-time low last season, going 1-11 on the season and 0-8 in conference. That considered, it looks as though there’s new life, which is great news for Hunt. He’s a smaller back so 30 touches a game isn’t the best recipe, but I’m excited to see what he does in these next couple of games against the Big Ten’s best. As far as NFL potential, I’m not sure there’s much here other than a role player, but depending on team and fit, you never know.

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