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
35 touches for 264 yards and two touchdowns

Another dominant week for Gordon. He was the only weapon on offense and Iowa knew, yet they still couldn’t stop him. What’s most exciting about this week? Four receptions for 64 yards, a few of them being hands catches, exactly what NFL teams want to see. Gordon now has 15 receptions on the season – he only had three heading into the year.

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Tevin Coleman, RB Indiana
27 carries for 228 yards and three touchdowns

Coleman has been spectacular this year, even more amazing when you consider the team he’s on and their struggles. Based on his skill set and what he’s done this year, he’s officially passed Ameer Abdullah as a prospect. Coleman is the second best running back in the conference and on a normal year would be first.

Rising

Justin Jackson, RB Northwestern
23 carries for 147 yards and two touchdowns

Jackson has solidified both his role as a feature back on Northwestern and in the conversation for best back in the conference next year. Jackson is a bit undersized and we need to see more from the freshman, but the future appears very bright.

Ezekiel Elliot, RB Ohio State
20 touches for 146 yards and one touchdown

Elliot hasn’t shown as much as Jackson so far, but he’s got the pedigree and Ohio State running backs’ success in the NFL is nothing to scoff at. Elliot, with JT Barrett, will be the main focus of the offense next year, it will be very interesting to see how he develops.

Akeel Lynch, RB Penn State
30 touches for 172 yards and one touchdown

As I mentioned in the last update, Lynch has finally wrestled away the feature back role from Bill Belton. The offensive line is below average and shockingly the quarterback play has been also this year. Lynch has become the main weapon in the offense and I expect that to continue. When it’s all said and done, I expect Lynch to be a middle round selection in the NFL, with talent in abundance.

Falling

Devin Funchess, WR Michigan
Five catches for 30 yards

It seems this entire season has been a struggle for Funchess, take away that three touchdown game against Appalachian State and Funchess has one touchdown on the year. His yards per catch has dropped over four yards and everything in general has seemed to regress. He obviously still has a huge ceiling, but based on where he’s being ranked, I won’t be touching him in any rookie drafts.

Christian Hackenberg, QB Penn State
8/16 for 93 yards and one touchdown

It’s pretty noticeable that Penn State has scaled back Hackenberg’s workload. In the first eight games of the year, Hackenberg had over 30 pass attempts in seven of them; in fact, he had over 40 in five. The past three weeks he’s been under 30 every time, including this week, where he only had 16. Hackenberg has a touchdown to interception ratio of 8:14, a truly unacceptable rate for any college quarterback, never mind one being touted as a potentially elite prospect.

Keep An Eye On

Jalin Marshall, WR/RB Ohio State
Five catches for 95 yards and four touchdowns (three receiving, one punt return)

This is Marshall’s second straight week with five catches for 95 yards, the difference being three touchdowns to one. This is Marshall’s freshman year and I think OSU is still trying to figure out exactly what he is. He’s listed at running back, but it’s pretty clear they’ve taken a liking to his skills in the receiving game. This is definitely something to watch for devy purposes, if you have a reasonably sized developmental draft, he’s someone you need to grab late.

De’Mornay Pierson-El, WR Nebraska
Four catches for 87 yards and one touchdown

Pierson-El  doesn’t have the seasonal totals to stand out, but you have to take notice when a freshman starts to establish himself in a role. Eleven of his 14 catches on the season have come in the last five weeks, and based on the small sample size, I’m very encouraged. As for now he’s simply in the ‘Keep An Eye On’ stage, but look at it this way, just a few short weeks ago, Justin Jackson and Akeel Lynch were as well.

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