100 Players to Watch For in 2016: Teams 100-95

Kyle Pollock Posted On June 10, 2016

With spring ball wrapped up and summer practices starting soon, it’s time to start looking towards the college football season. Many stars from last season such as Derrick Henry, Corey Coleman, Ezekiel Elliott, Laquon Treadwell, and Jared Goff have all graduated or left school, leading to much intrigue and excitement for this season. In this series I will go through my personal top 100 teams entering this college football season, and highlight one player to watch from each team. For some teams, they may not be the most well know players (such as Christian McCaffrey on Stanford or Leonard Fournette on LSU), but rather players who could be potential stars this year or later in their career. Let’s start out with team’s number 100 through 95.

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Florida International – Jonnu Smith, TE, Senior

In 2014, Smith was one of the most productive tight ends in the nation, posting 61 catches for 710 yards with eight touchdowns. In 2015, he missed four games to injuries and basically saw his production cut in half. Just under half of Smith’s receiving yards came in his final game of the season against Old Dominion, when he had ten catches for 183 yards and two touchdowns. At 6’2”, 230 pounds, Smith is undersized for the position and it’s difficult to see him ever being a real difference maker in the NFL. He may be able to latch onto a roster for a few seasons if he tests well at the combine.

Connecticut – Arkeel Newsome, RB, Junior

Newsome is an undersized back at 5’7”, 182 pounds who excels in the receiving game. With 45 catches, 465 yards, and two touchdowns receiving, Newsome essentially functioned as the Huskies number two receiving option last season. He’s no slouch in the run game either, as he carried the team to a huge upset of then undefeated Houston. In that game, Newsome carried the ball 32 times for 114 yards. He also torched East Carolina for 179 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries.

SMU – Courtland Sutton, WR, Sophomore (redshirt)

Courtland Sutton first caught my eye in SMU’s opener against Baylor, and after watching the game I immediately picked him up in all my season long college fantasy and devy leagues. At 6’4”, 215 pounds with good speed and a “my ball” mentality, Sutton possess many of the qualities that evaluators look for in prototypical number one receivers. He is such a phenomenal athlete that when the SMU basketball team was decimated by injuries, he practiced for the team and played in multiple games (he had one three pointer and two rebounds in four minutes). Sutton is currently my number three receiver in the 2017 class, and I truly believe that he will have great success in the NFL as a team’s top receiving threat. DLF’s Nick Whalen is also a huge fan of Sutton, comping him to Jets wideout Brandon Marshall and stating that “Sutton has top 10 NFL WR potential”.

Courtland Sutton of #SMU with an amazing catch. It would come back because of a hold. But still — NASTY. https://t.co/vzEhqh6yLs

— Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) September 20, 2015

Buffalo – Jordan Johnson, RB, Junior

Overshadowed during his career by Anthone Taylor, Johnson will finally get his chance to be the Bulls’ bellcow running back. At 6’, 220 pounds, Johnson is a bigger back who can bully opposing defenders. When Taylor went down last season, he did an excellent job filling in, running for 811 yards and a team high 12 touchdowns. The school has produced multiple NFL caliber running backs in James Starks and Brandon Oliver, so don’t be surprised to see Johnson be the next Bull to make it in the NFL.

Louisiana Lafayette – Elijah McGuire, RB, Senior

McGuire is considered one of the premier small school running backs in the nation, and many expected him to leave school early and declare for the draft. He has been extremely productive in college, with over 3000 career rushing yards and 1000 career receiving yards. McGuire had a down season last year, as he saw his yards per carry drop from 7.6 his sophomore year to 5.0 last season. While he carried a much bigger load last season (his carries increased from 166 to 210), his rushing yards decreased from 1,264 to 1,058. This could be due to McGuire’s struggles between the tackles, and he is much better on outside runs and in space. His receiving prowess and open field ability remind me of Gio Bernard.

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Colorado – Shay Fields, WR

A small, speedy receiver, Fields torched Arizona and Arizona State last season for a combined 271 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Sefo Liufau was banged up in the later parts of the season, and this may have contributed to why Fields saw his numbers dip. If Fields continues his improvement as a deep threat, he could potentially be a late round pick or priority UDFA in the 2018 NFL draft.

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