Dynasty Scouts Conference Review: Big Ten and ACC

Bruce Matson

Here at Dynasty Scouts, we’ll always do our best to keep you informed about the latest happenings in college football. We watch all of the games so you don’t have to. Here’s some of what we noticed this past weekend.

ACC

Premier Conference Performer

Mike Williams, WR Clemson (Junior)

Six catches, 100 yards, three touchdowns vs. South Carolina

Williams finished the regular season on a high note by catching 466 yards in his final four games, and he’s staking his claim as one of the top wide receivers in the country. His size and strength make him very difficult to cover and he has a tenacious “my ball” mentality when he’s contested at the catch-point. He finished the season with 1,114 yards and ten touchdowns while owning a 27.60 percent market share of the team’s offensive production.

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Rising

Ryan Switzer, WR North Carolina (Senior)

13 catches, 171 yards, one touchdown vs. North Carolina State

Switzer profiles as a slot receiver at the NFL level due to his size and short area quickness. He’s quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s right hand man because he can always come down with the clutch grab or get open when the chips are down. This was his fourth game with more than 100 receiving yards and his third game with more than 12 receptions. He has 1,027 yards on the season while owning a 29.09 percent market share of North Carolina’s passing offense.

Matthew Dayes, RB North Carolina State (Senior)

26 carries, 104 yards, two touchdowns, three catches, 36 yards vs. North Carolina

Dayes is a grinder. He’s NC State’s workhorse running back, and the team’s offense lives and dies by his ability to run the football. This was his eighth game with over 100-yards rushing and he currently has 1,119 yards on the season, ranking third in the ACC. He owns a 27.26 percent market share of the team’s offensive production.

Wayne Gallman, RB Clemson (Junior)

19 carries, 112 yards, one touchdown vs. South Carolina

Gallman does all the little things to pick up the necessary yardage to keep the chains moving. He’s not flashy, but he gets the job done by using his vision and patience to find the hole, and from there he can churn out as many yards as possible using pure determination and will. This was his fifth game with more than 100 yards rushing, as he finished the regular season with 943 yards and 14 touchdowns while owning a 17.02 percent market share of the team’s offensive production.

Artavis Scott, WR Clemson (Junior)

Eight catches, 77 yards, one touchdown, one carry, zero yards vs. South Carolina

Scott had a highly volatile production output this season, mostly because there are not enough targets to go around in Clemson’s offense to maintain consistent production for all of their talented receivers. However, he managed to make a few big plays in this game by using his speed to blow by the defenders. He finished the regular season with just 544 yards and five touchdowns.

Dalvin Cook, RB Florida State (Junior)cook

26 carries, 153 yards, one touchdown, three catches, 26 yards vs. Florida

This was another impressive game by Cook as he used his vision and speed to carve up the defense with every carry. He’s special. They don’t make many running backs like him and he should easily go in the top three in rookie drafts next spring. This was his eighth game surpassing the 100-yard mark and his fifth game with at least 150-yards rushing. He currently ranks sixth in the nation with 1,620 yards, while owning a 35.95 percent market share of Florida State’s offensive production.

Taquan Mizzell, RB Virginia (Senior)

22 carries, 113 yards, one catch, negative two yards vs. Virginia Tech

Mizzell’s best attribute is his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield; he has 52 receptions this season and 195 receptions during his entire career. He was able to grind out 113-yards on the ground while averaging 5.1 yards per carry against a tough Virginia Tech defense. He finished the regular season with 940 yards rushing and 404 yards receiving while owning a 31.74 percent market share of Virginia’s offensive production.

Amba Etta-Tawo, WR Syracuse (Senior)

13 catches, 178 yards, five touchdowns vs. Pittsburgh

Etta-Tawo blew up the box score again, catching five touchdowns in the second half during a shoot-out with Pitt that resulted to a 61-76 defeat for the Orangemen. This was his seventh game of the season with more than 100 yards receiving. He finished his senior season with 94 receptions for 1,482 yards and 14 touchdowns, while owning a 38.44 percent market share of Syracuse’s passing offense.

James Conner, RB Pittsburgh (Junior)

19 carries, 115 yards, two touchdowns, two catches, 45 yards, one touchdown vs. Syracuse

Conner went off again, totaling 160-yards against Syracuse. He found a soft spot in the defense and was wide open for a 35-yard catch run that resulted in a touchdown in the first quarter. This was his sixth 100-yard game of the season and he finished the regular season with 1,060 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns while owning a 25.31 percent market share of the team’s offensive production.

Stacey Coley, WR Miami (Senior)

Nine catches, 118 yards, one touchdown vs. Duke

Coley lead the team with nine receptions against Duke on Saturday. He finished his senior season on a good note with his first 100-yard performance of the season. Coley has 703 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on the season while owning an 18.24 percent market share of Miami’s passing offense.

Falling

Travon McMillian, RB Virginia Tech (Sophomore)

Five carries, 32 yards, one catch, 31 yards, one touchdown vs. Virginia

McMillian has received 16 carries in the last three games and he’s no longer a large proponent of the Virginia Tech’s offense. He rushed for 1,042 yards as freshman last season and many analysts had high hopes for his sophomore campaign, but unfortunately he has been a disappointment.

Joseph Yearby, RB Miami (Sophomore)

One carry, two yards vs. Duke

Yearby’s workload has steadily decreased during the last five week, resulting to just 99 yards during that time period. Mark Walton appears to be the bell cow back going into next season, leaving Yearby waiting in the wings for an injury to occur in order to see more playing time. 

Deon Cain, WR Clemson (Sophomore)

Two catches, 38 yards vs. South Carolina

Games like this are going to happen for Clemson wide receivers because there are not enough targets to go around in their offense to keep all of their talent receivers consistently productive. He’s developing and he should capture a larger market share of the offense next season.

Freshman Spotlight

Tavien Feaster, RB Clemson (Freshman)

Six carries, 36 yards vs. South Carolina

Feaster was a four-star recruit and he was considered one of the best running backs to come out in his recruiting class. Clemson acquired a large lead over South Carolina and was able to get him some reps late in the game. Starting running back Wayne Gallman prevented Feaster from breaking out this year, but he will be featured more in Clemson’s offense during his sophomore season.

Big Ten

Premier Conference Performer

Justin Jackson, RB Northwestern (Junior)

21 carries, 173 yards, three touchdowns, one catch, five yards vs. Illinois

Jackson scored three touchdowns in this contest, one of them on a 54-yard run where he blew by the entire defense. This was his fifth 100-yard game and he currently ranks first in the Big Ten in rushing with 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns while owning a 32.02 percent market share of Northwestern’s offensive production. Jackson’s career at Northwestern has been impeccable, finishing each of the last three seasons with over 1,000 yards rushing and he has a total of 3,905 yards and 27 touchdowns on his career.

Rising

Curtis Samuel, RB Ohio State (Junior)

Seven carries, 54 yards, one touchdown, four catches, 32 yards vs. Michigan

Samuel got it done through the air and on the ground as he averaged 7.82 yards per touch against a tough Michigan defense. He blew by the defense for a 15-yard touchdown run in overtime for the game winning score. He has 1,472 total yards on the season while owning a 25.57 percent market share of Ohio State’s offensive production.

Amara Darboh, WR Michigan (Senior)

Eight catches, 68 yards, one touchdown vs. Ohio State

Darboh is a gamer, he can create separation with his superb route running and he’s one of the best receivers in the country at converting tough contested catches. He’s a very underrated prospect as there’s not many people talking about him right now but I expect him to pick up some steam in the off-season when more analysts are willing to take the time to watch his tape. He finished his senior season with 826 yards and six touchdowns while owning a 31.85 percent market share of the team’s passing offense. He also owns a 25.12 percent market share of the team’s receptions.

godwinChris Godwin, WR Penn State (Junior)

Five catches, 135 yards, two touchdowns vs. Michigan State

Godwin blew past the defense for two touchdown receptions to help Penn State blow out the Spartans 45-12. His production dropped quite a bit compared to last season when he finished the season 1,101 yards receiving. He owns a 25.30 percent market share of the team’s passing offense and he leads the team in receiving with 752 yards on the season. 

LeShun Daniels Jr., RB Iowa (Senior)

29 carries, 158 yards, two touchdowns vs. Iowa

Daniels pounded the rock 29 times for 158 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry. Iowa obtained a large lead early in the contest, which allowed them to heavily use Daniels to run the ball between the tackles to control the clock. He has 1,013 yards (seventh in the Big Ten) and ten touchdowns while owning a 27.01 percent market share of the team’s offensive production.

Corey Clement, RB Wisconsin (Senior)

26 carries, 100 yards, two touchdowns vs. Minnesota

Clement broke the century mark in rushing in six of the last seven games. He finished the season averaging 25 carries per game, indicating that he’s the team’s workhorse back. He ranks third in the Big Ten in rushing with 1,140 yards and 13 touchdowns and he own’s a 26.26 percent market share of the team’s offensive production.

Falling

De’Veon Smith, RB Michigan (Senior)

21 carries, 60 yards, two catches, 21 yards vs. Ohio State

Rivalry games are tough, especially when both teams are stout on defense. Ohio State held Michigan to just 91 yards rushing which was one of the main attributes to the Buckeyes coming away with the victory on Saturday. There were no rushing lanes for Smith to run through, and he was stuffed on most of his runs. He finishes the regular season with 810 yards and ten touchdowns while owning a 16.48 percent market share of the team’s offensive production.

Rodney Smith, RB Minnesota (Sophomore)

13 carries, 45 yards, one catch, 25 yards vs. Wisconsin

Smith was shut down by a tough Wisconsin defense to just 45-yards on the ground while averaging 3.5 yards per carry. This is just one of those games where the offensive line gets dominated, causing the running back to suffer by not being able to find any holes to run through. He finished the regular season ranked fourth in the Big Ten in rushing with 1,084 yards and 15 touchdowns while owning a 29.12 percent market share of Minnesota’s offensive production.

Shannon Brooks, RB Minnesota (Sophomore)

Nine carries, 37 yards vs. Wisconsin

Brooks was contained to rushing for just 37-yards against the Badgers. Wisconsin’s run defense was a brick wall on Saturday, holding Minnesota to just 128 rushing yards. Brooks could only muster 4.1 yards per carry, mostly because almost every time he touched the ball he was swarmed by defenders at the line of scrimmage. He’s a very underrated running and injuries slowed him down this year during the beginning of the season, look for him to bounce back and be more productive next year.

Freshman Spotlight

Andre Robinson, RB Penn State (Freshman)

Three carries, 32 yards, one touchdown, one catch, 40 yards, one touchdowns vs. Michigan State

Robinson, a four-star recruit form Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is best known for his blend of size, ability to break tackles and quick feet. He is more than likely going to be Saquon Barkley’s predecessor in a couple of years. He wasn’t used much this season as he only received 25 carries, but his workload should steadily increase in the future.

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bruce matson