Devy Roundup: Season Finale
What a way to end the regular season. The Oklahoma vs. West Virginia game was an outstanding battle between two likely Heisman finalists and many other great devy prospects on Friday night. Both Will Grier and Kyler Murray put on a show with the Sooners coming out on top.
One night later, the LSU vs. Texas A&M seven-overtime thriller was a game for the ages. With the final score resembling a third-quarter basketball score, one could imagine how many touchdowns were scored in the game. It was even more impressive the game lasted so long considering the teams were forced to attempt a two-point conversion after each touchdown starting with the third overtime. The game lasted nearly five hours and was the highest scoring gamein college football history. Between it and the Rams/Chiefs game from last week, we have been blessed with a great week of football.
You can find the final results of each week thirteen game here.
Top Performers
Some of the top performers of the week
Will Grier, QB West Virginia (539 yards passing, 4 TDs)
Will Grier and Kyler Murray put on a show Friday night in a match-up of two likely Heisman Finalists. Defense was optional and both quarterbacks put up plenty of stats. Unfortunately for Grier, the Mountaineers lost on Friday and missed out on a spot in the Big-12 Championship next week.
Marquise Brown, WR Oklahoma (11 rec, 243 yards, 2 TDs)
Marquise Brown will be an interesting case study during the 2019 NFL draft process. His blazing speed is undeniable and being part of Antonio Brown’s bloodline is encouraging, but I still have questions about his small frame plus if his speed will truly be elite at the next level.
Tua Tagovailoa, QB Alabama (324 yards passing, 5 TDs, 26 yards rushing, 1 TD)
To nobody’s surprise, Tua makes this list yet again. With a dominant performance in the Iron Bowl, he keeps adding to his Heisman résumé.
Deebo Samuel, WR South Carolina (10 rec, 210 yards, 3 TDs)
Samuel erupted for 210 yards against Clemson on Saturday. He remains one of my favorite underrated prospects of the 2019 class. You could see some of his game-breaking ability on Saturday.
Dwayne Haskins, QB Ohio State (396 yards passing, 6 TDs, 34 yards rushing)
Haskins has really burst onto the college football scene this year. His six touchdown performance on Saturday moved him past Drees for the single-season Big-10 record for passing touchdowns. His impressive year has placed him in the Heisman discussion for most of the season.
Honorable Mentions: Kyler Murray (364 yards passing, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 114 yards rushing, 1 TD), Kennedy Brooks (182 yards rushing, 1 TD), Gary Jennings (7 rec, 225 yards, 2 TDs), David Sills (8 rec, 131 yards, 2 TDs), Myles Gaskin (170 yards rushing, 3 TDs), Greg McCrae (181 yards rushing, 3 TDs), Travis Etienne (150 yards rushing, 2 TD, 1 rec, 9 yards), Tee Higgins (6 rec, 142 yards, 1 TD), Jake Bentley (510 yards passing, 5 TDs, 1 INT), Tyler Vaughns (12 rec, 120 yards, 1 TD), Parris Campbell (6 rec, 192 yards, 2 TDs), Jake Fromm (175 yards passing, 4 TDs), Joe Burrow (270 yards passing, 3 TDs, 100 yards rushing, 3 TDs), Trayveon Williams (198 yards rushing, 2 TDs), Kellen Mond (287 yards passing, 6 TDs, 42 yards rushing, 1 TD), Alexander Mattison (200 yards rushing, 3 TDs, 3 rec, 12 yards), David Montgomery (149 yards rushing, 3 TDs, 3 rec, 20 yards), Hakeem Butler (5 rec, 144 yards, 1 TD)
Poor Performers
Performances which did to live up to expectations
Gardner Minshew, QB Washington State (152 yards passing, 2 INTs)
Minshew had been playing really well lately but had a down game in the Apple Cup against rival Washington State. It was snowing during the game, which made passing very difficult. Maybe that is the only way Minshew could be slowed down this year. Washington did play a great game, though.
J.K. Dobbins, RB Ohio State (12 carries, 46 yards rushing, 1 rec, 1 yard)
Dobbins had another inefficient day against rival Michigan. He has had a few of them this year, but still remains one of my top-five running back prospects of the special, projected 2020 class.
My Rankings
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As we close in on the end of the regular season, I like to reminisce on the last few months and see who made the biggest jumps up and down my rankings. Here are some of my biggest risers of the past season. It may be beneficial to jump on their hype trains now before the rest of the dynasty community catches up.
Risers
Laviska Shenault, WR Colorado
Laviska Shenault seemingly came out of nowhere this year but has all of the tools to become an elite wide receiver. He has great size, speed, and an ability to make defenders miss with the ball in his hands. Add in another year of learning the nuances of the game and he can become even more special next year.
Rondale Moore, WR Purdue
Much like Shenault, Rondale Moore has broken out in a big way this year. However, Moore is only a freshman, so he has an extra year or two to develop even further. Most devy players already knew about freshman Amon-Ra St. Brown entering this year, but Rondale Moore has jumped into the conversation of who the most talented receiver from the 2021 class is.
Hakeem Butler, WR Iowa State
Another receiver makes this list. This time, it is one from the 2019 class. Hakeem Butler is listed at a mammoth six foot, six inches, which allows him to tower over defenders and snatch balls over them on the regular. Receivers that tall do not normally translate well to the NFL, but Butler is a tantalizing prospect who might end up measuring at six foot five inches when all is said and done.
Eno Benjamin, RB Arizona State
The departures of former Arizona State running backs Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard paved the way for more playing time for Benjamin this year. He has taken full advantage of the increased opportunities, rushing for over 1500 yards and 15 touchdowns while breaking numerous tackles in the process.
While everyone loves the yearly breakout stars, what goes up must come down. Here are some of my biggest fallers of the past season. While I have concerns for many of them, some might be great buy-low candidates.
Fallers
Stephen Carr, RB USC
It appears off-season back surgeryreally set Carr back this year. He struggled early on and fell behind teammates Aca’Cedric Ware and Vavae Malepeai in the USC backfield rotation. Carr has the talent but will need to stay healthy and see the field more next year to utilize it.
Rodney Anderson, RB Oklahoma
Like Carr, injuries derailed Rodney Anderson’s season. He suffered a season-ending knee injury early in the year against UCLA. He still declared for the NFL draft, so it will be interesting to see how the NFL Draft process treats him.
Cam Akers, RB Florida State
Akers dealt with an uninspiring offensive line for most of the season, which ended up stunting his growth as a running back. A convert from a high-school quarterback, Akers missed out on valuable chances to learn the nuances of the position since he was constantly being met by defenders in the backfield. That being said, Akers is one of my favorite devy buy lows heading into the off-season.
You can find my full set of devy rankings here.
Other News/Notes
Well, there you have it. Another wonderful season of college football is almost in the books. Of course, there are still many exciting games coming our way over the next few months, including conference championships this week and bowl games over the next two months. The playoff picture is rounding into shape but is far from set in stone. This next week will provide the last bit of clarity before we wait for the playoff selection committee to select the four playoff teams.
Feel free to reach out in the comments section below or on Twitter @KyleHoldenFF with any questions as we look ahead to conference championships and bowl games! Hopefully, you found this series useful to gain quick synopses of the week and some trends to get ahead of the curve on. Thanks again for following along! I really appreciate it!
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- Devy Roundup: Week 14 - November 26, 2019
- Devy Roundup: Week 13 - November 20, 2019
- Devy Roundup: Week 12 - November 12, 2019
