I want you to put the word out there that we back up.

- Stringer, the Wire

It was a sad day in college football when well known degenerate and KDPF license holder, Clint “Pig Master” Trickett, accepted the QBs coach job at Arkansas, thereby removing himself from the play calling ranks of CFB. He had previously been serving as the OC at Jacksonville State (which is located in Alabama, by the way).

Indeed, a collective cry from pigs all over planet Earth could be heard far and wide when the announcement was made public. But thankfully, cooler heads prevailed when Maryland offered their OC job to the newly hired Trickett, who wasted no time in accepting the position.

As a refresher for the audience, in case you’re new here, or just forgot, but this crazy bastard we know as Clint Trickett has a trail of volume pigs everywhere he’s been. Now, to be fair, that list of stops is not lengthy. He was the OC at Marshall for two seasons, and then this past year at Jacksonville State.

So while he is batting 100% in this denomination, the sample remains small. He technically has another year in his inventory as he spent 2020 co-OCing FAU. The problem with that is that since he was the co-OC, it’s hard to know retroactively how much influence he really had on shaping the offence. For the reader’s context—that backfield was a committee.

Maryland as a program has not had an elite CFF asset at RB in quite some time. In fact, the last time the Terps had a 1000-yard rusher was in 2018, remarkably coming from a RB who only saw 131(!) carries. How the hell did that happen? That must be close to a record for fewest carries taken to produce 1000 yards.

And you won’t believe this stat but it’s true: Maryland hasn’t had a 200+ carry runner since 2008! Disgraceful behaviour in my opinion and I told Coach Locksley as much in my year-end address to all FBS coaches. You see, I send a letter to each at the end of the season, and let’s just say the one sent to Maryland was NOT full of holiday cheer.

Clearly it hit home with Coach as he immediately pivoted to steal Pig Master Trickett away from Arkansas at the last minute. A good move in my opinion—his talents would have been wasted as a QBs coach.

COACHING & SYSTEM: PIG MASTER TRICKETT

RB1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 13 — OC: 20

I vaguely remember watching Trickett on the Netflix show “Last Chance U” several years ago. He was (unsuccessfully) attempting to resuscitate FSU drop out Malik Henry’s stock at the JuCo Independence Community College in Kansas.

Trickett was a former QB himself, who actually played at FSU as well, but is better known from his time at WVU as far as I know. He was eventually forced to retire from playing the sport entirely after sustaining five concussions in a 14-month span.

So I suppose it’s no wonder then that he has little reservation about handing the ball off to his lead back 300+ times in a collegiate football season.

Over his three seasons spent as the full OC, Trickett’s RB1 averaged 1437 yards and 15.7 rushing TDs.

During the two seasons that Trickett OC’d Marshall, the RB1 saw 50 and 47% team carry share, in other words, half or nearly half of all carries were funnelled through one runner. Delicious.

I don’t have the exact carry share number for Jacksonville State this past season, but it’s safe to assume it was the same if not higher.

The highest carry share at Maryland under Locksley was 40% in 2022, when Roman Hemby averaged 14 carries per game and around 16 PPR PPG. Outside of that, most of his runners see 30% or less of the team carry share.

Furthermore, while Locksley has averaged a near 50/50 split in offensive play calling, Trickett averages closer to a 57% run rate. Both coaches average a quick offensive play rate at 24-25 seconds per play.

DeJuan Williams (5’11, 215)

2025 RUSHING STATS: 128-501-3 (13.3 PPG)

While I've included only Williams’ rushing stats above for consistent formatting with previous articles, a lot of his value last year came via the air. I must admit that I was really not expecting this: he almost had more receiving yards than rushing in 2025.

Yes, it’s true. Williams caught 45 of 65(!) targets for 426 yards and another score. That’s astronomical receiving usage for a RB, especially in a non-Mike Leach/Air-Raid offence.

And he really doesn’t look like the type, am I right? He has the appearance of a rugged, bruising back who is a sledgehammer between the tackles à la Mo Ibrahim from a few years ago.

But it turns out our man also has a pair of soft hands and a knack for getting open on scramble drills:

We love to see it.

Williams is a local kid who grew up in Baltimore and was rated as a four star prospect by 247 Sports. He was a member of the powerhouse program St. Francis Academy and held multiple P4 offers including from Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State.

In terms of how the marriage between Willians and Trickett may play out, it’s true that Trickett’s RB1s are typically workhorses on the ground, but two out of his three backs have also finished with over 200 receiving yards (Cam Cook had 286 in 2025).

So, suffice it to say that there should be no concern there, and frankly, it would be odd behaviour for Trickett not to utilize Williams in such a fashion after what he demonstrated in 2025.

And while Maryland may end up being a poor performing club once again in 2026, receiving usage from a RB helps make him match-up proof.

It also helps our confidence in Williams that he is returning as Maryland’s RB1 from a season ago. That isn’t a guarantee that he will start again, of course, but it is a good indicator.

He apparently won one of Maryland’s spring ball awards according to a 247 Sports article:

DeJuan Williams took home the Ernest Torain Offensive Back Award. He's expected to return to the starting lineup at running back, with USC transfer Harry Dalton also heavily involved.

Though I will say that personally, I was hoping to read some more glowing reports regarding how Williams looks this offseason. For example, here is one thing a writer at 247 Sports said:

Running back remains status quo. Maryland might not have a star there, but Dejuan Williams and USC transfer Harry Dalton could be a solid 1-2 punch if the offensive line improves its run blocking. Williams took an option 70 yards to the endzone during one recent practice.

I feel like my enthusiasm for Williams based on his profile and what the writers are reporting are completely mismatched. I mean this guy had nearly 1000 total yards last year in a bad offence. No star here? NO STAR??

Alright. I get that the offensive line is a problem spot that will present some challenges to Williams’ CFF profile, but the astronomical receiving usage sort of offsets this, and assuming he receives more carries (128 in 13 games is frankly unacceptable and I would be shocked if the Pig Master let’s that happen again), there should be a budding star here (yes I’m going to say it even if these Terp writers won’t).

I’m also a fan of Harry Dalton, and I suspect that asshole Mike Locksley will make sure to temper Trickett’s preference for funnelling almost every carry to Williams. So, I don’t doubt that a healthier split between the top two running backs is coming relative to what we’ve become accustomed to with Trickett. Even still, there’s a lot of room for growth here. Just get me to 170-180 carries with another 45-50 receptions (plus a couple more tuddies) and we’re cooking.

Williams is not quite in the range that I saw Trickett’s former RB1, Cam Cook, being taken late in the offseason last year, but he seems to keep climbing. His last recorded ADP is from April, and is being selected in the eight/ninth round range according to Campus2Canton.

That feels fair but I fear he will continue to be selected earlier and earlier as the offseason progresses. I think the main risk factors are: Mike Locksley, bad offence (especially the OL), and I suppose Harry Dalton (USC transfer) who people around the program seem to like. ◾

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

Turn the power up.

- Twisted Sister, band

TURN IT DOWN YOU SAY. But all I got to say to you is time and time again I say no! No, no, no… I’m bringing the funk once again with an FCS transfer that simply must not go undrafted in any regular CFF1 league right now.

Prairie View A&M’s Jyzaiah (Jay) “Twisted Sister” Rockwell was the fourth leading receiver in the FCS last year with a mouth-watering 72 receptions, 1132 yards and seven scores in 14 games. Against the one FBS program PV played, Rice, Rockwell secured six receptions for 92 yards. That’s definitely encouraging, particularly after Rockwell’s first two years spent at Sam Houston, where he only caught a total of 13 passes.

Even more intriguing is his landing spot. The Western Kentucky program has made a living in the 2020s off of FCS transfers, particularly at the WR position. We need only think of the likes of Jerreth Sterns, Kisean Johnson, and most recently, Matthew Henry, who each led the Hilltoppers in receiving in 2021, 2024, and 2025, respectively.

Rockwell appears reasonably well positioned to be the next in line. There are several other cooks in the kitchen—yes—but no other receiver on the roster currently has the level of production Rockwell comes in with, albeit at a lower level.

He’s also a bigger player who is more likely to play on the boundary, whereas some of the most productive players in the past were slot receivers. Though we’ve seen the occasional boundary player fill in as WR1, and if we count Mitchell Tinsley in 2021, there have been three of these types that finished with a season of over 900 receiving yards (Lucky Jackson in ‘19, Tinsley in ‘21, Johnson in ‘24).

Do you know there is actually a place called ROCKWALL in Texas, which is only a 45 minute drive from Rockwell’s birthplace of McKinney? We were so close with the names there to make this a neat fun fact. And I'm irrationally frustrated by the near connection.

I’m actually going to be visiting Texas for the first time in my life in August—Austin to be specific—for one of the Scottfish Tadpole drafts with a bunch of other CFF nerds.

I’m really hoping to get some authentic Texas BBQ… I think that’s the thing I’m looking forward to the most. Hopefully I don’t get shot along the way.

Back to the topic at hand, let’s dive deeper into the WKU system under Helton & co., which oddly enough, I don’t think I’ve covered in an article before. At least, not that I can remember. This is strange considering how coveted the players from this program have been in recent years within the CFF community.

COACHING & SYSTEM

WR1 PPG AVERAGE (2018-2024) — HC: 17 — OC: 14 (half ppr)

While there have been some notable OCs who have come through the ‘Hill and morphed the offence in their image, this is really head coach Tyson Helton’s system at this point. There is a new OC, Bodie Reeder, who is joining from MTSU, and a co-OC who was promoted from offensive line coach this spring.

Helton joined the program in 2019 after spending the 2018 season as the OC of the Tennessee Volunteers. The stats from this season are not included in the table below, but Tennessee’s WR1 that season only caught 37 passes for 592 yards and two scores. Helton has also spent time as the passing game coordinator and QBs coach at USC (2016-17), and was previously the OC at WKU in 2014 and 2015.

Helton’s time as OC at the program is outside the scope of the table, so I’ll include the details of each season’s WR1 here for your convenience:

• Taiwan Taylor (2015) 86-1467-17

• Jared Dangerfield (2014) 69-825-11

The OC, Bodie Reeder, is joining after two seasons spent at MTSU. His time with the Blue Raiders is not overwhelmingly encouraging. In his first season, it was TE/slot receiver Holden Willis who led the squad in receiving. In his second season, Myles Butler only produced 518 yards and two scores.

But presumably if he’s joining this esteemed program that we know as the WKU Hilltoppers then he will acquiesce to Helton’s mode of operation when it comes to WR1 production.

The one bright spot of Reeder’s track record as OC is that he was the play caller at North Texas during 2019 when Jaelon Darden had a 25% target share (nine per game) and averaged over 15 PPG in PPR formats.

At QB, there are not a lot of options on the roster. Rodney Tisdale returns after starting in (from what I can tell) five games last season. The fact that he is currently engaged in a battle for QB1 duties after getting his shot last year tells us all we need to know here—clearly Helton wanted to see something better from his pivot and thus here we are.

Tisdale is competing with FSU transfer Brock Glenn, who similarly struggled when given his opportunities over the last three years. Furthermore, Glenn did not participate in the spring game due to an undisclosed injury.

It goes without saying that many times the success of the WRs is predicated on the success of the QB position. Though there are plenty of examples throughout the history of CFF of poor QB play that still supported elite WR production. Sometimes it can be a good thing if the QB just locks onto his go-to guy.

And who will the go-to guy be this year? Like I said earlier—a lot of cooks in the kitchen over there, so picking one out and definitely declaring them as the guy to draft right now would be silly, but Rockwell is probably a name worth taking a shot on and I don’t see why he isn’t being drafted more.

Jay Rockwell (6’2, 215)

2025 RECIEVING STATS: 72-1132-7 (FCS)

Rockwell began his career at Sam Houston during the 2022 season. He was actually a big get for SMHU at the time, given that he was rated a three-star prospect by 247 Sports and held offers from P4 programs like Kansas, Nebraska, and Illinois. In addition to those offers, G5 programs like UTSA, North Texas and Arkansas State also wanted Rockwell’s signature.

In the end, then-FCS program SMHU won out, but ultimately Rockwell would fail to make a noticeable impact with the Houston-based program during his three seasons there.

He redshirted his first year after enrolling in the spring of 2022. In 2023, he appeared in 10 games, catching seven of his 19 targets for 42 yards and one score.

In the following season he must have picked up an injury because he apparently only played in seven games, catching six of seven targets for 50 yards.

The 2025 campaign with FCS program Prairie View is where our man finally found his footing. And while it is concerning that he failed to make a mark during the two seasons he played in the FBS previously, I would guess that he has developed into a different player in 2026 coming off a career year in 2025.

Other names to consider on this roster include K.D. Hutchinson, who returns as one of the lead receivers from a year ago and is likely to occupy one of the slot positions. Former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Zion Taylor is transferring down a level and joining WKU. Another former SMHU Bearkat—Qua’Vez Humphreys—also makes his way over to Western Kentucky. There are others to consider as well.

I’m not so worried about Hutchinson given his presumed role, but a player like Humphreys probably presents the biggest obstacle to Rockwell’s ascension as the target master in this offence.

And maybe this is one of those years where there just won’t be a notable CFF asset at WR from this program? Never say never, even if every full season Helton’s been here produced at least a viable CFF asset at WR. Every streak comes to an end eventually.

Either way, I would be targeting Rockwell as an end-of-draft Hail Mary that has a decent shot of becoming a WR1 in what has been a coveted offence for CFFers during Helton’s tenure. ◾

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed.

Injury & Suspension News

• Texas Tech's request for reinstatement of eligibility for Brenden Sorsby has been denied by the NCAA, per ESPN. However, Sorsby was granted a temporary preliminary injunction on June. 8. The NCAA will appeal the decision. As things stand, Sorsby is to serve a two game suspension to open the season.

• Iowa State Salahadin Allah won't play in 2026 due to a torn achilles tendon, per Eugene Rapay of the Des Moines Register.

• Mizzou RB Ahmad Hardy is beginning rehabilitation in Columbia after undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to his leg, per a team video message.

• Syracuse QB Steve Angeli, who is recovering from an Achilles injury, reportedly hit 19 miles per hour on the treadmill last week according to head coach Fran Brown during ACC spring meetings, per David Hale of ESPN.

• LSU QB Sam Leavitt is expected to be fully cleared from his foot injury this summer, according to Lane Kiffin via On3.

• Texas WR Kalil Lockett (lower leg) was limited in Texas' spring practice period but is still expected to return to action in the summer, per Zach Dimmitt of Texas on SI.

• Washington RB Jordan Washington (undisclosed) was carted off the field in Washington's spring practice period and his head coach Jedd Fisch is reportedly targeting a late-July return for the tailback, per Huskies Wire.

• UCF QB Alonza Barnett (undisclosed) will “be back by summer,” he said in his first media availability since January, per the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

• ND RB Aneyas Williams (elbow) is healthy following Notre Dame’s spring game, WNDU.com reports.

• UTSA QB Owen McCown (undisclosed) sat out spring practice and the spring game as a precaution, but he could’ve played and is expected to be ready to roll for fall camp, per the San Antonio Express-News.

• UCLA RB Wayne Knight (undisclosed) is expected to have a role in the offense once healthy for fall camp, Jack Savage of 247Sports.com reports.

Spring Camp News

• Utah QB Devon Dampier was praised by offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven due to the growth he’s shown in the last few months, according to Sammy Mora of On3.com.

  “The command that he’s developed over the last couple of practices has been really impressive to see. His application of concept, making decisions pre snap, post snap, and with some of the new concepts that we’re running, that he’s been exposed to for the first time, I think he’s doing a really good job with starting to display a pretty high comfort level with with a lot of things, and just trying to continue to build chemistry with the with the pieces around him,” McGiven said.

• A note out of camp on FSU QB Ashton Daniels per CBS sports:

  "I think he's going to play a lot better than people think he will," a source said. "He's really smart. He really has a workman attitude to everything. He's not prima-donnish. Everything he's gone through in his career, you can tell it keeps him humble and keeps him focused on the right things. I think he can feel the confidence that people in the program have in him. And he's also got enough playmakers around him that I think his talent will show up."

• One source from Pitt said on QB Mason Heintschel “He’s gone to another level,” per CBS sports.

• Georgia Tech QB Alberto Mendoza is widely expected to be Georgia Tech's starting quarterback, per Andy Staples of On3.

• UTEP QB EJ Colson has won the starting job at quarterback, Pete Thamel of ESPN.com reports.

• Per ON3, a note on Michigan’s expected WR rotation:

  Four-star sophomore Andrew Marsh (6-0, 190), sophomore, three-star sophomore JJ Buchanan (6-3, 225), four-star freshman Salesi Moa (6-2, 175). These guys are young, but all are talented, and Marsh and Buchanan have already exceeded their rankings early at Michigan and Utah. They’re future pros. Moa is already turning heads.

• Michigan WR JJ Buchanan no longer has TE eligibility on Fantrax. Per ON3, Hogan Hansen is the expected starter for 2026:

  Four-star junior Hogan Hansen (6-5, 240). Injuries have derailed him, but he has the talent. He was No. 327 overall in the Rivals industry rankings, but most believe he has the potential to be much better than that … if he can stay healthy

• Update on Duke’s QB competition per 247 Sports:

  The Blue Devils were put in an unenviable position with their quarterback room following the sudden departure of Darian Mensah to the transfer portal on the day of its closing. There weren’t many options available to Duke. But the Blue Devils did land an experienced passer in San Jose State’s Walker Eget, who threw for 3,051 yards last season. Eget wasn’t cleared by the NCAA for a sixth season until February, and he wasn’t 100% healthy during spring practice, per a source, after he suffered a leg injury in November.

  Eget did take some limited reps, however, and was around the team. He’s in a battle with redshirt freshman Dan Mahan for the starting job. Duke is optimistic about Mahan’s future but Eget certainly has the experience edge.

Read more

I just like beaches in the summer, man.

- Rob Gronkowski, former NFL player

Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots were one of the early adopters of heavily utilizing their TEs as offensive weapons in the NFL. In fact, at times they deployed two pass-catching TEs on the field at the same time.

The most dominant player under Belichick was Rob Gronkowski, who enjoyed multiple thousand-yard seasons and all-pro honours at the position. The late Aaron Hernandez was another player who was heavily featured. In fact, he had a season-high of 113 targets in only 14 games in 2011 despite being the ‘second’ TE.

Read more

"The camera adds 10 pounds"

- Anonymous

Hello all, I’ve recently been spending a lot of time on the CTN podcast with Jared and Chris (plus special guests) previewing conferences via live drafts. So far, we have completed the B1G, SEC and BIG12 previews. The links to the videos are provided below:

Share

BIG12:

SEC

B1G

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

There is something quite lethal about a painting.

- Dorian Gray, Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

In the 2009 NFL season, a second year player and former ECU Pirate torched the league to the tune of 2006 rushing yards in 16 games. That player’s name was Chris Johnson, who has henceforth been referred to as “CJ2K”.

A few seasons earlier, CJ2K led the Pirates in rushing with 1423 yards, and 1951 total scrimmage yards including his receiving work. Not quite 2000 total yards in college, but in his defence, he did this in only 13 games.

Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what to expect this offseason when the 2026 version of ECU brought in several transfers at the RB position. One of those players followed the new OC, Jordan Davis (not to be confused with the DT from UGA), from North Texas: Ashton Gray.

Gray is coming off a career game in UNT’s bowl matchup vs. SDSU where he ran 16 times for 152 yards and two scores (~29 CFF points). Pretty gangster if you ask me.

Obviously, he was behind CFF darling Caleb Hawkins last season, so his overall season stats are not impressive. The second year player finished 2025 with 58 rush attempts, 377 yards and five scores total.

Speaking of Jordan Davis—again, not to be confused with my dawg, JD, who plays for the Eagles—he is in his first season OCing the Pirates after three seasons spent in Denton, TX, with the Mean Green.

His three seasons under Eric Morris at North Texas comprise his sole play calling experience thus far in his career. Prior to UNT, he was an analyst or WRs coach at Washington State, Incarnate Word (FCS), and Texas Tech. So, clearly he has an Air-Raid background, but what is his history at RB?

The short answer is it isn’t very impressive. Last year notwithstanding, the North Texas RB1 under Davis and Morris was not a CFF asset during the other two seasons:

But 2025 did happen, and I think it at least shows that Davis will consolidate touches through one player at RB if he has one that’s head and shoulders above the rest.

Is Gray one such player? He has apparently been an impressive newcomer in spring, and the RBs coach, Julian Griffin, seems to like him:

The primary competition if I had to guess would be Marshall transfer Michael Allen, and TJ Engleman (injured). Allen was good in spurts last year for the Thundering Herd, and Engleman had similar numbers to Gray in 2025 with ECU.

Each of the three played some during ECU’s spring showcase, with one beat writer mentioning this:

There was also this note from the same 247 sports writer regarding Gray’s performance over the course of spring:

That’s a lot of positive buzz for our man Mr. Gray. And in case you’re still wondering about the strange title, I’ve gone ahead and taken the liberty of bestowing the nickname “AG-1.5K” onto Ashton Gray. I’ll level with you, even if everything goes according to plan here, it’s still unlikely he’ll reach 2K total yards. But 1.5K feels a bit more reasonable, hence, “AG-1.5K”.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

The head coach of ECU is a defensive specialist and presumably will not be very influential in shaping the offence. I could be wrong about that but I don’t think I am.

ECU also brought in three key transfers at OL this offseason so they will be retooling in that group too. We also don’t even know who the starter will be at QB. If it turns out to be Emory Jones, the QB could be stealing a few (or many) redzone scores from the RBs. Not ideal, but not a dealbreaker either.

Michael Turner is another name that lurks within the room. He briefly became a hot name on waiver wires last year during his dalliance as RB1 at Marshall. He’s someone who gives me some pause regarding Gray, but the quotes above seem pretty emphatic that AG looks different.

I’m not a huge fan of the staff/system but again, we know some players can transcend the system (literally Caleb Hawkins last year under this OC), so it’s good to keep an open mind at all times.

I already know that some of you assholes are going to start drafting Gray way too high this offseason and that’ll kill the value here. Let’s try to keep him as a mid-to-late round workhorse if possible. Though I fear that in the end, this player is going to have a similar trajectory to former JSU runner Cam Cook last offseason, where he gradually increases in ADP and settles comfortably within the top 10. And look, if he has a similar season to Cook then it’ll work out for you.

But surely someone responsible should inform the reader that we’re talking about a player who has largely done nothing in his career thus far and who his playing under an OC who has deployed a committee in two out of three of his play calling seasons. Spring camp quotes are encouraging but these are not gospel. We’ve been here before with many other players. ◾

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

We're not like them, or they're not like us, either one…

- Drake, musician

First of all, I want to give a shoutout to long-time subscriber and Golden Pig competitor Steve Jackson. That’s my dawg. And it just goes to show how the great game of CFF can bring us all together when you consider that my man is a Michigan fan and I, like many CFB fans, have grown to loathe these characters up in Ann Arbor during recent years.

In all seriousness, he recently started his own Substack, and in one of his first entries into the writing game, he decided to release a funny rebuttal to an article I recently posted about Antwan Raymond. Here is his reply:

CFF Jacko

VolumeTurtle: Why Antwan Raymond is ‘Not Like Us’

I love VP, but I had to break away from my plans for this brand new blog to respond to his most recent take on the Rutgers RB…

Read more

16 days ago · 1 like · 2 comments · Steve Jackson

I have to say, I love the parallel to the Drake vs. Kendrick beef we have brewing here. This is kind of cool in my opinion and so I’m going to keep it going but also because I think this maybe needs to be explained in further detail (even though I think I’ve explained this many times before). Well, it never hurts to repeat ourselves for clarity, right?

When it comes to identifying a 1.01 of CFF, the way I get there likely differs from most. Ultimately, what does the 1.01 mean for each individual? It probably differs. I would assert that it is a fool’s errand to try to predict the literal highest scorer at a position, so I don’t waste much time with that because whichever player I land on and subsequently tell you about wouldn’t really mean anything if the likelihood is close to zero that I could accurately predict this ahead of time.

Instead, I want to find the RB who I believe is the safest to at least be ‘good’ in CFF, which, in the context of RB production, I would say is about 15 PPG. From that standpoint, we are really just grading how clean the profiles are and comparing them to each other, not so much thinking about who’s going to be the highest scorer.

Our friend Steve correctly points out that a lot of the value with Raymond was entrenched in the volume that he received. My reply to that is: I think this means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing here, no? I don’t care much for evaluating who’s good at football (and why should you care who I think is good anyway?), I believe the better approach is to hyper focus on who’s getting the ball, and let it all play out from there.

With that in mind, it doesn’t matter to me if Raymond is a ‘plodder’ as they say, because if he’s going to tote the rock 250 times next year against a schedule that includes Howard, UMass, BC, NW, Maryland, MSU and USC, then it doesn’t matter.

We’ve spoken in the past about the merits of volume and how that correlates to producing the highest scorers in CFB here:

Again, the long story short of it is that the players who have the most production are the guys who touch the ball the most. That has always been the credo of this publication, in fact.

Do I think Raymond has the highest ability of this year’s crop of RBs? No, I haven’t really thought about that because my assessment of it would likely be wrong anyways.

And for your own context, here are the list of players who I deemed as the 1.01 in years past:

• Rasheen Ali, Marshall (2023)

• Ollie Gordon, OKST (2024)

• Demond Claiborne, WF (2025)

To be fair, Gordon and Ashton Jeanty were pretty much tied in 2024—that was just a pick-em. And Gordon actually finished with over 15 PPG in PPR formats (~17 I believe).

Rasheen Ali did not finish as the RB1 in 2023, but he was pretty elite and I’m pretty pleased with the process that brought me to declaring him my 1.01 entering that year.

The process with Gordon was similar, and unfortunately he just didn’t look like the same guy after a ridiculous 2024 campaign. It is what it is.

I’m also pleased about Claiborne, who averaged 16 PPG in PPR formats, especially considering how almost all of the other first-round RBs performed last year. Injuries were a big thing in 2025, and Claiborne was part of the afflicted group, but he had a strong season nonetheless.

Part of the reason I provide the names from years past is to outline to the audience that a job well done here (in my mind) is if the player ends up having a solid season (15+ PPG). The exercise is simply to identify the player who I feel is safest to have a good season, and all three of those names above did.

Raymond should be no exception in my fourth year of doing this. Perhaps later in the offseason I will change my mind when we receive further information.

Players around Raymond include Ole Miss’ Kewan Lacy, Tennesee’s DeSean Bishop, and Oklahoma State’s Caleb Hawkins. Lacy and Hawkins have some obvious blemishes this offseason.

In Lacy’s case, Ole Miss brought in two former starters (including the FCS TD leader Josh Dye who had 28) via the transfer portal. Now, who knows what will actually happen but those moves signal an intent to move volume away from Lacy in my opinion. There’s also a new(ish) staff with a different OC calling plays now.

In Hawkins’ case he is transferring up a level from the G5 to the P4. This in itself makes it impossible for me to rate him as the 1.01/RB1. While I feel pretty optimistic that he’ll transition well, the hit rate of this profile has not been good so far.

DeSean Bishop is probably the next closest player who I could feasibly rate as my 1.01 given that he has a very safe and clean profile at RB. He returns the same staff (and basically the same OL), and only Tulane’s Javin Gordon was brought in around him. I like Gordon, and I think he could be good for Tennessee eventually, but I think he’ll probably need some time to develop (he was a true freshman last year).

If I’m picking which RB of that group has the highest chance to finish as RB1 by PPG or total points, then Caleb Hawkins would probably be the guy. But he also has the highest chance of being a bust out of that group too, so if I’m picking first overall I’m not going with him. That’s a function of the fact that I’m more risk averse in the first round. The first rounds of drafts are not the time to swing for upside, in my opinion. Other drafters will feel differently. ◾

BTW, I have been appearing on the CTN podcast as a guest to preview each conference (we’ve covered B1G & SEC so far and Big12 is coming Monday). Click the link to find the videos.

Also, another side note, I could see the shadow of the man himself on the CN tower from my condo during night when he was shooting this video a month or so ago:

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

Pull up Maybach, beep-beep, baby.

- Drake, musician

Now you’re probably wondering about the title. It’s true that I am prone to occasionally choose some seemingly random titles for articles at this publication, but this is actually a reference to Tony Soprano from the HBO show “The Sopranos” telling his sister, Janice, to shut the f**k up, which also happens to be sampled in a song on Drake’s latest album “Iceman”, called… “Janice STFU”.

I’m going to assume that most have seen and/or are familiar with the Sopranos but in case you’re not, the show takes place in New Jersey, and one of the characters actually goes to nearby school Rutgers (or supposedly did) in seasons two and three.

I also wanted to write about RU star tailback Antwan “Iceman” Raymond in light of the recent events with Mizzou RB Ahmad Hardy and what it all means for my overall and RB rankings, so I guess you could say that the stars aligned for this one. Furthermore, given that Drizzy is a fellow Canadian, I felt it only appropriate to take this opportunity to feature Raymond, a product of Montreal (sacré bleu!).

In the Q1 rankings I released earlier this spring I had Raymond slotted in at RB3. I don’t want to give too much away and spoil the upcoming RB rankings (ETA June), but on further meditation, I think I’m going to have Raymond as my #1 ranked RB which means by default he’ll be my #1 overall player. That’s sort of my unwritten rule that I think I used to talk about more; just as a refresher—whoever is RB1 is player #1 for me for CFF rankings.

Obviously on pure ability there are other players who are better and Jeremiah Smith at WR is a worthy 1.01 player too, but I believe the best RB should always be valued as the best overall player for CFF rankings due to importance & scarcity of producers at the position, and due to the higher hit rate overall when it comes to RBs drafted early vs. WRs drafted early.

So why is Raymond of all players slotted at number one? Well a good place to start with these things is always the system around him. However, today I’m going to go into further detail than usual since we’re discussing a potential 1.01, which is a more involved exercise than the typical article feature.

COACHING & SYSTEM

RB1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 12.2 — OC: 181 (half ppr)

The Rutgers offensive system for RB went into overdrive with the hiring of OC Kirk Ciarrocca in 2023 (see RB1 carry share pre and post 2023 in Table 1). Former RU pig Kyle Monangai carried the torch for Ciarrocca’s debut season and then again in 2024 to great success. The split in 2025 was murkier headed into the season. Former FSU/FAU runner CJ Campbell transferred into the program after a stellar 2024 campaign at the G5 level and was slated to compete with Antwan Raymond and others for starting snaps.

Week one played out that way, but Campbell suffered a season-ending injury in week two which cleared the way for Raymond’s initiation into #PIG mode. By season’s end, the Montrealer handled a total of 244 caries in 12 games (including a nasty 41 carry game in his third last appearance), along with 18 receptions.

Campbell has since transferred out of the program, and RU’s only replacement for him is Louisiana Tech transfer Clay Thevenin, who quite frankly is scaring nobody. Thus, it’s reasonable to infer that the plan will be to feature Raymond heavily once again, and potentially even more than he was last season when we consider RU’s upcoming schedule.

The Knights open the year with UMass and BC, before welcoming B1G opponent USC, and then back to an OOC opponent in Howard to round out September. The next four opponents in October are Indiana, Maryland, Northwestern, and Michigan, which could certainly be worse. Michigan and IU may be tough sledding but not matchups where Raymond will be a sit, I don’t think. Wisconsin, Nebraska, PSU and MSU round out November.

Considering that in 2025 Raymond had to face Iowa, Ohio State, Minnesota, Oregon, and a much more talented PSU compared to this year’s roster, and still managed to finish with ~20 PPG, I think the arrow is probably going up in 2026 with the above mentioned slate of games.

I used to go into really fine detail about what types of programs RBs need to play at to get to the 1.01 spot. The theory was that in ‘old’ college football (i.e. three years ago) the programs that were too big (e.g., Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia) were problematic in multiple ways: players are pulled early in the many blowouts they’re involved in, and sometimes there are simply too many elite players around for individuals to standout; with the small programs you had to deal with the player potentially getting crapped on early in the year via the OOC schedule.

Thus, the optimal spot were the mid-majors, whether that be a high-end G5 program like BSU, or mid-tier places in the P4 such as Iowa State or Minnesota, these were programs that offered a comfortable balance of not too big nor too small when it came to supporting and offering the maximum opportunities for elite RB production.

CFB is a little different now, but RU in its current form does fit the mid-major criteria. Last year I settled on WF’s Demond Claiborne as RB1 but the players ranked just behind him also fit the criteria via Pitt runner Desmond Reid and Minnesota’s Darius Taylor.

Within the program there are a few things to keep in mind. Primarily, there will be a new QB throwing passes for the Knights this fall. Alabama transfer Dylan Lonergan is expected to be that guy. Second, according to dawgstats.com, RU returns only the 117th most snaps along its OL from a year ago. As I always say, this is not necessarily a guarantee that the unit will not be good. It’s more like, if there are a lot of snaps returning this is a +1 to the profile, but if it's not I’m more so neutral on that. In fact, in limited instances a high percentage of returning OL snaps can be a negative if performance was poor the year prior (e.g., OU).

As far as play calling preferences, both Schiano and Ciarrocca skew heavy towards the run historically (58 and 62% respectively). This should not be surprising. And while both play callers have historically called slower moving offences, RU’s unit in 2025 actually ranked 1st in the B1G in plays run per game and 25th overall. This was probably aided in part by having a veteran QB return and a stellar WR core, so I’m not expecting this to continue in 2026 but if it does all the better.

Antwan Raymond (5’11, 205)

2025 RUSHING STATS: 244-1241-13 (20.9 PPG)

Originally from Montreal, Raymond transferred at some point in his high school career to Clearwater Academy in Florida. In his senior year he carried the ball 233 times for 1884 yards and 22 scores and received significant ACC interest along with being recruited by Rutgers, the school he eventually committed to.

For whatever reason, he was not rated highly by recruiting services, receiving only a three star grade in both 247’s internal and composite rankings.

As far as what he’s done in college so far, Raymond had a breakout year in his sophomore campaign this past season, rushing 244 times for 1241 yards and 13 scores (~20 PPG). His receiving usage is bolstered by two games in particular (~150 of his 225 yards came against UW and PSU), so this is certainly something he could improve on and hopefully will going into 2026.

In fact, what would probably be my biggest criticism of Raymond’s profile is the lower receiving volume. Ideally the targets would be higher, but in his defence he did hit double digit receiving yards in seven of his 12 games.

In fact, Raymond reminds me a lot of a former Kirk Ciarrocca RB1 in Mo Ibrahim. In each case, ‘protean’ is not the word most apt to describe these players. Both players are not used much as receivers despite heavy workloads on the ground. Neither player’s skill set really stands out in any way in terms of raw speed or size, but both are very effective with the ball in their hands nonetheless.

I won’t pretend to know intimately all of the intricacies of Ciarrocca’s run and blocking schemes, but clearly there is a premium placed on RBs who can hit the right hole each time based on the players that have received the bulk of carries under his tutelage.

RU is also replacing its long-time starting QB and losing over 200 targets from the 2025 WR room. Presumably new names will emerge at WR to help absorb that volume but it’s also plausible—especially with this staff—that RU reconfigures its offence into a more run-heavy approach. That would probably benefit Raymond more than anyone.

While other runners have a higher ceiling and output potential, I find it hard to argue at this stage in the season that there is any RB with a more polished and clean profile headed into 2026, and therefore Raymond is who I consider the #1 overall player at current juncture.

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.

- Mark Twain, writer

This iteration of the spring game recap series includes notes from spring games that occurred between April 25 and May 2.

These teams include: ARK, ORST, BSU, OU, AU, AKRON, ARKST, UNCC, FRESNO, IOWA, NM, NMS, SMHU, TXST, WSU, WMU, WYO, UW, UCF, UCLA, & SDSU.

You can find the previous version here:

One thing to note is that the quality of intel coming out of these games highly varies per program. Some places have a lot of coverage, and some don’t. And even when intel is available, some coaches use these games primarily to see what young players are capable of, whereas others prefer to treat it like a pre-season game which is more informative.

Nonetheless, I’ve found that throughout the years there is always at least one interesting nugget that turns out to be useful from these spring game reports.

Also, now that we can embed tweets into Substack articles again these are going to be so much better going forward. Cheers.

Arkansas

QB:

KJ Jackson - 9 of 13 | 129 yards | 1 TD

AJ Hill - 9 of 17 | 95 yards | 1 INT

Braeden Fuller - 0 for 2

Cade Trotter - 5 of 11 | 40 yards

Leading the White team, Hill was unofficially 9 for 17 (53%) for 95 yards and 1 interception. His completion percentage would have been higher if not for drops by receiver Chris Marshall and a few other teammates.

RB:

TJ Hodges - 8 for 17 yards

KJ Jackson - 1 for (-6) yards

Jasper Parker - 5 for 25 yards

Cam Settles - 7 for 57 yards, 1 TD

AJ Hill - 2 for (-11) yards

Braeden Fuller - 2 for (-10) yards

Cade Trotter - 1 for 6 yards

Braylen Russell - 6 for 35 yards

Perhaps the offensive player of the game was sophomore running back Cam Settles, a Little Rock native who led the White rushing attack. Settles had 7 carries for 57 yards and 1 touchdown, along with 2 catches for 15 yards.

Hill and Settles were responsible for the White team’s touchdowns — a 1-yard keeper by the quarterback in the first quarter and a 7-yard rush from the tailback during an untimed portion of the second quarter.

“Cam certainly has an arrow going up,” Silverfield said.

WR:

CJ Brown - 3 for 83 yards, 1 TD

Chris Marshall - 3 for 35 yards

Ty Lockwood - 3 for 15 yards

Antonio Jordan - 2 for 34 yards

Jamari Hawkins - 2 for 33 yards

Cam Settles - 2 for 15 yards

Jaden Platt - 2 for 10 yards

Matt Adcock - 1 for 1 yard

Blair Irvin - 1 for 14 yards

Braylen Russell - 1 for 3 yards

Dequane Prevo - 1 for 6 yards

Donovan Faupel - 1 for 11 yards

Sutton Smith - 1 for 7 yards

Jasper Parker - 1 for 2 yards

Oregon State

QB:

Maalik Murphy is the guy

Not that there was truly a debate once Murphy chose to stay at OSU, but any notion of him not being the starter in the fall is absurd. He’s clearly the most physically talented quarterback on the roster, with the best arm talent, and his understanding of the offense is evident.

JaMarcus Shephard can drag things out until August 22, or later, to officially name Murphy the starter but it’s a formality. Houston is not going to be remotely caught off guard by the obvious.

Murphy is the guy, but it’s not because Brady Atkinson did poorly. The Mercer transfer had a fine outing in the spring game and connected on a few big plays in earlier scrimmages. Projecting the QB group into the future, it’s not out of the question for Atkinson to be the starter in 2027.

Read more

Swear my daddy got me a Christmas gift. It's a Gen5 and that bitch is modified

- Drake, musician

TAKE THAT ARROW AND SHOOT IT RIGHT THROUGH MY HEART—A five-star RB who is already getting mention of seeing significant reps this upcoming season? We love to see it. Especially so at this publication.

And apologies to my man Jordan Marshall, but #5’s ascendancy does almost feel inevitable. I don’t exactly know what to make of the Michigan RB situation yet, but after originally feeling pretty peachy about Marshall I am officially on “do not touch” mode there.

The better idea is starting to feel like drafting Hiter in a much later round currently. According to Campus2Canton.com, Marshall had a March ADP of 16.4, which is probably around the second or third rounds in many drafts, whereas Hiter was at 361, which is significantly later.

I should also address the elephant in the room—there is obviously a new staff this year at Michigan. The Wolverines are essentially importing the Utah offensive regime over to Ann Arbor via former Ute head coach Kyle Whittingham and OC Jason Beck. Despite the new faces on staff I expect the offensive game plan to remain familiar for Michigan fans: a steady diet of the run game and play action off of that to the TEs.

I’ve written many articles about Whittingham when he was with the Utes, specifically looking at his RBs, so we are no stranger to him at this publication.

The long story short of his profile is that his system was money in the 2010s, but has dipped significantly in the 2020s. What was once an annual pig producer, the Utah RB position was flaky between 2021 and 2025. Outside of Tavion Thomas, there wasn’t really a ‘great’ 'Ute RB during that time, and even he was only good for a short period of time.

But it’s a new day. And a change of scenery can work wonders for players and coaches in kind. Whittingham and co. will have the benefit of (potentially) two above average B1G RBs this season, with one probably being elite, at least, eventually in his career.

Also, technically it will be the OC, Jason Beck, who will have primary control over the shape of the offence. His experience as a play caller at the FBS level is not lengthy, with only the previous three seasons at Syracuse, New Mexico and Utah under his belt.

Nonetheless, his track record from those three seasons is somewhat promising. The receiving usage of his RB1s are good, at least. The rushing volume could be better.

And again, while it is a new staff, I wouldn’t expect a departure from the Michigan brand of football of the last few years, which is obviously good news for the RBs.

Historically speaking, Whittingham’s Utes averaged ~58% run plays between 2018 and 2025. Beck is very similar, and in fact when he was with Syracuse his Orange averaged a whopping 63% rush plays. Thus, it’s reasonable to infer that a heavy run skew is what we should expect this upcoming season from the Wolverines once again.

Furthermore, I would expect that offensive line play from the Boys in Blue will continue to be stout, not only because Michigan has done a solid job recruiting that position, but also because Whittingham’s Utes routinely developed OL at a high level. So this is another plus-one for the running backs.

Ultimately, the delineation between elite CFF asset and non-relevancy will come down to volume concentration between the RBs. With Jordan Marshall as the incumbent starter (took over when Haynes went down in 2025), I would expect that he’ll open the year getting the first carries in each game.

“Jordan Marshall is RB1, make no mistake,” Whittingham said. “Came out of spring ball, he’s a terrific player, terrific leader. Can’t say enough good things about him.”

What is working in Hiter’s favour though is the fact that Michigan plays UTEP and WMU in two of the first three weeks of the season, so if he’s going to see major run (pun intended), those would be two great opportunities for the former five to do so.

SAVION HITER (6’0, 210)

As you’d expect with a five star rated RB prospect, Hiter was one of the most highly recruited players in the C/O 2026. His top four programs on decision day were Ohio State, Tennessee, UGA and Michigan, however insiders mentioned the battle really came down to the Volunteers and Wolverines in the end.

Evidently, the Boys in Blue won out on this one and it appears that their (likely sizeable) investment is already paying dividends. Here are a few quotes from head coach Whittingham and RBs coach Tony Alford (via 247 Sports):

"He's going to be a contributor for us this year without a doubt," Whittingham said.

"The way Savion handled himself and went about his business this spring was very impressive. He's a true professional. He was not a typical freshman that might be a little emotional or volatile. He's mature beyond his years and physically, it's incredible. He's about 6 feet, 220 lbs, not an ounce of fat on the kid. Great contact balance, will pick up blitzes, has really good hands out of the backfield, explosive runner, can make you miss. His future is very, very bright. And like I said, his future starts now. He'll be getting carries from game one."

“An exceptionally explosive, off-the-charts explosive athlete,” running backs coach Tony Alford said of Hiter earlier this year. “Powerful kid when he moves. You watch him in some drill work or doing conditioning, he’ll make a cut and change direction. It’s impressive.”

Alford added: “Here’s what I love about him the most: He’s not a typical wide-eyed freshman. He comes in and he’s kind of like an alpha right now, and he wants to compete at a high level. If something’s not right, he’ll go back and do it again without you having to say, ‘Go do it.’ ... He’s got some of that about him, which I really like because like I said, he’s an alpha male now.”

He confirmed some of the spring hype with a strong spring game performance, taking 10 carries for 44 yards, apparently looking quite impressive doing so. Here’s coverage from 247 Sports once again:

In terms of the running backs, Hiter stood out the most in a game where Marshall was undoubtedly going to be limited in his carries. Hiter played more snaps when there was tackling, and was able to showcase his physicality as a runner — something after the game he said he wants to be known for at the collegiate level. Notably, Hiter told us he has added 21 pounds to his frame this offseason, but has had "no change" to his speed.

I’m going to draw what might look like a far-fetched comparison but it is a situation that came to mind when writing this article, and that is the 2023 Boise State running back room.

For those who may not remember, in 2023 BSU brought back incumbent starter George Holani, and a promising second string nobody named Ashton Jeanty. Ultimately, Holani suffered an injury early in the year and Jeanty became one of the most productive and sought-after RBs in CFF that fall. Even when Holani came back and was available, Jeanty’s ability was too much to overcome for the fifth-year player and the Broncos kept riding the former Florida three star.

I could see something like that happening through a myriad of ways here at Michigan in 2026. Whether it be an injury to Marshall, or simply just inadequate performance in a game where Michigan needs plays to be made (perhaps in week two vs. Oklahoma). All it takes is one opportunity (think Breece Hall with ISU in 2019) for a future CFF pig to emerge.

At worst, both players will play a ton and that limits the ceiling of each. Best-case scenario for Marshall truthers is that this year’s Michigan team reverts back to the splits we saw from the Harbaugh era Wolverines where one lead runner would see ~250 carries, and the other settled in behind him around 150.

In 2021, it was Hassan Haskins who received 270 carries while Blake Corum saw 144. The following two seasons Corum led the way with ~250 touches while Donovan Edwards carried the rock between 100 and 140 times each season.

Even if that scenario plays out, the question in 2026 will be: who is who in that equation? The easy answer is to say Marshall will be the lead back for the entirety of the season but I’m not taking Whittingham’s quote above as gospel. Either way, Marshall will be lower in my upcoming RB rankings, and Hiter will probably make an appearance as a late-round flyer type of player. ◾

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

I put my team first, we never rehearsed. We the best franchise cause we squeeze first…

- Ace Hood, musician

Former five star receiver Ja’Corey Brooks out of Miami, FL was labelled a bust during his first three seasons with the Alabama Crimson Tide. He wasn’t exactly set up for success. Indeed, to say expectations were immense when he and his classmates joined the club would be an understatement. And Alabama had already begun their fall from grace by that time, without anyone knowing it.

Regarded on signing day as the greatest WR class of all time (by recruiting services), the C/O 2021 Alabama receivers turned out to be, well, probably the most disappointing group of all time.

Neither Jojo Earle, Agiye Hall, or Christian Leary (all rated top 150 prospects nationally) made a significant mark in college football. And the lone bright spot, Brooks, only did so with another club and in his fourth year.

Personally, my memory of these players is mostly limited to them dropping dimes from Bryce Young in the 2021 national championship game vs. UGA (thank you lads!).

But anyways, I think I’ve twisted the knife into the hearts of this publication’s Alabama readers enough (is it ever really enough, though?). The topic of today’s article is another Miami based receiver who has found his way to Louisville late in his career—Mr. LaWayne McCoy, formerly of FSU.

“LaWayne” is sonically close to “Lil Wayne”, who’s obviously a legend in the hip-hop game and perhaps an inspiration for McCoy’s given name (I’m merely speculating here); either way, we’re off to a good start in my opinion. And that’s not even mentioning the obvious +1 to the profile due to McCoy coming from Florida. Long story short, there’s a lot of positive juju here.

Furthermore—the suspected #1 receiver this offseason for the Cards—Vandy transfer Tre Richardson, has been out all spring and could potentially miss more time than originally anticipated. Here’s my man Nate Marchese in his latest “Stock Up/Down” article for WRs:

The Vandy transfer missed all of spring with an injury that Jeff Brohm described as “more involved than we anticipated”. While he is still expected to be back in the fall, he missed valuable reps with Lincoln Kienholz, who didn’t exactly look great passing the ball. Additionally, indications are that Richardson will man the slot role, which has only once been the leading WR spot under Brohm. And that one player was the late, great Rondale Moore. RIP.

Not great, Bob! Additionally, while Nate is correct that reports out of camp have not exactly been glowing regarding QB transfer Lincoln Kienholz, there’s a very real reality where he isn’t the one throwing passes this season. In fact, chemistry between McCoy and QB Davin Wydner has been building throughout the spring, and they connected in the spring game on a long score. From the spring game notes:

Wydner found Florida State transfer Lawayne McCoy for a 40-yard touchdown along the sideline.

Normally, we take these spring game standouts with a grain of salt, but McCoy has reportedly been a positive presence on the field all spring long. Here is a another note out of camp:

Transfer wide receiver Lawayne McCoy has been among the many standouts throughout spring. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound newcomer from Florida State has proven effective in varying opportunities.

“He’s doing a real good job,” UofL wide receivers coach Deion Branch said. “I’m very pleased with where he’s at now. I’ve added way more on his plate, which is a plus, and he’s actually digesting everything the right way. So we’re pretty satisfied with where we are. There’s more to be done though. There’s way more to be done.”

McCoy was Florida State’s third-leading wide receiver in 2025 with 27 receptions for 396 yards and three touchdowns over 10 games. Slowed by an injury early in the season, McCoy came on and made seven starts down the stretch.

While the aggregate numbers of McCoy’s 2025 season certainly won’t wow the reader, it should be noted that he played some of his best ball at the end of the season. He finished this past season with a six catch, 110 yard and one score performance vs. SEC program Florida. He also had a four catch, 46 yard and one score game vs. Clemson a few weeks prior.

In fact, I would say that when he was targeted he generally did quite well. The problem was that he wasn’t heavily targeted very often. Keep in mind this FSU team he played on kind of sucked, and the QB play definitely sucked.

Anyways, here is some more info on McCoy’s progress this offseason and what he needs to work on for 2026 and beyond:

While he has made impressive strides in learning the complex Jeff Brohm offense since arriving, both McCoy and Branch agree that there is still progress to be made ahead of the 2026 season.

“It’s not an easy offense to learn, but you know, with coaches like Coach Branch and Coach Mason [Petrino], who helped me since day one, since I came in, just meeting with Mason, me and him just together, just going over plays, helped me get a better understanding of the offense and then going out here and walkthroughs and practices. So everything is starting to slow down for me.”

McCoy is seeking to become an even more elusive receiver.

“I feel like I just need to sharpen the small details and then run after the catch,” McCoy said. “That’s really my main thing. After catching the ball, getting yards after the catch and making explosive plays for this offense.”

Louisville wide receivers coach Deion Branch has been impressed.

“He’s a slippery receiver,” Branch said, adding that McCoy is a “very good route runner. That’ll be something that you guys will see Friday. Get him in space, get him single matchups and then let him do his thing.”

While I find the quotes encouraging, ultimately the reason CFFers should be interested in this room is because of the pedigree of head coach Jeff Brohm at the WR position. The aforementioned Ja’Corey Brooks had a career year in his sole season with Louisville (1000+ yards, nine scores). Before him was Georgia State transfer Jamari Thrash. And before Brohm made his own way to Louisville, he had several productive pass-catchers at Purdue (e.g., Charlie Jones, David Bell, Rondale Moore).

And of course, this past season there was Chris Bell (of no relation to David, as far as I know). Suffice it to say, the boundary receiver position in this system is typically a lucrative asset to hold in CFF. Let’s take a closer look at the numbers for completeness.

COACHING & SYSTEM

WR1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 17.8 (half ppr)

As mentioned above, not only is this system a honey pot for productive wide receivers, we also have the benefit of noticing a clear trend in which WR role typically receives the majority of targets in this system.

Clearly the outside guys have been getting most of the love. And it took a freakazoid like Moore during the 2018 season to buck the trend.

Typical WR1s in this system will see over 20% target share, with a high of 31% during the 2018 season with the aforementioned late great Rondale Moore.

Other characteristics of the system include a pass-skewed but overall fairly balanced play calling distribution (54% pass to 46% run), and a moderately fast pace of play calling (~24-25 seconds per play, 70 plays run per game).

Chris Bell this past season was one of only two WR1s dating back to 2018 that finished a full season with less than 1000 yards receiving. To be fair, Bell still had a good year and he was pretty close (917 yards) while missing one regular season game (11 appearances).

I don’t think any CFF manager regretted rostering Bell last season either, so I think it’s safe to say Brohm’s CFF relevant WR1 streak remains intact for yet another year.

So naturally, many of us are wondering: who’s next?

LaWayne McCoy (6’1, 175)

2025 RECEIVING STATS: 27-396-3 (8.7 PPG in full PPR scoring)

As alluded to earlier, the list of comparisons between McCoy and the former Cardinal WR1, Brooks, are quite lengthy.

For one, they are both transferring later in their careers (Brooks’ fourth, McCoy’s third season). They both come from Miami, though McCoy played at a better program (Brooks eventually transferred to IMG Academy). They are similarly sized boundary receivers (Brooks is listed 6’2, 180 pounds, McCoy is 6’1, 175). They even wear the same fucking number for Christ’s sake. They’re going to look very similar on the field.

And speaking of backgrounds, I knew I recognized the name before and thus set course through the archives to unveil what it was that might have lingered in my memory. There, I eventually tracked down what was likely the post that first brought McCoy onto my radar many years ago:

Miami Central is a big-time program in the 305 area code and their list of CFB/NFL football alumni is lengthy. Any time someone stands out at a program like that it is noteworthy.

Furthermore, it sounds like the decision to bring his talents away from South Beach and up north to Louisville was a deliberate one based on the system track record (you love to see it):

The decision to make the move from Tallahassee to Louisville was due in part to the program’s recent history of receivers and to work with Deion Branch.

“I feel like the production of receivers throughout the past years, like Jamari Thrash, then you had Ja’Corey Brooks come here, then Chris Bell,” McCoy said. “I feel like the production of receivers and the coach who was coaching the receivers, Deion Branch made a pretty good relationship and that’s what led me to come into Louisville.”

While he has made impressive strides in learning the complex Jeff Brohm offense since arriving, both McCoy and Branch agree that there is still progress to be made ahead of the 2026 season.

“It’s not an easy offense to learn, but you know, with coaches like Coach Branch and Coach Mason [Petrino], who helped me since day one, since I came in, just meeting with Mason, me and him just together, just going over plays, helped me get a better understanding of the offense and then going out here and walkthroughs and practices. So everything is starting to slow down for me.”

Beyond the slot receiver Tre Richardson, there is also once-CFF darling Treyshaun Hurry, who transferred from SJSU last offseason. His impact at Louisville has been limited thus far.

While selfishly (I have a share in Nate’s dynasty league) I hope that Hurry emerges as a CFF monster, it’s also fair to say that we just don’t know if he can he even play at the P4 level with the current info we have available.

So, Richardson is on a milk carton, Hurry is a huge question mark even when healthy, and then we have the big dog from Miami who’s already proven he can play at the P4 level via FSU and he has a pretty sick high school pedigree. I don’t know, man, you do the math. Am I going crazy over here?

Here’s what 247’s Andrew Ivins had to say about McCoy coming out of high school:

A two-way playmaker that made a difference on both sides of the ball as an 11th grader for a Miami Central program that captured a Sunshine State 2M state title.

Viewed by most scouts and coaches as a wide receiver long term, but has the size/length that everyone covets in the secondary (believed to be hovering right around 6-foot, 170 pounds) and can cover a ton of ground on the backend.

Came up big for the Rockets in an upset of IMG Academy as he jumped an out route from his corner posting in the fourth quarter and strolled into the endzone for the go-ahead score. Could probably defend the perimeter on Saturdays, but ceiling might ultimately be highest on defense as a single-high safety given how he takes angles and gets to the catch point.

When it comes to his prowess on offense, should be viewed as a deep threat that can move the chains with post and go routes. Does a nice job of getting vertical and not giving up on a play. Will eventually need to settle on a position, but looks like one of the top talents down in the 305 for 2024 cycle. Likely to need some time to get acclimated to the speed and demands of Power Five football, but has impressed in pretty much every setting since he first emerged on the scene as a sophomore.

That’s another good note that Andrew makes in that write up—this is a player who cross-trained throughout high school and so it is unlikely that he’s even scratched the surface of his potential at WR even now in his third season of collegiate football.

To conclude, I would say that there is just something about McCoy that keeps me coming back for more. I’ve drafted him a few times already in bestball leagues (generally towards the end of drafts).

At one point I felt good about Hurry, but then the lack of production last year and hype this offseason was not overwhelmingly encouraging. I recently started to come around on Richardson but I’m once again cooling on him as things stand due to his health.

Of course, there are other receivers on the team besides the three we’ve covered today and the Brohm WR1 could just as easily end up being one of those players. But these guys seem to be the top three that CFFers have honed in on (right or wrong), so I’ve focused my attention there for the purposes of this article.

I think as things currently stand McCoy is a no-brainer at an ADP of round 20+. He might start to creep up after the news of Richardson’s injury and, dare I say, the proliferation of this article, but I don’t think it will be a dramatic increase. ◾

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils; beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

- William Wordsworth, Poet

This iteration of the spring game recap series includes notes from spring games that occurred between April 19 and 25.

These teams include: USF, CMU, IU, Baylor, ISU, ULLaF, Minnesota, UMass, ULM, Maryland, PSU, UTSA, UB, JMU (cancelled), ND & UNLV.

You can find the previous version here:

One thing to note is that the quality of intel coming out of these games highly varies per program. Some places have a lot of coverage, and some don’t. And even when intel is available, some coaches use these games primarily to see what young players are capable of, whereas others prefer to treat it like a pre-season game which is more informative.

Nonetheless, I’ve found that throughout the years there is always at least one interesting nugget that turns out to be useful from these spring game reports.

Also, now that we can embed tweets into Substack articles again these are going to be so much better going forward. Cheers.

USF

Composition of OFF:

One of my early takeaways this season was their heavy use of tight ends as well as the running backs out of the backfield. The tight ends were used heavily and were also targeted much more often than in the past and they seem to be running a more expansive route tree than in the past. There were several long receptions by the tight ends and a couple more that were nearly catches that they weren’t able to come down with.

QB:

The quarterbacks looked solid overall, they had a couple that were close to being picked off, but were mostly deflections or tipped balls and only one seemed to be a poorly thrown ball, which was by Luke Kromenhoek, although it’s hard to know if it was truly on him or if it was a poorly run route or something like that. There were not many badly missed passes besides that one and one screen by Michael Van Buren that was poorly thrown to Bryson Rodgers.

RB:

The running backs, which were used out of the backfield were used as a check down but also ran some routes out of the backfield, which we didn’t see very often under the previous regime. I would say that the running backs room was probably the biggest surprise of the spring game and they impressed me more than I had expected going in. They all seemed to run hard and despite the plays being called dead rather early, I liked what I saw out of them. Brian Hartline seemingly agreed in his post-game presser saying that they’re both talented and deep within that room and he also said the best thing he saw from this group was in pass protection.

WR:

The wide receivers play was mostly a mixed bag and a couple were either out or very limited. Arhmad Branch and Mudia Reuben only saw a few possessions and I don’t believe that I saw Armani Winfield play at all. I also didn’t notice Jeyquan Smith at all, either. They seemingly ran good routes and are impressive physically, but it seemed like the timing wasn’t quite there yet with their quarterbacks, which makes some sense.

OL:

Overall, it was hard to take away a lot from the offensive line group as they were seemingly jumbled and haven’t had much time to gel, although there weren’t a ton of sacks and even some of those probably could have been shed within a true game scenario. All three quarterbacks that saw the field also used their legs a bunch when plays broke down and they all seemingly can both move the pocket and run when necessary. Van Buren specifically seems to be the most dual-threat of the bunch and moves well once he’s in open space.

Central Michigan

Scoring notes:

Central Michigan's offense scored three touchdowns, highlighted by a 32-yard pass from quarterback Marcus Beamon to running back Trav Moore, a 17-yard touchdown run by Geno Seets, and an explosive eight-yard touchdown run by John Stowers. Stowers electrified the fans with the game's most memorable moment, attempting to leap over a defender on a rushing attempt.

QB:

Angel Flores, Marcus Beamon, Daniel Gomez, and Geno Seets all saw action at quarterback for the Chippewas.

Quarterback Jadyn Glasser didn’t play as he continues to be non-contact in his rehab from surgery.

RB:

Trav Moore is the real deal

Read more

On  the midnight plane to Houston. Goin'  back to a simpler place and time.

- Jim Weatherly, musician

I have to go give a quick shoutout to the esteemed CFF analyst, Eric Froton, who pulled the trigger and selected Houston’s Amare Thomas in the first round of CFFJared’s Way Too Early Mock back in January.

I was already going to write about Thomas (for like, the third year in a row), and already kind of have here, but that selection just cemented the need to do so. Back in Thomas’ UAB days, I was optimistic about his CFF outlook and wrote about it here:

It was, in some sense, a sequel to an article I did in 2023 about UNLV’s WR Ricky White.

The general idea was to pick out a WR who hadn’t done much yet, and make the case for why they could end up dominating the stat sheet the upcoming year (and perhaps even finish as WR1 in CFF).

Amare Thomas, I must admit, was a pleasant surprise to me this past season. I didn’t really have a lot of expectations around what this Houston passing attack would do, and I definitely wasn’t expecting them to support a really productive WR. Thomas actually finished as a top 20 PPR WR in PPG, and he scored a lot of TDs (12 in 13 games in 2025), so that’s always good too. He’s actually scored 20 in his past 25 games going back to UAB. This is a TD merchant if I’ve ever seen one.

But 2026 is a new year, and with that means the addition of new variables to the equation. So who did Houston bring in this offseason? Well, the big name at WR is former Oregon State target sponge, Trent Walker. There is also someone called Muizz Tounkara, who is a freshman coming over from the Florida Gators.

And of course, at RB there is a reunion of coach and player via former Tulane/Oregon runner Makhi Hughes.

Hughes’ inclusion may end up being trouble for QB Connor Wiegmann, who made a living off of rushing TDs in 2025, or it’ll be vice versa, I’m not sure yet, but it shouldn’t in theory negatively impact Amare Thomas.

Walker’s inclusion is potentially problematic. Ironically, his profile is sort of the opposite to Thomas’, where the Houston receiver scored a lot of TDs the last two seasons, Walker’s been unable to find the end zone with regularity (four TDs in 24 games) despite a lot more targets (222 vs. 193).

Something’s got to give on Trent Walker, man. 200+ targets for a player and only scoring four times is bizarre.

At the very least, Walker is taking some targets away from Thomas, but it doesn’t necessarily have to mean that Thomas’ overall target numbers will go down. This wasn’t a team that threw the ball a ton last year, so maybe they simply increase the pass attempts.

While Weigmann finished 13th overall, and ninth in PPG for QBs, it wasn’t necessarily due to a volume of passing opportunities. Here is a summary of his 2025 production profile and where he sits compared to the 150 top QBs by pass attempts:

• Rushing production (and efficiency) — 703 rush yards (13th, 91st percentile) and 11 rushing TDs (11th, 92nd percentile). Among QBs with at least 30 rush attempts, Weigman is in the top quartile for efficiency. He averaged 4.14 yards per carry on a high volume of 170 attempts. For context, he’s right in the mix with other elite dual-threats like Arch Manning (4.3), Demond Williams (4.3), and Brad Jackson (4.3).

• Passing TDs — 25 TDs ranks 19th (85th percentile)

• Passing volume — 355 pass attempts ranks 53rd (65th percentile), which suggests Houston’s offence doesn’t rely heavily on pure passing volume.

Overall, I would say that there is a lot more meat on the bone from a passing perspective for Weigmann, and that he will likely pull back in his rushing volume and efficiency this season. That would be positive news for the WRs. The highest passing attempts per game under Fritz over the last five years was 31 per game in 2021 with (I think) Michael Pratt. Weigmann averaged 27 per game in 2025.

COACHING & SYSTEM

WR1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 8.7 — OC: 121 (full PPR)

Amare Thomas’ 235 points this past season smashed Fritz’ previous WR1 PPG record. There was no precedent for this kind of thing in this system, and thus it is surprising to see Thomas’ success.

But as it happens, he has carved out a role for himself and transcended the system. So while this isn’t a classic stack duo combination from a CFF perspective, there’s enough potential here to warrant some consideration as a drafter this summer if you’re wanting to invest heavily in this Houston offence.

Last year’s starting RB, Dean Connors, moved on. He’ll take with him 42 targets. Connors sort of has a unique profile as a RB—kind of Max Borghi-esque, for those who get the reference—so maybe those targets end up funnelling back to the WRs in his absence, or maybe Houston finds another pass-catching RB to start this fall. Hard to say this early out. As things currently stand, Makhi Hughes looks to be the favourite to be RB1, and pass-catching has not been a big part of his profile thus far.

On average, Fritz’ teams will skew heavy run. The closest to a balanced ratio a team under him has finished was the aforementioned 2021 Tulane team (45/55 to the run).

So once again, you can see my point that this system is not really one you’re typically looking at as a CFF stack goldmine. The QBs have been able to be successful as dual threat options, but until this year there was not a WR worth rostering in CFF, let alone an elite option.

What (sort of) saves the scheme in a CFF context is that the pace of play calling is usually pretty good, hovering around average for the FBS level at ~25 seconds per play, though in 2023 Fritz slowed things down pretty dramatically at around 28 seconds per play (see Table 2.).

This past year Houston finished with an average of 26.6 second per play, which ranked 77th in the FBS. Certainly, things could be better on this front, but I was expecting worse prior to writing this article.

Making the Case for Amare Thomas

Well, TDs matter a lot in CFF scoring, and Amare gets a lot of them. Normally I would say that this will correct itself (not in a good way), but he’s done this for two seasons in a row, and with two different offences. Even if he were to surrender some targets to Walker, it’s hard to envision a Houston offence that isn’t looking his way in scoring positions often.

Especially considering he was one of the core three players who Houston immediately re-signed after their bowl game for 2026. I think it’s safe to say Amare is squarely in the plans for next season. And whenever there is an already established connection between QB and WR (especially in today’s age of player movement), that’s always a plus too.

I have said all I need to say at this point about the system. I think between this article and the last one I did back in December, readers are well aware of everything they need to know about the Fritz-Nagle offensive philosophy.

But what is also true is that Amare Thomas has established himself as system-breaker (a rare commodity). So, while I always like to paint the full picture of the infrastructure around these players, perhaps, in this case, it is not so important. Indeed, Thomas already obliterated this systems’ previous record holder at WR in PPG. So who’s to say he can’t do it again?

From a wider lens, Houston is well positioned to be one of the better teams in the BIG12 in 2026. That doesn’t mean that they will be, but continuity on offence tends to pay dividends on the field. And more scoring = more opportunities for Amare Thomas (and others) to net CFF points.

His system breaking heroics aside, it would be truly wild if Amare Thomas manages to finish as a top five WR in CFF given the historical precedent of the system he plays in. I currently have him rated as the #5 WR in my CFF rankings but that is more based on his floor and my confidence in him being at least ‘good’ this year, rather than a pure categorization as the fifth best WR.

It’s more like: he is the WR that I’m fifth most confident in being a good CFF asset for 2026, not that I think he’s going to be top five in scoring when all is said and done.

But we’ve seen wild things happen in CFF before! And there aren’t a lot of other established WRs returning with the same QBs in 2026. A top ten finish feels well within reach and I think that alone justifies Thomas’ late first/early second round ADP. ◾

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed.

Injury & Suspension News

• Texas Tech has announced that QB Brendan Sorsby will take a leave of absence for a gambling addiction.

• Iowa State RB Salahadin Allah ended spring practice with a cast on his right foot/leg, per 247Sports.

• Texas State RB Greg Burrell is no longer with the team.

• Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said WR Noah Rogers (leg) “won’t be ready to go right when the season starts,” per Charlie Potter of On3.com.

• Alabama freshman RB EJ Crowell is on a scooter and in a medical boot.

• Arizona State RB Kyson Brown (foot) is fully healthy and is expected to be the Sun Devils’ top tailback, per Arizona State on SI.

• SDSU QB Jayden Denegal (shoulder) is healthy and participating in spring practice, per San Diego State on SI.

• Fresno State RB Rayshon Luke is back at practice:

• LSU QB Sam Leavitt is expected to be fully cleared from his foot injury this summer, according to Lane Kiffin via On3.

• North Texas RB Jahiem White is back in practice but limited:

• Syracuse freshman WR Calvin Russell tore his achilles and will miss the 2026 season.

• Texas A&M WR Jerome Myles (lower body) did not play Texas A&M’s spring game, Jeff Tarpley of 247Sports.com reports.

• UCF QB Alonza Barnett (undisclosed) will “be back by summer,” he said in his first media availability since January, per the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

• UNCC QB Connor Harrell (knee) is still working back from injury, Hunter Bailey of The Charlotte Observer reports.

• UTEP RB/WR Kam Thomas (knee) should be 100 percent by summer workouts, Bret Bloomquist of the El Paso Times reports.

• UTEP WR Jaden Smith (lower body) is expected to be at 100 percent by summer workouts, per the El Paso Times.

• Texas QB Arch Manning (foot) is limited in spring practice due to a foot issue, per On3.

• FAU QB Caden Veltkamp (shoulder) is still recovering from his injury and isn’t throwing deep balls this spring, per Yianni Kourakis of WPBF 25 News.

• GaSo WR Josh Dallas (hip) remains limited in Georgia Southern’s spring practice period, per the program’s official X account.

• SDSU WR Jordan Napier (knee) is still recovering from the knee surgery he underwent in November, per San Diego State Aztecs On SI.

• USF WR Mudia Reuben (undisclosed) did not play South Florida’s spring game, according to Colby Allfrey of The Bay Area Examiner.

• Stanford RB Micah Ford (undisclosed) is back practicing with Stanford this spring, per On3.

• SJSU WR Malachi Riley (lower body) is expected to be full-go in San Jose State’s fall camp, Aaron Johnson of The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports.

• UGA RB Nate Frazier (foot) should be fine for Georgia’s fall camp, James Morgan of USA Today reports.

• Kentucky RB Jovantae Barnes (undisclosed) isn’t participating in Kentucky’s spring game Saturday, per Ryan Black of the Courier’s Journal.

• Kentucky RB Cedrick Baxter (knee) sat out Kentucky’s spring game, per Ryan Black of the Louisville Courier Journal.

• Army RB Briggs Bartosh will step away from football due to a career-ending neck injury, per Black Knight Nation.

• Auburn RB Bryson Washington (foot) is healthy for Auburn’s spring camp, Justin Ferguson of The Auburn Observer reports.

• PSU QB Rocco Becht (shoulder) has started taking seven-on-seven reps, Daniel Gallen of 247Sports.com reports.

• AF QB Liam Szarka (arm) is able to throw in the spring, the Denver Gazette reports.

• Oregon RB Jordan Davison (arm) has been practicing in some capacity this spring, per 247Sports.

• CAL TE Mason Mini (undisclosed) is sidelined for spring ball, Write For California reports.

• Colorado WR Joseph Williams is nursing a leg injury through spring ball, per Buffaloes Wire.

• Liberty QB Ethan Vasko underwent surgery on his shoulder this offseason and missed Liberty’s spring practice period, per A Sea of Red.

• Minnesota RB AJ Turner (undisclosed) isn’t participating early in Minnesota’s spring practice period, per Minnesota Gophers on SI.

• Arkansas WR Jalen Brown (leg) has been dismissed from Arkansas’ program following his arrest, per WholeHogSports.

• Texas A&M WR Terry Bussey suffered what appeared to be a lower body injury during Texas A&M’s spring practice period, per Aggies Wire.

• Texas Tech RB Quinten Joyner (knee) is expected to be fully cleared for action by June 1, per ESPN.

• BYU RB LJ Martin (shoulder) is sitting out all contact drills during BYU’s spring practice but is working through his injury and is expected to be a full go by fall camp, per The Deseret News.

• Oregon WR Evan Stewart (knee) is participating in Oregon’s spring practice period, per Oregon on SI.

Spring Camp News

• A note out UAB football camp highlighted RB transfer Roderick Robinson as a standout:

• Georgia Tech QB Alberto Mendoza is trending towards serving as the starting quarterback for the 2026 campaign, per Alex Farrer of Rivals.com.

• Per VP subscriber and C2C writer Nate Marchese—on Oklahoma’s SI podcast- “it’s very unlikely [Isaiah] Sategna repeats the same level of production he had last year, but the offense will be better for it”

  

• USC freshman WR Trent Mosley has impressed coaches during spring camp, R.J. Abeytia of 247Sports.com reports.

• USC freshman TE Mark Bowman has continues to impress his coaches during the spring, Kendell Hollowell of SI.com reports.

• UTEP QB EJ Colson has won the starting job at quarterback, Pete Thamel of ESPN.com reports.

• Ohio RB Duncan Brune is back on the team after leaving the portal. He and Victor Rosa are expected to form a 1-2 punch in Ohio’s backfield, per WOUB Public Media.

• Ohio redshirt freshman RB Mike Taylor stood out in Ohio’s spring practice period but is likely the No. 3 tailback on the Bobcats, per WOUB Public Media.

• Washington WR Rashid Williams (hand) is fully healthy and has emerged as a top-two option at receiver for Washington alongside Dezmen Roebuck, per Percy Allen of The Seattle Times.

• South Carolina WR Nitro Tuggle (formerly UGA/Purdue) is standing out in South Carolina’s spring practices, per On3.

• Michigan QB Tommy Carr is making a strong impression this offseason, Pete Nakos of On3.com reports.

• Arkansas QB KJ Jackson will compete for the QB1 role with AJ Hill during the fall camp, according to Tom Murphy of Whole Hog Sports.

• Maryland WR Chris Durr is emerging as a weapon in Maryland's wide receiver room, per 247Sports.com.

• A short update out of Louisiana Tech on QB/RB standouts:

Read more

Some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth…

- Galadriel, LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Historically speaking, we all know conferences like the B1G and the SEC are two powerhouse players when it comes to producing CFB’s best RBs on a yearly basis. The B1G conference in particular has always had a ‘run the ball by necessity’ quality to it given the inclement weather that their teams play through later in the season. Or at least, that was the case until a few seasons ago. Now half of the fucking conference plays in California.

From a pure CFF perspective, though, one might argue that the BIG12 conference actually reigns supreme when it comes to pure statistical production at RB (or any other position, for that matter). They probably wouldn’t be wrong (I’m too lazy to do the full analysis).

However, looking elsewhere around the country, and specifically within the G5 class of conferences, the Sun Belt is a surprisingly underrated institution in the game of RB lore.

Part of the problem with this conference and the lack of respect it receives in my opinion is that it’s been a constantly reshuffling deck of cards since the 2000s. Teams like WKU and North Texas had some dynamite runners during their times in the ‘Belt, but looking back retrospectively, nobody considers these as ‘SBC’ programs.

Beyond names like WKU’s nuclear tandem Bobby Rainey (2010-11) & Antonio Andrews (2012-13), UNT’s Jamario Thomas1, there is also New Mexico State’s Larry Rose, who hit 1900+ all-purpose yards in 2015 right before the Aggies got dropped from the conference.

Long story short, there’s been a lot of crack-outs at RB in this conference that have been unfortunately lost in the archives.

One of the few constants in this great conference have been the Troy Trojans, who’ve been members of the SBC since 2004. Though I do have to say that their track record at RB is a bit disappointing. They’ve picked things up over the last 10 years or so, but the first decade in the SBC was an underwhelming era for the Trojans (I think they only had like three runners top 1000 yards, yikes).

Damien Taylor was supposed to be the workhorse last year, before a late spring transfer brought his talents to Oxford, MS. There, he became intimate with the bench located in the middle of Ole Miss’ sideline and was never heard from again. He had previously run for over 1000 yards at Troy.

Inevitably, Troy’s replacements for Taylor turned out to be ersatz and the Trojans struggled to develop a consistent run game in 2025. Tae Meadows briefly looked the part early in the year, but he fizzled out as the year progressed.

It makes sense then that Troy’s staff went out and acquired several new players this offseason to re-stock the RB room. One such player was East Mississippi Community College phenom Gavin Griffin (5’10, 200) who topped the NJCAA Division I (JuCo) statistical ranks in rushing yards (1168), rushing touchdowns (22) and rushing attempts (207) during the 2025 season.

And before anyone asks, YES, that is the school that Netflix series Last Chance U featured in its first two seasons. EMCC has been described in the past as the ‘Alabama of JuCos’ because of its prolific production of future Division I and NFL athletes. It’s a school with a particularly rich history at RB (who remembers the name LaGarette Blount?).

Anyways, speaking of the Troy staff, there was some shake-up amongst their ranks this offseason too.

COACHING & SYSTEM

The new Troy OC, Adam Austin, joins after two seasons at FCS program Tarleton State.

Last year, Tarleton’s QB threw 30 TDs to only six INTs, and accumulated 2897 yards in the process. His #1 receiver was the primary beneficiary, securing 54 passes for 1024 yards and eight scores in 14 games.

There were two RBs who each saw over 100 carries, with the lead rusher finishing the season with 112 carries, 839 yards, and seven TDs, and the other finishing with 128 carries, 465 yards and nine scores.

However, the starting offence under Austin was much more productive the year prior. The lead RB saw 340(!) carries, rushing for 1977 yards and 18 scores, and accumulated over 2000 yards from scrimmage. The lead receiver caught 76 passes for 1449 yards and 14 scores.

The head coach from last season, Gerad Parker, remains. He’s been with the Trojans since 2024, after spending one season as the OC at Notre Dame. He also has play calling experience at WVU (see table below).

In each of Parker’s first four seasons as either an OC or HC (including 2020, not in the table), there was a RB who ran for more than 1000 yards (Leddie Brown at WVU ‘20-21, Audric Estime at ND ‘23, Taylor at Troy ‘24).

However, with the exception of Estime, each of these players just barely achieved this feat. Leddie Brown’s production was bolstered by his receiving usage, which included an additional 217 yards in 2021, and 202 yards plus two scores in 2020 (shortened season—10 games).

Brown’s PPG average isn’t included in the table because it was a shortened season, but given that he averaged 19 PPG in half ppr formats the following year with virtually the same stats over 12 games, I’d estimate that he was close to 23-25 PPG in 2020.

Estime averaged a healthy 22 PPG when Parker called the offence in 2023, and then we have Damien Taylor who averaged around 12 PPG in 2024 (he was very inconsistent, but had some really good games).

Competition in the Room

Troy returns one of its top runners from a year ago in Jordan Lovett. ‘Top’ being a relative term here, my man ran for 339 yards on only 89 carries in 13 games last season. They also return former FCS transfer Dennis Palmer.

Bryce Burgess and Jaheim Merriweather are two other transfers Troy brought in this offseason. Burgess is another JuCo standout, though he only rushed for ~500 yards in 2025. Merriweather is a P4 drop down from Purdue who has done next to nothing in his two year career.

Like RB, the rest of the offence is also in flux this offseason. There isn’t a lot of clarity at the moment about who the projected starters will be, so we’re just left speculating at the moment.

Griffin is the most appealing name in the RB room simply based on what he did in 2025 at the JuCo level. As we all know, prowess at a lower level of CFB doesn’t always translate up. Nonetheless, it should be noted that Griffin handled 207 rushes in only 10 games (an average of 20.7 per), making his 22 TDs and 1168 rushing yards slightly more impressive. His season high was 220 yards and four scores vs. Pearl River CC.

Griffin was a true sophomore last season, so he’ll have two seasons of eligibility left in the FBS. As a freshman for EMCC, he appeared in nine games, rushing 78 times for 554 yards and eight scores.

He’s listed at 5’10, 200 pounds, but he looks smaller to me on his film. From the limited sample I have, he appears like he could be a dangerous gadget guy in the right offence in college. Obviously, his stats suggest he was a true workhorse back for EMCC, and hopefully Troy sees him that way too.

I’m still waiting for some concrete information to come out of Troy… and, well, yeah… I feel like I may be waiting a long time on that one. No harm in taking a few dart throws on Griffin in the meantime, you feel me? ◾

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.

- Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonnet to Orpheus

This iteration of the spring game recap series includes notes from spring games that occurred on April 18.

These teams include: Troy, Utah State, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Virginia Tech, California, Memphis, San Jose State, Oklahoma State, Utah Tech, Delaware, Ohio, San Diego, Texas, Virginia, and Wake Forest.

You can find the previous version here:

One thing to note is that the quality of intel coming out of these games highly varies per program. Some plamaces have a lot of coverage, and some don’t. And even when intel is available, some coaches use these games primarily to see what young players are capable of, whereas others prefer to treat it like a pre-season game which is more informative.

Nonetheless, I’ve found that throughout the years there is always at least one interesting nugget that turns out to be useful from these spring game reports.

Also, now that we can embed tweets into Substack articles again these are going to be so much better going forward. Cheers.

LAST CHANCE—I AM CURRENTLY RUNNING A DISCOUNT ON ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS (until end of April):

Claim 40% Off

Paid subs have full access to all content including RB depth charts that I update monthly, camp info, spring game summaries, rankings, and other paid exclusive articles (plus a subscriber chat on substack).

TROY

QB:

Starting quarterback Goose Crowder hit junior-college transfer Howard Kinchen on a 68-yard touchdown pass. Back-up quarterback Tucker Kilcrease threw two 30-yard touchdown passes, one to Jah’Marren Jackson and the other to Andrew Leslie.

WR:

Jah’Marren Jackson, a redshirt freshman from McKenzie, had a big day. He later caught a second touchdown pass, a 15-yarder from third-string quarterback Jack James.

RB:

The other offensive touchdown was a 3-yard run by Dennis Palmer.

UTAH STATE

QB:

Transfer McCae Hillstead, who was with the Aggies in 2023 prior to transferring to BYU, and freshman Kaleb Maryland spent the most time behind center throughout the day.

*Hillstead was announced as the starter on April 20th.

VANDERBILT

QB:

The quarterback battle

Fans got a look at both Berlowitz and Curtis at the Spring Game to see who is gaining an edge in the ever-evolving quarterback battle. Neither played their best game, but both showed flashes of talent and poise.

Berlowitz began the game at quarterback, commanding two drives. However, he never looked comfortable in those two early possessions, eventually throwing a costly pick after he escaped the pocket on the second drive. He didn’t hit on a single deep throw, missing an open receiver deep due to an underthrown ball. Berlowitz did rebound with a nice touchdown drive in the second half, capped off with a short throw to Tristen Brown to score.

Curtis, on the other hand, showed a greater ability to find receivers deep, hitting Ja’Cory Thomas for a play of 20+ yards on his first drive. The arm talent certainly flashed, as he threw a 60-yard bomb from inside the pocket just out of reach of the receiver in his first drive. He also displayed some decent touch on shorter routes, hitting a multitude of receivers on short cut routes for small yardage. On his second drive of the day, Curtis led the offense to a touchdown after hitting 3-of-4 passes.

“You see physical elements of his game that are unique to him as a human being, [such as] his potential for explosive plays, the way he can evade rush, the way he can find receivers down the field and the look that the ball has coming out of his hand,” Lea said of Curtis postgame. “There’s a lot there that we saw in evaluation and we saw in recruiting.”

He wasn’t entirely without his flaws, though. He threw a few risky balls over the middle of the field that were broken up with ease, and he often relied too heavily on his first read. Those mistakes are expected from a young quarterback in a new system, though.

It will be a challenge for any quarterback to take the reins from Diego Pavia, but Curtis showed the most impressive stuff today. Still, this quarterback battle is still open until that first snap in September. Berlowitz is the more veteran option, while Curtis projects with far more potential.

“We don’t expect [Curtis] or any of these guys to be Diego Pavia,” Lea said after the game. “But each one of these guys needs to focus on how they strengthen the unit.”

Vanderbilt’s other quarterbacks, Jack Elliott and Whit Muschamp, also competed in the game, leading select drives. Muschamp played very well, leading a successful touchdown drive after finding Thomas on a 32-yard crossing route.

This quarterback battle will only continue to develop through spring practices and fall camp.

RB:

Despite top running backs Sedrick Alexander and MK Young not suiting up for the game, Vanderbilt’s offensive line was extremely effective at creating lanes for whoever was in the backfield. The offensive struggles early on were more due to poor quarterback play than the group upfront. Offensive line coach Chris Klenakis opted to rotate the linemen throughout the game, offering many young players opportunities to gain reps.

Running backs Jamezell Lassiter and Izayah Lee found success early on due to the offensive line’s ability to generate massive holes. Lee punched in the first touchdown of the contest on the ground after solid blocking throughout that possession. The offensive line also provided holes on the outside for Kayleb Barnett, who used his speed and quickness to gain yards off short passes and jet sweeps.

WR/TE:

Lea and his staff brought in an exciting new transfer class this offseason. A few shined in the Spring Game, particularly in the pass-catching group. Old Dominion transfer wide receiver Ja’Cory Thomas looked exceptional, hauling in several catches, including a 32-yard touchdown strike from Muschamp. His speed and athleticism showed on Saturday, as he consistently broke away from his corners while displaying very steady hands. Thomas caught two balls for a total of 51 yards.

“I’m on the big side of a receiver,” Thomas said of what he brings to the team. “So, a lot of people don’t think I run routes. [But] I think I’m a true route runner now; I’ve seen my hips getting out of breaks. I get physical.”

Ball State transfer Walter Taylor, who formerly played for Vanderbilt in the 2022 season, also impressed, using his larger frame (6’5, 240 pounds) to make big catches over the middle of the field. The former quarterback and now tight end will look to carve out playing time for himself this fall in a very strong tight end group, which features veteran Cole Spence, Eastern Carolina transfer Jayvontay Conner and Brycen Coleman. Nevertheless, he made a statement in the spring game that he might deserve playing time, earning 39 receiving yards on two catches.

“Most important, it’s been a very good transition,” Taylor said postgame of coming back to Vanderbilt. “Being around guys like Cole Spence and talking to them about the position [has been helpful]. It’s been really good. They have guided me through it.”

OL:

Despite the success in the running and passing game, the offensive line committed its fair share of false starts and holding penalties. The wealth of penalties is certainly not shocking for a young group who has barely played together, but Klenakis will likely place an emphasis on limiting mistakes as fall camp approaches.

HELD OUT:

Several notable Commodores did not suit up for the spring game. Junior Sherill, MK Young, and Cole Spence were held out on the offensive side,

AUBURN

QB:

Tristan Ti’a: 15-20, 179 yards, TD, INT; 4 rush, 9 yds, TD

Byrum Brown: 7-14, 85 yds, 2 INTs; 7 rush, 6 yds

Locklan Hewlett: 4-7, 65 yards, INT

Rhys Brush: 3-5, 32 yards

Multiple interceptions of Auburn’s quarterbacks

Auburn’s defense did not let up on the offense during the spring game, starting the first half with two interceptions on Byrum Brown and Tristan Ti’a.

Ti’a’s interception came on his second drive of the game, as safety Jacoby Mathews stepped in front of his pass intended for Deshawn Spencer.

On the next series, Brown drove the Tigers all the way to red zone and threw an interception to blitzing edge rusher Jared Smith. Brown also finished the first half completing just five passes for 73 yards.

Ti’a went 8-for-13 on passes in the first half and threw a dart to Duke Smith for a 28-yard touchdown on his first drive of the game.

In the second half, Brown threw his second pick of the day to linebacker Bryce Deas on his first drive after the break. He would finish the day going 7-for-14 for 85 yards and did not lead a touchdown drive.

Ti’a shined as he only misfired on five passes, finishing with 179 passing yards and two total touchdowns.

RB:

Jeremiah Cobb: 4 rush, 57 yards

Nykahi Davenport: 10 rush, 41 yards, TD

Omar Mabson II: 7 rush, 22 yards

Bryson Washington: 8 rush, 17 yards

Tae Meadows: 3 rush, 7 yards

Cole Gamble: 2 rush, 5 yards

Running backs make do despite offensive line issues

For the majority of the afternoonm Auburn’s offensive line created running lanes for the backs. The Tigers finished with 158 rushing yards.

Jeremiah Cobb finished with four attempts for 57 yards and exploded for a 33-yard run to put Auburn in the red zone. Nykahi Davenport led the running backs with 10 rushing attempts and finished with 41 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Omar Mabson II had a few aggressive runs in the red zone and added 22 yards to his day. Baylor transfer Bryson Washington finished with 17 yards on eight attempts.

On the offensive line, the biggest takeaway was center Cole Best not having his strongest performance with snapping the ball.

All of the Tiger quarterbacks experienced inconsistent snaps that were either off target or too low to the ground. One of Best’s snaps led to a fumble in the first half that was eventually recovered by the offense.

WR:

Read more

Sugar leaves you stranded; I make sure I have the proper amount of protein before I work out.

- Evander Holyfield, former boxing heavyweight champion

Current UAB running back Roderick “Heavyweight” Robinson was supposed to play ball at nearby UCLA coming out of high school. He was an incredibly productive runner in the San Diego area where he dominated his 2022 senior season with 2378 rushing yards and 39 touchdowns on 217 carries.

Former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly and the Bruins had been recruiting Robinson throughout his high school career, and eventually secured a verbal from Rod Rob. As we all know now, Kelly was later fired before the end of the season. As a result, Robinson flipped his commitment to a school across the country—the UGA Bulldogs—who had given up trying to flip local product and legacy Justice Haynes, who had pledged to Alabama over the summer.

Initial returns on UGA’s campus were promising for Rod Rob. A member of the 2023 class, he joined a group of Branson Robinson, Dajun Edwards and others. Unfortunately, Robinson’s time in Athens was marred by constant injury, namely, foot injuries. He often missed significant time in the offseason, which undoubtedly hampered his development. Furthermore, he also directly missed several games due to injury (through three seasons, he’s appeared in 15 games total).

Outside of a 1-yard reception for a TD against Alabama in the 2025 SEC championship game, there really weren’t any notable moments during RRob’s tenure with the Dawgs. In fact, I believe he informed the staff of his intention to transfer fairly early on in the season in 2025, because he was a healthy scratch for most of the year, while younger backs got the bulk of carries.

But sometimes a change of scenery can work wonders (ask former TCU RB Cam Cook about his season with JSU last year…); especially when a player is dropping down a level.

This offseason Robinson announced he would be moving across state lines over to the UAB football program, to presumably compete for starting duties after collecting dust on the proverbial shelf for three seasons.

That move may prove to be the best decision of Robinson’s life, as the early reviews from spring camp are very positive. His RBs coach, Danny Mitchell, recently was quoted as saying that the AAC hasn’t seen a RB like Robinson in his four years:

“You know, he’s a different style of back. There aren’t very many of them out in the world — not just in college football, in the world, that move like him at that size. You know, he’s all of 6-foot-2, 240 pounds, and he’s one of the most explosive players on our entire football team.”

“I think he’s going to bring something that’s a little different from what this league has. This is my fourth season in the American Conference, and there hasn’t been a back like him yet.”

“I think that’s the perfect way to describe his game. He plays the game with a great understanding at his speed. That’s what makes him a really good football player. In practice, there are times when the offensive line misses, and he’s there to clean it up for the offense. The difference is, when he cleans up a defensive lineman, he’s usually about the same size as them, and he’ll put them on their back.”

That’s certainly about as positive a review as you’ll find from spring camp quotes. The only thing that would make it more directly relevant for us would be some language on expected role and usage.

It should also be noted that there isn’t an official OC listed on the staff page for UAB. Rather, it is just HC Alex Mortensen and the RBs coach, Danny Mitchell who appear as the relevant names for today’s discussion. So, Mitchell’s opinion of Robinson may end up mattering more than your average RB coach.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the new staff replacing former UAB head coach Trent Dilfer.

COACHING & SYSTEM

RB1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 18.7

Current head coach Alex Mortensen was named the interim head coach during the 2025 campaign, replacing the aforementioned Dilfer. Previously, he had been the OC at UAB from 2022 to 2025, and was an analyst at Alabama between 2017 and 2022.

RBs coach Danny Mitchell was promoted to his current position in early 2025. Before that he was an analyst within the UAB program. So the only coach with play calling history we can inspect is Mortensen. Below is a summary of his RB1s during his time with UAB:

Unfortunately, there’s been a clear trend line down since his first season. Hopefully this is more coincidence than anything. It should be noted that current ULM head coach Bryant Vincent was the head coach with UAB during that monstrous 2022 season for DeWayne McBride, so that probably helped (IYKYK).

But Mortensen has had two separate RBs hit over 15 PPG since then, so he’s no slouch either. And he’s actually taking a page out of Vincent’s book with not hiring an OC. That’s pretty gangster (and probably due to program budget constraints more than anything, but who’s counting).

What the reader may find disturbing is the fact that Mortensen hasn’t handed a RB more than 170 carries since the 2022 year with McBride at RB and Vincent as his master. This problematic trend has been somewhat offset by receiving volume, with Mortensen’s RB1 catching as many as 40 passes on year. I don’t know if that’s going to continue with Rod Rob though (four career receptions so far).

Mortensen’s play calling split is generally pretty balanced, with a slight historical average lean towards the run ~51%. His pace of play calling varies a bit season to season. This past year the Blazers averaged 73 plays run per game, but the season previous they averaged almost 10 more per game (81). Overall, I would categorize his style towards the faster end of the spectrum, but he’s no Alex Golesh (USF/AUB).

According to dawgstats, UAB returns the 120th fewest snaps on OL for 2026.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

In addition to Rod Rob, UAB brought in transfers Braylon McReynolds from ULM (formerly of Southern Alabama), JaVin Simpkins from Coastal Carolina, and Marquise Collins from Duke.

Many of you will know the name McReynolds, who was briefly relevant in CFF leagues last year as Vincent’s RB1. However, he is a smaller player listed at 5’7 inches tall, but he is thicc, listed at 195 pounds. I personally don’t see a problem with his build and I think he could easily fill in as a work horse RB at the G5 level (already sort of did last season).

Simpkins is a former four star rated player who never found his footing at Coastal. He did have a solid season in 2025, rushing for over 590 yards.

Collins hasn’t done anything in his career thus far, but then again, neither has Rod Rob really, so that’s not a disqualifying feature in this context.

As we saw in Table 1., the Mortensen RB1 has typically been supported with a lot of receiving work. Robinson’s three year career demonstrates very little ability as a pass catcher (though, ironically, as mentioned the high point of his UGA career was a receiving TD vs. Alabama). Maybe he’ll get the McBride treatment and it won’t matter in the end?

That’s probably wishful thinking, but hey, you never know. I don’t currently have Robinson in my RB rankings, but he’ll be in the next iteration as a late round guy to take shots on. ◾

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

When one flower blooms, spring awakens everywhere.

- John O’Donohue, writer

This iteration of the spring game recap series includes notes from spring games that occurred on April 18.

These teams include: App State, Ball State, East Carolina, Georgia, Georgia Tech, North Texas, Oklahoma, Southern Miss, Liberty, Duke, Michigan, Old Dominion and Texas A&M.

Next article: Troy, Utah State, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Virginia Tech, California, Memphis, San Jose State, Oklahoma State, Utah Tech, Delaware, Ohio, San Diego, Texas, Virginia, and Wake Forest.

You can find the previous version here:

One thing to note is that the quality of intel coming out of these games highly varies per program. Some plamaces have a lot of coverage, and some don’t. And even when intel is available, some coaches use these games primarily to see what young players are capable of, whereas others prefer to treat it like a pre-season game which is more informative.

Nonetheless, I’ve found that throughout the years there is always at least one interesting nugget that turns out to be useful from these spring game reports.

Also, now that we can embed tweets into Substack articles again these are going to be so much better going forward. Cheers.

FYI—I AM CURRENTLY RUNNING A DISCOUNT ON ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS (until end of April):

Claim 40% Off

Paid subs have full access to all content including RB depth charts that I update monthly, camp info, spring game summaries, rankings, and other paid exclusive articles (plus a subscriber chat on substack).

APP STATE

QB:

With no tackling allowed Saturday and many plays continuing after backfield pressure from quarterback-pursuing defenders, the 11-on-11 scrimmage sessions included two touchdowns that capped 75-yard drives: Henry Hasselbeck's 18-yard touchdown pass to Doopah Coleman and Malachi Singleton's 6-yard touchdown pass to Chris Lofton.

Red-zone sessions were highlighted by Singleton's 13-yard touchdown pass to running back Jaquari Lewis and Tommy Ulatowski's 11-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Grier.

Singleton and Hasselbeck combined to complete more than 70 percent of their throws, with Singleton gaining 31 yards on one scramble and Hasselbeck covering 27 yards on another.

NOTE on RB Kanye Roberts:

Kanye Roberts is also back in hybrid rehab mode, but wasn’t active for the spring game.

BALL STATE

QB:

Ball State football QB competition remains a close race

Ball State will have a new quarterback under center in 2026, and the competition has narrowed itself down to two strong candidates — Texas State transfer Keldric Luster and Concord (D-II) transfer Tyler Mizzell. Both redshirt juniors rotated first-team reps and took some lumps during the defense-dominated spring showcase — Luster threw an interception in 7-on-7s and Mizzell threw one in 11-on-11 work — but they also flashed some of the abilities that make them each enticing potential starters.

At 5-foot-10, 248 pounds, Luster is built like a tank. A former 3-star recruit and track star in high school, he has plus-athleticism and showed some good mobility on Saturday. Passing-wise, Luster attacked the middle of the field and executed the redzone offense well. The opportunity to compete for a starting role was a priority for Luster when he entered the transfer portal, and he is firmly entrenched in that conversation in Muncie.

Mizzell offers a more traditional quarterback build at 6-1, 176 pounds. He doesn't quite have Luster's athletic ability but still has flashed some good movement and willingness to tuck it and run. Mizzell was very accurate throwing outside the numbers and seems to be a more aggressive downfield passer than Luster, though he did take longer to go through progressions and make a decision at some points during the showcase.

WR:

Isaiah Thacker in line for breakout season at wide receiver

Both quarterbacks seem to have developed a strong rapport with one particular wideout. Isaiah Thacker has been making plays throughout spring practice and put his strong hands and crisp route running on full display Saturday. A former standout at perennial Indiana high school football powerhouse New Palestine, Thacker first joined the Cardinals as a member of the 2023 recruiting class and has stuck around for three seasons.

Thacker redshirted as a true freshman and has only logged five total touches in the two seasons since, but he seems like Ball State’s best candidate for a breakout season after the spring and has the support of the coaching staff.

“After our season last year, Coach U talked to me about how I’m going to be a starting guy, the main guy for next season,” Thacker said. “That really helped me stay. I really trust this coach and staff. I feel like we don’t really change stuff around next year, so that’s really why I stayed.”

For a team that added four transfer wide receivers, Ball State’s returning wideouts really stood out Saturday. In addition to Thacker, redshirt sophomore Donovan Hamilton took a majority of first-team reps as the X-receiver after breaking out down the stretch last season. Redshirt senior Jamarion McDougle also took a large share of the first-team reps and showed some great route running and deep threat ability. Among the transfers, CJ Nelson from Eastern Illinois was the biggest standout and had one of the highlights of the day, dragging his feet in-bounds to secure a sideline catch on a 20-yard out delivered by Mizzell.

Thacker believes the explosiveness of the receiver room — and the offense as a whole — will help the Cardinals take a big offensive leap from a year ago.

“I’m really happy to have a very explosive offense,” Thacker said. “We’re going to have a lot of explosive plays come week one. I feel like that’s my favorite part about the offense.”

EAST CAROLINA

QB:

Plenty of attention was obviously on the quarterback position on Saturday. Mitch Griffis and Emory Williams both got equal reps, as each rotated with the first-team personnel.

Griffis led the offense immediately down the field on the first series of the day, scrambling on a few plays, and then finding a wide open Tyler Johnson, and dropping the ball in the bucket to him down the sidelines to spark what would become a touchdown drive, capped by Ashton Gray‘s 7-yard touchdown run.

Griffis had a few other series, including one in the red zone, where the offense picked up one first down. Then, he just missed Ray Ray Joseph in the back corner of the end zone while rolling to his right. That led to a field goal, instead of a touchdown. But Griffis put the ball in the only place Joseph could catch it on third and goal, and didn’t risk a turnover.

As for Williams, he started a bit more slow, before getting more comfortable as the scrimmage went on. A few sacks derailed his drives, but he showed promise with good poise, and strong throws, from the pocket. Williams isn’t necessarily fleet of foot, but he did have a nice scramble at one point, escaping the pocket to his right, and running for five yards. So it’s not necessarily like he’s incapable of running.

Williams also had a good showing in the red zone in his lone series in that phase, throwing a 25-yard strike to Joseph on a nice read for an easy touchdown.

Overall, comparing the two quarterbacks isn’t easy, at least in terms of who is the better long-term fit. I think you can make an argument both ways. I do think Griffis is a tick ahead right now. He looks like he’s thinking less out there, and just playing. He has increased mobility, and throws a better deep ball more consistently.

But Williams is better at standing in the pocket, and making the short and intermediate throws. When it comes to getting the ball out quick and on time, Williams looks very comfortable. And Williams should continue to improve with his decision-making as he keeps learning the offense. I think he will look more comfortable over time when it comes to operating the system.

I do think ECU can win with both. They both show poise in the pocket and looked relatively comfortable in the offense, though Griffis is playing a bit faster right now. Another big key is neither turned the ball over on Saturday. That had been a problem at times this spring.

The quarterback battle will roll on into the summer, and preseason camp.

RB:

Read more

That’s not a knife... THIS is a knife.

- Mick Dundee, Crocodile Dundee (1986)

A converted safety who played WR in high school, what better profile could you ask for in a collegiate RB prospect? You get the physicality with the pass-catching profile—win, win. Furthermore, at 6’1, 225 pounds and playing in the world renowned Mid-American Conference, who among us is saying no to this?

And if all of that weren’t enough, the kid is playing under one of the greatest collegiate running backs of all time in Eddie George who is the head coach. The player I’m speaking about, of course, is Bowling Green’s Austyn Dendy.

Dendy became a well-known name in the CFF community around late October/early November this past fall when he began—seemingly out of nowhere—handling grown man work out of BGSU’s backfield. Starting on Oct. 25 vs. Kent State, after previously not appearing in any games prior in the season, Dendy saw 20 carries, accumulating 93 yards and one score in the process. He then averaged over 20 carries per game during the next four games to close out the season. Pretty good stuff.

I don’t know how or what it took for BGSU to retain Dendy’s services this offseason, but whatever they did I think we all need a little bit of that magic in our lives. Maybe it was just the promise that if he returned for one full season with another offseason of RB training, that the offers he’d be getting next winter would be vastly superior to whatever interest he garnered this past offseason.

Who knows? For now, all we know is that he’s back for 2026, and ready to stunt on those unsuspecting nerds in the Mid-American. It’s swirly time, you feel me? And Dendy is the big man on campus.

For some reason, every time I see his name I think about the movie Crocodile Dundee, which I think is just because the names are similar. If he wants to start rolling with the nickname Austyn “Crocodile” Dendy then I hope he at least directs some kick backs from his NIL earnings into the VP fund. Frankly, it would be the least he could do. “MR. UNLIMITED” works as well, though not as specific to the individual.

Coming back to how BGSU retained him, maybe the vision from George—an OSU alum—was that with a full year under his belt, Dendy could potentially be the RB1 at Ohio State in 2027 just like George was? That would be fucking epic. I know they have Bo Jackson, but he already flirted with the portal once, so who’s to say he won’t do it again next year?

Or even Texas? Dendy comes from the SEC footprint and was already in an SEC program for one year (Mizzou) before transferring to the MAC. And the Horns will likely be in the market again for a transfer once Hollywood and Raleek move next offseason.

Anyways, let’s do the thing that we usually do and take a look at the staff/system.

COACHING & SYSTEM: I wouldn’t focus on this too much

If you’re a reader of this publication, then you already know my modus operandi and perhaps you too are a subscriber to the ‘follow the volume’ doctrine yourself. Most of the time to prognosticate volume, and therefore production, we focus on systems.

In this case, however, I think that the player supersedes the system and is likely going to be pummelled with carries (and hopefully targets) until the cows come home. The head coach, Eddie George, knows a thing or two about this:

Here’s hoping he pays it forward from his 1995 season and unloads a similar volume of touches onto his protégé (fingers crossed).

Anyways, since we’re here, we might as well take a look at the staff. The first thing to know is that while there was a head coaching change last offseason, Eddie retained the OC, Greg Nosal, from the previous three seasons.

Nosal has been with BGSU since 2019, first joining as the TE coach, and then being promoted to OC in 2022. Below is a summary of his RB1/2s between 2022 and 2024:

Obviously, there’s nothing particularly impressive there. But the kicker is that we already saw him and Eddie #PIG Crocodile Dendy late last year, and it just seems unlikely—after discovering fire via this greek god runner from the transfer portal—that this staff will change up the plan in 2026.

One of the things that is most appealing about the MAC is that because it’s by far the worst FBS conference talent-wise, it is the closest thing we have as CFF managers to high school football, which is ideal because that’s a format where the best players dominate and routinely put up massive numbers. Mostly because there’s a large talent discrepancy.

The closer a conference is to the NFL—with high levels of talent and uniformity across the league (e.g., the SEC)—the worse it is for CFF purposes, in my (and I think in a lot of others’) opinion.

Austyn Dendy (6’1, 225)

Dendy was a transfer from Missouri in the 2025 offseason. The redshirt sophomore was listed as an ATH/WR prospect in high school, with a versatile projection including positions of RB, S, and WR. Dare I say, the BGSU staff convincing him to return after his late-season finish last season may be one of the greatest coups of 2026.

He enrolled as a safety prospect at Missouri, but did not make an appearance, redshirting in 2024. Ultimately, he appears to have landed at RB playing for BGSU, and if his final five games are any indication for 2026, he’ll be a focus in this system under head coach Eddie George.

I imagine George’s presence was probably a selling point for Dendy, and also part of how BGSU managed to retain him this offseason, which is nothing short of a miracle in my opinion.

Dendy wears #14 currently, but it would be pretty gangster if he swapped to Eddie’s old number (while also playing in Ohio, go figure).

Of course, like many MAC programs, there was a lot of attrition for the Bowling Green Falcons during 2026’s great migration. RBs Cameron Pettaway and Mar’Kel Porter saw the writing on the wall and defected to Iowa State and Northwestern, respectively. That leaves Nakai Amachree as the primary competitor for touches out of the backfield.

Elsewhere, QB Lucian Anderson transferred to South Carolina. WR RJ Garcia to FAU. TE Jacob Harris to Wisconsin. Other receivers like Caleb Goodloe are still in the portal.

Unfortunately, like most MAC programs, BGSU opens the season with somewhat of a murderer’s row (relatively speaking): Nebraska, Iowa State and USF round out the September schedule after opening against FCS school Tarleton State, who are usually one of the stronger teams in the lower division.

After that, however, the flood gates should open. Thinking about some of the most productive RBs that originated from the MAC in recent years, Peny Boone’s 2023 output of 1400 yards, Carson Steele’s 1556 yards in 2022, and Lew Nichols’ legendary run in 2021 that netted him 1800+ yards round out the most prolific runners since COVID.

On average, the MAC produces 4.6 RBs per season that hit 1000+ rushing yards, though the top rusher has been less productive lately relative to the earlier 2020s. Sieh “Bang Man” Bangura led the way in ‘25 with 1300 yards, and his predecessor Anthony Tyus did so in 2024 with 1200 yards.

The redshirt freshman Austyn Dendy averaged just shy of 100 rushing yards per game in his five appearances in 2025, and a rushing TD per game. Extrapolate that out to 12 games and the picture looks bright.

Coincidentally, Eddie George also scored five rushing TDs in his (true) freshman season. Though, in Eddie’s case, this proved not to be an antecedent for a breakout performance the following season. It wasn’t until his junior year when he hit 1353 yards rushing and 12 scores on 261 carries, while also catching 16 passes for an additional 117 yards over the course of 12 games.

That was Eddie’s third season in CFB, a symmetry that maps neatly onto this piece should Dendy follow a similar path nearly 30 years later, entering his own third collegiate season in Fall 2026.

So, with that in mind, I’m going to make a bold prediction: I think Dendy will outpace the previous two MAC leaders in rushing and hit ~1400 rushing yards in 2026. He’ll average over 100 yards rushing per game just like Eddie did, and finish the season with a similar workload figure.

The RB room cleared out around him, and there should (hopefully) be enough juice in the passing game to move the chains and keep defences honest to provide necessary space in the run game. BGSU should be able to move the ball well enough versus USF and Tarleton, maybe even versus ISU, and then the MAC schedule awaits.

I also believe that we will see a more advanced receiving profile from Dendy in 2026. His final three appearances previewed an ability to provide value in this regard, catching passes of 11, 27, and 16 yards. As was mentioned previously, this player occupied many roles in HS including WR, so there should be good clay for Eddie to sculpt.

It’s never reasonable to predict that a player will hit 1800+ rushing yards and another 300+ in receiving like Lew Nichols did in 2021, but that is the upper bound of my vision for what Dendy could be. I think 1400-1500 is well within the range of outcomes. ◾

Reminder—I AM CURRENTLY RUNNING A DISCOUNT ON ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS (until end of April):

Claim 40% Off

Paid subs have full access to all content including RB depth charts that I update monthly, camp info, spring game summaries, rankings, and other paid exclusive articles (plus a subscriber chat on substack).

If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:

Share

When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest.

- Ernest Hemingway, writer

This iteration of the spring game recap series includes notes from spring games that occurred on April 17 and 18.

These teams include: Georgia State, Louisville, Army, Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Texas Tech, Tulane, Miami FL, Houston, Kentucky, UAB, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Ohio State, Toledo, UTEP, and West Virginia.

You can find the previous version here:

One thing to note is that the quality of intel coming out of these games highly varies per program. Some plamaces have a lot of coverage, and some don’t. And even when intel is available, some coaches use these games primarily to see what young players are capable of, whereas others prefer to treat it like a pre-season game which is more informative.

Nonetheless, I’ve found that throughout the years there is always at least one interesting nugget that turns out to be useful from these spring game reports.

Also, now that we can embed tweets into Substack articles again these are going to be so much better going forward. Cheers.

FYI—I AM CURRENTLY RUNNING A DISCOUNT ON ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS (until end of April):

Claim 40% Off

Paid subs have full access to all content including RB depth charts that I update monthly, camp info, spring game summaries, rankings, and other paid exclusive articles (plus a subscriber chat on substack).

GEORGIA STATE

QB/WR:

Cameran Brown was the sole quarterback for Blue, coming up with the highlight play of the day with a long touchdown run to open the scoring with 9:51 left in the 1st quarter.

Redshirt freshman TJ Stanley and Merrimack transfer Ayden Pereira split the QB duties for White and it was under Pereira's leadership in the second half that they mounted their comeback.

Skill players:

Kyle Washington won a one-on-one down the sideline for a big gainer and Brown hit Grant Hollier in the corner of the end zone shortly after to double Blue’s advantage with 10:35 to go in the first half. Johnson Jr’s interception also led to points for Blue right before the break, when Washington scored on a touchdown reception of his own.

Shorter transfer running back Lanear McCrary Jr had a pair of long runs to move them into business past midfield and then Owen Dupree, a new wide receiver from West Georgia, got White on the board with a nice snag of a 50-50 ball in the end zone.

DJ Riles got a receiving touchdown with three seconds left in the third quarter.

LOUISVILLE

QB:

As Louisville began spring practice in mid-March, head coach Jeff Brohm expressed confidence with his group of quarterbacks and each individual’s ability to help the program in 2026.

Highlighted by Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz, who was brought in to “take the reins” of the offense, the group also includes West Georgia transfer Davin Wydner, Elite 11 true freshman Briggs Cherry and former walk-on Ryan Zimmerman.

Kienholz displayed an ability to run, while going 10 of 16 for 91 yards in his debut, but had little opportunity to work the ball deep.

Wydner led all passers with 194 yards and two big-play touchdowns. His first touchdown throw was a 77-yard connection with Gavin Waddell. Later, Wydner found Florida State transfer Lawayne McCoy for a 40-yard touchdown along the sideline.

“We’ve got some good arms,” Brohm said during the team’s first day of work. “We have a good mix of guys that I think can help us win.”

“I don’t think Lincoln was given a whole lot of opportunities to make some plays up the field, so we can game plan better for that,” Brohm said after the final scrimmage. “I think we know what he does well. He can throw on the move. He can throw on the run. He can scramble and make plays. He can run the ball. Yes, we got to polish up the end of pocket stuff, but we also got to do what he does best as well once he gets to game time.”

While Kienholz didn’t have a highlight-reel outing in the spring game, his ability and effort throughout spring has Brohm pleased.

“I feel comfortable because he works really hard,” Brohm said. “He’s got a great attitude.”

“Davin, has done a good job. He’s a big, strong quarterback. He’s more athletic than you think with his size. He can throw it vertically. Did a good job today. He’s had really good practices, so I think he’s done a solid job.”

Briggs Cherry threw for 142 yards and connected with freshman DJ Williams for a late score. Ryan Zimmerman contributed 123 yards and a touchdown pass to DeVaun Jones.

RB:

Louisville rushed 26 times for 99 yards with the leading running back being Braxton Jenningswith six carries for 18 yards. Isaac Brown played but didn't have a carry.

WR/TE:

Freshman wide receiver Gavin Waddell made a nice impression with five catches for 118 yards and one touchdown. He caught passes from all three U of L quarterbacks, including a 77-yard TD catch from Davin Wydner for the first TD of the game.

Another freshman target had a nice night - Julius Miles. The freshman tight end lined up as a tight end and also on the outside, catching four passes for 40 yards.

ARMY

Outlook for 2026:

While the “young Black Knights” may be more talented and athletic than some of their predecessors, experience matters and we believe the defense will struggle, especially early in the 2026 season.

In order for the Black Knights to succeed the offense will need to carry the defense until they get enough live reps to become more competent. Expect the defense to play tough but they will probably make mental errors common for inexperienced players. The offense will need to chew clock, put up points, and maximize possessions until the defense gets enough game experience.

QB:

The QB position looks solid. As opposed to 2025 when Army had to replace Captain America, Bryson Daily, with an inexperienced Cale Hellums and De’Wayne Coleman, the 2026 QB room is stacked and Coach Monken hinted at a QB competition in Fall Camp.

While the experienced “leader in the clubhouse” Cale Hellums is the odds-on favorite to win the starting job, especially with his improvements in footwork, fundamentals, and reads in the off-season, Bryson Luter and Ethan Washington will apply pressure for the starting job.

If Hellums isn’t at his best, expect Luter to take the reins. Coach Monken spoke glowingly about Luter’s athleticism, speed, running ability and arm. He ran the scout team offense in 2025 and gave Army’s experienced defense fits.

"I was pleased with how we played for the Black team,'' Hellums said, praising his offensive line. Hellums had six carries for 4 yards and completed five of six throws for 71 yards. His most-heralded completion came on a recently designed play that found rising sophomore Kofi Eduful for a 47-yard gain

Luter was 4-for-9 passing for 17 yards and had 13 carries for 52 yards. Rising junior Nehemiah Vann completed two throws, including a 20-yard gain on the final snap of the game

RB:

Among the running backs, Godspower Nwawuihe led the way with eight carries for 28 yards, a pair of first downs and a slicing 4-yard run through a large hole on the left side for the lone touchdown of the full, timed scrimmage - that came on Hellums’ second series of the contest, a nine-play, 78-yard drive.

“I thought that was a well put-together drive,’‘ Hellums said. “I thought GP (Godspower) played amazing.’‘

“I feel like I made steps in the right direction,’‘ said Nwawuihe, who converted from quarterback to running back last season. “I still have a long ways to go in the fine details of being a back at this level, but this spring definitely helped me get more comfortable in the position, get more comfortable in the offense and just gain some trust in my team and my coaches.’‘

OL:

The offensive line will be solid. I asked Brady Small if he thought the offensive line had the chance to be as special as the 2024 O-line and while he didn’t give me a definite yes, you can tell he’s “Bullish” about the strength of the 2026 “MOB.”

EASTERN MICHIGAN

Read more