Power Ranking Thursday - College Football Players (That Didn't Pan Out)

It feels good to be back in the saddle on another PRT after a couple weeks off. And after yesterday's blog previewing Week Zero for College Football, it got me reminiscing on some of my favorite college athletes of all time. And the majority of guys that came to mind had, or are currently having, great pro careers. And that got me thinking of the guys who didn't -- the guys who were so electric and physically imposing in college that I thought there was no doubt they'd have All-Pro careers. And that became the inspiration for today's blog -- the College Superstars who didn't (fully) pan out as pros.

With College Football right around the corner, I'm going to keep today's list to football players, and maybe in a future PRT closer to Hoops season we'll do a follow-up list for the best college basketball players. But the main things to keep in mind today are:

1. These aren't necessarily "busts" -- some will be, but many are just guys who were so good in college that I expected them to be NFL Superstars, and they never quite reached that level.

2. These aren't guys whose careers were entirely derailed by injury -- injuries are always a factor, but these aren't the Brandon Roy's/Grant Hill's of the college football world.

3. These are players from my ball-watching career, which spans roughly from 2007/2008 to present day, so pardon the lack of old heads.

Honorable Mentions

OJ Howard (Alabama, TE)

Athletic freak with great hands, drafted 19th overall but never lived up to the hype in the NFL.

Reuben Foster (Alabama, LB)

Freight train that made every tackle, decent NFL career, but should've been an All-Pro guy.

Dorial Green-Beckham (Mizzou, WR)

Specimen that looked like the next Calvin Johnson at MIZ, but loved Weed and Domestic violence more than ball.

Sam Bradford (Oklahoma, QB)

Was supposed to be the savior for the Rams after winning a Heisman at OU, but was more Ryan Fitzpatrick than Matt Ryan.

Barkevious Mingo (LSU, LB/DE)

Not sure if I liked his name or game more, but 6th overall pick that was a decent, not great pro.

Geno Smith (West Va, QB)

Thought Geno was Donovan McNabb reincarnated, wound up being Jake Delhomme 2.0.

Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech, WR)

134 catches, nearly 2,000 yards, 22 TD's as a freshman at Tech. Caught 19 more as a sophomore, and had a very solid pro career. But thought he was the next Michael Irvin in college.

CJ Spiller (Clemson, RB)

Only caught the tail end of his college career, but was an absolute blur and thought he'd be a superstar. Had some good seasons, but was inconsistent.

The Top 10

#10 Jabril Peppers (Michigan, Safety/Swiss Army Knife)

The NFL is a sport that typically rewards the "specialists." The players who are truly elite in one facet of the game -- Devin Hester returning kicks, JJ Watt rushing QB's, Darrelle Revis blanketing an entire side of the field. The NBA/MLB seem to reward the guys that can do it all, like Nikola Jokic and Shohei Ohtani. Travis Hunter is trying to break the mold as a WR/DB. But when I think of the Swiss Army Knife archetype, Jabril Peppers comes to mind first. People remember him checking in at RB/WR for the Michigan Wolverines and scoring TD's, but I think of him moving all over the field defensively from DB, Safety, Linebacker, even as an edge rusher. He was a playmaker wherever he lined up, racking up sacks and TFL's, returning kicks, plunging in goal line TD's. I thought he'd be a weapon NFL defensive coordinators would salivate over for the variety of ways they could use him, but he's wound up being just a decent defensive back over his NFL career.

#9 Manti Te'o (Notre Dame, LB)

One of the most notable names on the list checks in at #9 with Manti Te'o. Whether you know him from his dominance on the football field or the girlfriend saga off the field, Te'o deserves to be remembered for being one of the best defensive college linebackers of all time. 2nd place finish behind Johnny Manziel in the 2012 Heisman race, played for a National Championship with Notre Dame in 2013, and was one of most impactful players on a football field every game he played in. 36 tackles for loss, 7 interceptions his Senior year, 110+ tackles three straight seasons. Was a little under-sized, but was such a dog and playmaker at ND that I thought he'd be a sure thing at the next level. But the drama surrounding his life off the field and inability to find the right fit kept him from establishing himself in the NFL.

#8 Tavon Austin (West Virginia, WR)

You're not a man until you sit in the living room with your absolute boys and watch the Tavon Austin WVU Highlight reel after dieseling 12-16 beers. Single-handedly put Hell & Back by Kid Ink on every high school pregame mix. A 5 foot 8 receiver with blazing speed and change-of-direction I've never seen on a football field, Tavon Austin is probably the most electric player in CFB History. Was listed as an RB until his Senior Year, he was the ultimate offensive weapon. Scored 33 TD's from Scrimmage in his last 3 years, and would score them from all over the place -- out wide, in the backfield, in the slot, returning punts and kickoffs. 215 catches, 3,300 scrimmage yards, 28 touchdowns over his Jr/Sr seasons. Despite the slight frame, his game-changing speed and elusiveness made me think he was destined for greatness at the next level. Injuries and fit were issues, but this guy was Tyreek Hill before Tyreek Hill.

#7 Sammy Watkins (Clemson, WR)

Everything about Sammy Watkins screamed Superstar Wide Receiver going into the NFL. 6 foot 1 / 210 lbs, 4.4 speed, great jumping ability and athleticism, elite contested catch guy. And NFL scouts obviously agreed, because the Bills moved up to #4 in the draft to take him and make him their star wideout. His freshman year he exploded onto the scene with 1,200 yards and 13 scores, and even ran for another 200 yards. He was hobbled his Soph year with an injury, but bounced back as a Junior with another 12 scores and led the ACC with nearly 1,500 yards. He was equally dangerous on downfield deep balls and contested catches as he was over the middle and gaining yards after the catch. Injuries were a major factor in his struggles to establish himself as a pro, but his early seasons in Buffalo were so promising, I thought he'd be a shoe-in for a Top 10 WR for years to come.

#6 Trent Richardson (Alabama, RB)

One of the truest busts on this list in terms of their NFL production, because it really wasn't injuries that derailed Trent Richardson's career. He did it the old-fashioned way -- gained a lot of weight and got worse. This is a guy that was an absolute LOAD at Bama. 42 total TD's in 38 games, including a whopping 24 his final season as a Junior. Over 2,000 total yards that same season, finished 3rd in Heisman voting (in a loaded class -- RG3 and Andrew Luck finished ahead of him), SEC OPOY, and the #3 overall pick in the draft. This guy was a wrecking ball with surprising change-of-direction skills, and he's the prototypical Bama back when you think of the best Crimson Tide teams over the years. Richardson had a solid rookie season with Cleveland, had 12 scores and over 1,000 total yards. But he was traded 2 games into his 2nd season to Indy, and played just one more season with the Colts before his career was over. A strange and short career for one of the most dominant college RB's ever.

#5 Jadeveon Clowney (South Carolina, DE)

The last defensive player that made my Top 10, and genuinely one of the best players I've ever watched on a college football field. Jadeveon Clowney is almost a mythological name in the college football world, because if you just look at just his stats, it doesn't tell the full story of how dominant this man was. Everyone can picture the hit-stick and forced fumble vs Michigan where he blew through their OL and murdered a RB. Clowney truly looked like a man amongst boys on the field -- 6 foot 6 and 275+ pounds, lightning quickness for a big man, arms the size of redwoods, and a deep bag of swim and rip moves to freeze any OL. Over his 1st 2 seasons he racked up 21 sacks, and his Junior year routinely faced triple teams to try and slow him down. He had 48 tackles for loss in 36 career games. Clowney has had a long NFL career, bouncing around several teams trying to bolster their pass rush. But he never lived up to the game-wrecking, dominant hype he came into the NFL with as a #1 pick.

#4 Justin Blackmon (Oklahoma State, WR)

The #1 Wide Receiver on this list, and the #1 NFL "What-If" in my mind. Not in the sense of "what if.. he never got injured" -- in the sense of "what if.. this guy didn't love drugs and alcohol so much." Justin Blackmon, by the numbers and by the eye-test, could be argued as the greatest college WR of all time. His sophomore/junior seasons stretch are quite literally video game numbers. 3,300 receiving yards, 39 touchdowns, 233 catches, 2-time All-American, 2-time Biletnikoff Award Winner, B12 OPOY, and 5th in the 2010 Heisman Voting. Similarly built to Sammy Watkins and even better in contested catches, he was a menace over the middle breaking tackles, and was simply the most dangerous man with the ball in his hands for 2 straight seasons. The Jags drafted him 5th overall in 2012, and he played all 16 games his rookie season. His 2nd year he played just 4 games, and then after multiple suspensions due to violating the league's drug policy, Blackmon was out of the league after just 20 games. A guy that should have been the next Randy Moss just became another Dorial Green-Beckham.

#3 Montee Ball (Wisconsin, RB)

I apologize in advance to my brother Tyler for this one. Most people were introduced to Montee Ball as he dominated at Wisconsin, but I was when he was still in High School at Timberland in Missouri. I watched him run wild on Duchesne as I filled up waters on the sideline -- he literally looked like a different species of human being. But to Ty's credit, they kept him under 200 yards and to 2 TD's -- in a season he ran for 3,000+ yards and 32 TD's in checks notes 12 games. He was a specimen in HS, but was even better at Wisconsin. In his 3 seasons as a starter, Ball racked up over 5,000 scrimmage yards and 79 touchdowns. He scored 39 fucking TD's his Junior year, ran for just under 2,000 yards, and finished 4th in the Heisman vote. He's arguably the most productive college RB in CFB history. He wasn't necessarily the fastest or strongest guy at any point, but he had so much grit and seemed to never go down on first contact. The Broncos drafted him in the 2nd round, but he only wound up playing 21 games in his career, scoring 5 TD's and gaining 700 yards. Unfortunately for Ball, those college years took a toll on his body and wore him down. But he was the best CFB RB I've seen from a production standpoint, and shoutout the hometown kid.

#2 Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M, QB)

The Top 2 slots on this list could only be filled by 2 of the best college QB's I've ever had the pleasure of watching. And I struggled to rank them properly at 1 and 2, but the rationale I defaulted to was, "who do I think will have a better NFL career?" At the time as a youngin, I genuinely thought both of these guys would be All-Pro level QB's. When it came to Johnny Manziel, all I saw was White Michael Vick. This guy could straight up GO. The dude averaged over 100 yards rushing per game his freshman season, running for 1,400+ yards and 21 fucking TD's. Not to mention the 3,700+ and 26 TD's he threw for en route to winning the Heisman. Then his Soph year, he became even better as a passer -- 4,100+ yards, 37 TD's, 70% completion. He wound up 5th in Heisman voting in 2013, But he still had nearly 800 yards and 9 scores on the ground and was arguably a better player. He was a little small for a QB at 6'1, but his creativity, elusiveness, pocket presence, and bazooka arm made me think he was destined for greatness. He wasn't exactly a model citizen off the field, and his early career struggles did him no favors, so his NFL career lasted all of 14 games. Still, regardless of how things played out, there's not a person in the world who watched Johnny Football at A&M and wasn't blown away by his ability.

#1 Marcus Mariota (Oregon, QB)

Marcus Mariota was getting his feet wet at Oregon while Manziel was winning a Heisman, but by the time it was all said and done, he was an even better college QB. Mariota is who comes to mind when I think of the Oregon Renaissance in CFB -- they were already big, but became a perennial contender and blew up in popularity during his tenure. 6'3, well-built, blazing speed and an accurate arm -- Mariota seemingly had all the tools to be an elite NFL QB. He looked like Michael Vick and Peyton Manning had a Hawaiian love-child. He always had the ability to run -- in his 3 seasons he ran for 700 yards a season and had 29 rushing scores. As a passer he improved every year, and was a great decision-maker throwing just 14 picks to 105 TD's in 3 seasons. As a junior, the year he dominated the Heisman vote, he threw for a whopping 4,454 yards, 42 TD's, just 4 picks, led the nation in QBR, and ran for 770 yards and 15 more TD's on the ground. Set the all-time Pac-12 record for TD's in a season on his way to a Heisman and National Championship game appearance. He was drafted 2nd behind Jameis Winston in the 2015 Draft to the Tennessee Titans. While he's had a long career -- still playing as the backup QB in Washington -- he never reached those peaks we saw at Oregon. He showed flashes and has some memorable moments in his career, even won a couple playoff games with Tennessee, but for someone once seen as a Steve Young type player, Mariota has become more of an Alex Smith. But when you're talking about the best college QB's of the 21st century, no list gets my respect if Mariota isn't in the Top 3-5.