We all love a good trio, right? …The Three Stooges, the Houston Astros’ Killer B’s, the Three Muskateers, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ version of the Killer B’s, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and the Jonas Brothers. OK, too far. I’ve had this idea to dive into and rank college football’s best QB/RB/WR trio for a while now, and I’ve finally done it.
Some teams might have a better trio of players, but this list would have been endless if I didn’t keep the QB/RB/WR structure. I set out to rank 10, and as you’ll see, this list starts with a What If team and three honorable mentions because I love lists and don’t know when to stop.
What If: Houston – Clayton Tune, Alton McCaskill, Nathaniel Dell
What could have been for Houston had McCaskill not torn his ACL this spring? McCaskill was top 3 in the AAC with 961 yards and 16 TDs as a true freshman last season. Nathaniel Dell led the conference in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving TDs. Houston’s ceiling didn’t have limits in a conference that made Desmond Ridder look as good as he did. Even if McCaskill makes it back this season, it’s unlikely that he’ll be 100%.
Here are three that just missed the cut, but I felt were worth mentioning.
Michigan: JJ McCarthy, Blake Corum, Cornelius Johnson
Wake Forest: Sam Hartman, Christian Turner/Justice Ellison (your pick), AT Perry
Michigan State: Payton Thorne, Jalen Berger, Jayden Reed
Now to the list. In part one, I count down from ten to six. In part two, I’ll go five to one and throw in the best freshman trio because, again, I don’t know when to stop.
10. South Carolina: Spencer Rattler, MarShawn Lloyd, Jaheim Bell
Rattler’s time at Oklahoma and path to South Carolina are pretty well documented, so we won’t spend any time on that. I’ve written before that Rattler probably does more for South Carolina and their recruiting future than South Carolina does for Rattler, but either way, he’ll have a plethora of weapons this season. This should be the season that MarShawn Lloyd lives up to his 5-star hype and takes over the Gamecocks’ backfield despite competition from Juju McDowell, Christian Beal-Smith, and Lovasea Carroll. Corey Rucker or Josh Vann will likely lead the team in receiving, but neither of them can impact a game in as many ways as Jaheim Bell, and that’s why the TE got the nod here.
9. Utah: Cameron Rising, Tavion Thomas, Brant Kuithe
For the first time in a while, the Utes don’t have a quarterback battle headlining the off-season. A lot of that is because Utah’s offense was better than its defense for the first time in a while – and the defense was good. Depending on how you look at it, the core of a top 10 offense is coming back. Rising is set up nicely to take the next step in his development. The offense ran through Thomas in 2021, and he’s back to tote the rock. Kuithe spent a lot of time with the wide receivers this spring, and the Utes will need his versatility to help replace Britain Covey.
8. Arkansas: KJ Jefferson, Raheim Sanders, Jadon Haselwood
For the first time as an OC, Kendal Briles has a returning starter at QB. Based on that, I initially had Arkansas higher on this list. KJ Jefferson was very efficient in 2021. In fact, it’s hard for me to see him being more efficient, and I’m not sure the volume will be there in a run-first offense. Rocket Sanders will share the backfield with Dominique Johnson, but his all-purpose ability puts him in this trio ahead of Johnson. I heard someone compare Sanders to Antonio Gibson, and even though Gibson was more fundamentally sound as a receiver, I really like that comp. I’ve never been a big fan of Haselwood, but he’s got some talent, and he’s stepping into a situation where 36% of the offensive production was vacated.
7. Oklahoma: Dillon Gabriel, Eric Gray, Marvin Mims
New OC Jeff Lebby is the most exciting part of this offense, and his addition is the biggest reason the Sooners made this list after the turnover they saw this off-season. I’ve never been high on Dillon Gabriel, but he was a top 15-20 passer last time he was with Jeff Lebby. Eric Gray was underwhelming last season but gets one more shot to put it all together. Mims is a capable deep threat out of the slot. I realize I’m not making any of this sound exciting, but Lebby’s offense is going to do numbers.
6. Tennessee: Hendon Hooker, Jabari Small, Cedric Tillman
Anchored by Hendon Hooker (24-years-old), this is probably the oldest trio (Small 20, Tillman 22) on the list. This much experience isn’t ideal in Devy, but it’s nice to see on a CFB roster. Hooker committed to Tennessee before they hired Josh Heupel, then Heupel hand-picked Joe Milton to be his starting QB. After seeing Milton and Hooker run the same offense last season, only Heupel knows why he gave Milton the first shot. It’s Hooker’s offense now, and his favorite target is Cedric Tillman. Tillman was one of the best deep threats in the nation last season. The stats don’t tell the whole story because Tillman was behind the defense for several Joe Milton overthrows before beginning to thrive with Hooker. Jabari Small is probably the most unheralded RB on this list, but he comes from NFL bloodlines. Tiyon Evans left the program as the leading rusher last season, but Small was just fine when asked to take over. He’ll look to build on a game where he went nuts in the Music City Bowl against Purdue.
