Welcome to “I Got 5 On It.” Each week, I’ll pick five news-worthy subjects based around college football to cover. Topics will range from views on Devy prospects, general college football talk, interesting stats, and a little bit of hip-hop music (mostly 90s rap).
1. Memphis Running Back Group
If you follow college football or Devy, you know how productive and exciting the Memphis running back room has been for the last five years. Current Memphis RB1 Kenny Gainwell looks to be well on his way to a top 100 overall NFL Draft selection when he declares. Gainwell just needs to bulk up a bit to solidify that draft capital. But who’s next after Gainwell? There’s a great chance he declares for the NFL Draft this coming April, so who takes over for him in 2021?
Asa Martin, rSO, 5’11”, 200 lbs.
Martin is a one-time four-star recruit and Ex-Auburn Tiger and Ex-Miami (FL) Hurricane. Martin saw limited time as a true freshman at Auburn, which ended in a transfer following the season. He then enrolled at Miami (FL) during the spring of 2019 only to enter the transfer portal once again a few months later. Martin sat out the 2019 season and finally landed in Memphis. He’s the wildcard in this situation. He was once a highly rated recruit but has seen minimal action in the two years post-high school. It’s hard to tell what the Tigers are getting in Martin, but it has the potential to pay-off big time.
Rodrigues Clark, SO, 6’0”, 202 lbs.
Clark signed with Memphis as a three-star recruit out of Mississippi. As a true freshman, he gained 85 yards (3.3 YPC) and 1 TD in eight games of action. Clark is a well put together prospect with an upperclassman body build. He clocked an unimpressive 4.70 forty in high school, appearing to be a tick quicker from his high school film. Clark is a downhill runner with above-average explosion.
Kylan Watkins, rJR, 5’11”, 178 lbs.
Watkins didn’t see action as a true freshman at UT Martin, so he did the logical thing and transferred up to FBS. While he sat out 2018 due to his transfer, he saw plenty of action in 2019 after Patrick Taylor’s early-season injury. Watkins totaled nearly 400 yards and scored 4 TDs on the season. He’s in the running for the top back-up in 2020 but has a lot of talent to fend off. Could Watkins play the role previously held by Tony Pollard and Antonio Gibson, as a hybrid running back and receiver?
Kalyn Grandberry, JR, 6’0”, 205 lbs.
Grandberry is a Memphis High School Football legend, who rushed for 40 TDs as a senior in 2017. He finally finds his way to Memphis, after spending two years at JUCO. Grandberry was forced to go the JUCO route due to grades. While he ran for just over 2,000 yards and 20 TDs during his JUCO tenure, he’s part of a loaded backfield room. Even with Gainwell’s expected departure, becoming the lead dog will be tough with Clark, Martin, and Watkins in front of him. Grandberry should still compete for carries in both 2020 and 2021.
Kory Gainwell, tFR, 5’8”, 180 lbs.
Kory is the younger brother of Kenneth Gainwell. It’s tough to get information on the younger brother’s recruitment. His 247Sports profile page shows a sole offer from Memphis. Gainwell rushed for just under 1,200 yards each of his last two years of high school and scored 8 TDs each season. He also caught 18 balls as a senior. Listed as small as 5’7” and 170 lbs., Gainwell must bulk-up for a college workload. On film, he’s fast, fluid, and has very quick feet. He also can line up in the slot and catch passes. A couple years of seasoning and the younger Gainwell could develop into a very impactful player.
Brandon Thomas, tFR, 5’10”, 190 lbs.
Thomas is another three-star recruit that signed with Memphis over offers from SMU and in-state Arkansas State. Thomas comes from a wishbone offense in high school; the transition to the spread might take some time. Thankfully, Memphis won’t have to rely on Thomas early in his career. While he is put together much better than fellow incoming freshman back Kory Gainwell, Thomas lacks speed and explosion. He is a downhill between-the-tackles runner. Thomas is a potential role player, but the lack of speed hinders his upside.
The Tigers just received a commitment from JP Martin out of Houston, Texas. Martin is currently 247’s 23rd ranked back, he would be the highest-ranked running back recruit to sign out of high school in this entire group, if his commitment holds firm. Martin rushed for nearly 1,500 yards (7.8 YPC) and 25 TDs as a junior. It’s hard to picture a true freshman making a big impact in the years to come, but Martin is very talented. Running an 11.01 100 meter dash last spring, Martin is fast, fluid, and smart. He received offers from three Ivy League programs.
The Tigers have a very gifted running back room that should be loaded for the next four to five years. College fantasy owners and Devy leaguers will have plenty of names to pick from over the next several years.
2. Breakout Sophomore Receivers
The receiver position is traditionally a slower developing spot than say the running back position. A few true freshman receivers got off to slow starts in 2019, but I’m fully expecting to see breakout years in 2020 with more opportunity ahead of them.
Langston Anderson, Oklahoma State:
Anderson saw action in just one game in 2019, preserving a redshirt season for himself. Anderson is a high-flyer who can leap with the best of them. As a senior, Anderson scored 18 TDs on 17.8 YPR. I wrote this about Anderson last August “Anderson had a near 40” vertical leap in April of 2018; this serious leaping ability is on display in his highlight reel. He’s consistently able to outleap defenders and wins 50/50 balls. Anderson is the type of player that Oklahoma State redshirts then explodes onto the scene in his two years on campus.” Oklahoma State only vacates 12% of its receiving production from 2019. To see the field, Anderson will have to beat out somebody who was already ahead of him in 2019. However, he has plenty of talent to do so. I expect to see Anderson as the number two receiver behind only Tylan Wallace.
Donavon Greene, Wake Forest:
Greene earned his way onto the field for Wake Forest’s final four games of the 2019 season. He saved a redshirt year while gaining valuable playing time; it’s the perfect way to use the new four-game redshirt rule. Over that four-game stretch, Greene hauled in 13 balls for 249 yards (19.2 YPR) and 2 TDs, including a monster game against Syracuse, where he tallied 7-172-1. The first Demon Deacon true freshman to go over 100 receiving yards in nearly 30 years. Wake Forest losses almost 60% of its receiving production from 2019. While they bring back Sage Surratt, they lose three out of their top-four pass-catchers from last season. Greene should slide into the role opposite of Surratt nicely. Listed at 6’2” and 200lbs, Greene has a good baseline to grow into an NFL body.
John Metchie, Alabama:
Metchie enrolled early at Alabama and won the MVP of the Crimson Tide spring game in 2019, just a few short months after graduating high school. Metchie saw action in all 13 of Alabama’s games, but only caught four balls for 23 yards. Alabama is departing 43% of its receiving production from 2019, mostly from its two first-round draft picks. While there’s plenty of new opportunities to go around, Metchie will still be stuck behind DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle in 2020. The Crimson Tide’s third receiver still hauled in 800 yards in 2019, so we can still expect Metchie to see a decent workload.
Jonathan Mingo, Ole Miss:
Mingo started in all 12 games during the 2019 season bringing in 12 passes for 172 yards (14.3 YPR) and a touchdown. Ole Miss only lost 22% of its receiving production from the prior year, but no receiver hauled in more than 200 yards outside of Elijah Moore. The Rebels had an anemic passing offense in 2019. They heavily relied upon the legs of starting quarterback John Rhys Plumlee. With a new coaching staff in Oxford, the Rebels look to get back into modern football. If Lane Kiffin and staff can get Matt Corral turned around, that will give a major boost to their passing offense and Mingo’s breakout season.
3. Omar Manning
Manning originally signed with TCU in 2017, the same class as Henry Ruggs, Tee Higgins, and Jalen Reagor. He was a top 30 receiver prospect as well as a top 175 overall player. He redshirted during the 2017 season. After redshirting, Manning decided to transfer. He ended up at Kilgore Junior College. During his two seasons at the JUCO level, Manning tallied just over 1,000 yards on 50 catches and 10 TDs. He earned second-team junior college All-American. Following his time at Kilgore, he signed with Nebraska as the second-best JUCO prospect according to two 247Sports Composite ranks. Manning finds himself the likely starting receiver opposite of Wan’Dale Robinson. The Cornhuskers are losing their top receiver from 2019. JD Spielman hits the transfer market, vacating his near 50 receptions for 900 yards from last season. Listed at 6’4” and 225 lbs., Manning has all the attributes to contribute early at Nebraska. Adding an alpha receiver will hopefully give Adrian Martinez the chance to show off the lofty praise he’s received each of the last two preseasons. Manning looks every bit his listed size on film. A physical presence on the outside, he can manhandle JUCO DBs. Manning has good speed, able to be a vertical threat on any play. He also has a great blend of size and speed. There is no reason that he can’t develop into a dominant player in 2020 and be a one-and-done JUCO player. Out of 20 Superflex Devy Mock Drafts, Manning has only been selected once. He’s a player that has a lot of room for growth on Devy and NFL Draft boards. He’s being overlooked, even by me, in my personal ranks.
4. Tutu Atwell
Atwell enters his third season at Louisville as the team’s premier offensive weapon. He performed well above expectations in 2019 but is still being overlooked in Devy. A lot of that has to do with his 5’9” and 165 lbs. stature. As a true sophomore, Atwell hauled in 69 passes for 1,272 yards (18.4 YPR) and 12 TDs. Atwell was targeted on 35.1% of the Cardinals passes, which ranked fourth in the country in 2019. He finished the season with 106 targets, averaging 12.0 yards per target, ranking top 30 in the nation for players with at least 20 targets in 2019. His most impressive stat is a relatively new one to me. He led the nation in yards per team passing attempt at 4.21 yards. The next closest receiver was Tyler Johnson at 4.08 yards. Atwell was one of two players to average over four yards, and just one of nine players to average over three yards. I equally weighted the zScores for yards per target and yards per team passing attempt, and Atwell sat atop of the nation in that category as well. Other names in the top 10 of this category were CeeDee Lamb, Rashod Bateman, DeVonta Smith, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins. Aside from Atwell, seven of the top 10 are highly thought of rookies or Devy prospects. One name that surprised me was a CUSA receiver that I knew very little about before this and will be discussing next week. While I understand the concerns about his size, Atwell’s 2019 season was extremely efficient. Atwell is currently the 30th receiver off the boards in Devy Watch ADP. He can be had very cheaply, and he presents upside.
5. Freddie Gibbs – Thuggin
Not exactly an old school joint but off of Freddie Gibbs 2014 release titled Pinata. Gibbs is currently the best thing going on in the hip-hop world. He’s the sole artist currently in the game that I eagerly await for new material to drop. The Gary, Indiana native actually went to Ball State on a football scholarship but was kicked out of school rather quickly. Gibbs is one of, if not the, most under-talked about hip-hop artists. You won’t hear him on the radio or even on a Sirius XM radio, most likely. He has two classic albums to his name, in Pinata (2014) and Bandana (2019). Pinata is one of the best albums to drop in the 2000s for hip-hop. His single, Thuggin’, is one of the best pure gangsta rap songs to drop in the 2000s as well.
“There’s a deep awareness of how the embattled dealer from Gary has and hasn’t changed on the way to becoming an L.A.-based enthusiast’s favorite—renowned enough to get Scarface and Raekwon on his record, but for reasons that run deeper than just having famous co-signs. Many of Gibbs’ lyrics on Piñata ride a line between pride in his own resilient hustle and ambivalence about what he did to succeed—maybe not guilt, but at least a concerted effort to confront his colder impulses. His stories of a talented man making his way in a bleak environment are brought up without either glamorization or moralizing, but they still feel human. Funk-fusion and soul jazz breaks bubble and blister in the heat, throbbing like a running man’s pulse, and Gibbs states the facts as he sees them.” Via Pitchfork.Com
“Freddie Gibbs has been slanging and banging since ‘94. A notable scar runs across his right eyebrow from a robbery gone wrong. The trapper-turned-underground-phenom is championed by rap purists for his technical precision and street-oriented rhymes.
“We two different guys, man,” Gibbs told Rolling Stone in 2014. “I was still in the streets when I first started that Madlib album. I was, then I wasn’t. You can tell the progression on the record, though. You can tell the different places that I’m in.”” Via DJBooth.Net
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