Welcome to “I Got 5 On It”, each week I’ll be picking five news-worthy subjects based around college football to cover. Ranging from views on Devy prospects, general college football talk, and interesting stats.
1. Top QB Performers
If you are unaware of the ANY/A metric “An advanced statistic in football that quantifies the contributions of a quarterback’s passing game by including five key passing statistics; passing yards, passing touchdowns, interceptions thrown, times sacked and yards lost to being sacked. This measure rewards passers for scoring with a multiplier on touchdowns and punishes a passer on throwing interceptions. This is all combined into a value on a per pass attempt basis.
Here are the top 10 performances from week 7of the CFB season out of 103 qualifying performances.
*Note – The total on the bottom is the tally of all QBs that attempted at least 10 passes this past weekend.
Week 7 was a brutal week of QB play. It was by far the lowest national ANY/A for a single week. After a poor start to the season, I said last week that I was off the Kaleb Eleby train…Well, he had the best week of any QB in week 7. Fingers crossed that this trend continues. Max Duggan was really good in TCU’s loss to OU. Heavily aided by Quentin Johnston balling out. Caleb Williams’ first start ended in a top-five performance on the weekend. Aidan O’Connell was great in Purdue’s upset victory over Iowa. Stetson Bennett has been super efficient in relief for JT Daniels despite missing a ton of top receiving targets.
Back to just how brutal WK7 was for QB play. Five of the seven worst performances from the entire season came from WK7. Jack Tuttle somehow out-did Michael Penix Jr. 188 yards on 51 passing attempts (3.7 YPA). Iowa’s Spencer Petras was also one of those five performances from WK7. With the Hawkeyes’ lack of offense, you need your QB to be nearly perfect if you want to win. He was far from that. For the second straight week, Malik Willis tossed 3 INTs against a subpar defense. Coming into WK7 ULM was my 120th ranked passing defense. Willis threw for 4.8 YPA against a team that was giving up over 8 YPA prior to this past weekend. Do you really want to waste a first-round pick on a QB who’s let MTSU and ULM get the better of him? Good luck with that. Matt Corral finished in the lower third on the weekend. Not his best showing this season.
2. RB Avoided Tackle Rate
No shock to see Bijan Robinson sitting at the top of any RB metric at this point. He’s been great in 2021. Possibly the second-best back in the nation for this year Kenny Walker comes in the top 5 in the nation. Nobody wanted or talked about Walker for the past two years, but he’s suddenly a hot name. Devy Watch had Walker ranked as the RB7 in the ‘21 in the February release of the Devy Watch Guide. His July ADP dropped all the way down into the 90s and was the RB25 for season-long ADP. Others claiming to be in on Walker are so far behind that they think they are ahead. Freshman sensation TreVeyon Henderson makes his way to 7th on the list. No surprise, Henderson has been fantastic. Henderson and Bijan Robinson are the two best HS backs that I’ve studied since hardcore diving into Devy over the last five years. Henderson currently leads the nation in Exclusive Rating according to PFF. Zach Charbonnet has slowly seen his name move down this list as the season goes on. He was atop this list in the early part of the year. Great to see Blake Corum make the list. I honestly don’t think any other Devy analyst spoke of Corum all offseason. He was one of my breakout candidates. “Current RB54 and only has been drafted in one of fourteen drafts to this point. Corum has some elite traits even though he still needs development as a back. The sophomore back has elite speed, quickness, and pass-catching abilities. His needle will be pointing up especially when he plays over Donovan Edwards. That will make owners with freshman fever furious this fall.”
3. Elite 11 QBs
Via @Elite11 Twitter
Draw Allar has had a big senior season and was just bumped up to 247’s QB1 this week. James Franklin might have found his QB of the future that can take the Nittany Lions to the next level. The QB spot has held PSU back during Franklin’s entire tenure. USC has dipped into the state of Utah for the second straight year to grab their QB. Devin Brown has been visiting other top programs since the firing of Clay Helton. Brown is basically up for grabs at this point. Brown saw a big bump this week as well in 247’s rankings update. Jacurri Brown just isn’t on the level of most of the QBs from the Elite 11 Finals. He was out of his element during the Elite 11 Finals and continues to struggle being a consistent passer. His completion percentage isn’t anything special nor is his yards per attempt. Brown is a hard, hard pass for me. LSU’s Walker Howard is an interesting name to follow. His JR year gave me some Brock Vandagriff vibes (I’m a Vandagriff supporter). Howard plans to visit Notre Dame this weekend. He could be a major addition to the Irish’s class if they are able to pull off the recruiting upset. Tayven Jackson’s numbers don’t ‘wow’ you, but he stacks up favorably to the other QBs on this list. He plays in a very run-heavy offensive attack. I really love Jackson’s upside. He keeps moving his way up 247’s rankings. I’m not sure taking Maalik Murphy as the first QB in the Sark era at Texas was the best idea. Murphy has a long way to go. He hadn’t started a varsity game until this season and currently has a 7:4 TD:INT ratio. Murphy has a long way to go. Ty Simpson is having one of the better senior campaigns so far. Like any other position at Alabama, he’s going to have a fight on his hands for playing time. Overall, I’m not very impressed with this QB class so far. I don’t see a clear-cut top dawg right now.
4. G5 WR Love
Let’s talk about some G5 WRs that need some more love.
Deven Thompkins, Utah State: Thompkins is Tutu Atwell small but he’s been dominant in 2021. Bringing in 52-841-6 to begin the year. He’s top 10 in the nation in Yards Per Team Passing Attempt and leads the country in Air Yards. He’s been a dominant force that’s helped lift plenty of my C2C and CFF teams on a weekly basis. Currently 4th in the nation in PPR Points Per Game.
Tyrese Chambers, FIU: Chambers is leading the nation in aDOT (minimum 30 targets). Currently averaging over 30 yards per reception (21-671-6). Just like Thompkins he ranks top 10 in YPTPA.
Dante Cephas, Kent State: Cephas and Skky Moore have been two of the best receivers in the MAC so far. Cephas and Kent State have faced a very difficult schedule so far. Despite that, he’s hauled in 41-582-5 and is currently top 20 in YPTPA.
Guys like Javion Heiligh, Calvin Austin, and Jalen Tolbert all have had great seasons, but that was expected from them.
5. I Got Five On It
Year: 16-19
Last Week: 3-2
Lines Via BETMGM Indiana
Oklahoma (-38.5): That’s a lot of points but OU is on a roll and KU just flat out stinks. KU gives up the highest rate of Explosive Plays and 1st Downs (adjusted for FBS opponents only) in the nation. Overall, they rank as my 129th defensive unit. OU will want to stretch their legs with their new, reinvigorated offense.
Boston College (+6.5): Boston College didn’t look good last weekend but 6.5 is too big of a margin. I’ve got this game closer to 2 points in the Cards’ favor. After a near upset of Clemson, BC got beat up by NCST. SP+ has this game basically as a push depending on how much you adjust for home field.
Fresno State (-3): Again, I’m following the numbers on this one. I’ve got this game rated closer to 8 points in Fresno’s favor. Since the upset victory over UCLA, Fresno has struggled a bit. A narrow win at UNLV and a big upset loss against Hawaii. They beat Wyoming 17-0 last week but it wasn’t their best showing.
Notre Dame (-7): Homer pick! This grades closer to a 10 point game for me. After even more OL shuffling, I think ND found a serviceable combination against VT. The Trojans have the feeling of a team that quits once they face some adversity. If ND can get off to a hot start, I think this has some blowout potential.
North Carolina St (-3): NCST grades out as my 14th best defensive unit compared to the U’s 104th rated offense. I have a hard time seeing Miami moving the ball against this defense consistently. I’ll roll with the Pack and eat the 3 points.
