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, interesting stats, and a little bit of hip-hop music mixed in now and then.
1. Jase McClellan
With the departure of Najee Harris, the Crimson Tide are losing nearly 1,900 yards of total offense and 30 TDs. Alabama doesn’t have just one back that’ll vacuum up all of that lost production. It appears Brian Robinson Jr. is taking advantage of the extra COVID year and taking his crack at taking over for Harris. But sophomore McClellan will give him a fight for the RB1 spot. Over the past two seasons, Harris received 50% of the Tide’s rushing attempts (QB rushes included). The next man up only accounted for 20% over the same period. I expect the 2021 season to be a much more even split of attempts between Robinson and McClellan. I believe Trey Sanders is the odd man out. I was lower on Sanders coming out of high school and he didn’t look very efficient following his ACL injury during his freshman season.
McClellan flipped to Alabama after being committed to Oklahoma for over two and a half years. Playing against the second-highest level of competition in the state of Texas, McClellan was extremely productive. Tallying 867/6686/124 rushing for his four-year career and caught 28/428/3 for Aledo High School. McClellan was extremely productive in his limited carries. He only received 24 rushing attempts but cranked out 250 yards including 7 rushes of 10 yards or more with 180 yards after contact. Listed at 5’11” and 212lbs, McClellan is just a hair under the 30 BMI mark. He should have no problem adding another 3lbs to get over the 30 mark.
The March before his senior season of high school, McClellan ran a verified 4.55 40-yard dash at a Nike Opening Regional event. On the field, he shows above-average speed. Runs with good power utilizing an excellent stiff arm and runs through defenders. Has outstanding balance at the point of contact that allows him to gain yards after contact. McClellan is difficult to get to the ground. His change of direction is just okay; it’s not a big part of his game. McClellan is a downhill runner who shows good, additional explosion through the line of scrimmage.
2. Keyvone Lee
One player that continues to get a lot of hype that I totally don’t understand is Keyvone Lee of Penn State. He’s slow, not athletic, and old. Lee played his true freshman season as a 20-year-old. He’s older than his fellow teammates Noah Cain and Devyn Ford, despite both backs being on Penn State’s campus one full year longer than Lee. Lee rushed for over 1,200 yards as a freshman in high school but slowly saw his production drop off each year in high school. Lee is built like a beast. He was listed at 230lbs as a true freshman, not sure that’s a good thing though. Lee could shed some of that weight and try to add some more speed and agility to his game.
This past season, it took injuries to Journey Brown, Noah Cain, and Devyn Ford for Lee to see the field in an impactful role. A healthy Cain is most likely the starter in 2021 for the Nittany Lions. Lee will be fighting for the RB2 spot with Ford and Caziah Holmes. Penn State even added a transfer in John Lovett from Baylor. He tallied nearly 2,000 total yards and 18 TDs in four seasons at Baylor. I can’t imagine Lovett picked Penn State to be running fourth on the depth chart, so he’ll be another threat to Lee in 2021. I would highly advise staying away from Lee, there are numerous 2023 backs that I’d take over Lee. He’s about as J.A.G. as it gets.
3. A Lost Talent
Former Notre Dame standout receiver Kevin (KJ) Stepherson has had a tumultuous college career. As a true freshman in 2016, Stepherson hauled in 25-462-5 (18.5 YPR) giving him a 15% market share of passing yards as a tFR playing behind Equanimeous St. Brown. Following his freshman season, Stepherson found himself in some trouble with the university and was suspended for the first four games of the 2017 season. Following his suspension, Stepherson tallied 18-362-5 (20.1 YPR) in his final six games of the 2017 season. Over that final six-game stretch, his 362 yards accounted for 32% of Notre Dame’s passing yards. He was once again suspended prior to the Irish’s bowl game in 2017.
“Suspended Notre Dame wide receiver Kevin Stepherson has been charged with possession of marijuana, speeding and no valid driver’s license, according to a case summary on mycase.IN.gov.
Stepherson, a sophomore, was pulled over for speeding on Dec. 14, according to WNDU-TV, which had the initial report.
The incident occurred one day before Stepherson and freshman running back C.J. Holmes were reportedly arrested for allegedly shoplifting at the University Park Mall in Mishawaka, Ind.
The report of the alleged shoplifting emerged shortly after Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly announced Wednesday that Stepherson and Holmes were suspended indefinitely from all football-related activities.” Via Chicago Tribune.
A month later Stepherson was dismissed from Notre Dame. A few short weeks after his dismissal, Stepherson was once again in trouble with the law.
“Kevin Stepherson’s string of arrests continued on Friday.
According to an arrest report obtained by Irish Sports Daily, the former Notre Dame wide receiver was arrested for possession of marijuana, visiting a common nuisance, and possession of paraphernalia in Whitley County. The arrest report said Stepherson was released on bond Saturday morning with a court date set for Monday.
Stepherson was dismissed from Notre Dame’s football team earlier this month after being suspended indefinitely in December following a pair of arrests. Stepherson was charged with possession of marijuana, speeding and driving without a valid driver’s license in Marshall County following an arrest on Dec. 14. The next day, he was arrested for allegedly shoplifting at University Park Mall in Mishawaka and later charged with conversion.
In Aug. 2016, Stepherson was arrested for possession of marijuana in Fulton County. He pleaded guilty and was granted a conditional discharge.” Via NDInsider.
After a year away from football, Stepherson reemerged at Jacksonville State. In nine games in 2019, Stepherson finished third on the team with 36-479-6 (13.1 YPR). Just a hair under 20% market share of passing yards on a per-game basis. He found himself in the transfer portal once again this summer. It appears Stepherson never found a landing spot and didn’t play college ball in 2020.
At this point, I’m not even sure what Stepherson’s plans are. It’s been five years since he graduated high school. I would guess to say his next move is the NFL Draft. He’s been spotted working out with former Irish teammate Ian Book as he preps for the NFL Draft. Stepherson is a talented but troubled prospect. The odds are Stepherson isn’t drafted and he’s forced to go the UDFA route if he does enter the 2021 NFL Draft. Odds are even against him making an NFL roster as a UDFA. But if he’s able to snag a roster spot, he’s got the potential to be a good NFL player. Recent comments (below) from former teammates of Stepherson’s sparked my travel down memory lane of Stepherson’s time at Notre Dame. Some high praise from NFL players.
4. Lance LeGendre
LeGendre finds his way home with a transfer to Louisiana. The Ragin’ Cajuns are bringing back a two-year starter in Levi Lewis. The former 4-star recruit will have a battle on his hands to dethrone Lewis in 2021. Lewis saw a pretty big decline in his play from 2019 to 2020. He saw a 5% dip in his completion percentage and threw three more interceptions on 82 fewer passing attempts. LeGendre originally signed with Maryland and saw sparse action over two years with the ‘Terps. The writing was on the wall when Locksley got a transfer from Taulia Tagovailoa, a former recruit of his at Alabama. LeGendre was the odd man out. Over his two seasons at Maryland, LeGendre totaled 12-17 for 98 YDs and 0 TDs to 2 INTs. He added another 93 yards on 19 rushing attempts. Not a glowing start, but LeGendre has plenty of talent to be a good player against Sun Belt level defenses.
I would bet Levi Lewis is the starting QB entering 2021 just due to experience and comfortability, but his poor play in 2020 has left the door open for a legit QB battle. According to ESPN’s Bill Connelly, Louisiana brings back 98% of its production from 2020. I can’t imagine they want to rock the boat and make a QB change with that much congruity. Once LeGendre is the man, most likely in 2022, he’ll be a good fantasy option due to his legs. I don’t see LeGendre as much of an NFL prospect right now, but his fantasy upside gives him C2C appeal.
5. Freshman Spotlight
Moving forward until next fall, when we have some game action again, I’ll be highlighting an incoming freshman each week in the 5 spot. This week I shine a light on Kamarro Edmonds, who’s walking into a massive departure of production in the Tar Heel backfield.
Edmonds signed with UNC as the 8th rated back in the 2024 class. Due to COVID, the state of North Carolina didn’t play high school football this past fall. As a junior in 2019, Edmonds tallied 148-1402-17 on the ground and added another 21-270-2 as a pass-catcher. Edmonds is walking into Chapel Hill with a chance to carve out a role in 2021. With the loss of Javonte Williams and Michael Carter to the NFL. UNC has to make up 313-2385-28 of lost rushing production between the two. The dynamic duo also accounted for 50-572-5 as pass-catchers. That’s nearly 3,000 yards of total offense and 33 TDs ready for the taking. The Tar Heels added a transfer in RB Ty Chandler. I would expect Chandler to be the RB1 entering the season, but he’s a good couple of tiers below Williams and Carter in talent. So there will still be plenty of opportunities for another back to showcase his talent in 2021.
“He’s 5-11, 220. He is out of Havelock High School. He’s a big, powerful guy that is really fast. He’s got good instincts and vision. Two big backs here remind you of Javonte (Williams) some, which is a good thing right now for everybody with the way Javonte is running. He cuts back and explodes right after he gets back at 220 pounds. Weightlifter, very strong. He has outstanding speed once he gets on the corner, again this is a 220-pound man. He grew up loving North Carolina. He has good hands and we like to throw to our backs out of the backfield.” From Mack Brown during the early signing period.
Edmonds weighed in at 191lbs back in April of 2019. So that’s quite the transformation in just 20 months. If that truly is the case, Edmonds has packed on about 20lbs since his last highlight film from his junior year. That could totally transform his speed, quickness, and lateral quickness. I really liked Edmonds lateral movement from his junior film but does this added weight affect that? It’s just too hard to tell with no senior film thus far. The state of North Carolina was scheduled to kick off practice this week actually. According to Edmonds’ Twitter, he still plans to play this spring. So we will get answers to how he plays at his new weight in no time. I will be keeping a close on Edmonds’s development this spring. But he no doubt has a body ready for college.
