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Heading into the 2014 college football season, WalterFootball.com will debut our projections for the nation’s leaders during the fall. The All-American teams always have some surprises, and the next fall’s stars could be the headline players next May for the 2015 NFL Draft. We also will project the winners of the postseason awards that are given out to the best of college football.
The Davey O’Brien Award is given to the best quarterback in college football. Last year’s winner was Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.
Davey O’Brien Award Winner:
Marcus Mariota, Oregon I was going to predict Winston to repeat, but I went with Mariota for a few reasons. Mariota has a strong supporting cast in an offense that is a proven point-machine. There is no reason to think that he won’t have a prolific season. The O’Brien Award hasn’t had a back-to-back winner since Jason White at Oklahoma in 2003 and 2004. In that time, many deserving players didn’t win it twice in a row, including players like Florida’s Tim Tebow, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel and Stanford’s Andrew Luck – who never won the O’Brien Award. Winston also has a very young receiving corps and teams now have a full season of tape to scheme against him. Thus, I think Mariota is more likely to win the O’Brien Award.
Mariota completed 64 percent of his passes in 2013 for 3,665 yards with 31 touchdowns and four interceptions. On the ground, the redshirt sophomore ran for 715 yards with nine touchdowns. While Mariota did a great job of avoiding throwing picks, he had some issues with fumbles. Mariota did a good job of running Oregon’s offense in 2012. The redshirt freshman completed 68 percent of his passes for 2,677 yards with 32 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also ran for 898 yards (752 net) with five touchdowns.
I think of all of the top quarterback candidates, Mariota (6-4, 218) is the most likely to produce a massive season and bring home the Davey O’Brien Award.
Davey O’Brien Award Runner-Up:
Jameis Winston, Florida State As long as off-the-field issues and distractions don’t derail Winston, he should dominate in 2014. The Seminoles play in a weak conference, plus Winston destroyed the ACC last year. Once again, Florida State has a massive talent advantage over its ACC competition, so there is no reason for Winston not to produce a huge season. However, the reasons above outline why I think Mariota is a safer bet to win the O’Brien Award.
Winston took college football by storm in 2013 as the Heisman Trophy winner while leading Florida State to a National Championship. The redshirt freshman demonstrated a quality arm with well-developed passing ability. Winston completed 67 percent of his passes for 4,057 yards with 40 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. On the ground, he ran for 219 yards with four touchdowns.
The 6-foot-4, 228-pound Winston is a rare athlete who is a natural passer. His field vision and decision-making were phenomenal in 2013. It is scary to think how good his field vision could be in the future as he gains more experience. However, Winston has a very young receiving corps while teams will be selling out to limit the signal-caller after getting an offseason to scheme for him.
Davey O’Brien Award Dark Horse:
Christian Hackenberg, Penn State Hackenberg was the star recruit for Bill O’Brien and proved the hype legitimate during an impressive 2013 season when he was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Hackenberg completed 59 percent of his passes for 2,955 yards with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also ran for four touchdowns. Hackenberg has great size, a strong arm, pocket presence and is very advanced in his field vision. While losing O’Brien to the Texans hurts, James Franklin is an astute offensive coach who should develop Hackenberg well.
WalterFootball.com has heard from sources in the NFL that Hackenberg could end up being an elite quarterback prospect and worthy of going first overall. Some feel he could be the best signal-caller in college football as soon as 2015 and end up being a better prospect than either Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota.
The 6-foot-4, 234-pound Hackenberg has the skill set to dominate. If his receivers play well and Penn State finds a replacement for Allen Robinson, Hackenberg should have a huge season. The O’Brien Award hasn’t been shy about selecting underclassmen as Winston, Manziel and Tebow all won the award as freshmen or sophomores.
Honorable Mentions: UCLA’s Brett Hundley, Baylor’s Bryce Petty, Auburn’s Nick Marshall, Michigan’s Devin Gardner, Arizona State’s Taylor Kelly, Ohio State’s Braxton Miller, UCLA’s Brett Hundley, Michigan State’s Connor Cook, Oregon State’s Sean Mannion, Stanford’s Kevin Hogan, Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott, USC’s Cody Kessler, Notre Dame’s Everett Golson, Missouri’s Maty Mauk, BYU’s Taysom Hill and Oklahoma State’s J.W. Walsh.
2014 Preseason All-American Projections:
QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | G | C | DE | DT | OLB | ILB | CB | S | P/K
Rimington Trophy | Mackey Award | Lombardi Award | Thorpe Award | Butkus Award | Lott IMPACT Trophy | Outland Trophy | Biletnikoff Award | Walker Award | Hendricks Award | O'Brien Award | Groza Award | Guy Award | Bednarik Award | Camp Award | Maxwell Award | Nagurski Award | Rodgers Award | Hornung Award | Heisman Trophy | College Playoff Projections
QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | G | C | DE | DT | OLB | ILB | CB | S | P/K
Rimington Trophy | Mackey Award | Lombardi Award | Thorpe Award | Butkus Award | Lott IMPACT Trophy | Outland Trophy | Biletnikoff Award | Walker Award | Hendricks Award | O'Brien Award | Groza Award | Guy Award | Bednarik Award | Camp Award | Maxwell Award | Nagurski Award | Rodgers Award | Hornung Award | Heisman Trophy | College Playoff Projections
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Fantasy Football Rankings - Sept. 4
