The most passionate college football fans across the country will talk about the excitement of the game and how every year it captures our attention with intriguing storylines and rivalries that produce instant classics on the gridiron. Nobody watches more college football than NFL scouts that roam the country looking for the next big draft pick that can help their franchise succeed. Pro teams spend the most time evaluating prospective talent at the junior level because they are eligible for the NFL Draft after that season and the window to make it grows smaller with every passing year in college. Here is a look at the five best juniors in college football heading in to the 2016 season.
RB: Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
McCaffrey established himself as one of the most dangerous all-purpose weapons in college football as a sophomore last season running the football, catching passes out of the backfield and returning both kicks and punts. McCaffrey compiled an all-time FBS record with 3,864 all-purpose yards including a ridiculous 2,019 rushing yards and eight touchdowns with 645 receiving yards and another five scores. It will be very difficult for McCaffrey to match that level of production in 2016 but with the Cardinal breaking in a new quarterback they will rely on their all-purpose weapon more than anybody this season. McCaffrey’s elite playmaking ability has him in the college football spotlight heading in to 2016 and at the top of the list in terms of the best junior players heading in to this season.
QB: DeShaun Watson, Clemson
McCaffrey might be the best pure returning talent among junior players but it’s Watson who is the most likely junior to go first-overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. Clemson’s star quarterback became the first player in FBS history with 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards while leading the Tigers to a national championship game appearance last season. He had six 400-yard games including the national title game loss to Alabama in which he had 478 of Clemson’s 550 yards. The favorite to win the Heisman trophy will have a tough road trying to lead the Tigers back to the national championship game but Clemson is loaded on offense and Watson will have every opportunity to shine again in 2016.
RB: Leonard Fournette, LSU
Fournette’s dominance out of the gates last year had people talking about how smart it would be to change the NFL Draft-eligible year to include college sophomores rather than limiting it to juniors and seniors. There is no denying he slowed down a bit towards the end of the year but he still finished with 1,953 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns to shatter LSU records and put NFL teams on alert. Fournette has an excellent combination of size, speed and power and it will be interesting to see if the Tigers use him a little bit more in the passing game in order to maximize his potential. Fournette’s ability to make big plays despite constantly facing stacked boxes in the SEC is something special and all eyes will be on him to see what he has in store for an encore in 2016.
RB: Dalvin Cook, Florida State
One of the star juniors looking to keep Watson and Clemson from reaching the College Football Playoff is the Florida State running back Cook. He is the first Seminoles running back with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons since Warrick Dunn did it three straight years in the mid-1990’s. Cook ran for 1,691 yards and 15 touchdowns and he needs 1,261 yards to pass Dunn’s school record as well as 17 touchdown runs to top Greg Allen’s school record. Offseason shoulder surgery isn’t expected to slow him down once September rolls around so keep an eye on Cook as a junior with the potential to shine this season.
DE: Myles Garrett, Texas A&M
Garrett has been talked about a lot as one of the best returning players on the defensive side of the football heading in to 2016 and for good reason. He set the SEC freshman sack record in 2014 and has recorded 24 sacks and 33.5 tackles for a loss in his first two seasons at Texas A&M as an absolute force coming off the edge. The presence of Daeshon Hall and Daylon Mack on the Aggies’ defensive line should help take the Aggies’ pass rush to the next level and expectations are high for one of the best returning defensive ends in the country heading in to 2016.
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