It’s never too early to start talking about college football, which is why our staff will continue to discuss some of the hottest topics in the game today. Thus far, we’ve discussed the best and worst coaching hires, as well as the biggest surprise team and the most disappointing team. In today’s roundtable, we talk about which transfer will have the greatest impact on the gridiron this fall.
Question: Which transfer will have the biggest impact in college football this season?
Bart Doan
On Twitter @TheCoachBart
I haven’t dipped into my bag of Homer Mix lately, so maybe this strikes me as way more obvious of an answer than it does to anyone else, but can you really go anywhere with this question other than John O’Korn at Michigan?
Here’s a guy who, in his last full season at Houston, tossed for over 3,100 yards and had 28 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. His quarterback rating was just over 133, which was the same that Jake Rudock’s was his last season at Iowa before transferring to Michigan and playing for Jim Harbaugh and staff.
Rudock raised his rating around 8 points. While I don’t claim to know the full machinations of what goes into a rating like that and how truly valid things like that are, it’s without question clear that Rudock improved in his one season at Michigan from a guy who mostly wasn’t asked to carry the team on his back at Iowa to sometimes having to do that in Ann Arbor and succeeding.
O’Korn is a big, strong armed Houston success story that got injured in 2014 and decided to make the switch amid a coaching change for the Cougars. It’s important to temper the expectations, though, because in the five games he played in 2014, he was a brutally rough 6 touchdowns to 8 interceptions. He threw four the first game of the season, a flogging by UTSA. His completion percentage was a shade over 50, which isn’t good.
But from an “impact” perspective, you’ve got a Michigan team with massive expectations and a void at quarterback, a position their coach is supposed to be a specialist at getting the most out of. From that vantage point, it’s hard to find what will be a more impacting situation, one way or the other.
Joe Dexter
On Twitter @BuckeyeRadio
One of the most underrated impact transfers that will take the field this season is Houston’s Duke Catalon.
The former four-star running back returns to his hometown after one season in Austin with the Texas Longhorns. Catalon’s presence in the lineup could help determine whether the Cougar offense takes another step closer to becoming one of the elite units in college football.
Yes, the Tom Herman and Major Applewhite-led offense is heavily based on quarterback Greg Ward’s legs, with 35% of the team’s rushing plays coming from the quarterback position. However, to take their offense to the highest level though, the Cougars need their running backs to produce.
They had that last year in seniors Kenneth Farrow and Ryan Jackson. Both averaged nearly five yards per carry, with Farrow gaining over 1,100 yards rushing and Jackson rushing for 958.
What made the Houston offense so dangerous was the ability to count on the running back position on third down. The Cougars converted 51% of their third-down attempts last season — which was the second best total in the country. Against ranked opponents, they moved the chains 69% of the time.
In situations when the offense had 1-3 yards to go on third down, backs averaged 7.3 yards per carry. All told, 11 of their 13 third-down rushing touchdowns came in the same situation.
Herman — who had that type of catalyst in the ground game at Ohio State in Ezekiel Elliott — sees the same ability in Catalon. A running back that can be a bruiser, blocker, or receiver, and who can use his speed in the open field to move the sticks, he has all the tools necessary to help open things for up the passing game.
Herman believes in the impact the 5-10, 195-pound tailback can have in 2016. He recently told ESPN’s Sam Khan that Catalon ranks right behind Elliott as the second best all-around back he’s coached in terms of his speed, open-field playmaking, athletic ability, physicality, and power.
That’s the type of praise that will get you on the field early and often for one of the best offensive coaching staffs in college football.
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter @SectionTPJ
He hasn’t been named the starter yet, but I think Arkansas State’s Justice Hansen will make the biggest impact this fall.
Make no mistake about it: Hansen is just what the doctor ordered for the Red Wolves’ offense. After all, ASU has the monumental task of replacing dual-threat quarterback Fredi Knighten, who threw for 5,371 yards, rushed for 1,619 yards, and accounted for 68 career TD’s (46 passing, 21 rushing, 1 receiving).
As great as Knighten was as the Red Wolf triggerman, Hansen has all of the tools to be even better. While most scouts consider him as a “pro-style” quarterback, Hansen also has 4.55 speed, which makes him a nightmare for opposing defenses to defend.
But don’t take my word for it: just look at the numbers. In nine games for Butler CC last year, he completed 163-of-211 passes (77.3%) for 1694 yards, with a very respectable 12-to-2 TD-to-INT ratio. And while he only averaged 3.0 yards per carry, Hansen did make plenty of plays with his feet, recording at least one run of 10 yards or more in seven of nine games, including a 50-yard run against Iowa Western in his first start.
There’s no reason to think that he won’t do the same at Arkansas State, especially under the tutelage of an offensive guru like Blake Anderson. The combination of Hansen to Cameron Echols-Luper — who finished 16th nationally in punt returns for TCU in 2014 — will be one of the most dangerous duos in the country.
Kevin Causey:
On Twitter @CFBZ
There are a lot of ways to go with this question. Dakota Prukop, Luke Del Rio, Patrick Towles and Darell Garretson are all guys that intrigue me a lot and are players I will keep an eye on this year.
One guy that I think will be able to come in and have immediate success is Trevor Knight. We all remember Knight for his magical performance against Alabama where he went 32 of 44 for 4 TDs.
Ultimately, he couldn’t live up to his own hype and he was eventually displaced by Baker Mayfield. Knight has moved on to Texas A&M where he will get a fresh start and he will get to do so in an offense that has had a couple of down years (at least for Kevin Sumlin) but has the ability to be very explosive. Look for Knight to have a very good senior season for the Aggies.
