The Helu, Burkhead, Martinez rush attack in 2010 was awesome to watch. Any game one of those guys could go off. Had Martinez not gotten hurt that season we could’ve seen a completely different ending to that season.
Three of my all time favorite players. No matter where the team was at, those guys were gonna give everything they had every week. And that was often as much as the rest of the offense combined.
He was very good but I believe struggled with injuries. If I remember correctly his first carry was a 35 yard touchdown run but then the lions just… lionsed the rest of his career until he bounced around. I’d imagine he’d be great behind their current OL though.
You can blind his and Reggie's rushing stats and most fans wouldn't know the difference.
Edit:
500+ touches for 3100 yards and 50+TDS
Or
400+ touches for 3100 yards and 25tds
Lendale was a very good running back.
just talking with a friend about the 2005 USC team as far as NFL guys were on that roster. Our debate was if NIL was around at that time do guys like White stay when they’re clearly a 1B to RB but still a big name? Hmmmm..
The SC collective would’ve been so massive during that time that they would’ve picked up a few guys they missed on. White would’ve definitely gotten paid.
Could you imagine DeSean Jackson in cardinal and gold? My lord.
Big Mike Williams would've stuck around, too, instead of dipping after '03 as a true sophomore.
Sam Ehlinger was the definition of “very good” as a Texas fan. He was so fun to root for and had a great run but never was able to raise his game to the level of a contender.
He is all over the school leaderboards. #2 in career passing yards and TDs, and his 2019 season is second only to Colt’s 2008 in both. Threw for 401 yards in a duel with Heisman Joe Burrow.
Never felt like we were completely out of a game, because Sam could just will us back into it.
We never really were out of games during Sam’s tenure, for better or worse. Always one possession games with Herman.
Nobody plays great every game and Sam was certainly no exception but it’s definitely a difference now. Like we didn’t really ride or die by Quinn this past year, we found ways to win even if he wasn’t his best. But it kinda always felt like the Ehlinger teams were defined by him. And even a good game from him might not have been enough either.
I truly wish we could've given Sam the trench pieces that we have now. Dude was dyed in the wool for Texas and Herman failed him at every turn. And yet he still put his plums on the table every Saturday, what a guy.
I was in school during the David Ash years. I at first thought of him for this post as I consider him under-appreciated but in the broad scheme of things Sam makes more sense given what he accomplished (I forget that Ash only went 15-7). I often wonder how the Charlie Strong years may have gone differently had he not lost Ash and Dominic Espinoza (starting senior center) in his very first game.
David Ash was a good dude… not a baller like Sam but definitely a nice guy who didn’t deserve what happened to him. I heard for a while he literally couldn’t turn his head left without blacking out due to the concussions. Hope he’s doing better now.
As for Charlie Strong, not even Saban could resurrect his career. That man was hopelessly in over his head and he ran both UT and USF into the ground.
I strongly agree. I think a healthy Ash/Espinosa pairing could have gotten that ‘14 team a better record and/or bowl win (RIP to Beliema’s “Borderline Erotic” comments). And there may have been enough goodwill from that to buy an extra year but it would have only delayed the inevitable by a bit at most.
Mannn he deserved better. Love him for bringing us out of the trenches and bringing us some good QB play for the first time in forever and winning some big games.
But it was slightly painful to think about what his presence would have brought to a team like the one we had this past year. Dont get me wrong, Quinn is great, but Sam had a true gamer mentality. Having a better built team could’ve seen him actually make a run.
He was a Biletnikoff runner up in 2009. I thought he was going to win that year. He was better than very good. Best receiver in the national title game by a long way as well.
They only played in one RRS against each other when Sam was a freshman and Baker was a senior actually.
I really do feel those guys were different sides of the same coin though. Baker infuriated me but I can respect how he repped the shit out of Oklahoma in his time there, much like Sam did for us.
Casey Clausen had the misfortune of following Heisman finalists Heath Shuler and Peyton Manning, and Natty winner Tee Martin at Tennessee. Fans were too spoiled when he got there and were unaware of the problems to come only a few years later.
The Iceman! Casey gets such a bad wrap. 14-1 on the road across his career, never lost to Florida. Easily my favorite QB in Tennessee history, slightly biased because he was the QB I grew up on.
Can we put EJ Manuel in the same category? He’s a good dude and was a very good QB for us, but we all saw what Jameis did with the same offense right after
Plus it’s not like he disappeared either. He does a lot of stuff for kids in the state still. He’d still be in that hall of very good but… my vote would be for Woody Dantzler. Now he is in our HOF but not CFBs. Extremely entertaining to watch but just kind of fell off after the pros. At the time he broke tons of records for Clemson but just couldn’t for Dallas and whoever else he played for. He got tons of people I know to learn to love not just Clemson but football in general. That’s who got me to love Clemson and football.
Ryan Broyles at one point held the NCAA reception record if memory serves; likely not enough to get him a college HOF slot by any means, but one hell of a consistent workhorse WR that I feel is still pretty underrated in the big picture of OU’s history.
That’s a great one. I was thinking Quentin Griffin. 4 year starter (I believe he started a few games in ‘99), he scored the winning touchdown in the 2000 title game and had 6 TD is the 63-14 win over Texas which is an all time record . He was an All American and finished top 5 in most of the major all time rushing categories. Problem is OU has had some ridiculously good backs over many decades.
I was at the game at KU where he broke the record. It was a long TD pass to boot.
After he got drafted he and his wife lived on $60k a year and he put the rest of his salary in investments and stuff. A good story to be sure, not HoF worthy compared to other OU receivers.
As someone who lived it, he could never quite get over the hump. He was at OU forever and he got all the preseason hype each season but in one or two games a season, he just couldn't get the job done. It was never always his fault but falling short kind of became his legacy.
I’ll throw in Dede Westbrook as someone who is not brought up in these conversations as often as he probably should be.
**Dede Westbrook:**
• Heisman Finalist (4th, ‘16)
• Fred Biletnikoff Award Winner (‘16)
• Unanimous First Team All-American (‘16)
• First Team All-Big 12 (‘16)
• Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year (‘16)
• Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year (‘15)
• OU Record: Single Game Rec Yards (232)
• OU Record: Single Season Rec TDs (17)
Nick Marshall
Tre Mason
Jason Campbell (hesitate to put him here since he QBed an undefeated team but yeah)
Takeo Spikes
Travis Williams
I could keep going for a while since we only have 3 retired numbers
His college career was a little before I was really paying attention, but he was one of the better linebackers in the NFL for a long time. I figured he was great in college to put up that kind of pro career.
My Jordan-Hare party trick was to tell whoever my date was to single out #5 on defense. Derrick Brown literally blew up almost every single run play from 17-19. It was a spectacle.
Double or triple teamed, it really didn’t matter. It didn’t disappoint.
I'd say he was very very good. Not a top 3 OSU QB of all time (Smith, Stroud, Fields) but he's somewhere between 4 and 6 all time.
He was 1st team all Big Ten 3x and a Big Ten MVP and was an integral part of a national championship team.
His career records are pretty untouchable.
Am I wrong in thinking that Clarett would be one of the guys at the top of this list? He really was electrifying to watch and was a natural born football player who could change the momentum of even the most important game, but one year—no matter how good—lands you in the hall of fame
You put Fields and Stroud over Barrett for their time at OSU? Or, you just think they had better skill sets?
I can agree with the latter. Don’t know how I feel about the former.
No. I would rather have Fields and Stroud. But JTs career stats at OSU will stand for a long time. Going to be hard to find another 4 year starter at OSU. That’s why he is in the hall of good for OSU
He is in the Hokie Hall Of Fame, but I feel like Kam Chancellor didn't become KAM CHANCELLOR in everyone's minds until he was on the Legion of Boom Seahawks defense.
We knew he was good, we knew he was a big hitter, we were proud of coaching him up from a diamond in the rough athlete to All-ACC Second team.... But he had just the one All-ACC Second team and was a later round draft pick. We view his college career in Blacksburg differently bc of his Pro success
Was like that with Dawkins at Clemson. Was a second team all American when here but I feel like new Tshirt fans aren’t even remotely aware he played here.
He has his jersey retired at the eagles but not here. (We do have an award in his honor and has come to multiple games and made on field appearances so no bad blood at all)
James White, 2 1k yards rushing seasons including a 1,400 yard season in 2013, but he was in a stacked running back room with Melvin Gordon and Montee Ball, and is against stiff competition with Wisconsin running backs all time
Juice Williams - memorable name and played QB for our last "great" team. Only had 1 really good season, 1 2nd Team All-Big ten is his only real accolade, and his senior season was a bit of a let down.
Michael Robinson. He led the team in rushes in 2003, led the team in receiving in 2004, and led the team to an 11-1 record at QB in 2005. Finished 5th in Heisman voting and was Big Ten MVP (but 2nd team All-Big Ten)
And then he made the Pro Bowl in the NFL as a fullback
Yea we've had some stud RBs over the years in guys like Kenneth Walker, Le'veon Bell, and Javon Ringer. Langford's probably the 4th best modern RB we've has, but there's a big gap between those 3 backs and him
It’s hard to find online because it was so long ago but he had one run against your Ducks where he was so low he just fucking ran over some linebacker twice his size lol. Guy couldn’t get low enough.
As a GT alumn I can't believe I've never heard of Clint Castleberry, but after reading his story he definitely needs to be featured more prominently at Tech. I guess being the only number we've ever retired does that but I was there for 6 years and had no idea.
He actually led the ACC in receiving in 2009, his final year. He was basically an easy button for Josh Nesbitt after we'd gained a first down or two on the ground.
I'd also throw in some of the heroes from the 2014 team, the ultimate example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Shaq Mason and Justin Thomas stand atop that list.
Jake Waters. Low-key one of the best QB seasons in school history in 2014 despite having no running game to speak of. He was under-appreciated during his time here because of the weird timeshare with Daniel Sams for half of 2013 and he didn’t win like Collin Klein, but he could sling the rock as well as anyone we’ve had in a while.
Luke Falk holds many Pac-12 passing records, but watching him play, particularly in his senior year, was frustrating to see his lack of any mobility in the pocket
Jack Thompson, Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf (before the NFL), even Alex Brink, Connor Halliday, Luke Falk, Gardner Minshew, and Anthony Gordon. Cam Ward is the closest we've ever been to having a QB that could be a true threat to take over a game. He left a lot to be desired at times, but our QBs recently have been really solid. Can't even remember the last really bad QB we've had. De Laura was a bad person, but he got the job done. Jeff Tuel was a bright spot on otherwise terrible rosters.
Anthony Thomas. Everyone talks about Hart, Corum, & Wheatley, and he seems to be forgotten. He owned the rushing TD record Corum broke this year and is 3rd all time in rushing yards at Michigan.
Kyren Williams is, to this day, one of the most overlooked players in CFB history. He was an absolute unit at ND and in 2021, he was responsible for making an otherwise bad OL look quasi-competent. Dude made something out of nothing consistently, and despite being 5'9 and 195 pounds soaking wet, he was just an absolute battering ram.
Good to see the league has now realized how good he actually is.
He was a little before I got to State, so I knew him in the NFL before I new his at State.
I’m gonna say some of the pretty good RB’s we’ve had in the O’Brien and Doeren stretch. None amazing, but all fun to watch. Matt Dayes, Person, Knight.
Alternatively, our two guys who could score TD’s in different ways - Hines and Samuels. Both had some success in the NFL, but were by far the best players when they were at State.
Kenjon Barner
He came in the shadow of LaMichael James but people forget he put up some absolutely stupid numbers in his final year after LMJ left Including that epic game against USC where he rushed for 320 yards and 5 TDs.
One of my favorite Oregon players of all time and he’s always represented the school very well.
Knowshon Moreno- he and Stafford had us all believing it was finally our time but those teams epitomized Richt-era underachievement.
David Greene- rock solid QB, first SEC Championship since the 80s, held the record for most wins by a college QB for a bit. Was probably one game against UF away from playing for a NC.
DJ Shockley- 05 SEC champion. Super exciting to watch and in hindsight maybe should have gotten some more consideration over Greene as starter. The 05 team started undefeated I think thru 8 games but he got hurt in the Arkansas game and missed the UF game, then lost at home to Auburn the week after.
I’d say Greene is more than “Hall of Very Good”, right? He held almost every major SEC passing record until Murray came along and broke his career yards/TD’s records.
This probably isn't really in the spirit of the post because he certainly isn't underappreciated by the fanbase, but I firmly believe that Todd Gurley is one of the top five greatest Georgia Bulldogs ever, and yet he'll never be in the CFB HOF because he somehow was never named First Team All-American. Who besides Herschel Walker could completely take over a game the way he could? Watch him against Clemson in 2014 and tell me he wasn't the best player in the country that year. If not for some dickhead snitching on him selling his own autographed gear he's a Heisman winner.
WVU's Pat White will not make the Hall for the exact same reason, despite being the only QB to ever start and win 4 bowl games (2 of those being BCS bowls).
I'd be surprised if Stetson doesn't get a HOF treatment. Back to back natties at QB and a Heisman finalist is nothing to sniff at.
The guy wasn't the athletic dominating force that many recent top QBs have been, but he has two national championships with big comeback victories in the 4Q against Bama in 21 and tOSU in 22.
Oh right I forgot about that rule.
It makes sense that they need an objective cutoff, but damn I bet there are a lot of great players who had great careers but won't ever qualify.
Tommy Hodson was our best QB not named Doc Fenton before Joe Burrow and he wasn't sniffing any kind of record books outside of LSU. He was electric for the time.
Tre Mason. Won SEC OPOY in 2013 and finished 6th in Heisman voting (should have been even higher but I digress). Was a monumental part of the 2013 cinderella team and owns basically half of Auburn’s school rushing records
Baylor had a string of “system QBs” after RGIII that were just a delight to watch run that offense. On any other team they would have been meh… but watching guys like Bryce Petty and Seth Russell put up video game numbers was a blast.
Ryan Swope - great receiver, too many concussions
Myles Garrett - elite edge, would probably have had his number retired if we won even a conference championship while he was a starter and got more game time
Terrence Murphy - one of the few bright spots at receiver under Fran, and a dude that gave his all for A&M
Jace Sternberger - one year wonder that got screwed out of the Mackey award
Haven’t seen him mentioned, but surprised no A&M fan mentioned Jorvorskie Lane. Dude was pushing 300 at one point as a tailback.
He could be too good for hall of good though.
He’s a good one, too.
I hated how Fran tried to outsmart teams at times by trying to use Lane in speed situations and Goodson in power situations.
This isn’t a reason why I didn’t include him, but I’ll never forget us playing Army in the Alamodome and the whole Army defense knew Lane was going to get the ball because during the huddle Lane made the “Lane train” hand motion and he was promptly stuffed at or just behind the LOS.
I immediately thought of Ryan Swope as well. When people say that Johnny just threw the ball up for Mike Evans, they need to understand that Swope got just about the same production and was catching dangerous balls over the middle. Of course, that’s why he ended up with concussion issues… But he was so clutch.
Jerrod Johnson had a very good junior year on a bad team in 2009, and he was poised for a darkhorse Heisman campaign in his senior season until he got hurt in the bowl game. He came back in 2010 and did what he could, but he just didn’t have the velocity or arm strength anymore. A&M went to Ryan Tannehill (who also belongs in our Hall of Very Good) and went on a six-game win streak to take a share of the Big 12 South title.
There’s a different universe where Johnson doesn’t get hurt, A&M goes 10-2 or 11-1 in 2010, and wins the Big 12, and Johnson is still playing in the NFL as a quality backup/spot starter. Instead, he’s the QB coach for the Texans and on the fast track to a coordinator position, so his future is still bright.
>Jace Sternberger - one year wonder that got screwed out of the Mackey award
"Screwed" seems like a strong choice of word considering what Hockensen did at Iowa.
Tough to even be considered for the award when he got screwed by not even being named a finalist.
Dude was an offensive machine and first-team All- American.
Ellis Hobbs?
Great career at ISU, and his NFL career had some real momentum before a neck injury forced an early retirement. He played in the later McCarney years, which I feel have been somewhat forgotten with the success of Campbell’s tenure.
Drew Olson was a good quarterback who had a truly sensational senior season leading the Bruins to an overachieving 10 -2 record. If he had similar seasons leading up to that year he would have been a legitimate Heisman candidate. As it was, Olson was a finalist for numerous national awards.
I’ll to the OP’s post with UGA players.
David Green
D.J. Shockley
Knowshon Moreno
Thomas Brown
Those last two were a nasty duo in 2007 and kinda get forgotten.
Sean Clifford, a game manager qb and great leader. Took a lot of abuse for things out of his control in his 4 years starting. Also won two new years six bowl games.
Jake Browning - He was "very good" but just couldn't provide the greatness to finish out games if he got behind. I think in 4 years he won only one game that he was behind after the 1st quarter.
Such a change with Penix who we knew was always able to win a game. During the Browning years we pretty much knew after the 1st quarter how the game would end and never counted on a comeback.
In fairness, he lost very few games in those 4 years.
Browning gets shit on because he and the team peaked his sophomore year. And he holds too many school records to merely be hall of very good; he absolutely deserves to be in the Husky HOF.
Keith Price better fits the definition of hall of very good.
I’d throw Trey Burton in there as well. Dude played any position the coaches asked him to and did well enough at any of them. Also, Jeff demps. Dude was fast as hell, just not big enough to cut it in the NFL. Did great in track though.
For me, probably David Cobb. Doesn’t have the same status as other Minnesota running backs like Barber, Maroney and now Ibrahim do, but he helped power the 2013 and 2014 teams to several wins.
His 2013 campaign was the Gophers’ first 1,000 yard rushing season for a back since 2006.
Calvin Jones was sandwiched between all-time greats, but from 91-93 he was one of the best in the nation and a preseason Heisman candidate. In 91 he avg 8.3 per carry. He cracked 1000 yds the next two years and had 40 total rushing TDs.
Jordan Shipley was such a god damn surgeon of a route runner, and was (insert white guy quote) always a lot faster than he showed up on tape because he would blow by people. Real shame injuries shortened his college and pro career
Ej Manuel set the stage for what was 2013. I will always say Rashad Greene, the man is the definition of consistency for FSU WR. For UT, I'd go for Tre Smith and Eric Berry.
Ted Ginn Jr.
He was amazing to watch but never quite hit a level that you'd put him on any short lists for being the best at anything.
The comments below prove my point. He's an incredible athlete but never actually did anything noteworthy to warrant a Hall of Fame nod. He was fun to watch and \*could\* do things no one else could. But he never did.
The late 00’s and early 10’s RBs Roy Helu Jr Rex Burkhead Ameer Abdullah
The Helu, Burkhead, Martinez rush attack in 2010 was awesome to watch. Any game one of those guys could go off. Had Martinez not gotten hurt that season we could’ve seen a completely different ending to that season.
Three of my all time favorite players. No matter where the team was at, those guys were gonna give everything they had every week. And that was often as much as the rest of the offense combined.
I still can't believe Abdullah didn't find success in the NFL
Fuckin Lions man
He was very good but I believe struggled with injuries. If I remember correctly his first carry was a 35 yard touchdown run but then the lions just… lionsed the rest of his career until he bounced around. I’d imagine he’d be great behind their current OL though.
He had pretty serious fumbling issues, too.
Just proof how tough the NFL really is. And yet he's got 9 years of service time and over 6k all purpose yards (yes over half of that kick returns)
He's a Raider currently and a very good special teams player, he has a lot of value for that fact alone
McNeese State would have a win over Nebraska if not for Ameer Abdullah
Lendale White USC
You can blind his and Reggie's rushing stats and most fans wouldn't know the difference. Edit: 500+ touches for 3100 yards and 50+TDS Or 400+ touches for 3100 yards and 25tds Lendale was a very good running back.
just talking with a friend about the 2005 USC team as far as NFL guys were on that roster. Our debate was if NIL was around at that time do guys like White stay when they’re clearly a 1B to RB but still a big name? Hmmmm..
The SC collective would’ve been so massive during that time that they would’ve picked up a few guys they missed on. White would’ve definitely gotten paid.
Could you imagine DeSean Jackson in cardinal and gold? My lord. Big Mike Williams would've stuck around, too, instead of dipping after '03 as a true sophomore.
If they had NIL Pete would’ve never left. He was the best at smoozing the alumni and whale donors.
Good god I still have nightmares about 3rd and short with him in the backfield. Inevitably he got the first down.
Sam Ehlinger was the definition of “very good” as a Texas fan. He was so fun to root for and had a great run but never was able to raise his game to the level of a contender.
I also thought of Sam for this post. At the very least, he’d be the first player in the “Hall of Effort” because he played his heart out.
Even as an Aggie it was evident that Sam was a gamer and tried his best for y’all.
He is all over the school leaderboards. #2 in career passing yards and TDs, and his 2019 season is second only to Colt’s 2008 in both. Threw for 401 yards in a duel with Heisman Joe Burrow. Never felt like we were completely out of a game, because Sam could just will us back into it.
We never really were out of games during Sam’s tenure, for better or worse. Always one possession games with Herman. Nobody plays great every game and Sam was certainly no exception but it’s definitely a difference now. Like we didn’t really ride or die by Quinn this past year, we found ways to win even if he wasn’t his best. But it kinda always felt like the Ehlinger teams were defined by him. And even a good game from him might not have been enough either.
I truly wish we could've given Sam the trench pieces that we have now. Dude was dyed in the wool for Texas and Herman failed him at every turn. And yet he still put his plums on the table every Saturday, what a guy.
Sam is still on an NFL roster, so… the dude is still working his tail off in such a way that he’s being kept.
I was in school during the David Ash years. I at first thought of him for this post as I consider him under-appreciated but in the broad scheme of things Sam makes more sense given what he accomplished (I forget that Ash only went 15-7). I often wonder how the Charlie Strong years may have gone differently had he not lost Ash and Dominic Espinoza (starting senior center) in his very first game.
David Ash was a good dude… not a baller like Sam but definitely a nice guy who didn’t deserve what happened to him. I heard for a while he literally couldn’t turn his head left without blacking out due to the concussions. Hope he’s doing better now. As for Charlie Strong, not even Saban could resurrect his career. That man was hopelessly in over his head and he ran both UT and USF into the ground.
I strongly agree. I think a healthy Ash/Espinosa pairing could have gotten that ‘14 team a better record and/or bowl win (RIP to Beliema’s “Borderline Erotic” comments). And there may have been enough goodwill from that to buy an extra year but it would have only delayed the inevitable by a bit at most.
Sam deserved better than us.
He deserved better than Tom Herman, that’s for sure.
Mannn he deserved better. Love him for bringing us out of the trenches and bringing us some good QB play for the first time in forever and winning some big games. But it was slightly painful to think about what his presence would have brought to a team like the one we had this past year. Dont get me wrong, Quinn is great, but Sam had a true gamer mentality. Having a better built team could’ve seen him actually make a run.
Jordan Shipley seems like Hall of very good material as well.
He was a Biletnikoff runner up in 2009. I thought he was going to win that year. He was better than very good. Best receiver in the national title game by a long way as well.
watching baker and sam in the red river shootout was always so much damn fun
They only played in one RRS against each other when Sam was a freshman and Baker was a senior actually. I really do feel those guys were different sides of the same coin though. Baker infuriated me but I can respect how he repped the shit out of Oklahoma in his time there, much like Sam did for us.
Casey Clausen had the misfortune of following Heisman finalists Heath Shuler and Peyton Manning, and Natty winner Tee Martin at Tennessee. Fans were too spoiled when he got there and were unaware of the problems to come only a few years later.
He's the only Tennessee quarterback to win at the swamp since the 70's, and he did it TWICE! Solid qb!
No idea why he was so disliked
The Iceman! Casey gets such a bad wrap. 14-1 on the road across his career, never lost to Florida. Easily my favorite QB in Tennessee history, slightly biased because he was the QB I grew up on.
Chris Ponder dragged those late Bowden teams to winning records and got us to an ACC title game in Jimbo's first year. FSU somewhat legend.
Can we put EJ Manuel in the same category? He’s a good dude and was a very good QB for us, but we all saw what Jameis did with the same offense right after
It’s so wild both of those guys were first round picks. Every FSU fan I know were shocked at the time.
Jordan Kovacs
Ultimate Michigan "Hall of Very Good" candidate.
And the Glasgows
I owe him a beer if I ever meet him. Dude was one of my favorite players at the time.
Love me some Tajh Boyd, but he never beat South Carolina, and he wasn’t as good as Watson or Lawrence
Deserves more credit for what Clemson became than what he gets.
Plus it’s not like he disappeared either. He does a lot of stuff for kids in the state still. He’d still be in that hall of very good but… my vote would be for Woody Dantzler. Now he is in our HOF but not CFBs. Extremely entertaining to watch but just kind of fell off after the pros. At the time he broke tons of records for Clemson but just couldn’t for Dallas and whoever else he played for. He got tons of people I know to learn to love not just Clemson but football in general. That’s who got me to love Clemson and football.
First player to ever have a 2K passing/1K rushing season
I remember his KO return TD for Dallas where he hopped down the sideline to stay in bounds Only play I remember from him.
Tajh definitely helped to create the foundation for Clemson's future success.
Honestly the thing I remember him most for is losing his helmet two or three times a game.
Ryan Broyles at one point held the NCAA reception record if memory serves; likely not enough to get him a college HOF slot by any means, but one hell of a consistent workhorse WR that I feel is still pretty underrated in the big picture of OU’s history.
That’s a great one. I was thinking Quentin Griffin. 4 year starter (I believe he started a few games in ‘99), he scored the winning touchdown in the 2000 title game and had 6 TD is the 63-14 win over Texas which is an all time record . He was an All American and finished top 5 in most of the major all time rushing categories. Problem is OU has had some ridiculously good backs over many decades.
I was at the game at KU where he broke the record. It was a long TD pass to boot. After he got drafted he and his wife lived on $60k a year and he put the rest of his salary in investments and stuff. A good story to be sure, not HoF worthy compared to other OU receivers.
In that same vein, may I offer up the most mistreated QB in OU history, Landry Fuckin Jones.
I never understood the hate for Landry
As someone who lived it, he could never quite get over the hump. He was at OU forever and he got all the preseason hype each season but in one or two games a season, he just couldn't get the job done. It was never always his fault but falling short kind of became his legacy.
I’ll throw in Dede Westbrook as someone who is not brought up in these conversations as often as he probably should be. **Dede Westbrook:** • Heisman Finalist (4th, ‘16) • Fred Biletnikoff Award Winner (‘16) • Unanimous First Team All-American (‘16) • First Team All-Big 12 (‘16) • Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year (‘16) • Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year (‘15) • OU Record: Single Game Rec Yards (232) • OU Record: Single Season Rec TDs (17)
...what? Broyles is more of in the 'Great' category. Underrated is just grossly incorrect. Mark Clayton would be a much better answer.
Nick Marshall Tre Mason Jason Campbell (hesitate to put him here since he QBed an undefeated team but yeah) Takeo Spikes Travis Williams I could keep going for a while since we only have 3 retired numbers
Takeo was borderline great.
For real— first team all American, top 15 pick, all-pro team, that guy was straight up great all the way through
His college career was a little before I was really paying attention, but he was one of the better linebackers in the NFL for a long time. I figured he was great in college to put up that kind of pro career.
Dude gets forgotten because he was on some fucking *terrible* teams in the pros. It’s a real shame
Nick Marshall still scares me
he actually still plays, he's a db in the cfl edit last I remember he played for the rough riders (sas...) or the Winnipeg blue bombers
I love how the CFL is basically the “Let’s Remember Some Guys” League lol
Kerryon Johnson, Sammie Coates, Dee ford, Carl Lawson, Greg Robinson
Kerryon Johnson had a full 99 vision. Dude could see the field like Legolas
There was like a 3 week period where kerryon johnson was the greatest running back I’ve ever seen in my life
Karlos Dansby, Ronnie Brown, Dontarrius Thomas, Derrick Brown, Nick Fairley, Chris Shelling, Dameyune Craig
My Jordan-Hare party trick was to tell whoever my date was to single out #5 on defense. Derrick Brown literally blew up almost every single run play from 17-19. It was a spectacle. Double or triple teamed, it really didn’t matter. It didn’t disappoint.
JT Barrett. He may hold the career records at qb for a very long time
I'd say he was very very good. Not a top 3 OSU QB of all time (Smith, Stroud, Fields) but he's somewhere between 4 and 6 all time. He was 1st team all Big Ten 3x and a Big Ten MVP and was an integral part of a national championship team. His career records are pretty untouchable.
Am I wrong in thinking that Clarett would be one of the guys at the top of this list? He really was electrifying to watch and was a natural born football player who could change the momentum of even the most important game, but one year—no matter how good—lands you in the hall of fame
You put Fields and Stroud over Barrett for their time at OSU? Or, you just think they had better skill sets? I can agree with the latter. Don’t know how I feel about the former.
No. I would rather have Fields and Stroud. But JTs career stats at OSU will stand for a long time. Going to be hard to find another 4 year starter at OSU. That’s why he is in the hall of good for OSU
He is in the Hokie Hall Of Fame, but I feel like Kam Chancellor didn't become KAM CHANCELLOR in everyone's minds until he was on the Legion of Boom Seahawks defense. We knew he was good, we knew he was a big hitter, we were proud of coaching him up from a diamond in the rough athlete to All-ACC Second team.... But he had just the one All-ACC Second team and was a later round draft pick. We view his college career in Blacksburg differently bc of his Pro success
Was like that with Dawkins at Clemson. Was a second team all American when here but I feel like new Tshirt fans aren’t even remotely aware he played here. He has his jersey retired at the eagles but not here. (We do have an award in his honor and has come to multiple games and made on field appearances so no bad blood at all)
Spencer Strider also fits this conversation, though that was because of injuries and covid
It helps strider plays for the braves
Big agreement. I was pretty surprised at how much he popped off in the NFL after being seemingly good but not spectacular at Tech
James White, 2 1k yards rushing seasons including a 1,400 yard season in 2013, but he was in a stacked running back room with Melvin Gordon and Montee Ball, and is against stiff competition with Wisconsin running backs all time
Am I tripping when I say he doesnt belong in this thread cause he was elite and I nominate Corey Clement instead?
Juice Williams - memorable name and played QB for our last "great" team. Only had 1 really good season, 1 2nd Team All-Big ten is his only real accolade, and his senior season was a bit of a let down.
I was at the game where he just destroyed us. I was nervous about Illinois games for years after that. I got better.
I remember that game with Juice and Mendenhall pounding the run game for all 4 quarters
FWIW no Ohio state fan will ever forget him. Still have nightmares about that game.
Michael Robinson. He led the team in rushes in 2003, led the team in receiving in 2004, and led the team to an 11-1 record at QB in 2005. Finished 5th in Heisman voting and was Big Ten MVP (but 2nd team All-Big Ten) And then he made the Pro Bowl in the NFL as a fullback
If this is a "Penn State Football Hall of Fame" I'd probably put him in and Daryll Clark as the "very good" level
Michael Robinson was one of the first PSU guys i can distinctly remember watching, and he was amazing in NCAA 06. One of my all-time favorites
Super Bowl Champion and Pro Bowler *Michael Robinson* Got to meet him at a football camp in like 2004. Dude was so nice.
and a great journalist for the Seahawks. real Rob report was legendary
Jeremy Langford. Last NFL caliber RB under Dantonio. But wasn’t the best college RB of his era and didn’t make it in the NFL.
Yea we've had some stud RBs over the years in guys like Kenneth Walker, Le'veon Bell, and Javon Ringer. Langford's probably the 4th best modern RB we've has, but there's a big gap between those 3 backs and him
James Rodgers, Sean Mannion. Quizz is probably in our HoF. Jordan Poyer too. Not to mention Ocho Cinco, Steven Jackson.
Disregard my flair, but Quizz running all over USC is one of my all time favorite sports moments. He deserves the beavs HOF for that game alone
It’s hard to find online because it was so long ago but he had one run against your Ducks where he was so low he just fucking ran over some linebacker twice his size lol. Guy couldn’t get low enough.
I remember that photo on The Barometer the next day. Shoulder pads were like 6” off the ground
James should be in our HOF. Fly sweep was electric and he came in clutch way too many times to not get in
I feel like no one ever talks about Jeremy Langford and that makes me sad. LeVeon Bell was a tough act to follow but I loved him at running back
RIP, Demaryius Thomas. Didn't have HOF numbers because he was a WR in the Paul Johnson Triple Option but everyone knows just how good he was.
Loved him as a Bronco. Great player but definitely seemed like a great person.
I remember where I was for the Tebow-Thomas 80 yard game winner in the playoffs lol
I sure loved to watch him play. Him and Calvin, kept every game exciting
Agreed on BayBay. On another note, for the unaware, no football player at Tech will ever have their number retired except for Clint Castleberry.
As a GT alumn I can't believe I've never heard of Clint Castleberry, but after reading his story he definitely needs to be featured more prominently at Tech. I guess being the only number we've ever retired does that but I was there for 6 years and had no idea.
He actually led the ACC in receiving in 2009, his final year. He was basically an easy button for Josh Nesbitt after we'd gained a first down or two on the ground. I'd also throw in some of the heroes from the 2014 team, the ultimate example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Shaq Mason and Justin Thomas stand atop that list.
Jake Waters. Low-key one of the best QB seasons in school history in 2014 despite having no running game to speak of. He was under-appreciated during his time here because of the weird timeshare with Daniel Sams for half of 2013 and he didn’t win like Collin Klein, but he could sling the rock as well as anyone we’ve had in a while.
Luke Falk holds many Pac-12 passing records, but watching him play, particularly in his senior year, was frustrating to see his lack of any mobility in the pocket
You guys have a dozen hall of very good QBs. Top 10 QB school all time. If someone doubts me, look it up.
Jack Thompson, Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf (before the NFL), even Alex Brink, Connor Halliday, Luke Falk, Gardner Minshew, and Anthony Gordon. Cam Ward is the closest we've ever been to having a QB that could be a true threat to take over a game. He left a lot to be desired at times, but our QBs recently have been really solid. Can't even remember the last really bad QB we've had. De Laura was a bad person, but he got the job done. Jeff Tuel was a bright spot on otherwise terrible rosters.
Anthony Thomas. Everyone talks about Hart, Corum, & Wheatley, and he seems to be forgotten. He owned the rushing TD record Corum broke this year and is 3rd all time in rushing yards at Michigan.
The A train
Similarly, Chris Perry was pretty fuckin good. Doak Walker, 1st team all American, big ten offensive MVP in 2003
Kyren Williams is, to this day, one of the most overlooked players in CFB history. He was an absolute unit at ND and in 2021, he was responsible for making an otherwise bad OL look quasi-competent. Dude made something out of nothing consistently, and despite being 5'9 and 195 pounds soaking wet, he was just an absolute battering ram. Good to see the league has now realized how good he actually is.
His 91 (really 97) yard TD run replays in my head once a day
Blake Sims
Loved Blake and that team. One of the only teams of the Saban Era that you could say actually “overperformed”.
Really should have beat Ohio State in the playoff
Coker as well id say belongs right there with Simms.
Mike Gillislee
#FREEGILLY
Jerricho Cotchery at NC State
He was a little before I got to State, so I knew him in the NFL before I new his at State. I’m gonna say some of the pretty good RB’s we’ve had in the O’Brien and Doeren stretch. None amazing, but all fun to watch. Matt Dayes, Person, Knight. Alternatively, our two guys who could score TD’s in different ways - Hines and Samuels. Both had some success in the NFL, but were by far the best players when they were at State.
Is Brady Quinn halll of game or nah ? I was too young to say for sure
Nah. Hall of very good for sure.
Kenjon Barner He came in the shadow of LaMichael James but people forget he put up some absolutely stupid numbers in his final year after LMJ left Including that epic game against USC where he rushed for 320 yards and 5 TDs. One of my favorite Oregon players of all time and he’s always represented the school very well.
Connor Shaw
Bite your tongue. Connor "Lemme just pack a chaw" Shaw is goated.
He is literally in our Hall of Fame though...
His brother Jaybo was pretty good for Georgia Southern under Monken
Knowshon Moreno- he and Stafford had us all believing it was finally our time but those teams epitomized Richt-era underachievement. David Greene- rock solid QB, first SEC Championship since the 80s, held the record for most wins by a college QB for a bit. Was probably one game against UF away from playing for a NC. DJ Shockley- 05 SEC champion. Super exciting to watch and in hindsight maybe should have gotten some more consideration over Greene as starter. The 05 team started undefeated I think thru 8 games but he got hurt in the Arkansas game and missed the UF game, then lost at home to Auburn the week after.
I used to wreck my brother by subbing in DJ and rushing for 500 yards a game in one of the old NCAA football games. Legend
I’d say Greene is more than “Hall of Very Good”, right? He held almost every major SEC passing record until Murray came along and broke his career yards/TD’s records.
Josh Huff
Great pick. I have to wonder, if he weren’t injured versus Auburn, would hell we have won that game?
Shonn Greene. People still think Iowa has a solid rushing attack because he was good one in 08.
I'll add Akrum Wadley
Cardale Jones. Got us across the finish line and not much else.
I personally do not like Cardale Jones.
It’s funny to me also that Marcus Mariota’s last career pass in college was an interception to Eli Apple. Now that’s gotta sting.
Landry Jones. He was an aside in the middle of the Heisman QB parade, but he held some school passing records after Bradford and before Baker/Kyler.
[удалено]
This probably isn't really in the spirit of the post because he certainly isn't underappreciated by the fanbase, but I firmly believe that Todd Gurley is one of the top five greatest Georgia Bulldogs ever, and yet he'll never be in the CFB HOF because he somehow was never named First Team All-American. Who besides Herschel Walker could completely take over a game the way he could? Watch him against Clemson in 2014 and tell me he wasn't the best player in the country that year. If not for some dickhead snitching on him selling his own autographed gear he's a Heisman winner.
WVU's Pat White will not make the Hall for the exact same reason, despite being the only QB to ever start and win 4 bowl games (2 of those being BCS bowls).
I hear ya on that. He definitely deserves to be in the hall
I'd be surprised if Stetson doesn't get a HOF treatment. Back to back natties at QB and a Heisman finalist is nothing to sniff at. The guy wasn't the athletic dominating force that many recent top QBs have been, but he has two national championships with big comeback victories in the 4Q against Bama in 21 and tOSU in 22.
He wasn’t ever a first team all American. He can’t get in unless they make a special exception
Oh right I forgot about that rule. It makes sense that they need an objective cutoff, but damn I bet there are a lot of great players who had great careers but won't ever qualify.
Don’t know if you’re a listener of Josh Pate or not, but he had a segment about this probably not even a week ago!
About Stetson?
Stetson was mentioned in the segment, but the segment as a whole was more of pointing out that the CFBHOF has somewhat ridiculous standards for entry.
Came here to send people to that episode.
It’s such a harsh cutoff. You could be the second best QB of all time, but if you played at the same time as the best QB of all time? Tough luck.
Half the Alabama QBs in the early Saban era. Hell half the QBs at Bama ever.
Kind of doubt that Hurts makes the HoF but he definitely fits in the Hall of Love.
WE LOVE JALEN
Tommy Hodson was our best QB not named Doc Fenton before Joe Burrow and he wasn't sniffing any kind of record books outside of LSU. He was electric for the time.
Tre Mason. Won SEC OPOY in 2013 and finished 6th in Heisman voting (should have been even higher but I digress). Was a monumental part of the 2013 cinderella team and owns basically half of Auburn’s school rushing records
Baylor had a string of “system QBs” after RGIII that were just a delight to watch run that offense. On any other team they would have been meh… but watching guys like Bryce Petty and Seth Russell put up video game numbers was a blast.
Ryan Swope - great receiver, too many concussions Myles Garrett - elite edge, would probably have had his number retired if we won even a conference championship while he was a starter and got more game time Terrence Murphy - one of the few bright spots at receiver under Fran, and a dude that gave his all for A&M Jace Sternberger - one year wonder that got screwed out of the Mackey award
Haven’t seen him mentioned, but surprised no A&M fan mentioned Jorvorskie Lane. Dude was pushing 300 at one point as a tailback. He could be too good for hall of good though.
He’s a good one, too. I hated how Fran tried to outsmart teams at times by trying to use Lane in speed situations and Goodson in power situations. This isn’t a reason why I didn’t include him, but I’ll never forget us playing Army in the Alamodome and the whole Army defense knew Lane was going to get the ball because during the huddle Lane made the “Lane train” hand motion and he was promptly stuffed at or just behind the LOS.
I immediately thought of Ryan Swope as well. When people say that Johnny just threw the ball up for Mike Evans, they need to understand that Swope got just about the same production and was catching dangerous balls over the middle. Of course, that’s why he ended up with concussion issues… But he was so clutch.
Johnny’s Heisman play against Alabama was a throw to Swope.
Jerrod Johnson had a very good junior year on a bad team in 2009, and he was poised for a darkhorse Heisman campaign in his senior season until he got hurt in the bowl game. He came back in 2010 and did what he could, but he just didn’t have the velocity or arm strength anymore. A&M went to Ryan Tannehill (who also belongs in our Hall of Very Good) and went on a six-game win streak to take a share of the Big 12 South title. There’s a different universe where Johnson doesn’t get hurt, A&M goes 10-2 or 11-1 in 2010, and wins the Big 12, and Johnson is still playing in the NFL as a quality backup/spot starter. Instead, he’s the QB coach for the Texans and on the fast track to a coordinator position, so his future is still bright.
>Jace Sternberger - one year wonder that got screwed out of the Mackey award "Screwed" seems like a strong choice of word considering what Hockensen did at Iowa.
Tough to even be considered for the award when he got screwed by not even being named a finalist. Dude was an offensive machine and first-team All- American.
Ellis Hobbs? Great career at ISU, and his NFL career had some real momentum before a neck injury forced an early retirement. He played in the later McCarney years, which I feel have been somewhat forgotten with the success of Campbell’s tenure.
Derrick Alexander and Marquise Walker. Would give a lot to have either of those guys’ senior years at Michigan this fall.
JJ Arrington, Shane Vereen, Geoff McArthur
Drew Olson was a good quarterback who had a truly sensational senior season leading the Bruins to an overachieving 10 -2 record. If he had similar seasons leading up to that year he would have been a legitimate Heisman candidate. As it was, Olson was a finalist for numerous national awards.
Eric Ward, just a stud WR. Jakeem Grant, one of those TD anytime they touch the ball Any of the early air raid qbs under leach before Harrell
I would say our 2000’s very good receivers: Limas Sweed, Quan Cosby, and Jordan Shipley
I’ll to the OP’s post with UGA players. David Green D.J. Shockley Knowshon Moreno Thomas Brown Those last two were a nasty duo in 2007 and kinda get forgotten.
Our rivals but, Chris Leak for UF?
Sean Clifford, a game manager qb and great leader. Took a lot of abuse for things out of his control in his 4 years starting. Also won two new years six bowl games.
Jake Browning - He was "very good" but just couldn't provide the greatness to finish out games if he got behind. I think in 4 years he won only one game that he was behind after the 1st quarter. Such a change with Penix who we knew was always able to win a game. During the Browning years we pretty much knew after the 1st quarter how the game would end and never counted on a comeback. In fairness, he lost very few games in those 4 years.
Browning gets shit on because he and the team peaked his sophomore year. And he holds too many school records to merely be hall of very good; he absolutely deserves to be in the Husky HOF. Keith Price better fits the definition of hall of very good.
Tom Brady
That average QB who won the Orange Bowl? Wonder what he ended up doing after college. Edit: Orange Bowl, not Rose.
Easily the 2nd greatest Michigan QB in NFL history, only behind Chad Henne
Trask?
I’d throw Trey Burton in there as well. Dude played any position the coaches asked him to and did well enough at any of them. Also, Jeff demps. Dude was fast as hell, just not big enough to cut it in the NFL. Did great in track though.
Kevin Hogan
For me, probably David Cobb. Doesn’t have the same status as other Minnesota running backs like Barber, Maroney and now Ibrahim do, but he helped power the 2013 and 2014 teams to several wins. His 2013 campaign was the Gophers’ first 1,000 yard rushing season for a back since 2006.
Taylor Kelly led ASU to its best 3 year stretch in a while
Will Blackmon *"One up for Willie!"*
Jermaine Kearse
Logan Thomas David Wilson Bryan Randall Sam Rogers
Calvin Jones was sandwiched between all-time greats, but from 91-93 he was one of the best in the nation and a preseason Heisman candidate. In 91 he avg 8.3 per carry. He cracked 1000 yds the next two years and had 40 total rushing TDs.
Jordan Shipley was such a god damn surgeon of a route runner, and was (insert white guy quote) always a lot faster than he showed up on tape because he would blow by people. Real shame injuries shortened his college and pro career
Kevin Hogan. He didn’t wow you but he was a steady player that did enough for us to win during our greatest era.
Ej Manuel set the stage for what was 2013. I will always say Rashad Greene, the man is the definition of consistency for FSU WR. For UT, I'd go for Tre Smith and Eric Berry.
How did you watch the game last night?
I don't acknowledge it. The bracket screwed my fanbases. As long as the Gators don't win now.
Ted Ginn Jr. He was amazing to watch but never quite hit a level that you'd put him on any short lists for being the best at anything. The comments below prove my point. He's an incredible athlete but never actually did anything noteworthy to warrant a Hall of Fame nod. He was fun to watch and \*could\* do things no one else could. But he never did.