National Columnist Mike Farrell is here with the 3-Point Stance ranking the PAC 12 top tier running backs, potential breakout players in the ACC and the coaching debate — Lincoln Riley vs. Chip Kelly.
Top Pac-12 Running Backs
— I wrap up the top-tier running backs in the Power Five with the PAC 12.
1. Bucky Irving, Oregon
— Over 1,000 yards last season, and he should find the end zone much more often.
2. Carson Steele, UCLA
— The Ball State transfer is going to be fun to watch and will get plenty of touches from Chip Kelly.
3. Austin Jones, USC
— The flashes I saw last year lead me to believe he’s going to have a big season.
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4. Damien Martinez, Oregon State
— Haven’t heard of the big back for the Beavers who had nearly 1,000 yards last season? You will.
5. Jaydn Ott, Cal
— The overlooked man in the PAC 12, he’d be a national star on some other teams.
ACC Breakout Players
— Let’s look at some ACC breakouts for next season.
1. WR J.J. Jones, North Carolina
As a sophomore in 2022, Jones averaged more than 18 yards per catch, and began to show why he was such a coveted prospect in the 2021 class. A 6’4″ long strider, he’s going to more than likely end up as Drake Maye’s top target this fall, taking over for Josh Downs.
2. WR Jaelen Gill, Boston College
Zay Flowers took up all of the oxygen in the room in Chestnut Hill, and rightfully so. But Gill has some solid traits in his own right and should put up some much bigger numbers as the new WR1.
3. RB Justice Ellison, Wake Forest
With Sam Hartman and AT Perry now gone, the Demon Deacons’ offense is going to go throw a lot of growing pains. The one constant will be Ellison, who will be leaned on now more than ever to help make Dave Clawson’s offense tick.
The Coach Debate: Lincoln Riley vs. Chip Kelly
— And we continue our coach debate with USC vs. UCLA, but these guys made their reputations elsewhere.
The case for Riley:
Riley is 66-13 as a head coach, with five of the 13 losses coming in the postseason. He’s as good an offensive mind as the game has had in the past decade and has the uncanny ability to get the most out of all of his quarterbacks. Because of that, he’s arguably the best quarterback recruiter in the country at this point as well, having pulled in five-stars Spencer Rattler, Caleb Williams, and Malachi Nelson in the last four years alone.
The case against Riley:
He’s apparently completely given up on trying to have any semblance of a defense, as he continues to employ Alex Grinch as his defensive coordinator despite diminishing results every season. And given some of the postseason letdowns we’ve seen from his teams, including just this past season against Tulane in the Cotton Bowl, it doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in his teams.
The case for Kelly:
Kelly completely revolutionized college football in the early 2010s with his offenses at Oregon. And while it’s taken him a minute to get re-acclimated with the college game since he arrived in Westwood, he’s back to where he left off in terms of offensive ingenuity and ability to put his players in place to succeed. Add on to that the fact that he’s starting to pull in truly elite talent like Dante Moore, and you’ve got the recipe for success.
The case against Kelly:
Like Riley, Kelly has struggled at times in the postseason and has had inopportune defensive lapses. Additionally, for as much of an offensive genius as he is, he has never embraced all the facets of recruiting as well as Riley has.
The verdict:
This is closer than most people think, partially because I have a great deal of respect for Chip Kelly, but also because Riley has not shown the ability to really grow a ton and learn from his mistakes so far in his young career. That being said, you can’t argue with his results both in terms of win-loss record as well as on the recruiting trail. So it’s Riley for now… but not by much.
