Top 3 CFB Team descriptions

[kgreene829]

I wanted to write summaries on all of the top teams and keep updated thoughts on them throughout the season. I was able to get through the top 3 teams before realizing that my vision for this won’t work unless I start in the offseason. I want to do this but I want to do it right and I don’t want to water it down just to get it out. I am going to post these 3 and then will do this again next season but starting in the offseason so I have time to write about all the top teams and can write thoughts and notes about them as the season goes on. Until then enjoy what I was able to finish and look forward for a complete version for the 2025 season.

Baylor:

Let’s start on defense the Bears run the 4-Man Front Spread Stopper formation meaning that they will have 2 DTs on the field at all times and are strong against pass first offenses. The other key part about this defense is the occasional use of 2 SSs with the 2nd SS playing in line with the LBs in two of the 3 formations they are used in. My final note on the defense is in one formation the SS1 moves down to play in line with the LBs as well.

Baylor is a very talented team, they have a good defense with great veteran players but also some promising young players too. The CB room is headlined by A CB Felix Bonifacio who is in his redshirt junior season. While Bonifacio has at most one more season after this year the future of the room is in good hands with the CB tandem of redshirt freshmen Antonio Villasenor and Daniel Eckmann. The two young CBs are both B’s with C potential look very promising as they have already won the 2nd and 3rd spot on the depth chart over a senior and two juniors. FS is another position with a lot of promise but let's talk about the starter first redshirt junior Jabari Williams is an A- who is someone that makes a big impact on the field. Williams has a B in both man and zone coverage but with A- run defense and A+ catching he is a dynamic safety that can make plays against both the pass and the run. With that said I am really excited about Charles Kring a 4 star freshman FS out of Georgia who is taking a redshirt year. Kring is a B overall with B+ potential who Baylor is hoping can become an exact copy of Williams. Kring has the catching but is lacking the prowess against the run but he could make up for that by being better in coverage. Luis Brusuelas is a bit of a hole in the secondary as a redshirt freshman he is not as good as the rest of the DBs but as a 4 star he shows some promise and despite the fact that he isn’t amazing as an all around guy Brusuelas is very good in man coverage which is enough for them to confidently plug him into the secondary. I do not expect the Bears to run a lot if any of the 4-4 Jumbo set this season because Brusuelas is not the type of player you want playing in line with the LBs. The 2nd SS on the depth chart is redshirt sophomore OLB Tray Carter who has a B in both man and zone coverage when moved to SS along with A+ tackle and strength. I expect Tray Carter to play the majority of his snaps while in line with the LBs so we will talk more about him later. I expect both the CBs and safeties to play man coverage at all times.

While not having the promising youth of the CB spot the D-line of the Bears is also impressive redshirt senior Darrell Sadler and redshirt junior Zach Lundblade are the starting DEs both at an A overall and A overall redshirt senior Mike Gallman is the teams starting DT. While the DT room is impressive the 2nd DT spot instead goes to redshirt senior DE Cory Henderson. Henderson is an A overall as well but with Sadler and Lundblade on the team it made sense to move one of the DEs inside to DT and Henderson standing at a mountainous 6’5” 281 pounds and his great run stop with worse pass rush then fellow DE Sadler is the one to make the move. These four players should absolutely suffocate the run with 2 guys having A+ run defense and 2 guys having B run defense and the pass rush is good to the 2 A+’s a B and with Henderson moving from DE to DT his C pass rush jumps up to a B+.

The final group on the defense is the LBs and while they are not that prominent in the 4-man Front Spread Stopper they still play an important role and let's start with OLB Tray Carter who I expect to play with the LBs giving them an extra LB at times. Carter is playing at SS but since I expect him to play in line with the LBs I will use his natural OLB grades and not his SS grades when talking about him. Interestingly Carter plays ROLB which is the OLB used when the formation actually uses a LB. This means that we could see the SS2 be selected by the engine which could cause some problems for the Bears over the course of the season. Trey Carter is a good coverage LB who is decent against the run. Carter isn’t special against the run and his real impact comes from his good coverage. With that in mind I expect Baylor to run mostly 4-2-5 Base (LE1, DT1, DT2, RE1 | MLB1, ROLB1 | CB1, CB2, CB3, FS1, SS1), and 4-1-6 Big Dime (LE1, DT1, DT2, RE1 | MLB1 | CB1, CB2, CB3, FS1, SS1, SS2). This is to make up for the fact that Baylor's LBs are not as good as the rest of their team. Lastly on the defense is junior ILB Kevin Cole, an outstanding coverage LB who can also pass rush and stop the run. Cole is a coverage LB first but he can still stop the run and pass rush at a high level if needed. Cole is a good all around player to have in the center of their defense but the LB room is by far the weakest part of this defense.

On offense Baylor runs a spread option formation which is a pass first offense that is still very balanced and offers the ability to run option plays. The key to a good spread option offense is a scrambler QB with possession or route running WRs.

How can you talk about Baylor without mentioning star QB redshirt senior Travis Knebel. Kneble does it all; he has wheels, his A+ strength and agility mean that he is great at picking up a solid initial gain on any run inside or outside and his A+ speed allows him to break away for big gains after that. Not just a runner Knebel has A+ throw power and throw accuracy which allows him to put the ball wherever he wants and his A+ football IQ is the cherry on top. Knebel is arguably the best player in college football and he has everything you could possibly want from a QB and with a Heisman win already under his belt the last thing for him to do at the college level is win a national championship. Next year Knebel will be the first QB off the board in the draft giving a team a franchise changing player.

Next up is the skill players so lets start with the TEs Baylor’s TE room isn’t that great but redshirt junior Jonathan Burke is the starter a good receiving option with a good pass block but this is a weakness. With that said, a B+ being one of your worst starters is a very good problem to have. Burke is far from a bad player but compared to the rest of this Baylor team he may as well be a camp body. Baylor has a great WR room with 2 A’s and 1 A-. Tyler Prochnow is a redshirt sophomore and at an A overall he is one of the best young players in the nation. Prochnow is a speed WR so he has a good balance of all receiving attributes but other than his speed he doesn’t excel in any one area. Robert Mozgov is a redshirt senior and Ariel Pyke is a redshirt junior they both have amazing hands and are great 2nd and 3rd options at WR because while they may not be as good after the catch as Prochnow these two will come down with the ball almost every time you throw it to them. Redshirt senior RB Mike Campbell is a receiving back and is the WR4 as well as the teams RB2. Campbell as a WR is an amazing 4th option to have since he has great hands and at RB is one of the most agile players in the nation. Campbell isn’t the starting RB because of redshirt junior Shareece Hinojosa who combines elite speed with great strength to give the Bears a great rushing attack. Also how can we not mention RB3 redshirt senior Giovanni Stills. Stills probably won’t play much but is a super well balanced RB that would be a starter on almost any other team. The spread option doesn’t use any FBs but I have to give love to senior FB Adrian Pederson. AD (All Day) does everything at a good level and is one of the best FBs in the nation at anything you could possibly want a FB to do.

Now let’s take a look at the big boys on the O-line going from left to right the O-line is A- (Jr) OT Cory Escalona, B+ (Sr) OG Jaquiski Armstead, A (Jr) C Chris Watkins, A (Fr) OG John Raymond, A- (Sr) OT Troy Zagunis. John Raymond is an exciting young player but the right side of him and Troy Zagunis is a liability in the run game which is made up for the fact that they are super strong pass protectors. Watkins at C is a great run blocker with solid but not amazing pass block abilities with Armstead the guard next to him being a similar player just worse. Cory Escalona is the most balanced player on the line being a good pass and run blocker but is a worse pass blocker than Raymond and Zaguins and a worse run blocker than Watkins and Armstead.

Tulsa:

I am going to try and make these a bit shorter than that first one so I can actually get through enough teams to be submitting polls before the season ends.

Tulsa may be the most talented team in the nation but have some flaws which may hold them back this season. They played Maryland in week 0 and Maryland lost their starting QB(Isiah Lewis) on the opening drive. Despite that Tulsa only won by a final score of 35-25 and while that is still a big win the game brought up questions as after Lewis went down Tulsa should have won more convincingly. This could be too much of a criticism but this early in the season with the lack of info we have this is something that bumped them down from preseason rankings.

Tulsa has some doubters and that comes down to the man under center. Senior Cameron Larkin is the starting QB and he is not bad but the fact that he isn’t a game changer has some people skeptical if Tulsa can win the Natty the way they did in the inaugural season. We talked earlier about Kenble and that is a guy who can go out and win a game and while Larkin is good the concern about him is he might not be able to put the team on his back. People worry that while Tulsa has the talent to be a top team when playing teams with similar talent level the lack of a game changing QB could lead to Tulsa being outplayed. Larkin is a statue in the pocket but has an amazing arm with A- throw power and A throw accuracy. He also played well in Tulsa’s week 0 game against Maryland. Larkin had 16 completions on 27 attempts for 363 yards 3 TDs and 1 INT but his lack of mobility led to him being sacked 5 times.

Jordan Wilds is the starting TE and just like TE2 Bryan Zobrist who Wilds took the starting job from he has good hands and speed for a TE. Tony Sherman is the WR1 and he has amazing hands and strength and his good speed, agility, and route running on top of that make him one of the nations top WRs. Right behind him is Ben Bromley who while not as good of an all around threat sacrifices some catching ability and a bit of strength for better speed and agility which allows him to make defenders miss and generate big plays. Slade Andrews is the WR3 and he brings crisp route running and agility to a diverse WR room that can attack defenses in many different ways. To complement a strong passing attack Tulsa has 2 really good RBs so let's start with the starter Cody Nesbitt. Nesbitt is a balanced RB so while he doesn’t excel in any one area he is good at everything and he allows Tulsa to play to their opponents weakness in the run game. Josh Jernigan is more specialized a good pass blocker with great strength Jernigan likes to run straight up the gut and power his way through to get yards.

From left to right Tulsa’s O-line is A (Sr) OT DaeSean Ohlman, A (Jr) OG Drew Howell, B+ (Jr) C Jon Redmond, B- Sr OG Manny Tucker, A (Jr) OT Alexei Castro. Tulsa’s O-line has a mix of pass blockers and run blockers but is stronger in pass protection. With strong run blockers to the right and at center most of their runs will be directed to the right but Ohlman is the only player with a run block worse than B- with his being C so don’t expect them to be scared of running to the left.

Tulsa has a good offense but their defense is what really elevates this team. Tulsa is running a 4-man front spread stopper which is strong against heavy passing offenses but has trouble against really run heavy offenses. The 4-man front spread stopper uses 2 DTs to get a 4 man front and then sacrifices LBs to get more CBs on the field to stop the pass. 

Freddy Gervacio is the teams top DE and while he is amazing at getting to the QB but at the same time is amazing against the run. The redshirt senior is one of the best DEs in the nation and I know I am saying that a lot but surprise the best teams in the nation have some of the best players in the nation. The O-lineman on the right consider themselves lucky they don’t have to go up against Gervacio until they see Joey Acklin. Acklin is a very similar player to Gervacio but he just isn’t as good but is still a nightmare for O-linemen. Zac Hicks is the DT1 for this Tulsa squad and he doesn’t make life easier for O-linemen. Zac Hicks is worse than both of the players I mentioned previously but as a do it all guy at 294 he is a force. Hicks proved that in the week 0 game where he had 10 tackles 3 TFLs and a forced fumble leading the game in tackles, TFLs, and forced fumbles. Michael Harris is the DT2 and I am sure Tulsa is happy about that. Harris is a 5 star and while he still has some development to do Tulsa was impressed with him enough to give him the DT2 job. Harris recorded 4 tackles and a TFL in his first game as a Golden Hurricane.

LBs aren’t the focus on the defense Tulsa is running which is a shame because the Tulsa LB room is really talented. Usually I start on the outside and work in on D-line and LBs but since MLB is the only LB position that is on the field for every defensive snap I am going to start with that. Jordan Virgin is a monster who is amazing at everything you can ask of a LB and is an anchor for this defense. I think Tulsa had some trouble with how their roster is constructed and these next two players are why I think that. Trevor Hauschka is the MLB2 and he is a great LB now he is a bit worse than Virgin but with great coverage ability and being good against the run with a lot of favorable traits he is a player that you are happy to have on your team. However the defense that Tulsa runs only allows 1 MLB on the field at a time meaning Hauschka won’t get a lot of playing time. Next is ROLB Duron Motte who is a good OLB. Motte is a solid run defender but he is best used as an edge rusher which the defense Tulsa is using doesn’t ever use. While Motte will still play a good amount he can't be put in a position to do what he does best for the majority of the time. I think this is disappointing but this is something you can expect with schemes being implemented and people not getting the chance to build their team around a scheme yet.

Tulsa’s DBs are talented but they have some problems. Yoan Young is an amazing zone coverage CB and Jevoni Walker is a great man coverage CB. These are two great CBs but the split coverage types aren't great but Tulsa runs zone coverage for their CBs because they get more out of zone then they would out of man because Aaron Mays the CB3 is a zone coverage CB. Moving on Joe Harris at FS is an amazing player who can lock you down in man or zone coverage. On top of the coverage Harris is fast, strong, and plays great run defense. Frederick Theriot starts at SS as a redshirt freshman and while a bit unpolished and lacking a great all around game is a good man coverage guy to help add some good coverage to this team.

Tennessee:

Tennessee is a good team but there is a clear gap between them and the teams above them. Tennessee is a good team but the teams I have above them are just on a whole different level when it comes to overall team talent.

QB Brandon Savage is a junior who likes to sit in the pocket and beat teams with his arm his A+ throw power and A throw accuracy is impressive and has teams looking at him as the top QB in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The starting TE Kendrick Mateo isn’t a scheme fit but is an amazing player. Standing at 6’6” 259 with A+ in both pass and run blocking with A+ strength Mateo is an O-lineman who didn’t quite fill out his frame and dreamed of being a WR while growing up. Mateo is a couple tubs of icecream away from being an O-lineman and with B route running and catching he is good enough of a pass catcher to get some targets. Mateo is a redshirt junior and is a very intriguing draft prospect 2 years in advance. Audry Black is a FB but is listed as the TE2 on the depth chart he is also a great blocker but is a less appealing option in the passing game. With that said his blocking is a big help to an O-line that we will get to later. Hayes Edwards is a tiny WR who excels at route running and finding holes in the defense and uses his great agility and speed to make big plays for this offense. Eric Barnhart is the 2nd best WR on the team by overall but is WR5 on the depth chart, as a redzone threat he is bigger and stronger but still has solid hands and route running. Quincy Stanton is a redshirt sophomore and is part of a good young WR group that will get a chance to really show out next year. Stanton is a bit unpolished which is something that all of the other WRs I am going to mention share and right now they are specialists but they have enough potential to grow and be a dominant group in the future. Stanton is a great route runner but still needs to work on the rest of his game. B.J. Flash is one of a couple 5 stars Tennessee brought in last year and he lives up to his name with good speed for a true freshman. Alex Smith-Schuster comes in at 4th and the redshirt sophomore has great hands but needs to work on refining his routes and getting open more. Joseph Kleen is another 5 star the Volunteers brought in last year. While Kleen didn’t make the depth chart he is a big strong WR who we should see in redzone packages in the future. Joe Williams is the starting RB and the redshirt sophomore is another weapon in the passing game. Williams is most effective on runs to the outside when used on the ground but with A catching he is a threat in the passing game and could hurt teams if they slack on the pass coverage a little.

From left to right the O-line is B+ (Jr) OT Jhonatan Perry, B+ Sr OG J.J. Bolt, B+ Sr OG Dare Bazata, B+ Jr OT Garrett Lazard, B+ (So) OT Myles Hernandez. The O-line is the biggest weakness of Tennessee’s offense but every O-lineman having at least a B- in pass block so a lower run blocking grade pulls their overalls down a little. Tennessee will be throwing a lot so while we can’t say that run blocking doesn’t matter the O-line isn’t as bad as it may first look. You also have Kendrick Mateo and Audry Black who should help block and give the O-line a bit of a boost in running situations and some passing situations.

Tennessee’s defense is good but the offense is the star meaning that the gameplanning on defense needs to be that much better. Tennessee is running the speed defense which is good against balanced offenses but has a hard time stopping run heavy offenses. The speed defense uses two DTs and uses a strong secondary combined with fast LBs who can excel in pass coverage to allow their D-line to get to the QB.

Tennessee has a lot of young promising D-linemen (Fr) DE Roger London is a 5 star B overall with B- potential, (So) DE Douglas Dimmadome Jr. is a 4 star B+ overall with B+ potential, So DE Steven Carnahan is a 4 star B overall with C potential, Fr DE Armando Medina is a 4 star B overall with C+ potential, (Fr) DT Ernesto Moran is a 5 star B overall with D+ potential, and (So) DT Johnathan Sowell is a 4 star B+ overall with B- potential. I know I just threw a lot of names at you but I really wanted to highlight how this is a team with a lot of guys who will be fighting for a limited amount of spots. Let's talk about the guys who are playing now, Matthew Cano is the teams best DE and is an explosive pass rusher with a great first step and a great mix of strength and agility. The redshirt senior is the leader of this group and should have a great season. Mike Anderson is also a redshirt senior and he is on the other side of this D-line. Anderson is a bit of a worse player and is best against the run and is more agile than he is strong but is still a good player to have on the D-line. Ernesto Moran is the DT1 and is a strong run stopping nose tackle who is being used in a 2 DT set. While this doesn’t play to Moran’s strengths he is good enough that he should be able to have a good career in this system and Tennessee has to do this if they want to get all of their top D-linemen on the field. Johnathan Sowell is a very similar player to Moran but he is the DT3. Douglas Dimmadome Jr. is the DT2 moving over from DE to DT because despite having 2 DEs better than him you have to find a way to get him on the field. Douglas Dimmadome Jr. is the son of Douglas “Doug” Dimmadome owner of the Dimmsdale Dimmadome. Enough about his dad DDJ is a great balanced player and his good pass rush and run defense is even better when compared to DTs and he is one of the fastest DTs in the nation. DDJ may struggle a bit since DTs on average are stronger than him but this is a player who is talented enough to overcome that.

I won't go over all the guys like at D-line but LB is another position where Tennessee has a good group of young promising players. Like with Tulsa I am going to start with MLB for Tennessee. Jonathan Adames is the starting MLB and he is a good coverage guy. Like I said before the job of the LBs in this defense is to cover and be able to quickly disengage and stop the run if needed and while Adames isn’t as good at that 2nd part as a good coverage LB he gets the starting nod. Joe Lawson is MLB2 and he is the exact opposite of what you want from a LB in this defense but as a solid ILB he gets the nod and will come in if Adames ever needs a break. Albert Falu is starting at ROLB he is a good scheme fit since he is good in coverage but his great speed and wrap up ability combined with his good run defense makes him the perfect player to use in this scheme. Henry Andriese is starting at LOLB and we may see him even less than we see Falu and while he doesn’t have the speed and wrap up ability of Falu his coverage is great and he is someone we should expect to see against offensive formations that may be more run heavy. The LBs look like they will run zone coverage.

Now we get to the secondary which is the best part of this Tennessee defense. Ben Jordan, Justin Gsellman, Lorenzo Travis, James Peckham, and Steve White are the 5 starting CBs and they all are zone coverage guys. Ideally Tennessee would have stronger CBs but the coverage ability of these guys are good and they should be able to do their job. Matt Richardson gets the start at FS and with great catching and man coverage he is a great player to have in this secondary and on top of that he is a good run defender. Jawun Burfict is the starting SS and he plays lockdown man coverage to solidify the secondary. We also might see a little bit of Brandon Duffey as the SS2. Duffey is a great man coverage defender with great speed just like Burfict but he is less polished and is worse as an all around player. The safeties for Tennessee will play man coverage.

Finishing up with special teams, Marquez Garces has a great leg but with only D+ accuracy Tennessee could be missing a good amount of FGs this year. Marcus Jackson is the 2nd half of the Marcus(quez) twins and he is the opposite of his kicking partner. Jackson has insane accuracy but is just average when it comes to the power on his punts.

Tennessee got a big 41-20 win against 14th ranked Wisconsin. Brandon Savage had 30 completions on 47 attempts putting up 461 yards and 4 touchdowns. I don’t have too much more to add about the game but a dominant win against a top 15 team could see Tennessee move up the rankings from 2nd to 1st.
 

Edited April 29 by kgreene829