Week 3 of the college football season is in the books, and what do you know, the Big Ten finds itself on top.
Sure, Alabama is still No. 1 in the polls, but behind the Crimson Tide sit four Big Ten teams in the Top 11 as conference play gets set to start this coming weekend.
With that in mind, let's get to this week's Big Ten Q&A, where we'll tackle the league's current breakout star, each Big Ten team's current top NFL prospect, Michigan's quarterback situation and what could potentially be the biggest conference game of the year no one's talking about.
As always, you can send your questions each week to me on Twitter @BenAxelrod.
Let's get started.
If you can't tell from the timestamp, I actually got this question a week ago but figured I'd give the season another week to play out before sharing my answer—not that the delay has changed anything.
Three weeks into the season, my breakout star for the 2016 season remains Ohio State running back/wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who looks like the first true H-back Urban Meyer has had at his disposal since Percy Harvin at Florida.
Three weeks in, the junior from Brooklyn, New York, ranks fourth in the nation in yards from scrimmage, having averaged 173 yards per game in the Buckeyes' first three games. In many ways, Samuel has proved to be a true dual threat, having split his production nearly evenly between the ground and air (260 rushing yards and 259 receiving yards).
In an offense full of options, between Mike Weber at running back, Noah Brown at receiver and everything J.T. Barrett can do behind center, Samuel has stood out as the undisputed to playmaker in Ohio State's offense.
In each game thus far this season, he's managed to top 100 total yards, scoring four touchdowns on the year, including three in the Buckeyes' season opener.
At this point in the season, a case could certainly be made that Ohio State is college football's top team. And Samuel has been one of the biggest reasons why, as the pieces appear to be in place for Meyer to run the first fully formed version of his offense since he arrived in Columbus in 2012.
Maybe it's because I'm a Cleveland Browns fan, but for some reason, I've recently gotten really into NFL draft projections. And it just so happens the Big Ten is a really fascinating conference when it comes to the 2017 draft, given the recent influx of talent in the league.
As for who will be the first player taken from each team, on some, it's a no-brainer. On others, it's tougher to tell—be it for abundance of options or lack thereof.
Either way, here's my best guess as to who will be the top draft pick from each Big Ten team next spring, along with their current 2017 draft projections, per WalterFootball.com:
- Illinois: Hardy Nickerson (No. 14 inside linebacker, Round 6-undrafted)
- Indiana: Dan Feeney (No. 3 offensive guard, Round 2-3)
- Iowa: Desmond King (No. 6 cornerback, Round 1-2)
- Maryland: William Likely III (unranked cornerback, kick returner)
- Michigan: Jabrill Peppers (No. 3 safety, Round 1-2)
- Michigan State: Malik McDowell (No. 2 defensive tackle, Round 1-2)
- Minnesota: Mitch Leidner (No. 14 quarterback, Round 4-6)
- Nebraska: Nathan Gerry (No. 14 safety, Round 3-4)
- Northwestern: Anthony Walker Jr. (No. 2 inside linebacker, Round 1-2)
- Ohio State: Raekwon McMillan (No. 3 inside linebacker, Round 1-3)
- Penn State: Chris Godwin (No. 19 wide receiver, Round 4-6)
- Purdue: Jake Replogle (unranked defensive tackle)
- Rutgers: Darius Hamilton (No. 15 defensive tackle, Round 4-6)
- Wisconsin: Vince Biegel (No. 11 outside linebacker, Round 3-4)
Watching Michigan struggle through its first quarter against Colorado, I had similar thoughts. At what point will we see John O'Korn? And can the Wolverines really be a championship contender with Wilton Speight at quarterback?
And while there's a degree of coachspeak that you have to assume with everything a head coach says, especially when it comes to talking about his quarterback, I truly believed Jim Harbaugh when he threw his support behind Speight following the junior signal-caller's shaky start on Saturday.
"As we went through the game, you could tell he wasn't 100 percent, but this isn't track, this is football and playing the quarterback position, that’s part of the game," Harbaugh said in his Monday morning press conference. "Thought he showed a lot to his teammates. It's another rung you grab and raise yourself up in the respect of others. That was his opportunity to do it and he did it. Yeah, he goes up another rung in our esteem."
That confidence in Speight could go a long way for the Wolverines as they enter Big Ten play. While Colorado is talented, much tougher teams lie ahead, starting this Saturday when Penn State heads to Ann Arbor for a Big Ten East conference opener.
If Michigan falls behind, at least it now knows it has a quarterback it can count on to help manufacture a comeback.
But if the slow starts soon become a habit, it may only be a matter of time before O'Korn takes his first significant snaps as Michigan's starting quarterback.
Looking at what's left on Nebraska's schedule, it's certainly feasible. Between now and the Cornhuskers' Nov. 5 trip to Columbus, Nebraska takes on Northwestern, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin.
In other words, all the Cornhuskers need to do is beat the Badgers—whom they'll play on the back end of Wisconsin's brutal start to its Big Ten schedule—and their battle with the Buckeyes will become an unexpected pivotal game in the conference race.
So as I look at it now, I'd be inclined to say that will indeed happen. To make the game even more intriguing, Ohio State will reportedly be busting out throwback jerseys (per Eleven Warriors) from the Chic Harley era for the prime-time game.
As for ESPN's College GameDay coming to town, a brief scan of the Nov. 5 slate would show that there isn't another contender as strong as an unbeaten battle between Ohio State and Nebraska, even with Alabama and LSU facing off that weekend.
Of course, that's still more than a month away and both the Buckeyes and Huskers need to hold up their ends of the bargain. Right now, it's looking good, but there's still plenty of time for that to change.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod.
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand. Recruiting and class ratings courtesy of 247Sports' composite ratings.
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