5 Players To Watch: Week 1

Week 1 has a lot of action to choose from, so here’s a look at 5 impact players most worth watching during this weekend’s slate of games:

#5. Myles Garrett – DL – Texas A&M – Myles Garrett likes getting after quarterbacks. He is no doubt heading for the NFL after this season as NFL scouts like what they see before he even gets on the field. He set the SEC record for sacks as a freshman in 2014 and had repeated success in his sophomore effort. If you take a closer look you’ll see that 7 of his 26 career sacks came in two games against Nevada and Louisiana-Monroe. In week one he’ll be facing a very good UCLA team led by quarterback Josh Rosen (see below) who doesn’t throw interceptions and doesn’t get sacked. UCLA only gave up 15 sacks all of last year. If Garrett wants to get off to a good start in what is sure to be his final collegiate season, he’ll have his work cut out for him in what should be a great game.

#4. Baker Mayfield – QB – Oklahoma – Notable for being the first true-freshman walk-on to start a season opener at a BCS school in 2013, Baker Mayfield’s 36 touchdown 2015 season made Texas Tech wonder why they weren’t more committed to the young quarterback. After sitting out a year (a year of eligibility too, stupid NCAA) he was named starter at Oklahoma almost as late as you can name one. He did not disappoint. Mayfield is a legitimate Heisman candidate and one most of the country should be pulling for. He opens it up in what is sure to be a shoot out against Houston. Oklahoma won’t be able to walk into this game thinking it’s over before it starts, but Mayfield could vault to the top of the Heisman race with this week one matchup.

#3. Chad Kelly – QB – Ole Miss – At times, Chad Kelly looks like his uncle, and he will have to play like him this year if Ole Miss wants to make it to the Georgia Dome in December. His mistakes seem to come in waves which is a great recipe for losing football games your team should win. The first opponent for Ole Miss isn’t an SEC West rival or an SEC side at all, but there’s an outside chance that the best defense Kelly sees all year will be when the Rebels head to Orlando to play ACC powerhouse Florida State (who has their own offensive weapon who should probably be on this list). Kelly will have to get better, mainly through consistency, and that’s hard to do with the Rebel’s schedule, but if he looks good in week one, who knows?

#2. Josh Rosen – QB – UCLA – Freshmen quarterbacks don’t normally do what Rosen did last year with the Bruins. In his first game he went 28 for 35 in the air for 351 yards against Virginia. He also threw 199 consecutive passes without an interception in a spread offense. He starts his sophomore campaign at Texas A&M, who should be pretty good at getting to opposing quarterbacks. Due to him being on the west coast I would consider him a sleeper for the Heisman this year, but a big game in an SEC stadium in week one could get him on the right track.

#1. Leonard Fournette – RB – LSU –  It’s a boring pick, I know. Fournette is one of the year’s top Heisman candidates. His Heisman dreams were murdered last year when he ran into Alabama’s top ranked run defense. Well, he’s not facing Alabama in week one, but Wisconsin’s defense is no pushover. They were fourth in the nation in stopping the run last year allowing less than 100 yards a game on the ground. They did lose defensive coordinator Dave Aranda to Fournette’s LSU and several top players on the defensive side of the ball, but with a solid core at linebacker and hopeful superstar TJ Watt (the T is important), Fournette won’t be able to lazily stroll to a 150 yard performance.