Thursday, August 8, 2013

The next freshman sensation?

Given yesterday's look back at Gurley and Marshall, it's time to speculate and prognosticate. We've seen enough headlines and quotations from camp thus far to make an educated guess on which newcomer will make a Gurleyesque impact this fall.

But first, some guidelines. I plan to use these. And although you are under no such obligation, they do help tie the posts together.
  1. First and foremost, must be a first year player. So that limits us to a true freshman, redshirt freshman or transfer.
  2. Now that the roster is narrowed down significantly, my choice will also come from a roster spot that has seen some manner of renovation. Last season the running back spot was in near turmoil. Well, that's a bit dramatic. We knew we had a couple youngsters with potential. But we also knew we were desperate for some consistent production.
  3. Obviously the candidate has to have had a pretty good camp, generated some buzz...up to and including content for multiple threads on message boreds.
  4. Preference for quotes from both coaches and players alike. For me this adds a bit of authenticity. Players tend to be more excitable, while coaches more reserved. Truth is usually in the excitement.
  5. MUST have an instagram account to have shown him doing backflips.
  6. Consensus says it must be a defensive player. Because Hicks isn't technically a newcomer.
I think that'll do. After all, I already have my choice, which I'll post tomorrow morning. Did I miss a qualification? Care to provide your own guess as to which newcomer will drop jaws and crush opponents this fall?