College football

Mizzou's Gabbert tops list of game's next stars

QB played in pain last season; pair of Pac-10 players also ready to rise

Thomas B. Shea / Getty Images Contributor

MIssouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert finished his first season as a starter with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and showed unreal arm strength and toughness.

OPINION

By Matt Hayes

updated 6:20 p.m. ET April 6, 2010

Matt Hayes

There is a point where Blaine Gabbert hesitates, where weeks of excruciating pain from last season simply have no place in the conversation. Why would it?

"It's my responsibility to get this team to score points and win games," said Missouri's junior quarterback. "We didn't do enough of either."

Fortunately, we have this side of the story from Tigers coach Gary Pinkel, further explaining how Gabbert's ankle injury affected the last nine games of the season: "I'm not sure many people understand what he went through last season."

Or how much of a change you'll see this season.

Looking for college football's next great star? Here he is, everyone: 6-5, 240-pound Blaine Gabbert. He doesn't play at Florida or Texas or Oklahoma. Or even Alabama. But he's about as close to can't-miss as it gets.

And he's not alone. While draftniks are busy breaking down 40 times and cone drills and broad jumps, we'll stick with what's next this fall and look at five of college football's next great stars.

1. QB Blaine Gabbert, Jr., Missouri
There's this misconception that Gabbert tailed off last season once Missouri hit the Big 12 portion of the schedule — and moved away from creampuff nonconference games.

Gabbert had 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in four nonconference games. Then came the Big 12 opener — and an awful game (and home loss) against Nebraska. Here's what most don't know: Gabbert suffered a high ankle sprain early in that game, an injury many trainers feel is second only to an ACL tear in the non-break category.

Instead of sitting out a month — the typical protocol — Gabbert kept playing. He finished his first season as a starter with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and showed unreal arm strength and toughness. A few days after the Nebraska game, Huskers defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh told me, "That kid is the real deal."

And remember this: Gabbert wasn't the only quarterback who struggled against Nebraska. Gabbert, Oklahoma's Landry Jones, Kansas' Todd Reesing, Texas' Colt McCoy and Arizona's Nick Foles combined to complete less than 50 percent of their passes and throw one touchdown pass and 11 interceptions against the Cornhuskers.

2. LB Vontaze Burfict, Soph., Arizona State
One Pac-10 coach called Burfict the closest thing to Lawrence Taylor at the college level in two decades. Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson compares Burfict to Ray Lewis.

Burfict is big (6-3, 245) and fast — he has run sub-4.5 40s — and is the game's best blitzing linebacker. There have been discussions about lining him up on the edge as a pass rusher, but the classic run stuffer is more valuable in the middle of the Sun Devils' defense.

He was ASU's first top 10 recruit, a player Erickson pulled from USC late in the recruiting process. Former USC coach Pete Carroll was so upset about losing Burfict he did something few coaches do during national signing day news conferences: He spoke about the big recruit who got away and how disappointing it was.

3. DT Jared Crick, Jr., Nebraska
Suh was the game's dominant defensive player last season, but it was Crick's emergence that made the Huskers so difficult to scheme.

An indicator of Crick's ability: Big 12 coaches made him a first-team all-conference selection, even though he wasn't among most other media all-conference teams. Suh had 12 sacks; Crick had 9.5. Suh led the team in tackles with 85 (24 for loss); Crick was fourth with 73 (15 for loss).

Suh dominated the Big 12 championship game and eventually earned a spot as a Heisman Trophy finalist. Crick had five sacks against Baylor (seven total tackles for loss) and could be the second Nebraska interior lineman in two years to finish the season in New York City.

4. TB Allen Bradford, Sr., USC
Think Montario Hardesty. When Lane Kiffin arrived at Tennessee, he wanted to build the offense around Hardesty, a bruising tailback who could wear down defenses. Under Carroll, USC rarely used a feature back, preferring to split time by committee.

Watch how Bradford — bigger and faster than Hardesty and averaged 5.8 yards per carry on just 115 carries last year — develops this fall behind an athletic offensive line and with Kiffin's one-back-carries-the-load philosophy. Hardesty had 282 carries last year; if Bradford reaches that number and has the same average per carry, he'll rush for 1,600 yards.

5. WR Michael Floyd, Jr., Notre Dame
Floyd — not eventual All-American Golden Tate — was Notre Dame's go-to receiver last fall before breaking his collarbone in Week 3. He's a matchup nightmare, a physically gifted wideout with terrific balance when the ball is in the air.

Floyd has the size to shield defenders and force double-teams, and the speed to run past coverage. He will flourish in coach Brian Kelly's offense, which specializes in using multiple formations and motion to gain matchup advantages.

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