Week four: College football breakout stars
Week four of the college football season is in the books, and with it came many standout performances. Here are three players who had what could be breakout weeks as they take the next step in their progression.
Mark Pszonak contributed to this report
The skinny: Williams originally committed to TCU over offers Texas A&M, Texas and Houston, but re-opened his recruitment in November. The Aggies, who became the immediate favorite, only had to wait a couple of days to pick up his commitment. Williams earned immediate playing time this fall as a true freshman, and impressed Saturday night against Arkansas. He finished with 153 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries, teaming up with quarterback Trevor Knight to batter the Razorbacks' defense.
Farrell’s take: Williams was a three-star until the very last rankings update mainly because of his size and questions about durability. However, he was such an explosive runner and could do so many things with the ball in his hands, it was hard to keep him out of our final 2016 Rivals250. Now he’s showing that rankings bump was the right move. The explosion he had out of high school has hit a new level in college.
The skinny: O’Daniel didn't drag his recruiting process out, as he committed to Clemson before his senior season of high school. He redshirted in 2013 and showed flashes of his potential in 2014 and 2015. Last Thursday night during the Tigers' victory against Georgia Tech, O’Daniel finished with nine tackles, two tackles for a loss and a sack. He was one of the major reasons that the Tigers were able to contain Georgia Tech’s triple-option offense.
Farrell’s take: O’Daniel was a big-time recruit and player out of high school. He was an undersized linebacker that covered a lot of ground and was effective in pass defense. O'Daniel's lack of length and size led to a slide outside the Rivals100 in our final rankings update, but he was still top 10 at his position. However, he hasn’t played up to the levels of some ranked ahead of him -- namely Jaylon Smith and fellow in-state prospect Yannick Ngakoue -- who are both now in the NFL. Maybe Thursday night's performance will be a jumping off point for him.
The skinny: The two programs at the forefront of Jacobs' recruitment for much of the process were Wyoming and New Mexico State. However, a late offer from Alabama and serious interest from Missouri and Oklahoma turned everything upside-down. He eventually took official visits to Alabama and Missouri and committed to the Crimson Tide on National Signing Day. With Damien Harris going down with an injury during Alabama’s victory over Kent State, it was Jacobs who got the majority of the carries over both Bo Scarbrough and B.J. Emmons. He finished with 11 carries for 97 yards and two touchdowns. It will be interesting to see if Jacobs becomes Alabama’s lead back if Harris is out for several weeks.
Farrell’s take: Jacobs is the rare three-star signee in Alabama's Nick Saban era. It’s kind of refreshing to see. Jacobs was a guy who slid under the radar for most of the process mainly because of concerns he wasn’t sudden enough to be a feature back. It didn't help that he missed a bunch of time as a junior, either. But his senior year, where he rushed for 2,704 yards and 31 scores, brought out some of the big dogs in recruiting. Alabama, as it often does, won the battle down the stretch. Now Jacobs is surpassing some bigger names already for playing time.
