and most productive stars of the 2010 season. These will be the difference makers, the playmakers, and the award winners. In other words, these are the
players everyone will care about.
QB Colin Kaepernick, Sr. Nevada
Kaepernick hasn’t led the team to many big wins and he hasn’t come through in the bowls, but he has been one of the nation’s top dual-threat playmakers with two straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons while completing 56% of his career throws for 7,076 yards with 61 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. When he’s on a roll, he’s unstoppable rushing for 240 yards and three touchdowns against UNLV a few years ago and ripping off 230 yards and four scores against Idaho while running for five 100-yard games on the year. Deadly on the move, he has rushed for 39 career scores averaging 6.8 yards per carry. How accurate was he last year? He threw just two interceptions over the final 11 games. A Vince Young type of quarterback, he’s 6-6 and 215 pounds with a slippery running style and a live arm with a major-league fastball. But for all the stats and for all the amazing things he has done over his phenomenal career, it’s all about coming up with the big wins in his final year.
Ryan Mallett, Jr. Arkansas
Mallett might not have gone No. 1 overall to St. Louis in the 2010 NFL Draft, but he would’ve been considered. At 6-7 and 238 pounds, he has tremendous size, a huge arm, and is a pure pro bomber who’s expected to take Arkansas to a whole other level. After starting out his career at Michigan, and getting a few starts as a true freshman completing 61-of-141 passes for 892 yards and seven scores, the hiring of Rich Rodriguez meant the end of Mallett’s time in Ann Arbor. A perfect fit for Bobby Petrino’s offense, he has all the throws in the bag and is a fiery leader who’s the unquestioned main man in the offense.
Ryan Mallett
Ryan Mallett
Al Messerschmidt
Expected to shine right away after getting a year off after transferring, he blew up from the start highlighted by a 409-yard, five touchdown day in the loss to Georgia and continued to roll from there. He finished the season as the SEC’s best passer completing 56% of his throws for 3,624 yards and 30 touchdowns with seven interceptions, and while he had his problems against the teams with the better pass rushes, he managed to fight back from adversity to make big plays. He might have completed 12-of-27 passes against Florida, but he had the Hogs in the game up until the end. However, consistency will be a key and he needs to be far better against the top teams. Against Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, LSU, and in the bowl against East Carolina, he completed 68-of-171 of his throws (just 39.7%) and with five touchdown passes while never throwing for more than 254 yards.
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