College Football Injured Stars On The Mend
16 for ’16: Stars Returning From Injury. The Top Players Coming Back After Getting Hurt In 2015
16 for ’16: Ranking stars returning from injury. The top players coming back after getting hurt in 2015.
Time heals all wounds – at least that’s the hope of coaching staffs around college football.
More times than not, it’s one of the lower extremities, like a knee or a leg, in need of repair. While schools have no choice but to adapt to the loss of fallen playmakers, there returns will still be greeted with excitement and relief.
Though they haven’t worn pads in quite some time, they certainly haven’t been forgotten. If all goes well during the offseason, a handful boast the talent to go from inactive for much of last season to invaluable by mid-September.
16. WR Mike Dudek, Illinois
Dudek was supposed to be Wes Lunt’s favorite target in 2015. Instead, the receiver never played a down, stricken by an ACL tear last spring.
In 2014, Dudek became just the eighth player in school history to amass more than a 1,000 yards receiving … as a rookie. And since the injury happened so early in the year, the sophomore will be raring to go this spring to help offset some of the lost production from Geronimo Allison’s graduation.
15. CB Fabian Moreau, UCLA
There was a time not long ago that Jim Mora pegged Moreau as a surefire NFL target. The senior has one more year to validate his coach’s support.
Moreau’s anticipated breakout year never happened, derailed by a broken foot suffered last September. The recipient of a medical redshirt, he plans to use his fifth season in Westwood to recapture momentum by blooming into one of the Pac-12’s top cover corners.
14. DT Harold Brantley, Missouri
Fortunately, Brantley survived a rollover car crash last June. But a series of injuries ended any hopes of suiting up for his junior year.
Brantley was one of Mizzou’s breakout stars of 2014, earning honorable mention All-SEC in his debut as a full-timer. While it’s been a long and frustrating recovery for the Tiger, he hopes to recapture the form he had before his world was literally turned upside down on a stretch of Highway 63 in Missouri.
13. DT Jarron Jones, Notre Dame
Conditioning and rust could be issues for Jones, who hasn’t worn pads in a very long time.
The Rochester, N.Y. senior not only missed all of last season to a torn MCL, but also the end of 2014 with a foot injury. Before going down as a junior, he’d made 40 stops and 7.5 tackles for loss, impressive output for a 6-5, 315-pound interior lineman. If he stays healthy in 2016, Jones has the talent to emerge a star in 2016.
12. DT Eddie Vanderdoes, UCLA
Kenny Clark left early for the NFL Draft. Vanderdoes, though, will be back this fall to anchor the interior of the Bruins’ defensive line.
Vanderdoes played just one game of his junior year before tearing his ACL while celebrating a touchdown. It was a severe setback for a player destined to take flight in 2015. Back at full strength, he hopes to put his combination of strength and quickness on display as a senior.
11. RB Tarean Folston, Notre Dame
If you liked C.J. Prosise and Josh Adams a year ago, you’re going to love a healthy Tarean Folston.
Prosise and Adams combined for almost 2,000 yards on the ground, but neither began the year as the starter. Folston was Notre Dame’s premier back before tearing knee ligaments in the opener. Although he’s getting close to 100%, it’s unlikely—and unnecessary—that the Irish will push him too hard this spring.
10. DE James McFarland, TCU
From start to finish, the Horned Frogs were snakebitten by injuries in 2015. McFarland, for instance.
McFarland was TCU’s best pass rusher of 2014, collecting seven sacks and a Defensive MVP nod in the Chick-fil-A Bowl; however a foot injury kept him from building on a strong junior year. With McFarland, among others, returning to the field this fall, the Frogs are banking on being far deeper on defense than they were a year ago.
9. DT Darius Hamilton, Rutgers
Hamilton was one of the few bright spots at Rutgers last season, until a knee injury shelved him in Week 4.
The Scarlet Knights were in no position to lose Hamilton, their Defensive MVP and team captain in 2014. However, now the senior is on his way back, and set to serve as one of the physical and emotional leaders of Chris Ash’s first squad in Piscataway.
8. LB Ed Davis, Michigan State
The plan in 2015 was for Davis to become the new tone-setter of Mark Dantonio’s defense. Fate, though, had a different plan for the linebacker and the Spartans.
Davis was forced to lead from the sidelines in 2015, the result of a season-ending knee injury suffered on Aug. 12. Now he’s back for his sixth season in East Lansing, prepared to infuse his experience and energy into the second level of the defense.
7. S Dante Barnett, Kansas State
When Barnett went down with an injury in the opener, the Wildcats lost arguably their most important all-around defender.
Barnett began the 2015 season as a two-year starter and a reigning All-Big 12 Second Team performer. However, he ended it with just five tackles. Barnett has the size and the instincts to excel on Sundays, but for one final year he’s going to be the headliner of the Wildcat secondary.
6. WR Mike Williams, Clemson
Deshaun Watson threw 35 touchdown passes a year ago, almost winning the Heisman Trophy. And he did it without arguably his most polished wide receiver.
Williams suffered a scary Week 1 neck injury after being shoved into the goalpost. A handful of Tigers collaboratively picked up the slack, but Williams’ length and playmaking ability were still missed. Almost two years after amassing 1,030 receiving yards, he’s been cleared for takeoff this spring.
5. QB Taysom Hill, BYU
Hill is back in Provo, but what exactly that means in 2016 remains to be seen.
The fifth-year senior ended speculation last month when he announced he’d be finishing his career as a Cougar. However, Tanner Mangum also returns after filling in admirably a season ago. And then there’s the issue of Hill’s durability, which has been a perennial problem. He’s Heisman-esque at full strength, but has gone wire-to-wire in just one of his four seasons.
4. QB Malik Zaire, Notre Dame
South Bend will be the scene of one of the best offseason quarterback battles, thanks to an unfortunate ankle injury that felled Zaire in Week 2.
After Zaire beat out Everett Golson for the starting gig, he was supposed to become a star in Brian Kelly’s attack. And he very well might have before getting rolled on by the Virginia defense. The dual-threat is on his way back, but the emergence of DeShone Kizer means he’ll have to fend off competition for a second year in a row.
3. RB James Conner, Pittsburgh
This past year was one Conner will not soon forget.
Conner, who rushed for 1,765 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2014, tore his MCL in the opener. But that setback was nothing compared to the Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis he received in December. To his credit, and consistent with his personality, Conner was back at practice in February. He’s still hoping to rejoin his teammates by the start of the 2016 campaign.
2. QB Seth Russell, Baylor
By the time Iowa State visited Waco on Oct. 24, Russell had jockeyed into Heisman contention. However, that game with the Cyclones would be the quarterback’s last of 2015.
Russell injured his cervical vertebra, curtailing a banner season that had him on target to account for more than 60 touchdowns. Although the senior was frighteningly close to not walking again, his surgery was a success and he should be whole again after rebuilding the muscles in his neck.
1. RB Nick Chubb, Georgia
Chubb played in five full games in 2015, rushing for at least 120 yards in all of them. In Week 6 against Tennessee, though, he was lost to a season-ending left knee injury.
Being shelved was tough on Chubb, who’s transferred all of his focus and pent-up energy on returning to the field as quickly as possible. Despite the significance of the injury, which included extensive ligament and cartilage damage, Chubb hopes to be available for the Sept. 3 opener with Carolina.
