Players set to replace college football's departed stars
They did it on "The Dukes of Hazzard," in 'Major League II'' and, if there's anyone in your house under the age of 4, "Blues Clues.'' Replacing stars isn't easy, and it comes with varying degrees of success.
Of course, on campuses across the country it's part of the football cycle. It's out with the old — award winners, All-Americans and new NFL millionaires — and ... you get the picture. Here's a look at 10 of the biggest holes left behind by yesterday's household names and those looking to fill them.
ALABAMA
Who's Gone: Barrett Jones
Who's Next: Ryan Kelly
Kelly not only has the size — at 6-foot-5, 290 pounds — to anchor the Tide's line, but already has earned plenty of valuable experience, practicing with the first team during BCS title game preparations while Jones was limited with a foot injury. And he's received the blessing of the three-time All-American he's replacing.
"He’s a great young player, probably two to three times better than I ever was at center,” Jones told Tuscaloosa radio station WDGM in February.
It's lofty praise, but consider that Kelly was named to the SEC All-Freshman team while appearing in 10 games as Jones' backup, and he's already made the field of 44 on the Rimington watch list despite having never started a game.
The Tide do return left tackle Cyrus Kouandjio and right guard Anthony Steen, but with three new faces, the Tide can't afford for Kelly to not live up to the hype heaped on him from Jones — or from when he arrived at Alabama as the sixth-ranked center in the Class of 2011 — if we're going to see a continuation of that tent pole of Nick Saban's teams: Running the ball.
Who's Gone: Bjorn Werner
Who's Next: Mario Edwards Jr.
Not only is Werner, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, no longer terrorizing QBs in Tallahassee, but Tank Carradine also is gone, leaving the Seminoles 24 sacks down from last season.
Edwards, though, will bring plenty of experience after unexpectedly stepping into the end rotation last season.
The fourth-rated player in the Class of 2012 by Scout.com and the No. 1 defensive lineman, Edwards arrived at Florida State with hype and a frame that was carrying 315 pounds by the time the season started. Before the opener against Murray State he was told he was going to be redshirted, but Jimbo Fisher's plans quickly changed as Brandon Jenkins suffered a season-ending foot injury.
Edwards would appear in 11 games, registering 17 tackles, including 2 1/2 for loss with 1 1/2 sacks. He also trimmed down to 282 pounds. He's now at 291 and expects to be around 280-285 entering his sophomore season and is positioned to be one of the season's breakout stars given Florida State's recent track record with DEs.
Who's Gone: Collin Klein
Who's Next: Daniel Sams or Jake Waters
Anyone looking for clarity in the Wildcats' quarterback race received none from coach Bill Snyder, who flipped a coin to decide whether Sams or Waters would start with the first team in the spring game.
The race to take over for Klein, a Heisman finalist a year ago, will rage into the fall, and at this point it's really a matter of what K-State wants: An electric athlete or a refined passer.
Sams, a sophomore, saw action in seven games last year, the brunt of which came against Oklahoma State, when he threw for 45 yards and ran for 20 more. He went 18-of-28 for 391 yards and four TDs and ran for 29 yards and a score in the spring game. Clocked at 4.33 in the 40-yard dash, Sams would give the Wildcats the kind of speed they haven't had at the position since Michael Bishop.
Waters, who broke Cam Newton's junior-college completion percentage record in throwing for 3,501 yards, 39 TDs and three scores in leading Iowa Western to a national title last season, was 14-of-28 for 249 yards and a TD and added a rushing score in the Purple-White Game.
With senior John Hubert the focal point of the Wildcats offense after running for 947 yards and 15 scores in '13, Waters would seem the more logical choice, but don't expect to get a definitive answer until we get closer to the Aug. 30 opener.
Who's Gone: Johnthan Banks
Who's Next: Justin Cox
The Bulldogs have multiple holes to fill in their secondary with three starters gone from a year ago. But none loom larger than the one creating by Thorpe Award winner Banks' exit — making Cox, who originally signed as safety, so key.
Cox enrolled early in Starkville after two years at East Mississippi Community College, where he had 11 interceptions — or just one less than Banks had in being named the nation's top defensive back — and 19 passes broken up to go along with 119 tackles, including seven for loss.
At 6-3, 190 pounds, Cox should match up well with the SEC's bigger receivers, and when you figure in that he's been clocked at 4.28 in the 40-yard dash, he could be a budding star for coach Dan Mullen.
Who's Gone: Jonathan Cooper
Who's Next: Caleb Peterson
The Tar Heels had three players up front selected in the NFL draft, and while they'll still feature four players with game experience this season, the guy taking over for an All-American left guard isn't one of them.
Peterson has yet to take a snap in college as a redshirt freshman, but he does have size at 6-foot-3, 310 pounds, and Larry Fedora was impressed with his development, but as the Tar Heels coach said, "He still has a long way to go, and he understands that. He is an athletic young man ... has great strength, working on his feet and quickness. I think he really came on and did some nice things."
He'll get the unsavory bonus of opening against South Carolina and the most dominant defensive player in the nation in Jadeveon Clowney. With James Hurst, a four-year starter, at left tackle, expect Peterson to get tested early and often.
Who's Gone: Manti Te'o
Who's Next: Jarrett Grace
The fake girlfriend scandal has largely changed the perception of Te'o, but let's not forget he was one of the most decorated defensive players in college football history, the runner-up to Johnny Manziel in the Heisman Trophy voting and the heart and soul of a defense that led Notre Dame to the title game.
So it's only fitting that Grace, the player in line to replace Te'o, has been using the All-American as a resource.
"I talked to him a lot. He was definitely a mentor figure to me in that regard, and a lot of imes when he spoke to me, he's like, 'All right, when it's you're time ... when you're in this role. ...' So we had a lot of those type talks," Grace told Blue Gold Illustrated. "He definitely instilled a lot of confidence in me when he was here."
Grace looks the part at 6-foot-3, 248, he led the Fighting Irish with 10 special teams tackles last fall and was strong in the spring game with eight stops. He'll also benefit from having starters back at the other three linebacker spot in the 3-4 scheme, but it remains to be seen if he can be the vocal leader Te'o was.
Who's Gone: John Simon
Who's Next: Adolphus Washington
Ohio State's defense is undergoing a remodel with seven new starters, including all four up front.
The task of picking up for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Simon at strongside end falls on Washington.
The 6-3, 290-pound sophomore, who arrived in Columbus as a five-star prospect, had nine tackles and three sacks a year ago in limited time. He starred in the spring game with four sacks.
The Buckeyes have an offense capable of leading them to a Big Ten crown and maybe more, making the ability of Washington to develop a consistent pass rush on a rebuilt line crucial to Ohio State's hopes.
What's Gone: Luke Joeckel
Who's Next: Jake Matthews
This may be the most seamless transition in the nation, as the Aggies replace one All-American with another.
Now Matthews earned that honor playing right tackle a year ago, but there's little doubt the 6-5, 305-pounder, who could have been a first-round draft pick in April but returned to College Station, will thrive as Heisman winner Johnny Manziel's bodyguard.
To speak to the embarrassment of riches at A&M, even the player who is taking over for Matthews on the right side, Cedric Ogbuehi, has appeared on multiple All-SEC preseason teams.
The only question is whether the Matthews-anchored line can follow last year's group, which led the SEC, and ranked 11th nationally, with 242.1 rushing yards per game?
Who's Gone: Matt Barkley
Who's Next: Max Browne, Cody Kessler or Max Wittek
It would seem the winner will be just fine, given that USC gets to throw to Biletnikoff Trophy winner Marqise Lee, but the truth is, this is a race that could define a pivotal season for Lane Kiffin.
The spring game would seem to offer some separation, as redshirt sophomore Kessler threw for 242 yards and three TDs, while Wittek (two TDs and two interceptions), a redshirt sophomore, and Browne (one TD), a true freshman, had their moments but didn't captivate. But Kessler has just two career pass attempts to 69 by Wittek, and the longer this race rages on makes you think Browne has a chance.
Wittek is the safe choice and with Lee and RB Silas Redd, safe may be the right play for Kiffin.
Who's Gone: Monte Ball
Who's Next: James White or Melvin Gordon
At first glance it seems like a lock.
White, a senior, is the NCAA's top returning rusher, with 2,571 yards and 32 TDs in three years, which would make him the favorite to replace Ball, if not for what Gordon has shown in limited opportunities.
Gordon had 62 carries to White's 125 last season, most of which came on fly sweeps, but it also included the 216 yards on nine carries in the Big Ten title game.
Gordon, a redshirt sophomore, also is bigger at 6-1, 203 pounds than White (5-10, 197) and has shown more versatility, averaging 32.5 yards per reception to White's 16.5. With an expected emphasis on featuring the backs in the passing game under new coach Gary Andersen, that could be key.
Ultimately this looks like a time share, with White ending the year with more carries. But sharing the spotlight is something White is all too familiar with. He split attempts with ex-North Carolina star Giovanni Bernard at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida before doing the same with John Clay and Ball in Madison.