Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Sunflower League Player Rankings by Position

Earlier this week, ESPN's Kirk Herbsreit released his 2012 Herbie Awards, basically outlining and ranking the top returning players in college football at every position.  Here, in similar fashion, is an outline of the top returning players in the Sunflower League, with my rankings next to each player.

Also, it's important to keep in mind that plenty of players will emerge in 2012 that made little to no impact on the league scene in previous seasons.  I'm excited to find out who those players are.  In the meantime, this list is mostly a compilation of the returning players who performed well last year.

Quarterbacks
1. Brad Strauss, Lawrence
2. Jordan Darling, SM East
3. Kyle McFarland, Free State
LHS' Drafe Hofer comes in as the fourth
best receiver, while Olathe South's
Remington Whitley (in black) ranks as
the top linebacker. LJWorld.
4. Frank Seurer, Olathe South
5. John Blazevic, Olathe East

Running Backs
1. Gabe Guild, SM South
2. Jason Randall, Leavenworth
3. Hayden Frazier, Olathe East
4. Tyrone Jenkins, Lawrence
5. Brett Sterbach, SM West

Wide Receivers
1. Connor Rellihan, SM East
2. Erick Mayo, Lawrence
3. Matt Elliott, Olathe South
4. Drake Hofer, Lawrence
5. Joel Spiller, SM West

Offensive Lineman
1. Braden Smith, Olathe South
2. Austin Chambers, SM West
3. Nathan Butler, Leavenworth
4. Demetrius Berry, SM South
5. Dominique Berry, SM South

Defensive Lineman
1. Braden Smith, Olathe South
2. Kharon Brown, Lawrence
3. Cody Stanclift, Free State
Is Leavenworth's Isaiah Ross the
fastest player in the league? He may
show us in 2012.  Leavenworth Times.
4. Lee Spight, SM West
5. Jacob Roberson, Leavenworth

Linebackers
1. Remington Whitley, Olathe South
2. David Stewart, SM East
3. Chase Hanson, Olathe South
4. Corban Schmidt, Free State

Defensive Backs
1. Brad Strauss, Lawrence
2. Kyle McFarland, Free State
3. Joe Dineen, Free State
4. Dylan DeVries, Olathe South
5. Ra'Keim Abdul, SM South

Most Exciting Players
1. Brad Strauss, Lawrence
2. Isaiah Ross, Leavenworth
3. Erick Mayo, Lawrence
4. Matt Elliott, Olathe South

*Much of the early word I've been hearing is that Mayo and Ross may be the two fastest players (in pads) in the league.  Both of their highlight films attest to this as well.

Potential Sleepers (Players who are under-the-radar but have excellent potential in 2012)
1. Connor Holsinger, Olathe Northwest
2. Eli Keppler, Leavenworth
3. Andre Maloney, SM West
4. Alex Dinges, SM West
5. Jake Filsinger, SM Northwest
6. Armando Contreras, SM North
7. Russell White, Olathe South
8. Kai Rowden, Olathe North
9. Dontez Sanchez, Olathe North
10. Josh Zdeb, SM Northwest

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think people are really overlooking Elbert Johnson from Olathe North. He didn't get very much varsity playing time being behind Treshawn & Orange. But when he did, he made pretty big plays.

Pitt 80 said...

What?????????? did you really say Elbert Johnson, what about Venus

Pitt 80 said...

Southside baby

Anonymous said...

Venus doesn't have as much experience & when he did play on Friday nights he fumbled a few times. He's a hard runner too, he still has two more years to really get into his game.

TheImpaler said...

I'm surprised a homer like you Eli has Moloney as honorable mention. I thought he showed a lot last year especially in the SME game. He's be in my top DBs list.

Eli Underwood said...

Homer? If anything I'm typically more critical of SM West to avoid that kind of label.

Maloney's a talented defensive back. But so are Strauss, McFarland, Dineen, Ross and Abdul. We'll see how it all plays out. It's not like it would surprise me if Maloney ended up as a First Teamer when all is said and done.

Who's Your Daddy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Who's Your Daddy said...

Venus Triplett will be the next Trevaughn Wrench. Elbert is a good back but Triplett is special. He will make your jaw drop with his footwork. Remember the kid was only a freshman last season at RB rich Olathe North. The fact that he even got on the field is amazing. I watched him score 7 TD'S in one game last season. If he has any blocking be prepared to be amazed. Good luck V Trip!!

Unknown said...

Sorry. That should have been a separate comment. My bad.