The Most Intriguing Nonquarterbacks of the College Football Season

It’s not just about the man under center. From tight ends to defensive linemen to, yes, punters, here are some players to keep an eye on this year.

Back again by popular demand—or force of habit—we present the annual college football Most Intriguing lists. We started with the Most Intriguing Coaches. Then the Most Intriguing Quarterbacks. This week: the Most Intriguing Nonquarterbacks for 2023:

1. Brock Bowers, Georgia tight end

Bowers has played a key role in transforming the Bulldogs’ offense from mundanely effective to creatively devastating. He can line up anywhere and do just about anything: catch, run, block. Bowers’s 63 receptions last year were third among tight ends, but he also had 109 rushing yards and three rushing TDs—an element that is outside the skill set of normal tight ends. The junior’s athleticism and body control were highlighted on his two most memorable plays of 2022: a juggling, 73-yard touchdown catch against Florida; and his Matrix-like extension to barely get a first down in a must-have touchdown drive against Ohio State. If Bowers isn’t one of the next great tight ends in the NFL, it will be a surprise.

Crucial moment of the game. This is some Matrix stuff Brock Bowers. ⁦@GeorgiaFootball⁩ pic.twitter.com/TsY3E06voy

— Holly Rowe (@sportsiren) January 1, 2023

2. Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State wide receiver

Speaking of can’t-miss NFL stars, Harrison is that guy. At 6'4", 205 pounds, he’s significantly larger than his Hall of Fame father while still possessing elite speed, moves and hands. Since blowing up in the 2022 Rose Bowl as a freshman, Harrison has averaged a touchdown every 4.9 receptions. Both he and every Ohio State fan on the planet are wondering what could have been if he hadn’t gotten hurt in the third quarter of the College Football Playoff semifinals against Georgia. If anyone has the combination of factors it would take for a non-QB to win the Heisman Trophy—stats, highlight-reel capability, high-profile program—it’s Harrison.

3. Travis Hunter, Colorado defensive back/wide receiver

Hunter is definitely the Louis in Coach Prime’s Boulder luggage, and he’s not just trying to make the leap from FCS to high-major football; he’s doing it at two positions. The five-star high school prospect who shockingly went to Jackson State was a two-way player for one of the all-time two-way guys, Deion Sanders. Hunter started eight games defensively and five on offense at Jackson State, producing 18 catches for 188 yards and four touchdowns; 20 tackles, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and 10 passes broken up. How much he plays on each side of the ball will be one of the primary curiosity factors of the early season.

4. Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama cornerback

Oh yeah. He’s legit, and not just for his nickname. He’s an elite cover corner, with 15 passes broken up last season, but there is more to the junior’s flavor package. McKinstry also is one of the most dangerous punt returners in the nation as well, having averaged 15.86 yards per return and leading FBS with the most returns of 10 yards or longer (eight), 20 yards or longer (five) and 30 yards or longer (four). In recent years the Crimson Tide defense hasn’t been as ridiculously good as we’d come to expect under Nick Saban, but this unit has a chance to revert to old form. McKinstry will be a key part of that.

5. Blake Corum, Michigan running back

The One More Year Fund NIL initiative prioritized Corum and a handful of other Wolverines, offering financial incentives for staying in school and chasing a national championship. Given how Corum’s 2022 season ended, with a major knee injury in the 11th game of the regular season, this was a preferred path to trying to sell himself to the NFL while rehabbing the knee. Corum was great last year, rushing for 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns, and if back to peak form he will be a Heisman candidate again this season. The One More Year Fund also helped pay the linemen who block for him, so it’s a win-win situation.

6. Donovan Edwards, Michigan running back

Then again, what if Corum isn’t even the best back on his own team? Edwards was a monster after Corum went down last year, producing 520 rushing yards over the final three games of the season and leaving burn marks on the Ohio Stadium turf. But in Edwards’s mind, he’s just getting started on a paradigm-shifting career. “I will go down as one of the greatest running backs to ever play the game,” he told Pro Football Focus. “I’ll be up there with Walter Payton, Barry Sanders. I believe I will revolutionize the game and the position.”

7. Walter Nolen, Texas A&M defensive tackle

Nolen was the No. 1 recruit in the 2022 class according to some scouting services and was the object of impermissible recruiting ardor from home-state Tennessee (he was named in some of the cavalcade of violations the Volunteers committed). Nolen was the centerpiece of the Aggies’ No. 1 class, and for all the hype those freshmen received, there were growing pains. Nolen, however, was effective in year one. He and his classmates must keep improving to elevate A&M past its 5–7 bust in ’22.

8. Harold Perkins, LSU linebacker

Perkins was a February 2022 signing-day coup for new coach Brian Kelly, choosing to stay home over Texas A&M, Texas and Florida. The returns were immediate. The state of Arkansas might still be recovering from what Perkins did to the Razorbacks last year, racking up four sacks, forcing two fumbles and making eight total tackles. But the freshman from New Orleans was not a one-hit wonder: He finished the season with 73 tackles, 14 behind the line of scrimmage, 8.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and an interception. At 6'2" and 220 pounds, he has startling speed and explosiveness.

9. Abdul Carter, Penn State linebacker

Carter shone as a freshman and returns to what should be a loaded Penn State defense :: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

If it weren’t for Perkins, Carter would have been the unquestioned star freshman linebacker of 2022. He produced 10.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and broke up four passes despite not starting until the seventh game of the season. The four-star Philadelphia-area prospect took a look at some SEC schools but was always solidly within James Franklin’s reach, committing in the summer of ’21 after making several campus visits. He outperformed his national recruiting ranking as a freshman, but everyone is clued into his talent now as one of several studs on the Nittany Lions’ defense.

10. Jared Verse, Florida State defensive end

There is no such thing as an Albany-to–Florida State career path, but Verse created one and thrived in the process. An unrated prospect coming out of Berwick, Pa., in 2019, he committed to FCS Albany and redshirted his first season. Then there was just a four-game spring season as a redshirt freshman, followed by a full season of production in ’21. That put him on the Power 5 radar, and the transfer to Tallahassee led to an explosive ’22 season: 17 tackles for loss, nine sacks and potential first-round NFL draft status. But Verse chose to play one more year in college and will be key to an FSU team that could win the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time in nine years.

11. Braelon Allen, Wisconsin running back

One of the big curiosities of the season is whether Running Back U will be downgraded with the arrival of coach Luke Fickell, coordinator Phil Longo and an Air Raid offense installation. Don’t count on it. While the formations will look different—no fullbacks, fewer tight sets—Allen still figures to be the centerpiece of the Badgers’ offense. With 2,500 rushing yards in two seasons and a Derrick Henry starter set physique, the 235-pound Allen is prepared to once again put the pound in the Wisconsin ground game. But he also could be catching it more, too (he’s yet to record a college touchdown reception).

12. Frank Gore Jr., Southern Mississippi running back

With more than 3,000 rushing yards in three seasons, he’s far surpassed his famous father’s production at The U. (Good luck outdoing Dad’s NFL total of exactly 16,000 yards, which is third in history.) Gore had a mind-boggling 329 rushing yards in Southern Miss’s bowl victory over Rice to close last season, but his most impressive stats are in the passing department. He’s a dangerous wildcat quarterback, and not just as a surprise tactic: Gore has completed 18 of 31 passes for 370 yards and eight touchdowns with just one interception. His career pass efficiency rating of 237.03 is off the charts.

13. Cooper DeJean, Iowa defensive back/kick returner

Only two Hawkeyes scored more touchdowns in 2022 than DeJean … who doesn’t play offense. He intercepted five passes and turned three of them into pick-sixes—one against Rutgers, one against Wisconsin and one against Kentucky—which should have qualified his as the offensive MVP of that anemic Iowa team. DeJean also averaged 16.5 yards per punt return, most for a Hawkeye with at least 10 returns in a season since 1998. A small-town Iowa product, DeJean also was a high school quarterback, scored more than 1,800 points as a basketball player and ran a 10.71-second 100-meter dash.

14. A.D. Mitchell, Texas wide receiver

It registered as something of a shock when Mr. Playoffs for Georgia took his two championship rings and transferred back to his home state to play for the Longhorns. Mitchell caught touchdown passes in all four of the Bulldogs’ CFP victories the past two seasons, including the go-ahead scores in the fourth quarter against Alabama in the title game two seasons ago and Ohio State in last year’s semifinal. The Longhorns already have plenty of receiver talent with Xavier Worthy and Jordan Whittington; now they should have one of the deepest wideout corps in the country.

15. Joe Alt, Notre Dame offensive tackle

Alt is the latest product of a family of large men who like to collide with other men. His father, John, was a 6'8" offensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1984 to ’96. His older brother, Mark, is a 6'4" former NHL defenseman who turned down football scholarships to play hockey. At 6'8", 322 pounds, Joe Alt is the latest road grader off the Notre Dame assembly line. The junior provides a rock of stability in a changing Fighting Irish offense, which has a new coordinator, new quarterback and several new faces at skill positions. Alt is tentatively projected as a first-round pick if he chooses to leave school a year early, possibly as high as the top 10.

16. Carson Steele, UCLA running back

Crocky-J stayed back home in Indiana. That’s the name of Steele’s pet alligator, a four-foot-plus creature he’s had since both the human and the reptile were young. What did make the trip West to UCLA with Steele: his flowing blonde hair, his weight-room warrior mentality and his status as the leading returning rusher in FBS. Steele ran for 1,556 yards and 14 touchdowns last year at Ball State, making the former Indiana Mr. Football a coveted target in the transfer portal. Chip Kelly, who has done a lot of work in the portal, landed a guy capable of going from the MAC to the Pac-12 without much trouble.

17. Rome Odunze, Washington wide receiver

Odunze broke out last season as the leading receiver for Penix & Co :: Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports

Named for the city in Italy (not Georgia) because his dad is a history buff who studied the Roman Empire. Odunze reportedly was an athletic prodigy, riding a bike without training wheels at age 2 and performing other feats at a precocious age. Odunze has been through the boom-and-bust cycle with Washington—he committed to Chris Petersen, began college amid the dismal Jimmy Lake Era, then blew up last year during the first year under Kalen DeBoer. Odunze (75 receptions, 1,145 yards, seven touchdowns, 15.27 yards per catch in 2022) leads what might be the best receiving corps in America in catching balls from Heisman candidate Michael Penix Jr.

18. Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Clemson linebacker

The son of an All-Pro linebacker who made more than 900 tackles in the NFL is making his own mark at the position—in college at the moment but likely in the NFL soon enough. Junior had 22 tackles in just 59 snaps of action as a freshman, then last year moved into the starting lineup and led Clemson in tackles with 89. That total included 13.5 for loss and 6.5 sacks, while he also produced two interceptions, a forced fumble and five passes broken up. He will be the centerpiece of what should be another loaded Tigers defense.

19. Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati defensive tackle

Nicknamed the Godfather (duh), Corleone is the Bearcats’ round mound of run-stopping renown. The Cincy native didn’t opt to transfer when Luke Fickell left because, “I like representing the C-Paw pride.” The 6'2", 318-pound sophomore nose tackle was the highest-rated defensive player in the nation last year by Pro Football Focus, racking up 45 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles at a position where stats can be hard to come by. The big man with a big personality has switched jersey numbers from 58 to 2 this season, explaining, “It’s a big man’s dream to always have that single-digit number.”

20. Nyckoles Harbor, South Carolina wide receiver

The only freshman on the list. Harbor earns the honor by being a preposterous athlete that the public can’t wait to see in action. Harbor, who played tight end and defensive end in high school but is expected to be a wide receiver for the Gamecocks, stands 6'5" and is expected to play this season at 243 pounds—yet he has high-end track speed, clocking a 10.22-second 100 meters and 20.63 in the 200. (The videos of him sprinting against much smaller competition are memorable.) Shane Beamer held off Oregon and Michigan for the national top-30 prospect from Washington, D.C. Now let’s see how the Gamecocks use him and how soon he’ll make an impact.

21. Javon Bullard, Georgia safety

Half a dozen members of the Bulldogs’ defense could be on this list. But Bullard—described as “a little stick of dynamite” by Kirby Smart—has a unique niche on that mega-talented unit. Bullard was a mere three-star recruit from Milledgeville who forced his way into an increasingly bigger role last year. By midseason he was doing a bit of everything, producing myriad big plays in big games. Bullard had seven tackles with two sacks in the showdown against Tennessee; delivered the devastating (and clean) hit that stopped an Ohio State touchdown and knocked Marvin Harrison Jr. out of the game in the Peach Bowl; and had two interceptions in the CFP championship rout of TCU.

22. Squirrel White, Tennessee wide receiver

As a freshman, the evocatively nicknamed White forced his way into a deep and talented receiver rotation, making an immediate impact. He finished the year with 30 catches for 481 yards and two touchdowns and now steps into a larger role as a sophomore. Commensurate with that status, White has an NIL deal with Weigel’s grocery stores: “Squirrel Team Six,” in which the chain will give away a six-pack of Coca-Cola for every game in which Squirrel scores a touchdown. Let the rodent run, let the rodent score, let Volunteers fans enjoy free Coke all fall.

23. Jason Henderson, Old Dominion linebacker

The tackling-est man in college football, Henderson led the country with a whopping 186 tackles last year, 39 more than the runner-up. The sophomore from Pennsylvania finished just seven tackles shy of the FBS single-season record, set by Texas Tech’s Lawrence Flugence in 2002. ... Henderson had 11 double-digit tackle games and was the only FBS player to have multiple 20-tackle games. He had 529 tackles in high school, so collisions just come naturally to Henderson.

24. Malachi Corley, Western Kentucky wide receiver

He’s a classic, overlooked high school recruit turned college star and NFL prospect. Corley was a two-star recruit out of Campbellsville, Ky., who drew little scholarship interest on the FBS level. The Hilltoppers signed him as a defensive back, but he moved to wide receiver and has blossomed over the past two seasons (174 catches, 1,984 yards, 18 touchdowns in that time). Keeping both Corley and quarterback Austin Reed was a coup for WKU in the transfer portal era, and those two could be the most prolific pass-catch combination in the country this year.

25. Tory Taylor, Iowa punter

Can’t have this list without the MVP, the Most Valuable Punter, the guy who makes the football surrender play something to celebrate. The Australian is the ultimate FerentzBall Hawkeye, the ideal weapon for a coach who loves nothing more than punting and playing field position. Taylor led the nation with 82 punts last season and was second in 2021 with 80. A whopping 47% of his punts have been downed inside opponents’ 20-yard-line, the kind of thing that fills Kirk Ferentz’s risk-averse heart with joy. Given nothing offensively to get excited about, Iowa fans have embraced their punting star, buying Taylor’s charity-based, “Punting Is Winning” T-shirts in large quantities.

Just missed the list

Josh Newton, TCU cornerback; Luther Burden, Missouri wide receiver; Jaylin Lucas, Indiana running back/kick returner; Maason Smith, LSU defensive lineman; Olu Fashanu, Penn State offensive tackle; Quinshon Judkins, Mississippi running back; Raheim Sanders, Arkansas running back; Lideatrick Griffin, Mississippi State kick returner and wide receiver; J.T. Tuimoloau, Ohio State defensive end; C.J. Donaldson, West Virginia running back; Brenden Rice, USC wide receiver; Xavier Worthy, Texas wide receiver; Dallas Turner, Alabama linebacker; Cooper Beebe, Kansas State offensive lineman; Kamren Kinchens, Miami safety; Johnny Wilson, Florida State wide receiver; Jer’Zhan Newton, Illinois defensive tackle; Oronde Gadsden II, Syracuse tight end.