Lance's 2022 Offensive College Players to Watch

Last year I did something similar to this where I took two positions at a time, made mention of who the players that were being highly talked about already were, and gave a handful of names at each position that you should keep an eye on. This year I’m just going to look at a handful of names on each side of the ball, so let’s jump in.

QB Grayson McCall (Coastal Carolina): I wasn’t going to list him because I listed him in my article last year, but I can’t resist. His career completion percentage is 71.1, while averaging 10.9 YPA and he’s thrown 54 career touchdowns to just 6 picks!!! Those numbers are outrageous regardless of where he’s playing college ball at, yet he’s still not getting the attention that guys like Tyler Van Dyke and Will Levis are. He’s a redshirt junior though and can still opt to go back to school, but as it stands right now he is the #3 QB on my board for next season.

QB Malik Cunningham (Louisville): Cunningham has progressively improved as a passer each season while continuing to demonstrate his explosive running ability. If he takes another big step this year we could see his stock make a major leap, even more so if he can keep Louisville in the running for the ACC this season.

RB Zach Charbonnet (UCLA): There is a lot of potential RB talent in next year’s draft, so pushing your name to the top will be difficult. Of course if you are already on an upward trajectory it’ll be a little easier. Charbonnet was a highly touted recruit out of high school, but injuries and a crowded Michigan backfield kept him from showing off that talent. A transfer to UCLA last year led to a major breakout with 1,137 yards on the ground at 5.6 YPC and 13 touchdowns. He wisely elected to go back to school and show it wasn’t a fluke. If he succeeds in building off it he could very well find himself in discussion as the RB2 on draft day (behind Bijan Robinson).

WR A.T. Perry (Wake Forest): The man is listed at 6’5” 206 pounds on Wake Forest’s website and he just had one of the best seasons for a Receiver in all of college football last year. Not only did he nearly hit 1,300 receiving yards and put up 15 touchdowns, but he also went for 18.2 YPR. That typically means there’s some speed there and at 6’5” that’s a scary thought. He should already be mentioned in the same breath as Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jordan Addison, Kayshon Boutte and Josh Downs, but alas he’s not.

WR Rakim Jarrett (Maryland): I follow college football recruiting a pretty decent amount and watching Jarrett decommit from LSU in order to commit to Maryland was my favorite recruiting decision of the 2020 class. He was a five star Receiver that was ranked top 30 overall by 247. Last year we got to see the start of what he can do (62 catches, 829 yards and 5 scores). If Taulia Tagovailoa can take that next step, then Jarrett should really be able to shine this season.

OT Dawand Jones (Ohio State): Surprisingly (maybe only to me) Parris Johnson Jr., not Dawand Jones, has been receiving the bulk of the attention this offseason when it comes to Ohio State Lineman. Jones was an animal last year receiving an 86.2 overall rating from PFF, and his 90.3 pass blocking rating would’ve ranked second among all Tackles in this past draft. If he can get his run blocking grade up to match he could very well be the first Lineman off the board next year.