I've been doing a lot of CFB research and listening lately and it is driving me insane how much stupid stuff is said about top end teams. People who are paid significant amounts of money say stuff like, I don't know, "Clemson could be the best team of all time." or things along those lines.
Last season, I was driven mad most of the year trying to explain to people how Alabama was young and raw on defense, especially in the secondary. That Alabama team was not up to par of others from a raw talent perspective on the defensive side of the ball. Tua struggled to make reads under pressure, but you didn't see it besides the three decent teams they play. We often get caught up in assuming elite teams will be elite in things because it has not been exposed yet.
Let's move on to Clemson this year. This team faces a joke of a schedule. I am not expecting them to lose really. However, this team is NOT anywhere close to the talent of other elite teams.
On the other hand, people in the media are simply dismissing Ohio State without understanding the talent at hand. Talent has been HUGE in the CFP and you basically have no shot of winning the playoff without a top 5 talented team in college football. I am dying to fade Clemson against Georgia, Bama, Ohio State, maybe even Oklahoma. Here is a roster comparison of Ohio State and Clemson based on player rankings of their respective class. This is not everything, but it is really not even close in my opinion.
To clarify, some of these numbers and rankings may be a bit off, but they are all very close to accurate. I tried to implement most players on each team that will see the field. Don't read Ohio State's as a depth chart. I just threw them in in random order. Clemson's is pretty much a depth chart, as they released one earlier today. Any players that was ranked poorly and has proven to be better than that ranking has gotten a message saying what they've done or what has changed just because there are diamonds in the rough. Also, one * means you are a 2nd year player and ** means you are a freshman.I put those in because you could see some 5 star freshman or sophomore on the depth chart that probably aren't truly a 5 star in college yet. Zach Harrison listed as a top 5 player in the country, but knowing that's a freshman allows you to understand they probably won't play like that this year.
I would love to hear feedback and hear if anyone was surprised to see just how much worse Clemson's roster looks. A lot of these lower ranked guys also don't have experience or much to suggest that they're going to be elite players.
Ohio State
QB: 2 QB 2*
RB: 46 RB 2
RB: 44 RB 2
WR 77 WR 9
WR 97 WR 12
WR 153 WR 12
WR 21 WR 1**
WR 393 WR 26 (Injured junior season and had no tape)*
TE 191 TE 7
TE 37 TE 2*
RT 7 OT 1*
RG 24 OG 1
C 53 OG 2 (behind above)
LG (All big-ten last year)
LT 285 OT 28 (projected late 1-3rd rd pick)
DE1 7 DE 2
DE2 33 DE 3
DE3 34 DE 4*
DE4 4 DE 2**
DT1 95 DT 7
DT2 998 DT 33
DT3 68 DT 6
DT4 20 DT1*
DT5 55 DT3*
MLB 648 LB34 (projected late day 2 pick. 3rd round)
MLB 11 LB 1
MLB 44 LB2
OLB 323 LB22
OLB 227 LB 27
CB 653 CB 32 (late second day pick 3rd)
CB 8 CB 1
CB 17 CB2 (behind above)
FS 134 S 6
SS 71 S 7*
Clemson
QB 1 QB1*
RB 213 RB 15 (top 5 RB in cfb)
RB 258 Rb 18
WR 47 WR 7*
WR 19 WR 2
WR 197 WR 37
WR 159 WR 30
WR 223 WR 43
TE 525 TE 21
LT 17 OT2*
LG 150 OG 9 (third team all acc as junior)
C 290 OG 27
RG 892 (recruited as a DT)
RT 486 OT 28 (second team all acc as junior)
DE1 339 DE 23
DE2 156 DE 11
DE3 3 DE 1*
DT1 167 DT 12
DT2 327 DT 34
DT3 137 DT 12**
MLB 680 MLB 44
OLB 451 OLB 25 (was a safety, added weight and kept athleticism. Now late first rounder)
OLB 610 OLB45
CB (was ranked and recruited as a WR) 24 and 4 *
CB 55 CB 6
CB 150 CB 15 **
FS 706 FS 48
SS not ranked in top 1000, SS 99
