A comparison among Athlon Sports, Lindy’s Sports & Phil Steele College Football! Here are some thoughts from SCFP on the differences in these lists.
1. In 2018 Michigan’s O-Line was seen as a liability, a year later they are the unanimous choice as the best O-Line in the B-10. Not only that, Lindy’s Sports and Phil Steele have them, respectively as the 3rd & 4th best O-line in the nation. Sorry I ain’t buyin it! They clearly are better with 4 starters back and I believe they should be in the top 3 in the conference, but an unanimous choice at #1, no way! Absolutely shocked that these publications have the Wolverines in the top 5 nationally?! Let’s see how they perform in game 2 (Army) & game 3 (Wisconsin in Madison)!
2. Ohio State, according to these lists do not average a top five O-line in the B-10! Are you buying that? If you review our recruiting page, you will see the Bucks are the 3rd best recruiting program in the country. OSU’s 2019 line, Center, Josh Myers; RG, Wyatt Davis; & RT, Nicholas Petit-Frere, LT Thayer Mumford, & LG Jonah Jackson’s talent trump other team’s players experience! Athlon has then to low at 4 and not sure what to make of Lindy’s 7th or Phil’s 6th? I guarantee you, they will be a top three O-Line in the B-10 before it is all said and done in 2019!
3.Athlon’s Sports ranking Michigan State @ 9 is confusing and Lindy’s placing MSU’s O-Line at #12 borders on bizarre. They return 4 starters and their top recruit is is an O-Lineman, 4 star, Devontae Dobbs, who will start against Tulsa on August 30th! True the Spartans struggled on offense in 2018, but that had a lot more to do with QB, Brian Lewerke (who played through injury) than the O-Line’s performance. The MSU O-Line clearly belongs in the top half of the B-10!
4. I think they got the Hawks & Badgers right! Wisconsin & Iowa both belong in the B-10’s top 5 O-Lines!
5. I think Steele is right about Illinois being in the top half of the conference, but in the top 5, come on! True, they return all 5 starters and will be improved in 2019, but top 5? Richie Petitbon, a reserve at Bama, will transfer to the Illini and will add depth, but again, not enough to earn a top 5 spot! Lindy has the Illini to low @ 9 while Athlon hits this right on the head at 7!
6. Not sure what Lindy’s Sports was thinking about having Indiana 3rd? Athlon has them 12th and Steele places the Hoosiers at 13th. Athlon & Steele’s placement makes more sense from what I’ve seen and read! Lindy continued the confusion by rating Minnesota 4th. The Gophers have both depth & talent at RB & WR, that said, while the O-Line has the experience to be considered for the top half of the conference, they do not the talent to be 4th!
7. What do you think?
Athlon Sports Lindy’s Sports Phil Steele College Football
1. Michigan 1. Michigan 1. Michigan
2. Iowa 2. Iowa 2. Wisconsin
3. Wisconsin 3. Indiana 3. Penn State
4. Ohio State 4. Minnesota 3. Iowa
5. Penn State 5. Wisconsin 3. Illinois
6. Nebraska 6. Penn State 6. Ohio State
7. Illinois 7. Ohio State 6. Michigan State
8. Minnesota 8. Nebraska 6. Maryland
9. Michigan St 9. Illinois 6. Nebraska
10. Maryland 10. N-western 6. Minnesota
11. Purdue 11. Rutgers 11. Indiana
12. Indiana 12. Michigan St. 12. Rutgers
13. Rutgers 13. Purdue 13. Purdue
14. N-western 14. Maryland 13. Purdue
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