This is the time of year when we at GoBlackKnights.com attempt to identify potential breakout players for the coming season. A player can only have one breakout season; so we do not consider players who have already established themselves as regulars in the lineup. Our ideal candidate for a breakout season is a player who spent most of last season on special team, or looked good while playing a few snaps against an easier opponent and appears poised to break into the starting lineup this coming season.
Some Breakout Players In Past Seasons
• Perhaps the ultimate breakout player in recent years was Jon Rhattigan who watched from the sidelines for three years before breaking into the lineup and ended up in the NFL. It’s far more likely that our breakout candidates will be yearlings, who were relative unknowns as plebes.
• Andrew King and Jeremy Timpf are good examples. Both of those linebackers spent their plebe seasons earning their spurs on special teams but moved into the starting lineup as yearlings and played nearly every defensive snap the next three years.
• Cole Christiansen played 29 defensive snaps in his plebe season but contributed far more on special teams before breaking into the starting lineup as a yearling.
• Andy Davidson was another player who started on special teams appearing in 12 games as a plebe, but he switched over to B-Back in spring practice and rushed for 961 yards in his yearling season.
• Ahmad Bradshaw followed a different path to his breakout season. He didn’t play as a plebe and had a mediocre season sharing the QB duties with AJ Schurr and Chris Carter as a yearling, but then had his breakout season as a junior.
Dusting Off Our Crystal Ball
At this point in time, it looks as though most of the top spots on offense are likely to be filled by established starters from last season, so we don’t see a lot of opportunities for breakout seasons on offense, with the exception of offensive linemen.
The opposite is true on the defensive side of the football, where 7 starters graduated in 2022, leaving a lot of opportunities for breakouts. Our challenge there will be picking the players who we think are most likely to fill those vacancies in the starting lineup.
Stay Tuned
Joe and I are comparing notes and talking with Charles to come up with our breakout list for 2024. We’ll be introducing them to you over the next couple of weeks.
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