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I was talking with a friend about tomorrow night’s K-State/Colorado game, and the question of a superteam came up. Specifically, how good could Colorado be if it had Kansas State’s offensive line?
The K-State offensive line is a mystery and also isn’t. It’s not particularly talented, at least by the metrics we usually use. There are only eight four-star recruits on the entire Kansas State roster, only one of those eight plays o-line, and that one—Gus Hawkins, a freshman—has yet to see the field this season. Yet Kansas State ranks in the top five nationally in yards per rush attempt, Kansas State’s offense ranks 14th overall in SP+, and offensive line nerds often salivate over how the Wildcats handle whatever any defense throws their way. Cooper Beebe was an all-Big 12 lineman three times, the Big 12’s Offensive Lineman of the Year twice, a unanimous All-American his senior year, and…a third round NFL draft pick. The other two healthy consensus All-American linemen, Joe Alt and Olu Fashanu, were both among the first eleven players selected.
An obvious interpretation here is that Conor Riley is great at coaching offensive linemen. Beebe was an excellent college lineman, on par with much more pedigreed players. He didn’t go higher in the draft because of physical limitations, not because he wasn’t good. Beebe’s college performance is a testament to development, scheme, and execution. We don’t say this to take anything away from Beebe—coachability is a skill—but Beebe was well-coached. So, it seems, is just about everyone who wears the purple and the silver.
Now in his sixth year in Manhattan, Riley also spent six years with Chris Klieman at North Dakota State. The blueprint for Chris Klieman’s program revolves in large part around Riley’s work. Why is Riley still at Kansas State, if he’s this valuable? That’s the one mystery here. Maybe Kansas State’s paying him a lot more than we would guess Kansas State pays co-offensive coordinators. Maybe Riley likes the nature of the role Klieman gives him. Maybe there’s an inefficiency and other programs are missing an obvious move. But maybe there’s something we’re missing, something regarding recruiting or scheme which detracts from Riley’s seemingly sterling résumé.
Whatever the case, Colorado would do well to swap in K-State’s offensive line. It’d probably do well to just swap in Riley himself and let him do his thing with the bodies Colorado has. But our focus today is not Colorado or Kansas State. It’s superteams, but simplified: We’re looking at what player, unit, or other single attribute each playoff contender would most benefit from pulling in from another program. We’re limiting this to the top sixteen in our model’s simulations from yesterday morning, meaning those with better than a 1-in-3 playoff chance.
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Ohio State: Swap in Bob Chesney for In-Game Management
I’m curious if Ohio State fans would agree with this, but my impression of the current state of Ohio State football is that the biggest concern is Ryan Day blowing an opportunity with a poor in-game decision. Game management—a term we use to encompass fourth down decisions, clock management, and all those other little things people think Madden teaches us well (it does and it doesn’t)—is generally poor across college football. Day’s not a huge outlier. But Ohio State might have beaten Michigan last year were Day more prepared to think through different fourth down scenarios quickly and clearly. While Bob Chesney—James Madison’s first-year head coach—is largely unproven, he’s shown more signs of understanding how to navigate these niche, high-level strategic decisions than anyone else we can think of. He did it well at Holy Cross. He’s spoken to it well at JMU so far.
Texas: Swap in Ashton Jeanty at Running Back
Were Brett Favre’s obliques an option here, we’d drop those in instead, but our guess is that even with Quinn Ewers limited by injury, Texas’s quarterback situation is better than anything else we could pry from the current college game. Instead, we’ll go with an obvious choice: Ashton Jeanty to fill in for CJ Baxter and Christian Clark, who are both out for the year. Texas’s running game hasn’t been bad so far, but imagine what Ewers or Arch Manning could do with Jeanty beside them in the backfield.
Georgia: Swap in Steve Sarkisian’s Discipline
As we’ve said plenty of times before, we don’t only mean “discipline” in terms of punishment. We’re using the broad definition, the one concerning focus and application. But, also, punishment, or whatever an adequate deterrent would be. Georgia’s off-field issues are a big problem in and of themselves, and they’re probably also affecting the quality of football Georgia’s playing. A lack of discipline can take a lot of different shapes.
From what little inside intel we have and what the available evidence offers, our perception is that with Nick Saban gone, Sark has the best hold on his program of any coach left in the SEC.
Alabama: Swap in Notre Dame’s Secondary
What world are we living in where Notre Dame has arguably the best secondary in the sport? Whatever led to this situation, a transplant would help Alabama, who should be fine longterm in the defensive backfield but is young and often lost there this year.
Oregon: Swap in Ohio State’s Defensive Line
When you think of a Pac-12 team, you might think of this year’s Oregon: Talented, smart, and not physical enough to be a serious national title threat. Imagine Dan Lanning’s Ducks had J.T. Tuimoloau stayed in the Pacific Northwest.
Notre Dame: Swap in Arch Manning at Quarterback
I’m not saying Arch Manning is the best quarterback in the country, because he isn’t. But think of what Mike Denbrock could do with Manning’s skillset. There’s clearly an issue with Marcus Freeman’s approach, one causing Notre Dame to lose games like the NIU game. But they could have survived that issue were Riley Leonard more capable.
Clemson: Swap in Mike Elko at Head Coach
Again, this is a stretch. The best thing for Clemson would be the best head coach in the country. But we can’t just say, “Give them Sark,” for every team on this list. We’re choosing Elko because we think he’d be a good fit for Clemson in particular. He knows the ACC well, he isn’t afraid of the SEC, and he’s never had access to the kind of talent currently stocking Clemson’s roster. Dabo Swinney built something tremendous at Clemson, but after overperforming his talent on the way up, he’s currently underperforming his talent. It’s broader than one position group or even one side of the ball. Even the defense is underwhelming this year.
Mississippi: Swap in Quinn Ewers at Quarterback
Jaxson Dart isn’t a bad QB, but he’s a limiting factor on this Mississippi team. Someone with the polish of a healthy Ewers, playing under Lane Kiffin? That offense would be humming, and not only against Furman’s defensive backs.
Penn State: Swap in Jeremiah Smith at WR1
I’d like to see it. I’d like to see this Penn State offense with a top-tier wide receiver. It’s not a bad offense, but it’s not great. I’m curious about how good a coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is. I’m curious about how good a quarterback Drew Allar is. I’d like to see what Smith might unlock from both of them.
Miami: Swap in Al Golden at Defensive Coordinator
Anybody have pictures of Golden in Miami colors?
The offense is legitimate at Miami, capable of digging the Hurricanes out of a lot of holes. The defense is illegitimate, capable of digging a lot of holes into which it can push the Hurricanes. Again, maybe Golden’s not the best defensive coordinator in the country, but this one would be fun.
Tennessee: Swap in Ohio State’s Boosters
There’s a lot going right for Tennessee right now. They’ve got a coach and a quarterback they really, really like. They play a solid game on both sides of the ball. They’re just lacking talent, and specifically depth. Tennessee has great, willing fans, like most SEC schools do. But I want to see something more audacious from these boosters. I don’t know if they have enough in them to out-recruit Texas, LSU, Alabama, and Georgia across the South.
Kansas State: Swap in Travis Hunter
It’s only fair that if we began this talking about Colorado with K-State’s o-line, we should envision Kansas State with Colorado’s biggest weapon. I imagine Hunter would be confused in Manhattan, Kansas. But man, imagine this kind of talent wearing the Powercat.
Boise State: Swap in Idaho’s Defense
I’m half-kidding here. But only half. Give Boise State a semi-competent defensive effort and they might be undefeated right now with an upset of Oregon to their name.
SMU: Swap in Curt Cignetti’s Program Administration
I’m not anti-Rhett Lashlee by any stretch. This is more a function of me wanting to see what Cignetti could do with fewer giants hovering over him and a more rabidly invested institution at his back.
Iowa State: Swap in Conor Riley at Offensive Line Coach
No complaints at all about Ryan Clanton. But I want what K-State has.
BYU: Swap in SMU’s Schedule
Like SMU, it’s hard to point out one specific weakness for BYU right now, so while something like “take all of BYU’s players and replace them with players of identical mindset but Alabama’s physical capabilities” would yield more wins, I’d be more interested in seeing BYU face a calendar that doesn’t threaten to treat them like one of those giant crushing metal shredders I sometimes see on Instagram. We’re getting close to BYU getting more respect from those who deem certain teams Big 12 favorites, but we’re not there yet. Were this team in the ACC, it might be a different story.
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Apologies for the late post today. Tomorrow’s, I would hope, will come in the morning. Some resources for the weekend ahead:
- Our Week 7 preview.
- Our model’s CFP Bracketology
- Movelor’s ratings and our model’s playoff probabilities
- Movelor’s Week 7 picks
Bark.
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