Hot Takes For The CFB Season: Quinn Ewers Runs Away With Heisman? | GSMC College Football Podcast

all righty welcome back everyone we just talked about some of the different things we learned from weeks here and some of the things that maybe just be a little bit more overreaction than anything else but I do want to get into my hot takes as we head into the uh 2024 season this something that probably should have done about a week ago before we got into week zero but I figure before before week one is plenty of time uh so let's get into this real quick and I have a couple on here that I have a feeling are going to be not so well received if I had to imagine and the first one I want to start with is I think Kiren Lacy might just lead the league uh lead the country in receiving yards and this one's a little bit taller of an order because when you go outside the power four there are some guys like Ricky White and Tory Horton it that might just cause some problems for this but at the end of the day when I look at what Kiren Lacy is in this offense I don't know if there's another wide receiver in this offense that is going to be able to take the pressure off of him I don't think uh CJ Daniels is the guy that everyone really wanted him to be down there in bat I think he's a good player I think he's more of a wide receiver three than a wide receiver 2 I think Chris Hilton's a really good player I think he's more of a wide receiver three than a wide receiver too and I think Adam Anderson is going to be a guy that is going to make plenty of plays but at the end of the day Kiren Lacy is going to be the guy he's going to be the absolute go-to guy pretty much throughout this entire season and I think when you look at him the frame is absolutely ridiculous big physical absolutely someone that is a Red Zone threat but also he can kind of go he he can get out of the uh out of a break and really really uh burn someone on a deep route and Garrett nus Meer can throw that those deep balls pretty beautifully now nus Meer has a little had a little bit of trouble with turnovers throughout fall camp and it's something that we'll talk about when we preview that LSU USC game but at the end of the day I do think they're going to be able to figure this out I do think that Garrett nme is going to be a really good quarterback this year and even with guys like Luther Burton and ttor McMillan and all of the incredible receivers all around the country I think lazy has a a little bit more on his shoulders this year I think he knows that and I think he's going to make a number of huge plays for this LSU team that might be have to be just a little bit more pass heavy this year cuz obviously you don't have the quarterback run game you did a year ago but also you don't necessarily have the running back room that you love uh as they've had in the past a number of different ways so that's one that I'm watching very very closely and one that I think is going to be really really fun to watch cuz that guy is really really fun to watch play so cannot wait to see what that guy does on the field build in it'll start on Sunday when they face off against USC but moving on I don't think Washington makes a bow game I think this is a program that is going to be good I I think when you bring in someone like jedf fish it's a fantastic head coach a really really good offensive system and a guy that has every ability to get a ton of really good developmental guys in that room because of his ties to the NFL so I think they're going to be good in the long run there is just too much change in this roster to make me feel any type of confidence about what they can do because it's not like you're rebuilding you know one side of the ball it's not like you're rebuilding a couple of position groups here and there it's pretty much across the board you have to figure out an entirely new system entirely new Personnel entirely new SI like system in terms of how you're going to deal with these players there's a million different things that are bouncing around that program and I think you look at the schedule it's not the craziest thing in the world by any means they definitely have the ability to get to six wins and possibly make a bll game but you return you're 130th in the country at 134 teams and returning production and have done some good things through the portal but just not enough I like Will Rogers I think he's a good player but at the end of the day I do not see him starting throughout this year for Washington I think he gets a little bit ugly early on and I think Deon Williams Jr the uh talented freshman likely takes over at some point so and the big thing of this is starting on October 5th they have at Ruckers Michigan at Iowa Indiana or at Indiana USC at Penn State UCLA and at Oregon it's going to be really hard to find two or three wins in that thing it's going to be really hard to go two Ruckers go all the way across the country and beat a team that's not going to hand you much that Michigan game is going to be a nightmare for a number of reasons at Iowa you're facing a defense that might just be able to stop you and have you score three points that game and then at Indiana is a very sketchy one USC I think is going to be tough at Penn State and at Oregon obviously are going to be really tough gam so overall I think this is a team that very capable has a lot of things in place to possibly make some noise this upcoming year I just think they're going to start a little bit more Rocky than they want I think they're going to put in that freshman quarterback and then just kind of ride out the rest of the season and then maybe hit the ground running in 2025 but first year for jedf fish I don't think it's all that pretty in Seattle moving on I think Georgia vers Florida I think will end up being a top 20 game and this one might be a little bit less hot when you look at that Florida schedule I think they could go 5-2 and still be a top 20 team when this thing comes around and that would include losses to maybe Tennessee and maybe Texas A&M but there's a number of other teams that could get in their way obviously that Miami game is huge and frankly if this were to happen I might need them to win this weekend against Miami we'll make that pick tomorrow but at the end of the day uh they have Tennessee they have UCF they have uh Kentucky at home so it'll be interesting to watch this unfold there's no doubt about that I think there's a number of games that are big time toss-ups for this Florida team but let's say they win in week one and then they dominate Samford in week two and then A&M's coming to town and maybe A&M has a loss on their schedule or maybe they're riding high off or Notre Dame win and coming to Gainesville just a little bit uh soft a little bit not ready uh for that game and they're able to steal that one then you're off running and things get really really interesting I'm not too uh too worried about Georgia I think even if they lose to Texas and Alabama before this game I think they're likely still a top 15 or top 15 or 20 team so overall I think this is going to be a really fun game and I think when it comes around it's going to have a ton of implications by the time the end of the season comes it might have a lot less implications because of the way Florida ends it but I do think Florida will start strong and make this game really really fun in Jacksonville moving on I don't think any team in their new conference is going to win it in their first year uh this is something that was obvious when I made my conference picks but Utah Texas and Oregon are the teams that everyone's really watching and Utah has the best shot to win their conference they are definitely the team that comes in and says we can win absolutely every game on the schedule no doubt about it but at the end of the day cam Rising does have to stay healthy and it's been quite a while since he's been able to stay stay healthy obviously not making any bets based on injuries but it's definitely something that could get in their way and also I think the changes in the Big 12 were a little bit bigger than some people are giving them credit for and I think Utah might not be able to play the brand of football they were able to play in the back pack 12 where it's just we're going to lean on you and lean on you and lean on you until you quit so it'll be interesting to watch but don't necessarily love Utah in the Big 12 race moving on to Texas I think this one obviously you have the advantageous schedule at least in SEC terms not necessarily easy but easier than everyone else around you I can promise you that and then I don't know uh really when it comes down to it you know when they're playing ug or Alabama or Old Miss in Atlanta are they going to be able to make make the plays is the big time question that I have and throughout the year you know there's going to be so many different environments that are going to be able to possibly trip them up whether it's going up to fville and playing Arkansas or um Oregon or not Oregon or uh um playing a couple of these teams on the road going up to Michigan there are enough games on the schedule that will definitely be able to trip this team up and I think they might just go 10 and two maybe they make the conference Championship but if you're playing Georgia in Atlanta it's going to be a tall order I can promise you that but but moving on to Oregon this is the team that looks the most complete of the bunch right this is the team that has the most talent that the roster just looks the most clean from top to bottom but I think the difference in style as they walk into the Big 10 is being a little bit undersold they are going to play a totally different offense than pretty much everyone else in the conference and it's not that they can't be successful with that but it does mean against Ohio State and Michigan where maybe their defense are capable of stopping your offense they're going to be able to slow down those games they're going to be able to run the ball pretty effectively and if that's the case then it's going to be really hard to walk into Ann Arbor and get a win or it's going to be really hard for even Ohio State to walk into your building and you're you to beat them so it's going to be really interesting to watch that one unfold I don't love Oregon and that I do think they're going to be a really good team and make the playoff I'm not necessarily burying Oregon but at the end of the day I do think some of those changes going into the Big 10 are going to be a little bit more precarious than some people are expecting at least for Oregon and then moving on I think the season uh this upcoming year will lessen the portal usage going forward and I don't know how much it will lessen and I think this could be one that kind of unfolds over the next couple of Seasons but it's something I've talked about a lot you know the season with all of the changes and all the differences and so many different transfer quarterbacks all around the country maybe continuity wins out maybe it's the Georgia the Texas the Ohio States even with a new quarterback in the organs even with a new quarterback that have the ability to be standing there at the end because they have the depth because they have guys from high school that have been there for a couple of years that have developed that fully understand their offense or their defense so I think that's the biggest thing that I'm kind of taking away from the season is you have so many changes you have so many new teams like Old Miss Miami all of these incredible teams that absolutely are looking to Make Some Noise this upcoming year and frankly I think a number of them will but will they be able to be standing there at the end of the day holding the trophy I don't necessarily love that and I I do think there's a world where you get to February you get to March and everyone's kind of looking around that uh player Personnel department and saying maybe it's worth it just put a little bit more energy into High School recruiting start to build up the depth of this roster and then say okay let's go pick and choose our guys out of the portal I've always thought that's the way to go about business and I think team building out of the portal as we just saw with Florida State on Saturday is a very precarious uh conversation so it's going to be really interesting to watch this one this one might be a little bit longer of a burn than I thought than I initially thought but at the end of the day I do think there will be some conversations at the end of the year that'll just say maybe we just push a little bit more into High School recruiting pull a little bit back from the portal and then pick our spots in a couple of years when we have a lot of the other things set so it'll be really interesting to watch that on full but then finally likely my hottest one of the bunch I just realized I forgot to change the uh caption here I apologize for that but uh Quinn ERS I think is going to run away with the Heisman this year um and this one is definitely a very hot take cuz there are so many good quarterbacks around the country so many incredible running backs and wide receivers that want to be heard from but I think he's going to put up silly numbers this upcoming year the amount of weapons and speed in particular that Texas has is just outright incredible um and it's not one of those teams in the past couple of years where if you take Xavier worthy out of the game plan if you were able to do that which not a lot of people were but if you were able to do that against Texas you felt pretty good about where you were standing now they still have Adonai Mitchell they still had Jordan Whittington they still had dudes out there but Xavier worthy was a huge part of this offense he was the Catalyst there's no two ways about that Texas now has about three or four guys that can fit into that role the three or four guys that could have 600 yards this upcoming season but none of them top a thousand or a couple guys that could have 40 receptions this upcoming year but none of them top 60 it's going to be a lot about spreading the ball around especially with the running back troubles that they've been having it's going to be a lot of the ball just in Quin U's hand time and again and we're going to see if he's going to be able to make those steps uh from last year where the Deep ball was not there the Deep ball was not nearly where it needed to be and a lot of that was footwork and timing and a lot of very uh Niche things that affected those passes so we'll see if he's taking that step forward I tend to believe he has it seems like he's been doing an incredible job in this offense throughout the uh off season and I think there's just a lot of things lining up for him the talent that he's going to have on the outside both at wide receiver and tight end the running back problem puts the ball in his hand just a little bit more often than it would before and I think being a third-year player in a Steve sarkeesian offense is a pretty special thing tends to be so I've talked about it before I think it could be a m Jones type season but there won't be a Devonte Smith catching uh having 2,000 yards to kind of steal that Heisman away from him so I do think Quinn yers kind of runs away with the Heisman and by the time you get to NYC it's something of a formality because we know Quinn 's name is going to be called and we know he's going to be uh lifting that trophy so that's definitely a hot take one that I know a lot of people are going to disagree with CU there are a lot of people that don't love Quinn ERS but at the end of the day I think there are so many things going for him going into this year and I think he's going to put up numbers that are just going to be downright silly I I feel pretty confident about that but that'll do it for this edition of the gsmc college football podcast brought to you by the gsmc sports network your support means a lot to us so please remember to subscribe to the show leave a positive review it does make a huge difference also follow us on Facebook Twitter Tik Tok Instagram all the social pages for all the content and updates you could possibly need we have really incredible people doing awesome work across every single sport you could want so anything in the world of sports come on over to gsmc and we have you totally covered but thank you once again for listening and I will see you guys tomorrow for even more week one predictions