Top 10 overhyped college football players who'll be busts in 2024 ft. Jaxson Dart
College football hype knows no season - it's a constant sport of its own. While many of the media talking points for 2024 will turn out to be accurate, there's reason to wonder about some of them.
Consider the case of specific players - some of these pre-season All-Americans will be All-Americans on the field. Some others won't, and here are 10 players who are candidates to underachieve in '24.
Top 10 overhyped College Football Players in 2024
#1 Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
Dart put up big overall numbers (3,364 yards and 23 TDs) a year ago at Ole Miss, which has added a ton of talent around him. But Dart has been a different player in big games.
Last year, he had six games with 10.0 or more yards per pass attempt. He also had four with 7.0 or fewer yards per attempt, and that included Alabama, Georgia and the Egg Bowl.
#2 Trevor Etienne, Georgia
Overhyped in this case is a result of the system as much as the player himself. Etienne is super-speedy and will run well behind Georgia's line. But Georgia loves running back by committee.
A year ago, UGA's top rushers in a 14-game season had 165 and 121 carries. The year before that, it was 150 and 140 in a 15-game season. How good can Etienne be on 8-12 carries a game?
#3 Jackson Arnold, Oklahoma
Arnold is the heir apparent to the Oklahoma offense and while the sophomore will be a fine player, don't expect him to pick up where Dillon Gabriel left off a year ago.
In his only extended action a year ago, Arnold threw three picks in the bowl loss to Arizona. He's talented, but he's inexperienced and will be learning college football against SEC defenses.
#4 Drew Allar, Penn State
Allar is a veteran who is getting some preseason hype off a 2023 campaign in which he threw 25 touchdowns against just two picks. But Allar had four games with under 50% completions, and three of the four were Penn State's losses.
His best performance against a ranked team a year ago was a win over Iowa in which he averaged 4.5 yards per pass.
#5 Donovan Edwards, Michigan
Edwards is assumed to be the next great back at Michigan, but his credentials should be a bit more uncertain. Yes, he came in off a 2022 season when he showed big-time potential in a few late starts. But in 2023, his highlight was a six-carry game against Washington in the CFP.
He broke a dozen carries just once, in a 48-yard performance against Nebraska. Good? Yes. Great? Maybe not.
#6 Cade McNamara, Iowa
McNamara benefits from the hype of his success at Michigan, but in pre-injury action a year ago with Iowa, he looked pretty mediocre. McNamara averaged just 5.6 yards per pass and completed only 51 percent of his throws.
Playing in Iowa's offense, perhaps the sleepiest in college football today, McNamara can't put up Michigan-style numbers.
#7 Dylan Raiola, Nebraska
One of the most hyped freshmen QBs of all time, Raiola will be under massive heat from day one at Nebraska. It's great that he has plenty of talent, but asking a freshman to jump-start a team off seven straight losing seasons is simply not fair. He'll have his moments, but Raiola will make some freshman mistakes too.
#8 DJ Uiagalelei, Florida State
Nobody at FSU who remembers DJ's performance at Clemson should trust him to deliver consistency. Uiagalelei has been deeply mediocre in big games and has averaged 6.3 yards or less per attempt in his team's losses for each of the past three seasons. A comeback ACC season would be a great college football story, but it seems doubtful.
#9 Tyler Shough, Louisville
Shough is charged with leading Louisville's offense. Last year, he topped out at just 8.7 yards per play in any game. And while Louisville has added some nice pieces to go around Shough, the Cardinal offensive line gave up 32 sacks a year ago.
Shough will be perfectly adequate as a decent college football quarterback, but he's not the next Lamar Jackson.
#10 Kyle McCord, Syracuse
A season ago, McCord threw for 3,170 yards and 24 touchdowns in leading Ohio State to an 11-2 season that satisfied no one. Now, he takes over at Syracuse, where he'll have fewer stars around him and will lead an offense that averaged just 23.5 points per game last year.
Ohio State failed to top 24 points six times last year, which suggests that Syracuse didn't exactly get a steal in McCord.
Which overhyped college football players do you think are likely to have some issues in 2024? Weigh in below with your thoughts in our comments section!