It’s June, which means it’s time for our staff to start breaking down each conference. Over the next 10 weeks, we’ll examine each league, providing analysis about the top players, the biggest surprises, and of course, who’s going to capture the conference championship.
We’ll kick things off this week with the Sun Belt, providing you with a list of players to keep an eye on this fall.
Question: Who are the players to watch this year in the Sun Belt Conference?
Bart Doan
On Twitter @TheCoachBart
UL-Lafayette took home the most not-coveted-at-all medal of “most disappointing team in the 2015 Sun Belt,” so logic would suggest a bounce back year for a team that was at times, just flat inept on offense. The silver lining to being lousy, such that there is one I suppose, is that you get to try things for the future you otherwise might not have with a little more slack in your knickers than if you were in the race for something.
Enter sophomore quarterback Jordan Davis, who got rave reviews out of spring practice for his combination of arm strength, work ethic, and movement in the pocket. Davis figured to be in a bit of a battle for the job, but with his main competition either transferring or moving to running back, the gig is his to lose and he won’t end up doing it.
Davis can’t tackle, so he won’t be doing much about the problem of the Cajuns giving up nearly 6 yards per play in 2015. However, he’s poised to make a leap forward for an offense that only put up around 26 points per game.
The bottom line, though, is that when you’ve got folks saying you could be a really “great” quarterback and lobbing that word around like it’s just part of the obvious language used in describing him, it means something is brewing down there. Keep an eye on Davis.
Joe Dexter
On Twitter @BuckeyeRadio
Since I touched on the impact of Larry Rose III of New Mexico State and Marcus Cox of Appalachian State yesterday in my top five underrated running backs list, I’ll go with a returning junior that’s also a key cog in the Appalachian State offense.
Quarterback Taylor Lamb proved last season that he could eventually work his way in the same discussions of legendary career of former signal caller Armanti Edwards. The Sun Belt Freshman of the Year in 2015 broke Edwards’ passing yard and touchdowns record in his first season as Appalachian State’s leader behind center.
Last season, he broke the school record for touchdown passes while completing 60% of his passes and moving the football nearly 8.5 yards per passing attempt.
What makes Lamb special though is beyond numbers. He is the perfect catalyst for the very effective Mountaineer offense. Not only is he a pro-style thrower, but he has enough athletic ability to escape the pocket when need be.
More importantly, in a big-play offense, he puts emphasis on capping off chances in the red zone. Last season, he completed 83% of his passes in inside the opposing 20 yard line. 17 of his record-setting 31 touchdown passes were thrown when approaching the goal line. The more impressive stat is zero interceptions were thrown inside scoring territory.
Taylor Lamb isn’t the flashiest player on the field for Appalachian State. That title belongs to Marcus Cox.
Yet, what makes him a player to watch though is how his conducting of the Mountaineer offense makes them a must-watch orchestra for the 18,000 strong in Boone, North Carolina.
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter @SectionTPJ
Even though the Sun Belt has a ton of talented players on offense, I’m going to pick a defensive guy on this one. Keep an eye on Arkansas State DE Ja’Von Rolland-Jones.
Make no mistake about it: Rolland-Jones is the most disruptive defensive lineman in the SBC. Coming off of a strong 2014 campaign in which he earned freshman All-American honors, Rolland-Jones was even better last year, leading the league in both sacks (8.5) and forced fumbles (4). He also finished seventh in conference in tackles for a loss (12.5), registered 8 quarterback hurries, and intercepted a pass.
Expect him to play a pivotal role again this season on a talented Red Wolf defensive line that will be the best in the Sun Belt this fall.
Kevin Causey
On Twitter @CFBZ
What if I was to tell you that a team in the Sun Belt had the running back who had the highest average yards per carry in the Nation returning in 2016 (not counting those with 51 and less attempts)? What if I were to tell you that he ran for over 1,600 yards in 2015 and had 17 TD runs?
Based on that information you might think he was pretty….well, he is pretty good. He’s very good. His name is Matt Breida and he plays football for Georgia Southern University.
In Bill Connelly’s Georgia Southern preview, he puts Breida in the class of Florida State’s Dalvin Cook in terms of efficiency and explosiveness.
If you didn’t watch Breida play in 2015, do yourself a favor and catch at least one Georgia Southern game in 2016 so you can watch him in action.
