Kenny Hill and Tyreek Hill Lead New Players to Watch from Week 1
By Jerry Levi
They’re not related, nor are they likely known outside their own campuses, so chances are you never even heard of these guys before this weekend.
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They’re not on any Heisman lists, but at least one should be on everyone’s radar by now, Kenny Hill of Texas A&M. One is a track star heavily recruited by Florida State because of his speed and used it against the Seminoles on Saturday night in primetime for his Oklahoma State Cowboys, Tyreek Hill. And the last player on the list is the highest touted recruit to come to Ole Miss since Eli Manning, defensive end Robert Nkemdiche. Right out the gate these three players have made 2014 their year to shine and with only one game under their belts to compare it to, it must’ve been one heck of a game. Their numbers prove it in Kenny Hill and Tyreek Hill but in Nkemdiche it was the disruptiveness he caused in the trench that had people impressed and not on the stat sheet.
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With the First Pick
Kenny Hill, QB Texas A&M, 511 Yards Passing
It seems like yesterday when The Era of Johnny Football was upon us. How many years ago was that? You can ask that question now that ‘Kenny Football’ T-shirts are being printed en masse. A&M projections in the SEC west are now firmly in the trash. They were supposed to be good, about 8-4 to 9-3 good, with a projected loss at 9th ranked South Carolina Thursday night. 511 yards later, a school record for passing yards, and not only is Kenny Hill for real, but Texas A&M could supplant themselves in the Top 10 and Hill could be a front runner for Heisman for weeks to come. He’s that good.
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Cincy on the Prowl
Tyreek Hill, PR, KR, RB, Oklahoma State, 278 All-Purpose Yards
Read this stat: Tyreek Hill’s personal best 200 meter time is 20.14 seconds. To put that in relative terms it would have placed him 6th in the 2012 London Olympics. Wow. Did you watch any of Florida State vs. Oklahoma State game on Saturday night? It was supposed to be a blowout by the Seminoles and to show the world that Jameis Winston’s Heisman year in 2013 wasn’t a fluke. He was fair, having 2 interceptions and a veritable ‘Heisman’ moment late in the game, but all attention seemed to be averted to when the Noles kicked off after they scored each time. Instead of booting it deep, they seemed to be kicking some popup to shallow right field in order to keep it away from the All Purpose Hill. It would be fielded by Tyreek at about the 25 to 30 yard line and then the jets came on. Like an F-18 being catapulted off an aircraft carrier. Even when the kickoff coverage had an angled edge to get to Hill, he just outran the coverage to the outside with pure speed. Net result: 278 all purpose yards and a national TV audience of agape mouths wondering who Tyreek Hill was.
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FanSided
Robert Nkemdiche, DE, Ole Miss, ‘Unguardable’
Defensive end Robert Nkemdiche might be the book end to The Players to Watch list, but try telling that to the two offensive linemen of Boise State that tried to guard him all night. He was a constant in the back field, disrupting pass attempts and getting all the attention that made others on the Rebels’ defense shine. Their stat line: Boise State had a 4.7 yards per play average and threw four interceptions, with the Broncos QB knowing that Nkemdiche was around somewhere, ready to take his head off. Keep your eye on this DE, he could be the heir apparent to Jadeveon Clowney in terms of great recent SEC defensive players.