• WR Kyren Lacy, LSU: Lacy was overshadowed by Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. last fall, but that doesn’t mean he’s not an exceptional talent in his own right. This season, he’ll likely enter fall camp as WR1 on LSU’s roster, ready to take on a bigger role in the offense.
• QB Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee: We saw a glimpse of the Nico era in Tennessee's bowl game against Iowa, and it was arguably the best the Vols offense looked all season despite playing against one of the nation’s top defenses. In that game, Iamaleava recorded three touchdowns and two big-time throws to earn an 85.0 passing grade.
• Get a head start on fantasy football: Use PFF's fantasy football mock draft simulator to create real live mock draft simulations to prepare for your live draft!
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
QB Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee
You’ll start hearing Iamaleava's name a lot over the next few months. The redshirt freshman was the No. 2 overall recruit of the 2023 class, and he has all the potential in the world. At 6-foot-6, he has a big arm and legit rushing ability.
We saw a glimpse of the Nico era in Tennessee's bowl game against Iowa, and it was arguably the best the Vols offense looked all season despite playing against one of the nation’s top defenses. In that game, Iamaleava recorded three touchdowns and two big-time throws to earn an 85.0 passing grade.
QB Jackson Arnold, Oklahoma
With quarterback Dillon Gabriel set to suit up for Oregon, Arnold is penciled in as the Sooners' new starter and will be looking to break out in 2024.
The 6-foot-1 sophomore is a dual-threat quarterback with terrific arm talent. He showed tremendous poise every time he took the field last year and earned a 69.1 overall grade across 181 snaps.
A top-10 recruit from the 2023 class, Arnold will need to clean up the mistakes, as he recorded more turnover-worthy plays (5) than big-time throws (4) over his 77 dropbacks. However, there were a lot of positives to be gleaned from his first start, where he went 26-of-45 for 355 passing yards with an additional 65 rushing yards across five rush attempts.
WR Kyren Lacy, LSU
Lacy was definitely overshadowed by Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. last fall, but that doesn’t mean he’s not an exceptional talent in his own right. This season, he’ll likely enter fall camp as WR1 on LSU’s roster, ready to take on a bigger role in the offense.
Lacy is another deep threat with good speed. He led all LSU receivers in yards per catch (18.6) and yards after the catch per reception (7.1) last season, with Jayden Daniels producing a 150.6 passer rating when throwing Lacy's way.
If the fifth-year senior can fill the void Nabers and Thomas left, he could be the next great wide receiver to get drafted out of LSU next spring.
QB Conner Weigman, Texas A&M
Weigman looked all but destined for a breakout 2023 before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 4 vs Auburn. Before going down, he ranked top-five in the nation in both overall grade (91.9) and passing grade (90.9).
Weigman has all the physical traits to be a star quarterback. He has tremendous size, arm talent and mobility that allows him to get outside the pocket yet still deliver an accurate ball. He produced marks above the 90th percentile in multiple stable metrics of quarterback play, including PFF grade from a clean pocket, PFF grade on standard dropbacks and PFF grade on early downs.
CB Ja’Den McBurrows, Michigan
Michigan’s roster will look a lot different in 2024, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be any less talented. After all, there are plenty of big-time recruits waiting in the wings, especially at defensive back.
McBurrows is one of those guys ready to step up and shine. He played 182 snaps last season, finishing with a 73.1 overall grade and a 73.9 coverage grade.
In 2023, McBurrows recorded seven solo tackles with no misses and four run stops. He was targeted in coverage 13 times on the year but gave up just five catches for 40 yards, coming away with one interception and two pass breakups.
QB Brock Vandagriff, Kentucky
Vandagriff has been around for a few years and is technically a two-time national champion, having played for Georgia from 2021 to 2023.
After losing a QB battle with Carson Beck last summer, Vandagriff earned recognition as one of the best backups in the country. However, with Beck returning for 2024, Vandagriff made the decision to transfer to Kentucky, where he can finally be the starting quarterback for a program on the rise.
The strong-armed 6-foot-3 quarterback dropped back to pass just 20 times last season but averaged 9.2 yards per pass attempt to earn an 87.0 PFF grade. He threw just 18 passes but recorded two big-time throws and zero turnover-worthy plays.
TE Oscar Delp, Georgia
It will be hard for any tight end to follow in the footsteps of Brock Bowers — or any Georgia tight end, for that matter.
But Delp certainly has the talent to do so. We saw him featured in the Bulldogs offense to a degree last year, especially while Bowers was out. He finished the season with 284 receiving yards and three scores across 24 catches to finish with a 66.3 PFF grade. Exactly 50% of his yardage came after the catch, and he forced five missed tackles across those 24 catches.
We will likely see him get a much larger target share this year. It’ll be on Delp to make the most of it and raise that overall grade.
RB Jordan James, Oregon
Jordan was very good in 2023, so there is a case to be made that he has already “broken out,” but he'll enter the 2024 campaign as the primary featured back in Oregon’s offense and will get even more opportunities to make a name for himself.
James split the carries with Bucky Irving last year, but James was arguably the better back of the two. He averaged more yards per carry (7.1) and put up better marks in every major PFF statistical category. James also led the nation in PFF rushing grade at 94.8.
QB Miller Moss, USC
Moss has quietly been waiting in the wings for his opportunity at USC, and now that opportunity will come.
The now redshirt junior was exceptional every time he stepped on the field last fall, finishing with a 90.7 PFF grade on 66 dropbacks. He recorded an 80.6% adjusted completion percentage and put up a 91.7 PFF grade against the blitz.
Moss lit his bowl game up, going 23-of-33 for 372 yards, six touchdowns, three big-time throws and just one turnover-worthy play.
S Sonny Styles, Ohio State
Styles was very good last season. In fact, he was one of the major reasons why his team's defense improved so much. However, he has a higher ceiling and can get even better in 2024.
The former five-star recruit is a versatile and athletic defensive back who can do whatever is asked of him, whether rushing the passer or dropping back into coverage. He recorded five pressures and two sacks over 26 pass-rush snaps and gave up only 117 yards on 20 targets in coverage.
Standing at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, Styles has an unbelievable build for a safety and has even filled in at linebacker before. If he takes another step in his development, Ohio State could have arguably the best defense in the nation.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.