With the first official games less than two weeks away, the 2022 college football season is fast approaching. And there are a lot of intriguing players, coaches and administrators across the landscape. And our list of the 10 most intriguing figures in college football includes the defending Heisman winner, a quarterback who could be battling for a starting job with one of the most famous high school recruits in 2023 and two conference commissioners tasked with navigating a suddenly tumultuous landscape.
*List is in alphabetical order.
Texas QB Quinn Ewers
You likely remember Ewers as the player who sacrificed his senior season of Texas high school football to enroll early at Ohio State and take advantage of the new NCAA rules allowing players to make money off their image rights. Ewers spent just one season at Ohio State, as C.J. Stroud showed he was one of the best quarterbacks in college football, and Ewers transferred to Texas at the end of the season.
Ewers enters 2022 in a competition with Hudson Card to win the Texas QB job and will likely win that battle. After all, he’s a top-five Heisman favorite, according to BetMGM. If Texas bounces back in 2022, it will be largely because of Ewers and star running back Bijan Robinson.
And no matter how well Ewers plays in 2022, all eyes will be on another player in the Texas quarterback room ahead of 2023. Five-star recruit Arch Manning is heading to Texas in 2023, and there will likely be a faction of Texas fans wanting to see Manning hit the field right away even if Ewers lives up to his preseason Heisman odds.
Alabama RB Jahmyr Gibbs
Gibbs enters the 2022 season as a wild card for the Alabama offense and an unfamiliar face for many college football fans. Gibbs operated in relative obscurity the last two seasons at Georgia Tech, where he was the team’s best offensive player in 2021. Now he’s one of three key offensive skill position transfers at Alabama poised to make an immediate impact.
He had over 1,200 combined rushing and receiving yards a season ago and could easily surpass that with a starring role in Alabama’s stellar offense. Gibbs is +3000 to win the Heisman and should be a great safety valve for Bryce Young if and when Alabama’s receivers are covered deep. Don’t be surprised if Gibbs is a first-team all-SEC selection at the end of the season.