Which top 2020 college football recruits can break out in 2021?

Our list of breakout sophomores for the 2021 college football season is focused on players with a limited sample size in 2020, not necessarily the obvious names like BJ Ojulari at LSU or Jalen Carter at Georgia, among others who made an impact in 2020.

We chose to focus more on players who either flashed in 2020 or waited for their opportunity behind a proven veteran. In some cases, we included players who need to make a big jump to help their team or live up to individual expectations.

For the sake of this list, players such as Alfred Collins at Texas and D.J. Uiagalelei at Clemson were also not included, as we expect them to continue the upward trend based on their performance in 2020.

Without further ado, here are 10 sophomores primed for breakout seasons.

QB Bryce Young
Alabama Crimson Tide
2020 ESPN 300 rank: 5

When Alabama signed Young, the top-rated quarterback in the 2020 class, many thought he would step in and take the reins of the offense from departing star Tua Tagovailoa. Mac Jones had different plans though, ultimately stepping in, leading the Crimson Tide’s explosive unit to a national championship and putting Young in a backup role.

All signs point to 2021 being the year that the former five-star will step into that starting role. With a season in which he learned the offense and gained some experience, Young possesses the tools to keep Alabama among the game’s most potent offensive attacks. He’s an accurate passer with a quick release who can make plays through the air, but a dimension he will bring to the offense it didn’t have with Jones is his mobility.

Young is a true dual threat who has shown he can as easily create big plays and stress defenses with his legs as with his arm. Yes, there is a new offensive coordinator and there will be some new personnel around him, but Young is capable of meeting expectations and quickly becoming one of the top signal-callers in the country next season.

DE Desmond Evans
North Carolina Tar Heels
2020 ESPN 300 rank: 2

Evans got off to a slow start last fall, essentially due to two things: a lack of weight and strength plus a non-COVID-19-related illness that hampered him the first month of the season. However, he showed real promise during the back half of the season, as he finished the 2020 campaign with 10 tackles, 1 sack and 1 fumble recovery. Mack Brown needs Evans to take a big leap in 2021.

The focus for North Carolina’s recruiting the past two classes has been to load up on the defensive front in hopes of closing the talent gap with Clemson in the ACC. It’s time for Evans to lead that charge. He’ll be more physically prepared and better able to handle the strain of every-down participation, and we know what he brings off the edge.

RB Zach Evans
TCU Horned Frogs
2020 ESPN 300 rank: 16

Evans’ recruiting journey was a wild one, and the former five-star, who had some disciplinary issues as a senior at North Shore High School, landed at TCU well after last year’s national signing day. Talent was never the question when it came to Evans, as he still finished as the top-ranked running back in the 2020 class.

Since he joined the Horned Frogs, things off the field have been quiet, and he finished his freshman season strong. He had 54 rushes for 415 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 7.7 yards per carry. At 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, he’s a big, aggressive and slashing runner with excellent speed. Evans can be a highly productive and big-play back.

He didn’t need to carry the load this past season and likely will not going forward either, as TCU returns a talented and young group of running backs, but few backs in college football are as talented as he is, and if he continues on this positive trajectory, watch for his touches to rise and his impact to become greater.

WR Julian Fleming
Ohio State Buckeyes
2020 ESPN 300 rank: 1

The Buckeyes will have a new quarterback in 2021, and whoever wins that job will have one of the most talented groups of receivers in the country to throw to, in proven targets and in those on the rise like Fleming.

Fleming, the top overall prospect in the 2020 class, was a contributor last season but has the tools necessary to make a big jump forward in Year 2. Six of his seven catches came in Ohio State’s last two Big Ten games, and he began to look more comfortable as a route runner.

A 6-2, 200-pound target with an excellent blend of speed, body control and ball skills, Fleming can be a consistent big-play presence. He is not alone, as teammate and fellow former ESPN 300 WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba also showed promising flashes as a freshman and can step into a bigger role in 2021.

WR Troy Omeire
Texas Longhorns
2020 ESPN 300 rank: 180

Omeire tore his ACL on Aug. 16, just before last season. The 6-3, 226-pound wideout was expected to start as a true freshman. He is a real mismatch for opposing defenses, as he moves like a wide receiver and looks like an H-back.

With him healthy and with Steve Sarkisian’s arrival, Omeire is someone who could move all around the field and dictate defensive personnel. He is an under-the-radar candidate to be a breakout performer.

LB Nick Herbig
Wisconsin Badgers
2020 ESPN 300 rank: 144

Had the Badgers not had an abbreviated season, Herbig might have found himself on the freshman All-America team, as he has already shown a lot of promise. A high-motor player with good feet and instincts, Herbig was a defensive leader for Hawai’i high school powerhouse Saint Louis.

Herbig arrived in Madison with the tools to be an excellent college linebacker. Limited some in opportunities, he still flew a bit under the radar nationally this past season despite being among Wisconsin’s top tacklers. With a year of experience under his belt, the former ESPN 300 linebacker is poised to establish himself as one the best linebackers in country.

WR Arian Smith
Georgia Bulldogs
2020 ESPN 300 rank: 25

As good as Georgia’s wide receiving corps is (when healthy), nobody else has Smith’s speed and explosiveness.

Georgia will rely on Smith, who is a co-record holder in the under-20 4×100 relay, after he nursed a knee injury for most of the year. He’s also a 10.39 100-meter blur who could end up being another version of Mecole Hardman in Georgia’s offense as a target and as a return man.

play

JT Daniels throws down the middle to Arian Smith for a 31-yard touchdown as Georgia increases its lead over South Carolina.

Although it is a minuscule sample size, Smith finished the season with two catches for a staggering 43-yard average per catch. He’s an explosive play waiting to happen in the open field.

RB Devon Achane
Texas A&M Aggies
2020 ESPN 300 rank: 200

Yes, Isaiah Spiller and Ainias Smith return in the backfield for what could be a loaded offense for the Aggies, but Achane started to shine down the stretch in 2020, and his Orange Bowl performance against North Carolina was certainly a highlight of things to come.

Keep in mind, Smith is as much of a slot receiver and utility weapon as he is a running back. Getting the three of them on the field at the same time in 2021 could be scary for opposing defenses.

On just 43 attempts, Achane averaged 8.5 yards per carry, including two games when he averaged 11 yards per carry.

DT Tim Smith
Alabama Crimson Tide
2020 ESPN 300 rank: 160

Throughout the 2020 campaign, Smith slowly crept up the depth chart after losing close to 30 pounds once he arrived on campus last winter.

Obviously, it was a crowded front on defense for the national champions, but Smith made his presence felt in the rotation each and every week and flashed with the occasional tackle for loss, QB hurry and fumble recovery. He’s a two-gap nose tackle with one-gap quickness who can be a mainstay in 2021.

WR Brennan Presley
Oklahoma State Cowboys
2020 recruiting rank: Three stars

The Cowboys’ win over Miami in the Cheez-It Bowl provided an exciting sneak peek of what the electric Presley could do with a bigger role in this offense.

Entering the bowl game, he had one catch on the season, but the in-state three-star exploded during that game with 118 receiving yards and three touchdowns. The 5-8 player might have been overlooked a bit coming out of high school, but with lightning quickness, he has shown he can be a nightmare in space and create big plays. He can emerge as the Cowboys’ next big-time offensive weapon.