Big East Preview: Overrated

Big time players often hear the chant, "overrated" when they fail to produce in a game. While other players shine in the shadow of a superstar without every having to carry the load themselves. They step up big on those one or two plays a game and let the big man do most of the heavy lifting. When the big man moves on we expect them to continue the success as if nothing had changed. This is the true test of a player being overrated.

Noel Devine, RB - West Virginia

With the realization that West Virginia doesn't lose many games when Pat White doesn't get injured, the running back position is going to be called on to do more this season. For all his many talents, Noel Devine doesn't strike me as someone that's going to be able to carry the load for West Virginia for a 13 game season.

There's some talent behind Devine at the running back position. But none have spent serious time in the backfield in games that matter. So for now, the only answer is Devine.

From the time he stepped on the field in Morgantown, he's been hailed as the second coming of, or better than Slaton. But for most of his career, Slaton was the every down back you could give the ball to 25-30 times a game. He did this while playing some of the 2005 and all of the 2006 season with a broken bone in his wrist. We haven't seen that kind of toughness and durability out of Devine yet. In fairness to Devine, he hasn't been given that chance. Until we see it on the field, though.....

Mike Teel, QB - Rutgers

Mike Teel and the Rutgers receiving corps had a coming out party last year. With Ray Rice chewing up 30+ carries a game and significant yardage, defenses were forced to put eight and nine men in the box to slow Rice down. But now that Rice is gone, Teel will be the focus of the offense. Is he up to the task? I don't think so.

Before I get carried away, Rutgers isn't going to change their offensive philosophy. They recruit to be a power running team, and they run to set up the pass. There's nothing fancy about it, and if you play in the northeast it's a solid strategy when the weather turns sour. But when Rice was in the backfield all Teel had to do was not lose the game. But that's exactly what he did against West Virginia and Cincinnati last year when he threw five interceptions and no touchdowns.

To be fair, the running game wasn't clicking against Cincinnati last year. But if he throws one or two of those ball away and settles for a field goal, Rutgers wins. Rutgers was in the West Virginia game in every way imaginable except on the scoreboard. It simply came down to dropped balls and turnovers. One he can't help, but the other is the difference between being a great college quarterback and unreliable.

Hunter Cantwell, QB - Louisville

The one bright spot on this years Louisville team is Hunter Cantwell. For anyone that holds out hope that the Cardinals will bounce back this year, they point to him. Cantwell has been considered the best backup quarterback in the country the past three years. He could have transferred to any number of schools and started right away, but he decided to stick around and make Louisville better. For that, he deserves all the praise in the world. He's got a strong arm and he performed rather well filling in for Brian Brohm. Even with cotton stuffed up his nose in the Gator Bowl against Virginia Tech, he was able to guide the offense like he was the starter.

Cantwell might very well be the only Big East quarterback drafted next year to play quarterback in the NFL. But I think people are seriously overrating him if they think he is going to turn this program around. If Brian Brohm and all the weapons he had last year weren't good enough to overcome the Cardinal defense, I don't see how in the world Cantwell can do it. If he does, I'll be the first to congratulate him. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

Derek Kinder, WR - Pittsburgh

When we last saw Derek Kinder, the year was 2006 and he was catching everything that came his way. And yeah, he's that guy that threw that block on that punt return in 2006. Unfortunately for Kinder and Pitt, he tore his ACL the first week of training camp last year and had to take a medical red shirt. He was a preseason All-American candidate and was one of the many injury related reasons Pitt didn't win more games last year.

He's expected to be a big part of the Pitt passing game this year, but so far he has seen little action in training camp. Having torn my ACL, I can tell you that it is no small feat to get back out on the field and start over. It takes guts and a short memory. But Kinder has had a year to recover from surgery and rehab.

In most instances, that's more than enough time to get back to full strength. But regardless of whether it's in his head, or the Pitt coaching staff is holding him back he needs to be out on the field hitting and getting hit to contribute to the success of the team. For Pitt's sake, I hope it's the latter. Because an ACL can be fixed, but a fear of tearing it again is a tougher task all together.