Here’s what this list is all about: Who would you want on the college team you root for?

In bringing back our weekly Big Ten top 10 players list for another year, that’s our focus. NFL potential doesn’t matter. Past recruiting hype doesn’t matter.

Take 2 of last season’s mainstays on our list, workhorse RBs Mohamed Ibrahim of Minnesota and Chase Brown of Illinois, as examples. After finishing 1-2 among Power 5 backs (and 3-4 overall in the country) in rushing yards, neither is expected to light up the NFL. Simply making the Lions and Bengals, respectively, will be an accomplishment. Ibrahim went undrafted after a record-setting career with the Gophers; Brown went in the 5th round.

Maryland QB Taulia Tagovailoa seems to be this year’s version of that phenomenon. He’ll be the key piece of Maryland’s puzzle for a 4th straight season, but NFL scouts don’t think he has enough arm strength or height, at 5-11, to succeed as a pro. Nonetheless, many non-Terp B1G fans would take him in place of their transfer de jour or unproven youngster. So he’s on our initial list, 1 of 2 quarterbacks along with Michigan’s more NFL-lovable JJ McCarthy.

Once the season starts, this list will be all about performance and the likelihood that it’s sustainable. We’ll factor in stats, value to the team, freakish athletic ability and the wow factor that makes some guys must-see TV and/or worth the price of admission.

For now, we’re projecting off last year’s efforts. Imports via the portal will have to prove themselves; none of the 6 likely starting QBs new to the B1G made the cut, nor any other transfers.

The list rates as impressive (or flawed, depending on your opinion) by those narrowly missing the preseason cut:

  • LBs Tommy Eichenberg of Ohio State and Cal Haladay of Michigan State, the B1G’s top returning tacklers with 120 apiece in 2022. Both reached double digits in TFL, but neither did much in sacks or other momentum-swinging plays.
  • Penn State CB Kalen King, 3rd in the country in pass breakups (18) a year ago and a hot candidate to become the 1st Nittany Lions DB to go in Round 1 of the NFL Draft.
  • RBs Braelon Allen of Wisconsin (2 straight seasons with 1,200+ rushing yards) and Nicholas Singleton of Penn State (1,000+ on 6.8 per carry as a true freshman).
  • Ohio State’s freakishly athletic DE JT Tuimoloau, he of the monster game at Penn State last season. With more consistency, he’ll make lists much more important than this one.
  • Michigan o-linemen and defensive players. The units are so cohesive it’s hard to pick out individuals.

Now that we’ve fessed up to those potential snubs (we know hindsight will unveil others, too), let’s get on with the list:

10. Brevyn Spann-Ford, TE, Minnesota

It’d be sacrilegious not to have a tight end on this B1G list, and Spann-Ford has upside to match his 6-7, 270-pound body. A 6th-year senior, he worked in tight, in the slot and even out wide at times last year. After leading the Gophers in receptions (42) and ranking 2nd in receiving yards (497), Spann-Ford appears to be set up for a monster year. PJ Fleck is promising a more prominent passing attack with Ibrahim gone and Athan Kaliakmanis taking over at quarterback. In addition, Pro Football Focus loves Spann-Ford’s run-blocking along with his pass-catching abilities and rates him the No. 2 college tight end in America behind Georgia’s Brock Bowers.

9. Abdul Carter, LB, Penn State

Last year as a true freshman, Carter ranked 4th in the B1G in sacks (6.5) and tied for 11th in TFL (10.5). His penchant for disruption produced 4 pass breakups, 5 QB hurries and 2 forced fumbles, as well. He started just 6 of Penn State’s 13 games, yet finished as the team’s 2nd leading tackler. Now 15 pounds heavier at 6-3, 250, Carter insists he’s faster than ever. If the Nittany Lions are to have a breakthrough season, Carter will have to be a catalyst.

8. Taulia Tagovailoa, QB, Maryland

Already Maryland’s leader in career passing yards (7,879) and TDs (51), the 5th-year senior is the lone B1G quarterback with a shot to hit 10,000 career yards this season. He needs 2,121 to reach the mark as a Terp, and 100 less than that to hit the number as a college player (he threw for an even hundred as an Alabama backup in 2019).

The career interception number (26) is a bit high and the 16-13 W-L record as a starter isn’t great, but let’s be real. He’s not playing behind Michigan’s offensive line. He has had some solid receivers, but not the succession of 1st-round NFL Draft picks Ohio State churns out. His loyalty to Mike Locksley and Maryland probably hurts his NIL earning power and his pro prospects.

If he can do a better job avoiding sacks and get a little more help from the supporting cast, he can go out with a flourish. He put up a Maryland record 3,860 passing yards in 2021, so we know his ceiling is high.

That said, he’s never led or beaten a Top 25-ranked team. He’s due. And with a favorable September schedule, it’s doable. The Terps will be heavy favorites in 4 of their first 5 games. An upset of Michigan State in Week 4 would likely get Tagovailoa and the Terps into the Top 25.

If Maryland can get to its Oct. 7 date at Ohio State at 5-0, Tagovailoa will remain on this list. And the state of Maryland will be in a rare frenzy over its Terrapins.

7. Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State

The “other” breakout sophomore receiver in 2022, the 6-1, 206-pound Egbuka is coming off a 74-1,151-10 season that turned him from an unknown to a 2024 first-round NFL Draft prospect. Another 1,000-yard season would seal the deal, and that seems highly likely even with a new man at quarterback.

6. JJ McCarthy, QB, Michigan

McCarthy should post his first 3,000-yard passing season this year, and he qualifies as a dual-threat guy after leading B1G quarterbacks with 306 rushing yards last year. With a 64.6 completion percentage and a 22-5 TD-to-INT ratio in 2022, the 6-3, 202-pound former 5-star recruit gives Michigan a rock-solid field general.

As 1 of just 2 established returning starters at QB in the Big Ten, there’s every reason to believe he will progress as a passer, runner and leader as a true junior. Anything short of a return trip to the CFP would be a disappointment for McCarthy and the Wolverines.

5. Jer’Zhan Newton, DL, Illinois

Newton is making all kinds of preseason all-America and NFL Draft 1st-round prospect lists after a breakout season in 2022.

At 6-2, 295, he fits the profile of an interior defensive lineman, which he kinda, sorta is in the Illini’s 3-4 scheme.

Defensive tackles don’t generally post 62 tackles in a season or lead the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense in TFL (14.0), sacks (5.5), quarterback hurries (11) and fumble recoveries (2) — all of which the 4th-year junior did in 2022.

Call him a DT, an edge … shoot, call him a linebacker. Illini fans don’t care. Just keep the man on the field as much as possible, and reap the benefits of his havoc.

4. Olu Fashanu, LT, Penn State

A mere 3-star recruit in the 2020 class, ranked 45th among offensive tackles in 247Sports’ composite rankings, Fashanu has come a long way in just 9 starts for the Nittany Lions. After being coaxed off the basketball court and onto the football field in high school, the 6-6, 320-pound 20-year-old enters this season looking like a lock to be Penn State’s first 1st-round OL since tackle Levi Brown went 5th overall to the Arizona Cardinals in 2007.

Fashanu is touted as a natural pass blocker (0 sacks allowed in 8 starts in 2022), perhaps attributable to footwork first honed on the hardwood. If he stays healthy after missing last season’s final 5 games and improves as a run-blocker, the Outland Trophy and a top-10 NFL Draft selection are distinct possibilities.

3. Cooper DeJean, DB, Iowa

Over the years, college programs have come up with special position names — hero, rover, monster — to describe what DeJean does for the Hawkeyes. All of those work for the 6-1, 207-pound Iowa native.

Technically, he’s listed as a cornerback. But his game displays safety and linebacker qualities, too.

With 75 tackles to go along with 5 picks — 3 of which he returned for scores — DeJean definitely roved the field in heroic fashion a year ago. He also returned 10 punts for 165 yards, a monster total that went unrecognized in B1G stat lists because, unlike teammate Arland Bruce IV, he didn’t have enough attempts to qualify for the leaderboard. With Bruce now gone, DeJean might take on those duties full-time. If so, look out. DeJean ranked 2nd in the B1G in punt return yards, behind only Michigan’s AJ Henning (11-241).

As the team’s leading returning tackler, the junior appears set to take over for Jack Campbell as the heart of Iowa’s defense. And really, the heart of the Hawkeyes, period.

2. Blake Corum, RB, Michigan

A 5-8, 213-pound mix of power and speed, Corum proves tough to take down even when the best offensive line in college football isn’t cratering opposing defenses. Only a late-season injury slowed his roll last year, when he charged into Heisman contention with 1,463 yards and 18 rushing TDs. If he hadn’t missed most of Michigan’s final 2 ½ games, he almost certainly would have led the nation in rushing rather than finishing 11th.

If he’s fully healed, the only thing that will slow him this year will be teammate Donovan Edwards, a potential 1,000-yard back in his own right.

1. Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State

His numbers from 2022 are impressive: 97.2 ypg (8th in nation, 2nd in B1G to Purdue’s Charlie Jones), 16.4 ypc (No. 1 among the 35 receivers in the nation with 70+ catches), 14 TDs (No. 4 overall). But you have watch highlights to really understand the season the 6-4, 205-pound receiver put together.

Het gets wide open … a lot. He catches the ball when he’s not open — over, around and through defenders. He gets a foot down in defiance of basic laws of geometry and physiology.

The 21-year-old true junior starts 2023 as the best player in the Big Ten — and maybe the nation.