Piecing together a list of the best players in college football before the season begins is no easy task. It requires a mix of information, reporting and assumptions.

While some choices are easy ( Jeremiah Smith is good, you heard it here first) and some projections are nearly universally agreed upon (hello, Arch Manning ), there are enough wild cards to ensure that, by season's end, this list will probably look at least a little silly.

Georgia , Ohio State , Ole Miss , Notre Dame and Alabama all start new QBs with little experience, so ranking those players near the top seems presumptuous. Odds are, though, at least a few will be Heisman Trophy contenders by season's end.

Smith, Leonard Moore and Ryan Williams quickly established themselves as stars during elite freshm

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