Ten Group of Five football players poised to break out

Paul Myerberg | USA TODAY Sports

One cycle of college football is renewed each spring, when the dearly departed — former starters, key reserves, perhaps an All-America selection or two — are replaced by a slew of untested and unproven new contributors. For the latter, spring drills also marks an opportunity: There are holes to fill for each team in the Football Bowl Subdivision, on offense and defense, and the competition for each open spot will be intense.

With spring drills complete, here are a few breakout players from across the Group of Five landscape to keep an eye on come September.

1. Central Florida WR Tre'Quan Smith. No team with access-bowl aspirations needs a receiver-corps overhaul quite like UCF: The Knights must replace their top four wide receivers from a season ago, led by likely first-round pick Breshad Perriman. Combined, the quartet of Perriman, Josh Reese, J.J. Worton and Rannell Hall accounted for 174 catches in 2014 — nearly three-fourths of the Knights' total receptions. Into the void steps Smith, a redshirt freshman who shined on UCF's scout team a year ago.

2. East Carolina TE Bryce Williams. It'd be easy to highlight sophomore quarterback Kurt Benkert, ECU's heir apparent for Shane Carden. But keep tabs on Williams, a senior who should flourish in new offensive coordinator Dave Nichol's system. While ex-coordinator Lincoln Riley — now in the same position at Oklahoma — helped the Pirates put up crooked numbers, look for Nichol to use his tight ends far more on third down and inside the red zone.

3. Navy LB Micah Thomas. Like a wide number of Navy freshmen, the wide share of Thomas' rookie-year contributions came on special teams. A year later, he's pegged as the Midshipmen's new starter at inside linebacker. While the outside pair in Navy's 3-4 defense remains unsettled — there are as many as five candidates battling for two spots — Thomas and junior Daniel Gonzales exited the spring as Navy's two starters in the middle.

4. Northern Illinois WR Kenny Golladay. The Huskies do return Tommylee Lewis, an All-America-caliber return specialist and receiver who missed last season with a foot injury — and not that Lewis' absence had a huge impact on Northern Illinois, which claimed yet another Mid-American Conference championship. But NIU coaches hope to team Lewis, an undersized speedster, with 6-foot-4 transfer Golladay, who came in from North Dakota and sat out last season.

5. Wyoming QB Cameron Coffman. Based on what Wyoming saw in the spring, there's little doubt Coffman will provide an upgrade at quarterback. He certainly brings experience to the table: Coffman was the starter at Indiana in 2012, finishing second in the Big Ten Conference in completions, attempts and passing yards per game. He'll give Wyoming's passing game a more productive option than Colby Kirkegaard, who had an uneven senior season.

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6. Boise State S Dylan Sumner-Gardner. An injury to junior Chanceller James allowed Sumner-Gardner to take starting snaps at safety with Boise State's first-team defense. The big question: Will the sophomore be able to fend off a presumably healthy James during fall camp — or a potential charge from one of the handful of incoming freshmen slated for the secondary? Hopes are high that Sumner-Gardner can provide consistency for a defensive backfield lacking in optimal experience.

7. Cincinnati RB Tion Green. Tommy Tuberville loves sophomore back Mike Boone, who should challenge the 1,000-yard mark after a strong close to his rookie season. But the Bearcats are also high on Boone's reserves, Green and Hosey Williams; both missed time last season due to injuries but were back in form during the spring. Green, a junior, capped drills with two touchdowns in Cincinnati's spring game.

8. San Diego State QB Maxwell Smith. Miserable play from the offensive line — where only two players are assured of a starting role, coach Rocky Long said after the spring — made judging an ongoing quarterback competition difficult for the Aztecs' coaching staff. That didn't prevent Long from centering the battle on two options in particular: Smith, a transfer from Kentucky, and redshirt freshman Christian Chapman. While the competition will be renewed in August, Smith might have the inside track for the starting job.

9. Appalachian State CB Brandon Pinckney. This is a luxury unshared by any other team in the Football Bowl Subdivision: Appalachian State returns 20 starters from last season, one reason why the Mountaineers are a trendy pick to build upon last year's seven-win finish and challenge for the Sun Belt Conference championship. One new starter will be Pinckney, a sophomore cornerback who came on strong during the final two weeks of the spring.

10. Marshall QB Michael Birdsong. Quarterbacks will often transfer down a level, moving from the FBS to the Football Championship Subdivision in the hunt for more playing time; Birdsong took a different route, transferring from James Madison to Marshall last spring and using a redshirt season during the fall. He's made a hard charge for the starting job during the spring, moving ahead of Gunnar Holcombe and true freshman Chase Litton to become the odds-on favorite to be named Rakeem Cato's replacement.

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