Oregon QB Bo Nix Justin Fine/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

College Football Super Seniors Who Could Make the Biggest Impact in 2023

Morgan Moriarty

The COVID-19 pandemic didn't affect college football games too much in 2022. But it is still altering players' eligibility from 2020, and will for at least the next few seasons.

Prior to the 2020 season, the NCAA announced that players wouldn't use a year of eligibility if they played during that season. So, a junior in 2020 would still be classified as a junior in 2021.

That means a number of players will be returning in 2023 for a "super senior" year of sorts.

There were plenty of talented seniors in 2022, and a number of them opted to return for another season in 2023. Let's run through college football's top "super seniors" who could make the biggest impact next season.

Kansas State WR Phillip Brooks

Phillip Brooks Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Kansas State surprised a lot of people when it upset TCU and won the Big 12 championship last season. K-State will look to repeat as Big 12 champions in 2023, and getting the likes of receiver Phillip Brooks back should help the Wildcats do just that.

Malik Knowles, the Wildcats' leading receiver from this past season, has declared for the 2023 NFL draft. That means Brooks should be returning quarterback Will Howard's new go-to receiver.

Brooks finished second in receiving behind Knowles last season, accounting for 587 yards receiving with four touchdowns, averaging 13 yards per catch. K-State's third-leading receiver, Kade Warner—the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner—doesn't have eligibility left, so Brooks will be expected to carry the Wildcats' receiving corps in 2023.

Brooks also led Kansas State in punt returns last season. He returned 14 punts for 168 yards, including a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown against Missouri.

In 2020, Brooks averaged 23.73 yards per punt return, and he returned two for touchdowns. Against Kansas that year, he averaged 47.25 yards per punt return, which was the highest of any player in the nation with at least four attempts since 1996, per D. Scott Fritchen of the school's website.

We'll see how Brooks responds to a bigger role in the passing game in 2023.

Ohio State LB Tommy Eichenberg

Tommy Eichenberg Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

After making it to the College Football Playoff and nearly knocking off Georgia in the Peach Bowl semifinal, Ohio State seems to be headed for a rebuilding year in 2023. Quarterback C.J. Stroud (a Heisman finalist), receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, offensive lineman Paris Johnson and safety Ronnie Hickman are among those headed to the NFL draft.

The good news for Ohio State is that linebacker Tommy Eichenberg is returning. He should provide some valuable experience for a young group of Buckeyes.

Eichenberg finished last season with a team-high 120 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, three passes defended and an interception returned for a touchdown against Iowa. He was tied for second in the Big Ten in total tackles and was named a second-team All-American.

Eichenberg had a breakout game against Utah in the Rose Bowl at the end of the 2021 season. Starting in place of injured teammate Cody Simon, he notched a career-high 17 tackles, which helped Ohio State overcome an early 14-point deficit to win 48-45.

Eichenberg will return alongside starting linebacker Steele Chambers in 2023. Don't be surprised if he has the best season of his career, which could vault him even higher up NFL draft boards.

Utah TE Brant Kuithe

Brant Kuithe Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Utah Utes will be a favorite to win the Pac-12 once again in 2023 thanks to the talent they have coming back. That includes tight end Brant Kuithe as well as quarterback Cameron Rising and receiver Devaughn Vele.

Kuithe, who has been at Utah since the 2018 season, has been a consistent playmaker for the last four seasons. He has hauled in 148 career catches for 1,882 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns, and he has rushed for 162 yards and four touchdowns as well.

Kuithe's 2022 campaign was cut short in late September when he suffered a torn ACL against Arizona in Week 4. Despite that, he still managed to finish seventh on the team in receiving yards. Since the injury happened during Kuithe's fourth game of the season, he was able to redshirt.

"It breaks your heart to see something like that happen to a senior. … The silver lining, if there is one, he's inside the four games to redshirt. He does have a redshirt year," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said in the days after Kuithe's injury, via Jeff Call of the Deseret News. "So if he chooses, and wants the opportunity to come back next season, that's available to him."

If he comes back full-go, Kuithe could put together his best season yet in 2023.

Oregon QB Bo Nix

Bo Nix Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Oregon looks like a legitimate playoff contender in 2023 thanks to the return of signal-caller Bo Nix.

Nix, who started his collegiate career at Auburn before transferring to Oregon last offseason, is coming off his best season. He threw for a career-high 3,593 yards and 29 touchdowns with only seven interceptions and had another 510 yards with 14 touchdowns on the ground.

Nix's previous best season was his true freshman year at Auburn in 2019, when he had 2,542 passing yards with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions and added 313 yards with seven touchdowns on the ground. He helped the Tigers upset Alabama in the Iron Bowl that season and was named the SEC Freshman of the Year.

Nix started the next two seasons at Auburn, but he never put up similar numbers to his freshman year. After suffering a broken foot at the end of the 2021 season, he transferred to Oregon, where he was reunited with his offensive coordinator from 2019, Kenny Dillingham.

The Ducks finished 10-3 on the year with a Holiday Bowl victory over North Carolina. Although Oregon had a chance to be in the playoff conversation, late-season losses to Washington and Oregon State ended those hopes.

Nix's return next season puts the Ducks back in the mix as a playoff contender. Running backs Bucky Irving and Noah Whittington and receivers Troy Franklin and Kris Hutson are coming back, too. Oregon also landed Alabama transfer wideout Traeshon Holden, who had 331 receiving yards with six touchdowns last season for the Tide.

Nix will have a new offensive coordinator in 2023, as Dillingham has accepted the head coaching job at Arizona State. But he should be fine with new offensive coordinator Will Stein, who helped lead UTSA to back-to-back C-USA titles over the past two seasons.

If Nix's 2023 campaign is anything like what he did last year, the Ducks are in for a huge season.

Clemson DE Xavier Thomas

Xavier Thomas Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Earlier this month, longtime Clemson defensive end Xavier Thomas announced he'll be returning for a sixth season in 2023. He has accounted for 91 total tackles, 14.5 sacks and five forced fumbles across his career.

Thomas has dealt with plenty of adversity during his time at Clemson. This past season, he played in only two games thanks to a broken foot he suffered in fall camp. Thomas also tested positive for COVID-19 in April 2020 and said he wasn't able to breathe normally until mid-September of that year.

Thomas didn't take the field in 2020 until Clemson's Oct. 17 game against Georgia Tech. He finished the season with only six total tackles and 3.5 sacks.

Thomas had his best season at Clemson as a true freshman in 2018, accounting for 33 total tackles, including 18 solo stops, as well as 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble. He earned Freshman All-America honors for his efforts.

In 2019, Thomas missed three games while recovering from a concussion. He still finished with 27 tackles, two passes defended and two sacks.

"I've overcame so much throughout this journey of mine," Thomas said in a Twitter video announcing his 2023 return. "I got back into the best shape of my life for the season of 2022. Breaking my foot in August right before the season, and it being my very first legit injury, was very unfortunate. I attempted to come back on it too early before being 100 percent healed, and it recracked in practice, which led to me not being able to play this year at all."

Having a defensive leader like Thomas returning will be key to Clemson getting back into the playoff mix in 2023.

Wisconsin QB Tanner Mordecai

Tanner Mordecai Sam Wasson/Getty Images

The Luke Fickell era at Wisconsin got off to a flying start with the addition of SMU transfer quarterback Tanner Mordecai.

Mordecai started his career at Oklahoma from 2018-2020, where he completed only 50 passes for 639 yards over three seasons. He transferred to SMU prior to the 2021 season, where he proceeded to flourish.

During his two-year tenure as the Mustangs' starter, Mordecai threw for 7,152 yards with 72 touchdowns and only 22 interceptions. He also set a SMU record with 13 games of 300 or more passing yards. He threw for a school-record 31 touchdowns in 2021, too.

Mordecai is expected to compete for the starting job at Wisconsin alongside Oklahoma transfer Nick Evers. He should thrive under the system of new offensive coordinator Phil Longo's system, who spent this past season coaching star freshman Drake Maye at UNC. Longo's hire at Wisconsin is what convinced Mordecai to forgo the NFL draft and play one more year in college.

Jesse Temple of The Athletic explained how Mordecai's private quarterbacks coach Kevin Murray—Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray's father—helped convince him to head to Wisconsin:

When schools began to inquire about Mordecai's potential availability for another college season, he [Murray] suggested Mordecai consider returning for his sixth and final year of eligibility to improve his draft status.
"He wasn't for that at first," Micah [Tanner's father] said. "And then he started thinking about it. When he knew Phil Longo was looking for somebody, he said, 'Man, that's one place I would go.' That's how it kind of came about."

With the addition of Mordecai and Longo as offensive coordinator, it seems like Wisconsin's offense will move away from its traditional run-heavy scheme. If Mordecai's last two seasons at SMU are any indication, the Badgers could be a force to be reckoned with in the Big Ten in 2023.

Michigan WR Cornelius Johnson

Cornelius Johnson Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Michigan Wolverines had a disappointing end to the season in 2022, getting upset 51-45 by TCU in the CFP semifinal. But as head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines reload for 2023, a big piece returning will be wide receiver Cornelius Johnson.

Johnson was Michigan's second-leading receiver last season behind Ronnie Bell, who is headed to the NFL. He finished with 449 yards and a team-high six touchdowns while averaging 15.6 yards per reception.

Johnson had his best game of the season against Ohio State, hauling in four receptions for 160 yards and two touchdowns. He made Michigan history that day as the first player to have two touchdown receptions of 65-plus yards in the same game.

"We knew that we could make those kind of plays," Harbaugh told reporters afterward. "C.J. really got us started—Cornelius Johnson—with the catch and then broke the tackle, [69] yards. I think the very next time we came back, if I'm not mistaken, one play, 75-yard touchdown."

Johnson also led Michigan in 2021 with 627 receiving yards and three touchdowns on the season. With him, starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy and running back Blake Corum all returning next season, the Wolverines look like the favorites to win the Big Ten again.

Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman

Sam Hartman AP Photo/Chuck Burton

Longtime Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman will be spending his sixth year of eligibility in South Bend after transferring to Notre Dame.

Hartman leaves Wake Forest as the most productive quarterback in school history. He threw for 12,967 passing yards (No. 2 in ACC history) along with a conference-record 110 touchdowns. He added 856 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground, too.

Hartman helped lead the Demon Deacs to an ACC Atlantic title in 2021, along with an 11-3 record. That was only the second 11-win season in school history.

Hartman's 2022 season got off to a bit of a scary start, as the school announced in early August that he was out indefinitely due to a "non-football related medical condition." The school later revealed that he had been diagnosed with Paget-Schrotter syndrome, which is characterized by a blood clot in the subclavian vein.

Incredibly, Hartman missed only one game after undergoing surgery to remove the clot, as well as a subsequent surgery to eliminate pressure on the affected vein. In his first game back against Vanderbilt, he threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns with zero interceptions.

Notre Dame's starter for most of last season, Drew Pyne, has transferred to Arizona State. Week 1 starter Tyler Buchner missed most of the season due to an AC sprain.

Hartman will compete for the starting job with Buchner, Steve Angeli and 2023 4-star recruit Kenny Minchey. Hartman is by far the most experienced signal-caller of the group and is expected to win that competition.

   

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