Way Too Early Big Ten Football Power Rankings

1. Ohio State

What to Watch on Offense: Who will throw the ball to eventual top 5 NFL pick, Marvin Harrison Jr.? C.J. Stroud is headed to be a top 2 pick in the NFL Draft this month, so who will replace him? Will it be Kyle McCord or Devin Brown? Both were top 40 prospects in their respective classes.

Another looming question is the offensive line. The Buckeyes will need to replace both Parris Johnson and Dawand Jones? They are two first-round talented, offensive linemen.

What to Watch on Defense: The Buckeyes will be under the coordination of second-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, as they look to make a jump to being one of the best defenses in the nation again. The Buckeyes are laden with talent on the defensive side of the ball even with the losses of Zach Harrison, Ronnie Hickman, and Tanner McCallister.

2. Michigan

What to Watch on Offense: Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards lead the offense, paired with returning quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Corum suffered a knee injury and saw his draft stock plummet, leading to a return season in Ann Arbor.

Edwards filled in admirably when Corum went down, now the duo is the best pair in the nation. Can McCarthy becomes a more consistent passer will make or break this offense?

What to Watch on Defense: The Wolverine Defense has hung its hat on pass rush and limited the other team's quarterback with the said pass rush. Will Harbaugh be able to replace Mike Morris and Mazi Smith? More than likely, yes.

3. Penn State

What to Watch on Offense: There is a big drop-off from the top two to the next four, in my opinion. Penn State is banking on the development of sophomore quarterback, Drew Allar. If he is not consistent, the offense will struggle, as they are losing two wide receivers.

What to Watch on Defense: Manny Diaz is in his second year of being in control of the Nittany Lions defense, the former Miami HC lead a strong defense in 2022, but is replacing five of eleven starters.

4. Wisconsin

What to Watch on Offense: Braelon Allen, the All-American Running Back will lead new offensive coordinator Phil Longo's attack. SMU transfer, Tanner Mordecai should get the nod at quarterback. If the passing attack improves, Wisconsin could find itself as the top dog in the Big Ten West.

What to Watch on Defense: The Badgers return eight starters on a defense that only allowed 20 points per game in 2022, good for 17th in the nation defensively. Luke Fickell will look for the defense to remain the most consistent piece of the Badger team while trying to elevate their offense.

5. Iowa

What to Watch on Offense: Maybe, just scoring? The Hawkeyes were historically one of the worst teams ever on offense. They grabbed former Michigan Man, Cade McNamara in the portal to try and jump-start an offense on life support. Standout Running Back, Kaleb Johnson will lead the ground attack.

What to Watch on Defense: The Hawkeyes Defense drug the terrible offense to the finish line in many games, but Iowa will look to replace standout linebackers Seth Benson and Jack Campbell, both will be NFL Players. Cornerback Riley Moss was one of the best in 2022 and will need to be replaced as well.

6. Maryland

What to Watch on Offense: I placed the Terrapins here for one reason, Taulia Tagovailoa. Coach Locksley returns as one of the premier signal callers in the conference. He will turn to Kayden Prather and Tyrese Chambers to fill the void at wide receiver, as he snagged the duo from the Transfer Portal. If Maryland can be consistent with running the football, they will have a chance to win many games this season.

What to Watch on Defense: The major concern here will be the defensive line, as they lose most of the contributors to that position group. Maryland will push out a young defensive group and will rely on the offense to score a lot of points, again.

7. Purdue

What to Watch on Offense: A lot of the Purdue offense will rely on the shoulders of transfer quarterback, Hudson Card, who made his way north from Texas. Returning running back, Devin Mockobee will lead the ground attack under new offensive coordinator, Graham Harrell. At wide receiver, questions remain, as Charlie Jones will head to the NFL. Purdue has had three All-American Wide Receivers in recent years, can someone rise to the top again?

What to Watch on Defense: A defensive mindset made its way to West Lafayette under first-year head coach Ryan Walters, who lead one of the best defenses in the nation at Illinois in 2022. Led by Sanoussi Kane, Nic Caraway and O.C. Brothers, the Purdue defense will look to improve under the new leadership.

8. Illinois

What to Watch on Offense: Illinois will have a quarterback battle from two transfers, Luke Altmyer and John Paddock. Chase Brown is long gone, as he tries to make his dreams come true in the NFL. Isaiah Williams will look to help the new quarterbacks, as he works from the slot.

What to Watch on Defense: Defensive Coordinator, Ryan Walters is now the head coach at Purdue, which is a bigger loss than many believe, as his unique defense helped Illinois be one of the best in the nation. The Illini return seven starters on the defensive side of the ball but will lose two dominant defenders in Sydney Brown and Devon Witherspoon.

9. Michigan State

What to Watch on Offense: The Spartans will look for more consistency on offense, especially in the run game. After making Mel Tucker one of the highest-paid coaches in the nation, the offense took a sharp downturn. The Spartans return Quarterback Payton Thorne, so there is some consistency at the most important question. But the real question is, who will be their primary playmaker? Can Jalen Berger get the run game back up to par?

What to Watch on Defense: Defensively the Spartans allowed over 27 points per game, which is far too many to win many games in the Big Ten. They were near the bottom in pass rush and run defense last year. Coach Tucker hit the portal for some help in the trenches.

10. Nebraska

What to Watch on Offense: First-year head coach, Matt Rhule will have a tough decision to make this year at Quarterback, either choosing Casey Thompson or transferring Jeff Sims from Georgia Tech. Stud Wide Receiver Trey Palmer is out of Lincoln, the Cornhuskers will turn to Marcus Washington in hopes of being the best playmaker on the outside. Anthony Grant was just shy of 1,000 yards rushing and will look to break the 1,000-yard mark in 2023.

What to Watch on Defense: The Cornhuskers return 8 starters from a mostly bad defense, so Coach Rhule hit the portal hard for defensive linemen. He would snag four defensive linemen from the portal, three of which will more than likely start in the fall.

11. Minnesota

What to Watch on Offense: The Gophers look to replace long-time quarterback Tanner Morgan, who was pretty consistent for P.J. Fleck during his time at Minnesota. Not only that, the Gophers will look to replace Mohamed Ibrahim, who was their best player over the last few seasons.

What to Watch on Defense: The Gophers will look to replace the vast majority of a dominant defense. They allowed less than 15 points per game in 2022 and it will be a tall task for them to replicate that performance this upcoming season.

12. Rutgers

What to Watch on Offense: Rutgers just needs to learn to score points, the Scarlet Knights scored less than 14 points per game in Big Ten contests last season, struggling in all facets of the game. Gavin Wimsatt will need to majorly improve

What to Watch on Defense: The Scarlet Knights did their best during conference play to allow anyone to score, they allowed nearly 35 points per game during Big Ten Play. They lost only a few starters, so there is a reason for optimism, in hopes that they are better with experience, but they did not add any players via the portal that are noteworthy.

13. Indiana

What to Watch on Offense: IU has a reason for optimism, getting Trayce Jackson-Davis' brother, Tayven Jackson to come back to Indiana, after being at Tennessee for a short stint, he was a standout at Center Grove High School.

What to Watch on Defense: The Hoosiers lost 9 starters on the defensive side of the ball that allowed more than 30 points per game. Maybe that is a good thing? But, time will tell, as there was not a plethora of transfers coming in to bolster the defense. Coach Allen will rely more on homegrown talent.

14. Northwestern

What to Watch on Offense: The Wildcats will start and end their spring with a lot of unknowns across the board on offense. Ryan Hiliniski and Brendan Sullivan will compete for the starting quarterback job. How will they replace surefire first-round pick, Peter Skorinski?

What to Watch on Defense: The Wildcat defense will look to get back on track, they have struggled since the Covid riddled 2020 season.

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