It's been four years since college football implemented the playoff format to determine a national champion; a standard cycle for a college athlete/student. There have been some great teams come through and many great players as well.
I decided to devote way too much time going through the sixteen teams that have graced the College Football Playoff realm and putting together an 'All-Playoff' roster of the greatest players from those teams -- based on their statistics, number of appearances, outstanding performances, and success in playoff games alone.
With that said, ladies and gentleman, your College Football All-Playoff Offense (2014-2017)...
[QB, RB1, RB2, WR1, WR2, TE, OL (5)]
QB - Deshaun Watson, Clemson
This was by far one of the easiest guys to put on the team. In FOUR (2015-2016) playoff game appearances, Watson completed 105 passes on 170 attempts for a total of 1271 yards, NINE touchdowns and FOUR interceptions. He also ran for 318 yards on 80 carries and FOUR rushing touchdowns and ONE fumble.
His best two performances were both National Championship games against Alabama where he threw for over 400 yards in both games and recorded EIGHT total touchdowns versus just ONE turnover. He finished with a playoff record of 3-1 that included a National Championship victory.
RB 1 - Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State
Ezekiel Elliott put on what is arguably the most dominant two game performance in the playoffs short history. In the playoffs inaugural season (2014), en route to a Buckeyes national championship, Elliott rushed for 476 yards on 56 carries along with SIX rushing touchdowns. He averaged 9.3 touches per touchdown that includes his TWO receptions for 12 yards.
Elliott's 58 touches were 35.8% of the Buckeyes total number of plays in the playoffs. He was responsible for 82.5% of the total rushing yards and 45.4% of the team's total yards in their two playoff games.
RB 2 - Rodney Anderson, Oklahoma
Rodney Anderson is the only player on my All-Playoff team to have only played in one playoff game. He went up against the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2017 Rose Bowl and put up 201 yards on 26 carries and scored two rushing touchdowns as well.
Georgia finished the 2017 season with the sixth ranked total defense, 12th in rush yards per game allowed and fourth in points per game allowed (13.2 ppg). The Sooners amassed 531 total yards against the Bulldogs and 48 points in a double overtime thriller. Anderson accounted for 37.9% of Oklahoma's total yardage.
WR 1 - Hunter Renfrow, Clemson
Hunter Renfrow immortalized himself in the annals of College Football lore. He was always most successful when the stage was biggest and the opponent was bigger. In his FIVE playoff game appearances, Renfrow has caught 31 passes for 320 yards and FIVE touchdowns.
In the two national championship games against the Crimson Tide, he hauled in 17 receptions for 180 yards and FOUR touchdowns -- including the game winner in the Tigers rematch with Alabama that gave the Clemson program it's first National Championship win since 1981.
WR 2 - Calvin Ridley, Alabama
Calvin Ridley has the most playoff game appearances of any player on the All-Playoff team with SIX games played of the 12 that have occurred. In those six games, he has caught 28 passes for 265 yards and FOUR touchdowns.
Those numbers won't jump off the page at you but it's important to remember that he had Jalen Hurts at quarterback for 3.5 of his six games played. Ridley never put on a "dominant" performance in any game in the playoffs but he has been the one constant for the better part of the playoff era.
Consistency has to be rewarded....at least I guess it does. My list, my rules.
TE - OJ Howard, Alabama
No other tight end received any consideration for this team. It's OJ Howard's spot, period. In four playoff games, Howard caught 16 receptions for 417 yards (26.1 yards per catch). Clemson had trouble keeping tabs on Howard in both title games.
Howard had NINE receptions for 314 yards and THREE touchdowns in his two games against the Orange & Regalia. The majority of that production did come on some broken coverage's and losing Howard down the field but it still counts.
*For the offensive line, since stats are hard to come by and there's not enough time in my schedule to go back and watch all the film, I decided to delegate four of the five slots to one player from each National Championship winner. The final slot goes to a 'wildcard' lineman that performed well in his playoff appearance.
OL - Taylor Decker, Ohio State (2014)
OL - Ryan Kelly, Alabama (2015)
OL - Mitch Hyatt, Clemson (2016)
OL - Bradley Bozeman, Alabama (2017)
OL - Isaiah Wynn, Georgia (2017)
SEE NEXT: The CFB All-Playoff Team: DEFENSE
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