The return of NCAA Football is slated for next summer, and that gives us the perfect opportunity to highlight some players who didn’t get a chance to appear in the series during its hiatus.
Thanks to a rating system that includes individualized college player evaluations that we discussed on the Rock Chalk Podcast, we’re able to correct that oversight. This rating combines their baseline talent level with their actual college production to come up with an overview of their performance.
A reminder that our Video Game All-Stars series will look at recent Kansas players who played well at Kansas but never got a chance to catch up with a virtual version of themselves. We’ll look back at their careers and include a projection of their overall rating if it were the games.
We’re nearing the end of our streak and I knew we couldn’t finish it without seeing a single offensive lineman. And when you think of the last Kansas quarterback to play at the college level, it’s hard to think of anyone else before Hakeem Adeniji.
Other player highlights in this series:
Daniel Wise
Mike Lee
Joe Dineen
Andrew Parchment
Pooka Williams
Hasan Defense
Dorrance Armstrong
Bryce Torneden
Recruiting Bio
A 6’4″, 290 lb offensive tackle from Garland High School in Garland, TX, Adeniji had originally committed to the United States Air Force Academy. However, he was unable to receive a medical exemption due to an allergy to cashew and he quickly committed to the Jayhawks.
Although the method by which he came to Kansas was unorthodox, there was a lot of optimism about what he could bring to David Beaty’s offense, and it didn’t take long for Jayhawk fans to see what he could do as he began to 48 -at. games in his time in college.
Made in Kansas
| The season | Total Snaps | Rushing Blocks | Passing blocks | Bags are allowed | QB hits allowed | QB hurries allowed | QB pressures allowed | Penalties (rejected/compensated) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2016 |
882 |
324 |
558 |
5 |
4 |
30 |
39 |
5 (2) |
|
2017 |
851 |
327 |
524 |
4 |
4 |
13 |
21 |
5 (1) |
|
2018 |
822 |
370 |
452 |
3 |
2 |
10 |
15 |
4 (0) |
|
2019 |
798 |
348 |
450 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
9 |
5 (2) |
Adeniji made an immediate impact for the Jayhawks, first as a swing tackle and then as the primary left tackle. He steadily improved throughout his time with the Jayhawks, but it’s fair to say his best statistical season actually came in 2017, when his Pro Football Focus blocking grade was 72.0 overall.
The best game
It’s hard to pick a “best” play when it comes to lineman, because as is often the case, the best statistical performances for a lineman rely on good play in many other places in order to return to a good result. And that’s abundantly clear here, as statistically, Adeniji’s best game came in a 38-9 rout of Baylor in 2017. But while he was great, the rest of the line was subpar at best. and the Jayhawks could do nothing.
So instead, I chose to highlight two games where Adeniji played really well and the Jayhawks were able to at least put up a respectable performance.
Nov. 17, 2018: 55-40 loss at #6 Oklahoma
Stat Line: 1 QB Hit, 1 QB Pressure, no penalties on 67 offensive snaps.
It was a fairly clean game for Adeniji as he didn’t allow too much pressure and excelled in pass blocking. But what makes this a memorable game was the run blocking that turned into a 252-yard day for Kansas running back Pooka Williams.
September 13, 2019: 48-24 win at Boston College
Stat Line: No tackles/pressures/sacks/penalties in 70 offensive snaps.
It’s literally impossible for Adeniji to have had a better game statistically, and he had several key blocks to spark big runs for multiple Jayhawks. Carter Stanley threw for 238 yards after a stellar pass blocking performance, and Khalil Herbert rushed for 187 yards and Pooka Williams ran for 121 yards for a dominant offensive performance by the Jayhawks.
After Kansas
Adeniji was drafted 180th overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. His first career start came in Week 8 of the 2020 season, and he has been a consistent performer ever since. He played in 15 games during the 2020 season, starting in 5.
Adeniji began the 2021 season on the injured list after tearing a muscle during offseason training. However, he returned to the lineup on November 4, 2021, starting every game the rest of the season, including the Bengals’ first postseason win in 31 years and the Super Bowl against the Los Angeles Rams.
He is expected to be a mainstay on the offensive line in Cincinnati for the foreseeable future.
Rating video games
Base Rating: 70
Production bonus: 18
Total rating: 88
Committing first to the Air Force Academy, there are many question marks about what Adeniji’s grade out of high school should have been. But there’s no denying the impact he had on the field, which translates into a hefty production bonus and just sneaks over the line for automatic inclusion on this list.
While the ratings we have aren’t broken down into the individual attributes you’d typically see in a game like the Madden series, it’s possible to guess which attributes would be the highest. Lineman may be hard to find skills other than strength, but I’d have to include his agility as well, given his ability to recover from a missed initial block and still make a play somewhat positive.
A reminder that our video game ratings are provided by CFB Winning Edge, which is an independent media outlet focused on college football analytics that has developed ratings of teams, players and coaches based on a wide range of current and historical data .
Patreon supporters have access to their FBS team profiles, which include ratings for over 11,000 individual players across all 131 FBS teams, as well as ratings for every coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, as well as strength of schedule metrics . In addition to stats, recruiting data, injury reports and player movement information, they also provide three sets of projected point distributions for each FBS game based on specific projection models, as well as projected win totals.
You can find more information about what they offer by going to their Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CFBWinningEdge
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