Looking at prospect lists is always fun, especially if you're a fan of a team already out of the playoff hunt. Oakland Raider and Philadelphia 76ers fans start looking at mock drafts about a week into the season, but that doesn't mean you can't too. Want to sound smart at your office water cooler? Here are 15 future sport stars you haven't heard about.
15. Speedy Noil
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15. Speedy Noil
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What a name. Speedy Noil has come into College Station as a true freshman and put up a big year for the Texas A&M Aggies. Rated as the nation’s No. 1 “athlete” out of high school, Speedy, as you could've guessed from his name, has elite speed and the ability to make defenders miss. Although he’s not eligible for the NFL Draft until 2017, expect to hear Noil’s name over the next few college football seasons.
14. Byron Buxton
USA TODAY Sports - Mark J. Rebilas
14. Byron Buxton
USA TODAY Sports - Mark J. Rebilas
Buxton, a member of the Minnesota Twins organization, is currently the top-ranked prospect in MLB. The 6-foot-2 outfielder is a legitimate five-tool player with speed as his best asset. Buxton was selected with the second overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft and won Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year Award in 2013.
13. Karl-Anthony Towns
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13. Karl-Anthony Towns
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The 19-year-old Towns graduated a year early to join John Calipari and the University of Kentucky Wildcats for the 2014-15 season. Standing 6-foot-11 with a wingspan just over 7-foot-3, Towns is an imposing force in the middle of the Kentucky defense. ESPN ranked the big man as the third-best player in the 2014 college basketball recruiting class.
12. Leonard Fournette
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12. Leonard Fournette
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The running back arrived on LSU’s campus as the highest-touted running back recruit since Adrian Peterson. Fournette is a big 230-pound back with surprising quickness and speed for his size. The 19-year-old is eligible for the 2017 NFL Draft and if healthy, should be a lock for the first round.
11. Emmanuel Mudiay
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11. Emmanuel Mudiay
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Taking the Brandon Jennings route, Mudiay currently plays in China for the Guangdong Southern Tigers. The 6-foot-5 point guard initially committed to play for Larry Brown and the SMU Mustangs before deciding to forego college and join an international team. Mudiay is expected to be a top-three pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
10. Carlos Correa
USA TODAY Sports - Tommy Gilligan
10. Carlos Correa
USA TODAY Sports - Tommy Gilligan
The first overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, the Houston Astros shortstop has thus far lived up to the hype. Correa was tearing up the High-A level California League before suffering a season-ending fibula injury in June. Maybe the Astros will be good again, and Correa will be a big part of it.
9. Jahlil Okafor
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9. Jahlil Okafor
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2014’s consensus top-rated high school recruit has not disappointed through the early part of the season for Coach K and his Duke Blue Devils. Okafor, still just 18 years old, is expected to be a one and done at Duke and the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, so he might as well start looking at places to live in Philadelphia.
8. Josh Rosen
USA TODAY Sports - Stephen R. Sylvanie
8. Josh Rosen
USA TODAY Sports - Stephen R. Sylvanie
Still in high school, Rosen is already being talked about as one of the next great players in college football. The UCLA commit will join the Bruins in the fall of 2015 and is expected to take over behind center once Brett Hundley takes his talents to the NFL.
7. Jonathan Drouin
USA TODAY Sports - Rick Osentoski
7. Jonathan Drouin
USA TODAY Sports - Rick Osentoski
The only player on the list to already be playing at the highest level of his sport, 19-year-old Jonathan Drouin is rarely heard from due to playing in the small hockey market of Tampa Bay. The rookie left-winger is already playing significant minutes for the Lightning and has displayed his offensive prowess so far in the newborn baby stage of his career.
6. Myles Turner
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6. Myles Turner
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The University of Texas 7-footer was ESPN’s second-highest rated high school recruit in the 2014 class. Through the very early part of the college basketball season, Turner has showed promise he will live up to the massive potential he possesses. Expect to hear his name called early in the 2015 NBA Draft.
5. Kris Bryant
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5. Kris Bryant
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The only thing keeping Bryant in the minor leagues is the fact that the longer the Cubs wait to call the slugger up, the longer they can wait to pay him. The 6-foot-5, 22-year-old power hitting third baseman led the minor leagues in just about every offensive category. The 2013 Draft’s second overall pick swatted 43 home runs with a .325 average in 2014, and should be on the big league club early in 2015 once service time is not an issue.
4. Keller Chryst
USA TODAY Sports - Mark J. Rebilas
4. Keller Chryst
USA TODAY Sports - Mark J. Rebilas
Chryst had a short journey just across the street to Stanford’s campus from Palo Alto High School. Touted as the next Andrew Luck, Chryst who has yet to take a snap in college has impossibly high standards to live up to. The quarterback is from a great football family -- he is the son of San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach Geep Chryst and the nephew of Pittsburgh University’s head coach Paul Chryst.
3. Connor McDavid
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3. Connor McDavid
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A lock to be selected first overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, McDavid is hockey’s next big thing. With Sidney Crosby-like expectations for his career, McDavid has a lot of pressure on him at such a young age. His cartoonishly great skillset makes it nearly impossible to imagine McDavid failing to live up to the hype. Are you ready to feel old? This kid was born in 1997.
2. Bo Scarbrough
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2. Bo Scarbrough
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Scarbrough was expected to join Nick Saban and Alabama and make an immediate impact as a true freshman in 2014. Unfortunately for fans of the Crimson Tide, Scarbrough was unable to enroll this past fall due to “incomplete academic situations.” Able to play a multitude of positions on offense, Scarbrough should be able to enroll in January of 2015 and light up scoreboards in Tuscaloosa before too long.
1. DeVante Parker
USA TODAY Sports - Charles LeClaire
1. DeVante Parker
USA TODAY Sports - Charles LeClaire
The only reason Parker isn’t a bigger name right now is because he missed half this season with a broken bone in his foot. In only his second game back, the 6-foot-3 wide receiver caught eight passes for 214 yards against the talented Florida State defense. The Louisville standout won’t last long come draft day.
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