The countdown to the 2018 college football season is on. Four FCS teams are in action Aug. 25 as Duquesne takes on UMass, Prairie View faces Rice and North Carolina A&T and Jacksonville State square off in ESPN’s FCS Kickoff.
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HERO Sports is counting down each day by highlighting the best player in FCS football who wears the jersey number of the number of days to kickoff. You can find the running list of top players here.
*Note: Jersey numbers are from the 2017 season.
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10: Riley Stapleton, Junior Wide Receiver — James Madison
He's not on any All-America lists. He's not even Preseason All-CAA. But there's little doubt among coaches and fans that JMU's biggest threat out wide is one of the scariest receivers in the nation.
Riley Stapleton, a redshirt junior with two years of eligibility left, has bloomed into a massive, near-unstoppable weapon for the Dukes. The six-foot-five outside monster only had 615 receiving yards last year, but 388 of that came in the playoffs.
Stapleton dealt with several nagging injuries over the course of the 2017 regular season, the totality of which actually kept him out of a couple of games. When he finally got healthy again, he posted a jaw-dropping performance in the now-infamous Weber State game — eight catches for 189 yards and the game-tying touchdown.
JMU coaches will tell you that the core of the offense is a strong, dynamic run game. But they'll also tell you that opposing defenses can't ever put too many men inside the box. If they ever do, they'll throw the ball to Stapleton every single play.
Every team wants a Stapleton, but few every get one. (In 2019, JMU will have two.)
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FCS Kickoff Countdown: The Best Player in FCS Who Wears Each Number, 1-99
CFB Countdown: The Best Player in FBS Football, 1-99
