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 going to count 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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46: Jonas Griffith, junior linebacker – Indiana State
Indiana State's overall defensive unit may have been gashed by the rest of the Valley in 2017, but there are still some exceptional players patrolling the gaps in Terre Haute. Rising junior Jonas Griffith leaped onto everyone in the Valley's radar last fall, recording 107 total tackles and terrorizing opponents at the line of scrimmage.
The Sycamores' stud defensive player is used to making big one-year jumps. He was home-schooled through 11th grade and never played organized football. Then, in his only prep year, he was so good so fast that he grabbed the attention of the Sycamores.
After redshirting in 2015, Griffith posted 37 tackles in his first collegiate season on the field in 2016. Then came last year's blow-up, which included 11 TFL's, three hurries and one forced fumble.
Griffith was an obvious choice for Second-Team All-Valley last fall. The more interesting question: can he now upgrade to the First Team in FCS Football's most rugged conference? With Nick Deluca, Jared Farley and Brett Taylor all gone, the door is certainly open.
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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
