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Top 5 college football player props for 2019

Ed Zurga / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The college football season officially kicks off Friday when Miami and Florida clash in Orlando in Week 0. However, the real action starts a week later when some of the game's biggest names launch their hopeful Heisman campaigns - and give season-long prop bettors hope or despair for their preseason bets.

We laid out our top five NFL player prop bets earlier this month. Here are our top five college ones ahead of the 2019 season:

Note: postseason games do not count toward wager

Justin Herbert over 3,000 passing yards

Following a breakout 2017, Herbert underwhelmed last season as Oregon tailed off in the later stages. The quarterback completed just 59.4 percent of his passes, and a shoulder injury knocked him out of the Ducks' final regular-season game after attempting just 12 passes. He finished the campaign just shy of the 3000-yard mark.

Over his 11 prior games, however, he found himself on pace for 3,145 yards. The Ducks boast three of the top five offensive linemen in the country, according to Pro Football Focus, and the offense is expected to free Herbert to make more plays to his outside receivers this year.

A talent like Herbert, behind arguably the nation's best O-Line, should be a safe bet to cross 3,000 yards.

Jalen Hurts under 1,100 rushing yards

Hurts' stock has risen to Heisman levels after transferring to Oklahoma despite years of being critiqued and dismissed as Alabama's QB. He rushed for 954 yards (2016) and 845 yards (2017) in two full seasons as a starter, and oddsmakers have him tabbed for a career high under new head coach Lincoln Riley.

His odds are certainly benefiting from his school's recent Heisman history, but even his predecessors couldn't reach those heights. Kyler Murray rushed for 1,001 yards through 14 games last year, and he's certainly a more dangerous rusher than Hurts. Baker Mayfield topped out at 405.

Hurts would need to rush for 91.75 yards per game to hit the over, having never averaged more than 63.6 in his career. Don't fall for the Oklahoma bump.

Sam Ehlinger over 5.5 interceptions

Ehlinger is one of the hottest names in the Heisman race and the driving force behind Texas' No. 10 ranking in the AP preseason poll. He'll likely fill up the stat sheet in 2019, but with great volume comes greater opportunity for negative plays.

Among the top 40 quarterbacks in pass attempts last year, only one (Trevor Lawrence) had fewer than five interceptions. Ehlinger was one of three signal-callers with exactly five picks, which came on just seven turnover-worthy throws, per Pro Football Focus.

He'll likely throw the ball even more this year for an offense returning just 40 percent of its 2018 production. His low total of turnover-worthy throws is due for regression toward the mean, and an inexperienced offense should force Ehlinger to take more risks downfield and bump up his INT total.

Jonathan Taylor over 2,000 rushing yards

Only two players in college football history have ever rushed for 2,000 yards in two separate campaigns (Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, Troy Davis, Iowa State). Neither Dayne, nor Davis, had seasons measuring up to what Taylor did in 2018, when he turned 307 carries into 2,194 yards - seventh-most in NCAA history, according to Sports Reference.

None of the top 15 single-season rushers returned for another year, meaning Taylor is in a unique position to build upon his historic campaign. Wisconsin might ride the junior back even more with a new starting quarterback beside him, which gives Taylor 2,000-yard potential yet again.

Rondale Moore under 13 receiving TDs

The under here is hardly an indictment on Moore, who was an absolute tank for Purdue last year with 1,258 yards and 12 touchdowns on 114 receptions. His contributions were a major reason why the Boilermakers finished with the 17th-ranked offense, per S&P+, despite a 6-7 record on the year.

Purdue returns 72 percent of its offensive production but most of that is courtesy of Moore, who accounted for over 25 percent of the team's total yardage in 2018 and nearly 30 percent of the touchdowns. With a new quarterback, inexperienced run game, and lack of top weapons around him, Moore will have to carry an even larger load despite more defensive focus in 2019.

An increase in usage might help his yardage totals, but a lackluster offense will limit Moore's scoring potential, even if the offense funnels targets his way.

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