• Spring practice's top 10 breakout players

  • By Bruce Feldman | May 3, 2011 5:56:46 AM PDT

Spring football often is the first real look many of us get at the so-called "rising stars" of a program, the ones that look like the replacements for key guys from the year before. Just about every team has a player who really wasn't a factor the previous season, but now has the staff arching its collective eyebrow over a breakout spring showing. This week's top 10 list: the biggest breakout guys of the spring.

1. Corey Nelson, LB, Oklahoma Sooners

The third-rated outside linebacker in the 2010 recruiting class, Nelson has physically matured and looks ready to team with OU star Travis Lewis at weakside linebacker to form a fierce tandem. Bob Stoops went so far as to note that Nelson was "the best player" on the OU defense at times this spring. I suspect Stoops will find a way to make sure Nelson gets plenty of action on the field this fall.


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