Liberty graduates a lot of talented guys in 2015, but will also have a slew of talented underclassmen returning in 2016. As Coach Gill told us, “Flames Nation, we’re going to have a great football team as we continue to move forward. We have a lot of young guys.” Here’s a few to be excited about:

1. B.J. Farrowfarrow

Farrow has the ability to be Liberty’s best wide receiver in program history. As quarterback Josh Woodrum said, “I think he’s going to be pretty good for us. He’s so, so, so talented. He’s going to chase (Darrin Peterson’s) records, that’s for sure.”

2. Juwan Wellswells newman

The next Chima Uzowihe? Wells finished his true freshman season with 7.5 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, and 5 quarterback hurries. Pretty impressive for a young guy who played in only 8 games, mainly as a reserve.  He came on late, finishing the final 2 games against Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina with 4.5 tackles for a loss and 3 sacks.

3. Chris Turnerturner

Turner was voted 2nd team all-conference after coming out of nowhere this season. He led the team with 4 interceptions and even recorded the #1 play on SportsCenter’s Top 10 after his interception in the Coastal game. When talking about young guys returning, Chris Turner was the only one singled out by Coach Gill.

4. Damian KingKing

What an explosive athlete. The coaching staff couldn’t keep him off the field as he kept finding ways to make contributions. King’s receiving numbers were modest (18 receptions, 161 yards) due to so much talent ahead of him, but he impacted the game elsewhere. As a true freshman, King forced defenses early in the year to respect his ability on the jet sweep which eventually led to him throwing for 2 long touchdowns. We haven’t even mentioned his impact as a kick returner.

5. Jeremy Peterspeters2

With so much youth on the team, it’s easy to forget about Peters. He stepped in as a true freshman and proved he belonged finishing the season with an interception he returned for a touchdown against Charleston Southern and even 1 sack. As he matured throughout the season, Peters even found himself as one of the Flames’ kick returners alongside King.

6. Corbin Jacksonjackson

Corbin Jackson started all season at the newly invented Spur position, a hybrid safety-linebacker. He finished as the team’s 6th leading tackler and was 3rd on the team in tackles for loss.

7. Buddy Edwardsedwards

At 6’0″, 230 pounds, Edwards is a beast in short yardage situations. It’s impressive he’s even on this list considering he didn’t have his first carry until the 8th game of the season. Look at the pile of bodies he left in his wake in this photo! Expect to see plenty of goal line carries for Buddy next year.