College Football Spring Stock Watch: Who Is Rising and Falling?

It's hard to glean much insight from spring practice.

This far removed from the season, reports are overwhelmingly positive—every single player looks great!—which makes it hard to distinguish whose stock is truly rising. Conversely, because so few reports skew negative, it's rare to find a player whose stock is falling.

Despite this, certain players, coaches and teams alter their stocks during spring ball each year—and not just as a result of over-coverage. The key is reading reports with a discerning eye. An assistant coach raving about a freshman is encouraging, but when every assistant coach on every team is raving about every freshman, that praise must be taken for what it is: mostly hollow.

The following risers and fallers were deemed meaningful. The moves they've made this offseason do not feel like overreactions. Spring ball is still young, so a lot of this will change based on the rest of the camps and spring games, but for now, these figures stand out.

We'll reassess at the end of April, once most teams have completed their spring games.

Despite starting 12 games last season, Tyrone Swoopes entered spring camp an underdog—or at least a perceived underdog—against redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard. Heard won back-to-back state championships in high school, whereas Swoopes, when last we saw him, led Texas to one of the worst displays in NCAA history: 59 yards of total offense against Arkansas in the Texas Bowl.

"Jerrod Heard is guaranteed to be Texas' starting quarterback by Week 1," wrote Ben Kercheval of Bleacher Report in January—and he wasn't alone. Especially after Texas installed some spread-offense concepts, Heard winning the job seemed inevitable.

However, reports say the 6'4" junior has been the better quarterback in Austin this offseason. The Longhorns opened camp on March 25, so there is plenty of time for Heard to surpass him, but all signs point to Swoopes making a push to retain his job.

"Tyrone Swoopes is way ahead of Jerrod Heard," reported Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods.com after the team's first spring practice. "Jerrod has a lot of catching up to do."

Running back Jonathan Gray backed Swoopes as the starting QB too, saying after practice: "He's grown up a lot. He's been more of a leader. He's pushing guys past their limits, and it's what you want from a quarterback. He's starting to lead us, and I see it from him," according to Wescott Eberts of Burnt Orange Nation.

Braxton Miller isn't "falling" as much he's "getting surpassed."

The two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year was supposed to join J.T. Barrett, his replacement for the first 12 games of last season, on the sideline during spring camp while Cardale Jones, Barrett's replacement who led Ohio State to the national title, took all the first-team reps until summer.

However, Barrett returned to the field ahead of schedule and looks sharp throwing off his surgically repaired right ankle. "He's doing more than I thought," head coach Urban Meyer admitted, per Ben Axelrod of Bleacher Report.

"Nothing surprises me with J.T.," added Buckeyes offensive coordinator Ed Warinner. "He's a hard worker, does everything you could possibly do mentally and physically. He's come along pretty good and it's fun to have him out there."

Meanwhile, the same shoulder injury that kept Miller out last season has still rendered him unable to throw. What's more, he Instagrammed a picture where he's sitting next to AdvoCare nutritional products, which may or may not be an NCAA violation—for more, read this piece by Steven Godfrey of SB Nation—but is definitely a headache.

Miller's chances of starting get worse by the day.

Jabrill Peppers took a redshirt after injuries derailed his freshman season. However, even before that, Michigan struggled to fit him into the lineup. Listed as the No. 3 overall player and No. 1 athlete in the 2014 recruiting class, Peppers moved from nickelback to safety and back, flirting all the while with playing offense.

This year, under new head coach Jim Harbaugh and defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, Peppers has been slotted in at safety and safety alone. The results so far? As good as one might one have hoped for. Here is how defensive backs coach Greg Jackson, a 12-year NFL veteran who spent the past four seasons coaching the San Francisco 49ers, described Peppers to Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press:

Reminds me of Rodney Harrison when I played. He reminds me of Rodney: enthusiastic, intense during practice, full speed to the ball all the time. He's a kid that's hungry, ready to prove himself and a guy like Peppers, you can't teach hustle, he's just got it, just got that knack of being a football player. If we just keep him going in the right direction coaching him, I think he's going to be a really good player.

"Jabrill's been impressive," added Harbaugh, according to Nick Baumgardner of MLive.com. "[He had] a desire to take as many reps as he can take. Whether it's a drill or in a team [situation]."

No reliable outlet has reported on Michigan's spring-game draft, but Internet rumors suggest Peppers was the No. 1 overall pick.

That would be a welcome sign in Ann Arbor.

Last year, Washington quarterback Cyler Miles missed spring camp after allegedly assaulting a Seattle Seahawks fan during the Super Bowl.

This year, he'll miss spring camp of his own accord.

"Cyler is dealing with some things in his life that are more important than football, and he felt it was important to take some time away from the game," head coach Chris Petersen announced, per Kyle Bonagura of ESPN.com. "We are working to support him in any way we can and hope he returns back to the football field soon."

Miles' leave of absence, which the school maintains was not a disciplinary measure, opens the door for redshirt freshman K.J. Carta-Samuels and true freshman Jake Browning to surpass him and start next season. Both arrived at Washington with high expectations—same as Miles—and represent an attractive unknown for an offense that for the most part struggled last season.

Bryce Petty's former backup, Seth Russell, had a strong spring camp and appears to have the lead over Jarrett Sitdham and Chris Johnson at Baylor, according to Jake Trotter of ESPN.com.

Jameis Winston's former backup, Sean Maguire, is having a strong spring camp and appears to have the lead over JJ Cosentino and De'Andre Johnson at Florida State, according to Jared Shanker of ESPN.com.

Blake Sims' former backup, Jake Coker, is having a strong spring camp and appears to have the lead over Blake Barnett, Cooper Bateman, David Cornwell and Alec Morris at Alabama, according to Aaron Suttles of TideSports.com.

Hutson Mason's former backup, Brice Ramsey, is having a strong spring camp and appears to have the (slight) lead over Jacob Park and Faton Bauta at Georgia, according to Edward Aschoff of ESPN.com.

Notice what we're getting at?

It's good to be a veteran former backup.

Florida State has serious issues at linebacker—a position at which it has recruited as well as anyone but struggled to cash in.

The seeds of these issues were sown in January, when Reggie Northup tore his ACL and E.J. Levenberry announced his transfer. Without them, the Noles entered spring ball already pressed thin at linebacker, needing a strong camp from the players it retained.

Unfortunately, the opposite has happened.

Former 5-star prospect Matthew Thomas, who has failed to impress through two years in Tallahassee, was sidelined with a shoulder injury, and Terrance Smith has combated turf toe. Worse than that, redshirt freshman Kain Daub joined Levenberry in transferring out of the program, leaving the Noles unspeakably thin up the middle.

The good news: Northup, Smith and Thomas should be ready for the season (although Northup might need some more time); Jacob Pugh and Ro'Derrick Hoskins provide depth; and outside linebackers Sh'mar Kirby-Lane and Lorenzo Phillips will join the team this summer. If all goes according to plan, FSU should survive this scare.

Which brings us to the bad news: All must go according to plan. What's happened during spring camp, combined with what happened during January, has eliminated the Noles' margin for error.

They are skating on thin ice.

When Iowa released its winter depth chart, 2014 backup C.J. Beathard was the No. 1 quarterback, and 2014 starter Jake Rudock was No. 2.

In the moment, that depth chart set the stage for what we thought would be a great offseason quarterback battle. In hindsight, it meant the writing was on the wall for Rudock's Hawkeye career.

Head coach Kirk Ferentz announced in March that he has released Rudock from his scholarship, per Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press, which makes Beathard the de facto starting quarterback. No offseason battle. No 25-game starter on his heels.

Beathard is almost definitely the guy.

What a terrible past week for Alabama.

First starting safety Geno Smith, one of last year's most surprising contributors, was arrested for and charged with driving under the influence—the same arrest and charge he received in 2013.

Smith issued an apology for his actions, but not long after his arrest, defensive tackle Jonathan Taylor was arrested for domestic violence. Taylor, whom Georgia dismissed for domestic violence two seasons ago, came to Alabama on an olive branch from head coach Nick Saban, and Saban is under fire for allowing him a second chance (although the university acted swiftly by dismissing Taylor this weekend).

Lastly, wide receiver Cam Sims injured his ACL and will miss the rest of spring camp. The severity of his injury is unknown, but whenever one sees "ACL," it's fair to assume the worst (season-ending). Sims was running with the twos behind ArDarius Stewart and Robert Foster but had a role to play in Alabama's passing attack.

The deck is stacked behind him—cue: 5-star incoming freshman Calvin Ridley—but losing Sims underscores a major theme of spring camp for the Crimson Tide. Things are getting worse, not better.