5 players who will fall back to earth in 2016

Every season is filled with studs and duds, but sometimes one year's studs can turn into the following year's duds.

While these five players were most certainly studs in 2015, they're no guarantee to fit into the same category in 2016, and may ultimately wind up as the new season's duds:

Mason Rudolph - Oklahoma State

The graduation of J.W. Walsh means Oklahoma State's offense will rest entirely on Mason Rudolph's arm this year. The Cowboys appear set on trying to establish a running game to help their quarterback out, but if the Big 12's second-worst rushing offense can't make significant progress, Rudolph will find himself in a lot of second-and-long, third-and-long situations - not ideal for any quarterback. Further complicating Rudolph's life is that he'll have to start the season without Marcell Ateman, his No. 2 receiver, who's expected to be out until at least October with a foot injury.

Dare Ogunbowale - Wisconsin

A healthy and focused Corey Clement means good things for Wisconsin, but not so much for Dare Ogunbowale. The senior running back exploded last season for 1,012 yards and eight touchdowns on 228 carries, but amassed just 193 yards and one touchdown on 34 carries in the two years previous. Though he'll be sure to get his share of touches this season, it's hard to believe Ogunbowale will be able to sustain his production from a year ago with a senior Clement intent on returning to the form he showed as a sophomore, when he ran for 949 yards and nine touchdowns - as the No. 2 running back.

Cordrea Tankersley - Clemson

Clemson is returning one starter to its secondary: cornerback Cordrea Tankersley. He played well last year, particularly in the season's second half, but is set to move up the depth chart and claim the No. 1 corner position in the same year he'll be surrounded by many new starters. Gone are defensive ends Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd to hurry the quarterback, and the same goes for safeties Jayron Kearse and T.J. Green, who effectively patrolled the middle of the field. The losses of those four, along with others, should cause Tankersley - who notched five interceptions last year - to suffer a dip in production and overall play as a senior.

Royce Freeman - Oregon

It's not that Royce Freeman isn't really, really good, it's just that it's going to be really, really hard for him to replicate the 1,836 rushing yards he posted as a sophomore. Oregon has a revamped offensive line, which won't help Freeman - the nation's fourth-leading rusher in 2015 - at all, and a new quarterback. Opponents would be silly not to make containing Freeman their top priority, especially until Dakota Prukop proves himself as a thrower, so the bullseye will be on Freeman.

DeShone Kizer - Notre Dame

First, DeShone Kizer will need to beat out Malik Zaire in Notre Dame's quarterback contest. If he does that, then he'll need to keep the job, and he'll have to do it with Zaire constantly breathing down his neck. We witnessed Cardale Jones struggle at Ohio State last year with J.T. Barrett standing on the sidelines, and while Kizer isn't Jones, it's hard to believe he won't be at all prone to shooting the sideline a glance after every poor throw - especially since Zaire has made it known he's not interested in playing the role of cheerleader.