Since the college football offseason, we have ranked everything from the weakest position groups to the true freshmen who have made the biggest impacts. This week, using the ESPN College Football Power Rankings as our guide, we answer this question: What are the top position groups for each of the Top 25 teams?1.?Alabama Crimson Tide Just like it did the past season, the Tide front seven has a way of getting in quarterbacks faces. Alabama currently is tied for the No. 1 spot in the FBS in disrupted dropbacks, a stat that combines sacks, interceptions, batted passes and passes defended. -- Alex Scarborough2. Ohio State BuckeyesSo much for needing time to develop the youngsters in the secondary after losing three starters to the NFL draft. The Buckeyes are more than OK in the back end -- their group of defensive backs might be the best in the country already. Malik Hooker and Marshon Lattimore have combined for six interceptions and a pair of touchdowns through the first three starts of their careers against opponents that all ranked in the top 20 nationally in total offense a year ago. Just think what they might be capable of with a little experience. -- Austin Ward3.?Louisville CardinalsThis is a slam-dunk choice with Lamar Jackson running college football right now. Jackson has 18 touchdowns in three games ... and has yet to play a full four quarters in any of them. He is the best player on the team, and he simply elevates the quarterback position to a level that coach Bobby Petrino has not had in his previous two seasons. -- Andrea Adelson4. Houston Cougars As good as quarterback Greg Ward Jr. has been, the Cougars front seven has been even better. The unit has held opponents to a meager 1.46 yards per rush, second nationally to Florida. Theyve been among the best at pressuring quarterbacks, as the linebackers and defensive linemen have combined for 11 sacks, which is tied for 11th in the country. --?Sam Khan Jr.5.?Clemson Tigers How many teams could lose their No. 1 receiver in Game 1, then lose his replacement before the Orange Bowl and not miss a beat? Thats the depth of Clemsons receiving corps, which has both Mike Williams and Deon Cain back in the fold for 2016. Add Artavis Scott, Hunter Renfrow, Ray-Ray McCloud and tight end Jordan Leggett to the mix, and Deshaun Watsons biggest concern in the passing game might be finding enough balls to go around. --?David M. Hale6. Stanford Cardinal How many positions does Christian McCaffrey play? Obviously, hes the centerpiece of the offense. But new quarterback Ryan Burns has done a fine job playing within the system and doing everything the coaches ask him to do. Hes completing 68.8 percent of his throws (22-of-32) with two touchdowns and an interception. -- Kevin Gemmell7. Michigan WolverinesThe Wolverines have blocked or otherwise affected six kicks in their past two games, including a stop-the-bleeding punt block for a touchdown in the first quarter against Colorado. Yes, Kenny Allen has missed a couple field goals, but Jabrill Peppers nation-leading 57.7 punt return yards per game more than makes up for those. -- Dan Murphy8. Michigan State SpartansIts no surprise that Michigan States linebackers, the teams deepest and most athletic group, have carried more than their weight through two games. Jon Reschke and Andrew Dowell have both made momentum-flipping interceptions, and senior captain Riley Bullough has been solid as a traffic director in the middle. The rich will get richer as sixth-year senior Ed Davis slowly works his way back into this rotation in the coming weeks. -- Murphy9. Washington Huskies Its tough to pick just one when youre averaging 49.3 points per game on offense and allowing just 10 on defense. But its tough to ignore the contributions of the wide receivers. John Ross and Chico McClatcher have four touchdowns each, and the top four receivers (including tight end Darrell Daniels and receiver Dante Pettis) already have 39 catches for 11 touchdowns among them. -- Gemmell10.?Texas A&M AggiesThe defensive line, by far, has been the Aggies best unit so far. The Aggies have nine sacks against Power 5 competition (best in the SEC) and are allowing only 3.84 yards per rush against Power 5 opponents, an improvement of more than a yard per rush compared to 2015 (5.05). -- Khan11. Wisconsin Badgers Most assumed the Badgers linebackers would lead the defense, but theyve been perhaps even better in the face of adversity. Wisconsin lost inside linebacker Chris Orr to a season-ending ACL injury on the first drive of the season. Backup Ryan Connelly replaced him against LSU with no drop-off. This came after last years leading tackler, T.J. Edwards, sat out the opener because of a foot injury. Edwards recorded 11 tackles last week and is now back to full strength. With Jack Cichy (17 total tackles), T.J. Watt (12 tackles) and Vince Biegel (eight tackles), the group remains formidable. -- Jesse Temple12. Florida State SeminolesThis isnt an ideal time to single out a top group for Florida State, after the entire team failed to show up for Louisville. Backup running back Jacques Patrick continued to emerge against the Cardinals, however, solidifying a position that already includes star Dalvin Cook. Although the junior Heisman hopeful is struggling to start the season behind a shaky offensive line, coach Jimbo Fisher said he thought Cook played well against the Cardinals, despite averaging 3.4 yards per carry. Fisher is adamant that Cook is healthy, and if thats the case, he figures to return to form at some point. -- Jared Shanker13. Tennessee Volunteers Vol fans would like to see a little more Alvin Kamara in the mix, but nonetheless, the running game continues to be their strength, fueled by feature back Jalen Hurd, who has racked up 270 yards and two touchdowns rushing in three games. -- Scarborough14. Arkansas Razorbacks You could go several different directions here, but Austin Allen has been pretty good at quarterback so far. In the Razorbacks best win so far -- an overtime road win at TCU -- Allen threw three touchdown passes and no interceptions and ran for the game-winning score. Hes completing 67.1 percent of his passes, with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Hes averaging 8.29 yards per pass attempt, third in the SEC so far. -- Khan15. Georgia Bulldogs Running back is not an especially original answer here, but it seems like the correct one for Georgia. Nick Chubb has not broken the 100-yard plateau in either of the past two games, but he reminded everyone that he could with 222 yards and two touchdowns against North Carolina in the opener. Sony Michel is back from an offseason arm injury, which gives the Bulldogs one of the most dangerous tailback combinations in the conference. -- David Ching16. Miami Hurricanes Miami ranks 12th in the nation in rushing, and Mark Walton and Joe Yearby are a huge reason for that. The two are the only running back duo to rank among the top 10 rushers in the ACC: Walton is second (133.7 points per game), and Yearby is seventh (85.3). Both are averaging more than 7 yards per carry, and so is bruising back Gus Edwards. -- Adelson17. LSU TigersThe running back pairing of Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice is lethal, but lets focus on another position group. LSUs defensive line has been outstanding, playing a key role in opponents having averaged just 2.9 yards per rushing attempt. Led by Arden Key and his SEC-high five sacks, the line has improved its sack production each week. Their six sacks in last weeks win over Mississippi State halted multiple drives, and Keys brutal fourth-down hit on Damian Williams ended the Bulldogs late comeback bid. -- Ching18. Florida GatorsIn the past two games, opposing teams have completed a total of nine passes against Floridas defense. Compare that to the four passes hauled in for interceptions by Gator defensive backs. Yeah, this group is pretty good. The star is cornerback Jalen Teez Tabor, a potential first-round draft pick, but theres also Quincy Wilson, Marcus Maye, Marcell Harris and Duke Dawson. Even freshmen Chauncey Gardner and Jeawon Taylor have made an impact. -- Greg Ostendorf19. Nebraska CornhuskersThe improvement was already hard to ignore, thanks to the ball-hawking in the Huskers secondary that had produced seven interceptions, but the end of an NCAA-record streak for Oregons prolific offense hammered home the point. Oregon had gone 82 consecutive games with a touchdown pass, but Nebraska shut down the airways in a huge nonconference win over the Ducks. Through three weeks, the Huskers are allowing just 193 yards per game -- an improvement of nearly 100 yards from a season ago -- and the unit has helped the program emerge as a contender in the Big Ten West. -- Ward20.?Baylor Bears The Bears lost returning 1,000-yard rusher Johnny Jefferson for the season and havent missed a beat with their a talented trio of running backs. Shock Linwood broke Baylors career rushing record last week, and hes No. 3 on the team in rushing, with 213 yards, behind JaMycal Hasty (237 yards) and Terence Williams (232). Hasty, a redshirt freshman, is getting 8.5 yards per carry. Baylor will ride all three in Big 12 play because any of them can bust a big run and change a game. -- Max Olson21. Texas Longhorns Although true freshman QB Shane Buechele has gotten the attention, the 1-2 punch of DOnta Foreman and Chris Warren III has been the biggest force in Texas offensive resurgence. Nicknamed the Smash Brothers, Foreman and Warren are first and second in the Big 12 in rushing through the first three weeks of the season. -- Jake Trotter22. UCLA BruinsThe Bruins veteran secondary has been mostly solid through the first three weeks. Opposing quarterbacks are completing just 53.3 percent of their throws, and the secondary has already hauled in four interceptions, tied for second in the conference. -- Gemmell23. Ole Miss Rebels Laquon Treadwell might be gone, but believe it or not, the Ole Miss wide receivers and tight ends are better this season than they were a year ago. You have to include the tight ends because Evan Engram is the teams leading receiver, with 20 receptions for 302 yards and two touchdowns through the first three games. Engram aside, the Rebels have six other receivers who have already caught a touchdown this season. -- Ostendorf24. San Diego State AztecsThe Aztecs secondary was put to the test against the Bear Raid when San Diego State topped Cal in Week 2. Opposing quarterbacks are completing just 51.2 percent of their passes, and the Aztecs have already nabbed a Mountain West-best six interceptions. Damontae Kazee,?the 2015 conference defensive player of the year, stands out with five passes defended and two interceptions. -- Gemmell25. Utah UtesThey call it Sack Lake City for a reason. Headlined by Hunter Dimick, who has three sacks in the first three games, the Utes defensive line is making life difficult for opposing quarterbacks. 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Cheap Rangers Jerseys . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. The 106th loss of Joe Thomas NFL career was, predictably, melancholic. It came on an unseasonably warm November day in Cleveland, in a stadium overrun by acres of silver-and-blue Dallas Cowboys gear. A woman in Browns apparel fell asleep in her seat. There was a fight on the field at the beginning and a spirited first-quarter Cleveland drive, but inevitably, cold reality settled in like winters on Lake Erie.Did anyone notice what Thomas did? Down there in that mess, he played his 9,500th straight snap. Hes never sat out one single play, according to the Browns. Its a stunning stat, especially when you consider that Thomas, arguably the NFLs best left tackle, has spent his entire career in Cleveland, a place in which there is generally nothing to play for by December. The things Thomas has seen in 10 seasons would make your chinstrap curl: Johnny Manziels off-the-wagon spiral, the Rob Chudzinski experiment (all 12 months of it), the winter wearing-of-the-paper-bags ritual. Through it all, the one true thing that has endured is Thomas, whose streak (now at 9,684) has survived six head coaches and 18 starting quarterbacks.Soon, Thomas could be playing through the saddest footnote of all: 0-16.The Browns have 12 losses and zero victories, and could become just the fifth team since the end of World War II and the second since the 2008 Detroit Lions to go winless during an NFL season. Big, tough men have cried, including first-year Browns coach Hue Jackson, but Thomas exhibits the no-nonsense demeanor of a factory worker.Take, for example, that 35-10 loss to the Cowboys on Nov. 6. Thomas trudged off the field, past the painted letters in the hallway that say, Expect to Win, and broke the tension of the locker room by contemplating how his 312-pound body would look in the uniform for the next game.Its going to be rough next week, Thomas told a teammate. All-whites.Im going to be on low-carb diet.Laughter is his coping mechanism, a way to get through this. Joe Thomas wont lose it, because the whole team is watching. But when he gets home, his wife, Annie, says she can see the pain and sadness after every game.It doesnt seem fair. Thomas has been named to nine Pro Bowls, and likely will get to the Hall of Fame someday, but he cant get a whiff of the playoffs.The closest he came was last season. The trade deadline approached in early November, and Denver was interested. But the deal fell through -- his agent, Peter Schaffer, says the negotiations ran out of time -- and the Broncos won a Super Bowl and Thomas wound up at home, saddled with the anxiety of another coaching change, a new front office and a whole batch of new teammates.Hes given a lot of himself, physically, emotionally and spiritually to that team and organization, former teammate Scott Fujita said. Id be lying if I didnt say that when I hear trade rumors about Joe, sometimes I hope theyre true.But Thomas isnt going anywhere. He believes, even in these difficult days, that Cleveland is exactly where he needs to be.There is something romantic, or maybe maniacal, about a man who comes to work every day, pours his heart and soul into preparing for a game and does so well that he grades off the charts, but loses that game nearly every week and still comes back every Monday for more.In Greek mythology, a guy named Sisyphus was punished by being forced to roll a gigantic boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back repeatedly, for eternity. Thats Joe Thomas, seemingly. But Thomas didnt do anything wrong to warrant his boulder.He is so genuine, so real, that when he sits at his locker and explains why hes glad that he wasnt traded, why he wants to be in Cleveland, you wind up believing him, even though hes about to get crushed again.Im a Clevelander, he says. Ive spent the majority of my adult life here. Every day when I come to work, its Lets turn this team into a consistent winner. Because it would be such a special story. It would be like when the Cubs won the World Series. Everybody in the country has probably been cheering for them for so long because theyve been suffering for so long. And you want to cheer for teams like the Browns.Its a blue-collar city, and for a blue-collar guy like myself, its easy to fall in love with the people and kind of the chip on the shoulder that a lot of people have because they feel like theyve been slighted for so long. Its so important for me to be here for the turnaround. I dont want to just get a Super Bowl ring [by] being traded to a dream team. It would feel unsatisfying. Unfulfilling.Its human nature for a player to check out, at least mentally, when his team is out of the playoff picture by Halloween. Thomas has practically had to beg to stay in on a couple of occasions.In 2014, the Browns were beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, manhandling them, actually, when then-coach Mike Pettine told backup Vinston Painter to go in and replace Thomas; the coach didnt want his best player getting hurt in mop-up duty. Pettine was in his first year, and didnt know any better. Thomas did a double take when he saw Painter.Get the f--- out of here, he told Painter.The poor backup went down the line to see whether anyone else wanted to be spelled before sadly heading back to the sideline.Why didnt you come out? Pettine asked Thomas when the offense came off the field.I havent missed a snap, and Im not coming out when were finally winning a game, Thomas told him. Im going to enjoy this.A few years ago, Thomas remembers hurting his knee in a game and limping around for at least two quarters. When he got an MRI, it showed that hed torn his lateral collateral ligament. Luckily for him, it was the last game of the season. The Browns doctors surely would have made him sit out for a while.My mentality from the day I started playing sports was that you get up, you dust yourself off and you do it again, Thomas says. Some people lay on the ground after they get hurt and they say, Boy, that hurts. I wonder if Im hurt. Id better get it checked out. Thats not part of my thought process.My mind is going to tell my body I can do this, and if my body cant do it and I fall to the ground, then you know its time to get it checked out.Thomas has started all 155 games of his career, the longest active streak of any offensive lineman, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Entering Week 12 this season, only Eli Manning (193), Philip Rivers (170) and Jason Witten (157) had longer streaks. The difference? Those are skill-position players. Among the four, only Thomas has to manhandle a 280-pound defensive end on virtually every play.?Rivers and Manning might take contact a dozen times in a game. Thomas takes it on every play.It used to be that Sundays and Mondays were the worst days for Thomas because the biggest pain he felt was from the losing. Now that hes 32, Tuesdays by far are the hardest. All of his joints ache. His shoulders hurt so badly that it feels as if hes been hit by a car. Tuesdays are off-days, so the loss is still smacking him in the face, too.But by Wednesday, when the team meets for practice, Thomas is reinvigorated. Hes ready to prepare for the next opponent. For nearly 10 years, hes always believed the same thing: The Browns will beat their next opponent.The best season, no doubt, was 2007, his rookie year. The Browns went 10-6, came oh-so-close to making the playoffs, and Thomas must have figured it would always be like that, because hed always played on winning teams. He went to the state tournament a combined five times alone in basketball and football at Brookfield Central High in Wisconsin, roughly 15 minutes from J.J. Watts hometown of Pewaukee.Thomas went on to play for the University of Wisconsin, a perennial Big Ten power. His senior year, the Badgers went 12-1 and were ranked seventh in the country. So, naturally, Thomas expected more of the same in Cleveland, especially after 2007. The Browns havent had a winning season since.The 2008 team failed to score an offensive touchdown in 24 consecutive quarters, but that wasnt even the worst season. Thomas insists that came in 2009. Eric Mangini had just taken over as head coach.Eric runs a ship similar to like a Bill Parcells or a Bill Belichick, where everyone kind of walks around miserable even when youre winning, Thomas says. To start 1-11, with all the rumors about coaches getting fired in the first year, it was a really, really difficult year.Thomas dreads coaching changes more thaan anything.dddddddddddd It means that everything the team has studied for two years is meaningless and that the middle class, all of the good role players, are usually cut, replaced by ones the new coach trusts. But most of all, it means the team is probably another two or three years away from winning again.Thomas has soldiered through countless new faces and team slogans, but in January 2016, he finally lost patience. The Browns fired Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer after the season, and Manziel, the teams supposed quarterback of the future, had disappeared on a trip to Las Vegas. Thomas was starting all over again, right after his 31st birthday.And the news got worse. Within a few months, the Browns let linemates Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz, two of Thomas best friends, walk away. Mack went to Atlanta, Schwartz to Kansas City. Thomas was bummed. Theyd been together for years, swapping stories and bad jokes. No matter how bad things got, Thomas could always look forward to going to work and seeing his friends in the locker room. They were in it together.[Thomas] told me hed like me to be around because Im his friend and a good player, Mack says. Without a doubt, leaving the guys was the hardest part about leaving Cleveland. It was a good place, a good time, and I liked it there, but the friends on the team were what made it special. But theres no guarantee that [if] I had re-signed with Cleveland, they [wouldnt have] traded Joe the next day.Most losses by active playersThomas sees the Sunday scores and feels happy that Mack and Schwartz are on teams in the playoff hunt. But he still misses his boys. He looks around the room now, and all he sees are kids. The Browns drafted 14 players in 2016, and all of them made the 53-man roster in September.Its like taking a bunch of kindergartners to calculus class, Thomas says. One of the starting quarterbacks, Cody Kessler, is a rookie who looks like hes in a boy band. In one game this season, Thomas estimates the Browns had at least 10 different offensive line combinations on the field.Thomas tries to put a good spin on the situation. He says the season hasnt been dull.One of the positives of having a young team is they dont get discouraged like veterans do, Thomas says. Rookies, they dont know what they dont know. For instance, in years past, when weve had more veteran teams, if we started 0-8 or something like that, there [would have been] a mutiny. But these guys are still in summer camp. They come in with energy. Theyre happy and eager to learn every single day.That kind of gives you new life and new energy. You see the young guys walking in here with a skip in their step and youre thinking, Why cant I do the same thing?One of the first times they talked this past winter, Coach Jackson promised Thomas that hed turn the team into a winner. Thomas has heard this from every new coach, but this time was different. Thomas believes him.Jackson used to be an assistant in Cincinnati -- he helped revive Andy Daltons career -- and Thomas always admired him from a distance. After games, theyd find each other on the field and chat about football.Jackson is brash and detail-oriented and has a good feel for his players. He knows how badly Thomas wants to win, and that motivates Jackson. I hate that hes part of any struggle, the coach says.From the headlines, at least, tension appeared to be brewing between Thomas and the front office in late November. Cleveland had just been clobbered by Pittsburgh, and Kessler was knocked out of the game because of that shaky new line that does not include Mack and Schwartz. After the game, Thomas told reporters that the Browns have to lie in the bed that youve made.Jackson later talked to Thomas, who shrugs off the notion that the comments were controversial.I think [the media] made a big deal out of it because they could, Thomas says, not because it actually was a big deal. If you say in life that you have consequences for your actions, thats the most no-duh statement of all time.The Browns new style of management is deeply rooted in the Moneyball strategy, but Jackson and Sashi Brown, the teams executive VP of football operations, know how important it is to have Thomas.We were obviously very aggressive in the draft, trading and positioning ourselves, Brown says. The culture were trying to build is to make sure these guys feel like this is a family, and Joe certainly is at least the big brother, if not the patriarch, of our locker room.Some of Thomas closest friends are the guys he played football and basketball with when he was a kid. Many of them hunt and fish together, and some of Thomas best moments come when he is out of cellphone range, away from any noise.Thomas was lanky and athletic as a kid, but he always leaned toward the cerebral parts of the game. Growing up, his dad was in banking, which is maybe where Thomas gets his steady and reliable demeanor. He does not act like a guy who has an $84 million contract.True story: When Thomas got drafted and was leaving for the NFL, he decided he needed to settle all of his debts. The cable bill was in his name, so as he was packing, he told his roommate Ben Strickland that he owed $17.83 for the bill. Strickland was half asleep and thought his soon-to-be-millionaire friend was kidding, but the Badgers cornerback wrote the check just so he could go back to bed. A couple of days later, Strickland says, I notice the check was cashed.He is not a man with wild thoughts or unrealistic dreams. Thomas doesnt jet off to exotic places in the offseason. One of his favorite things to do is to work in his backyard garden. His dreams involve good health, a happy family and winning in the place he loves.Strickland, now an assistant coach at Florida Atlantic, wonders whether Thomas is so determined not to miss a snap because its one of the only ways he can still compete. He is fighting his body, the wave of younger players and time. In a world in which so much is out of his hands, the playing streak is something Thomas can control, something he can dominate.When he and his Wisconsin buddies get together, its like college all over again. Their old long-snapper, Steve Johnson, was busting on him recently about some thinning hair he noticed when he saw a picture of Thomas. Johnson implored him to shave his head and just be done with it.A few days later, Thomas took to Twitter. BREAKING NEWS, he tweeted. Joe Thomas questionable with a receding hairline.He is self-deprecating, and his teammates like that. It puts them at ease. Thomas was asked recently how hes dealing with the losing skid. Lots of eggnog, he said.If Thomas is lucky, he might have three or four years of football left in him. That should be enough, he hopes. But he tells the Browns to hurry up. Hes running out of time.There are times that Im admiring the loyalty, former Browns executive Joe Banner says, and there are other times Im sitting here going, Boy, when this guy retires, hes going to look back and really wish he had a chance to experience what it felt like to be on a good team and win in the NFL.On Sunday nights, Thomas goes home, lies down with his wife and three kids and watches the late football games. He is happy that his children are all under the age of 4 and dont know whether hes won or lost. They kiss his wounds and take his mind off of the sacks and the scoreboard and the large bags of ice wrapped around his knees. I hope that someday the kids will think what he did for a living was pretty cool, Annie says in an email. But for right now they just think he wears a funny helmet and tights.Maybe someday, theyll know why Thomas did this, why he kept pushing that boulder up even though it kept crashing down on him.Im hired to do a job, he says. They expect me to do a job, and that job requires me to get my butt up and get back to the huddle, get the play and go do it another time. And until I cant physically get up, Im going to do that.Until they pull me out of the game and say, Youre not doing it well enough, Im going to just keep getting up.Elizabeth MerrillMerrill is a senior writer in ESPNs features and enterprise unit. Before joining ESPN in 2007, she covered the NFL and wrote features for The Kansas City Star. She is based in the Midwest and can be reached at Elizabeth.Merrill@espn.com. ' ' '