Top position groups in CFB

Each week during the college football season, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay kick off the week by settling a debate, and then they discuss emerging NFL prospects and look ahead to next week.

The discussion: If you put together your ultimate team by picking the top position groups from different teams, what would it look like?

OFFENSE
Todd McShay : With the first half of the college football season in the books, Mel and I thought it would be fun to rank the top teams at each position group, and essentially put together the ideal college football team. Mel will get to the defense in a bit, but I'll get us started off with the offense. One note: This is based mainly on collegiate production, not just NFL potential. But yes, there are plenty of prospects in here, mainly because they usually produce.

Quarterbacks: West Virginia

Texas Tech's defense made this a tougher choice than it would have been a week ago, but I still think Geno Smith has to be the pick here. The nation's leader in passing efficiency, completion percentage and passing touchdowns, Smith has really improved his deep-ball accuracy since last year, not unlike the jump Robert Griffin III made between his 2010 and 2011 seasons. The improvement is showing up on tape and in the stats, and Smith himself acknowledged it when I broke down tape with him for a "College GameDay" segment before the Texas game.

The only knock on Smith's candidacy as the nation's best quarterback is that he has gone up against a lot of bad defenses.

Honorable mention: Kansas State's Collin Klein and Ohio State's Braxton Miller have been excellent so far.

Running backs: Oregon

For the full discussion, plus a look at rising prospects and new names you need to learn about, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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