50 Days Until Kansas Football: Video Game All-Stars - Mike Lee
In this story:
It's been difficult to get back to our player spotlight series this season, with all the conference realignment discussions, Big 12 Media Days and basically anything else you can think of.
But we still are going to see the return of the NCAA Football video game next summer, and we still need to highlight some more players that didn't get an opportunity to appear in the series.
Thanks to a rating system that includes individualized ratings of college players that we discussed on the Rock Chalk Podcast, we are able to take correct that oversight. This rating combines their base talent level with their actual college production to come up with an overall look at their performance.
A reminder that our Video Game All-Stars series will look at recent Kansas players who played well at Kansas but never got an opportunity to be captured with a virtual version of themselves. We will look back at their careers, and include a projection of what their overall rating would have been had the games been around.
Other Player Spotlights in this series:
Recruiting Bio
A 5'11", 175-lb safety out of Landry-Walker High School in New Orleans, LA, Lee was recruited to Kansas as part of the 2016 class by Tony Hull. He was a 3-star prospect who came to Kansas over a list of 15 other offers, including Arizona State, Colorado, Georgia, Miami, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
Production at Kansas
| Season | Total Tackles | Solo Tackles | Passes Defended | Fumbles Forced | INT/TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | 76 | 69 | 0 | 1 | 1/0 |
2017 | 71 | 59 | 1 | 0 | 2/0 |
2018 | 67 | 50 | 0 | 2 | 1/1 |
2019 | 72 | 55 | 2 | 2 | 1/0 |
Lee started playing immediately as a freshman getting better as the year went on. But the promise that he showed initially rose expectations for his next few seasons, and it's difficult to say that he fully lived up to them. However, his steady production throughout his career was very good, and he ultimately was underrated by most fans who watched him play.
His best season arguably came in 2016, but it's likely that was because he had more opportunities. He was a bit of an unknown
Best Game
It's hard to pick a "best game" for Lee, because he was so consistent over the course of his career. But here are two that I remember, even if they weren't his best statistically:
November 19, 2016: 24-21 OT Win over Texas
Stat line: 11 total tackles, 11 solo, 1 interception, 1 pass defended
Of course we have to include this game. His defense throughout the early part of the game was great on its own. He was flying all over the field and made Shane Buechele work for every yard he got. But it was the interception on 2nd and 10 in overtime that really stood out, giving the Jayhawks the opportunity to win the game on just a field goal.
September 15, 2018: 55-14 Win over Rutgers
Stat line: 3 total tackles, 3 solo, 1 interception, 1 return touchdown
The line isn't overwhelming, but it's notable that this was intentional by Rutgers. They avoided him for nearly the entire first quarter, but fellow safety Bryce Torneden had already returned an interception for a touchdown. Lee snagged his early in the second quarter and the rout was on.
Video Game Rating
Base Rating: 78
Production Bonus: 21
Total Rating: 99
Mike Lee was a high 3-star recruit, which helped him in his base rating, but it's the very productive seasons that really helped increase his rating.
While these ratings aren't broken down to the various attributes you would find in Madden, given his strengths on the field, I would expect his speed and awareness ratings to be his top attributes.
A reminder that our video game ratings are provided by CFB Winning Edge, which is an independent outlet focused on college football analytics that has developed team, player and coach ratings based on a wide range of current and historical data.
Patreon supporters have access to their FBS Team Profiles, which includes ratings for over 11,000 individual players across all 131 FBS teams, as well as ratings for every head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, and strength of schedule metrics. In addition to stats, recruiting data, injury reports, and player movement information, they also offer three sets of projected point spreads for every FBS game based on separate projection models, as well as projected win totals.
You can find more information about what they offer by going to their Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CFBWinningEdge
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