SDS’ Top 100: Ranking the best college football players in 2025 (Nos. 50-26)

The 2025 college football season will feature thousands of players on 136 FBS rosters. Here’s Saturday Down South’s annual countdown of the best of the best. PREVIOUSLY: Nos. 100-76. | Nos. 75 through 51 | TODAY: Nos. 50-26.
 —   —   —

50. Blake Miller | OT, Clemson

Clemson is extremely well-represented in the top half of this Top 100 ranking, and Miller’s name certainly isn’t going to be the one in lights if the season lives up to the hype that the Tigers’ national title odds suggest. For an offensive linemen, though, being taken for granted is kinda the point. The Tigers have that luxury with Miller, who moved directly into the lineup as a freshman and never left. He’s manned the starting right tackle spot in all 41 games over the past 3 seasons, racking up more snaps in the process (2,887) than any other returning player in a Power 4 conference. As the reps have accumulated, so have the accolades: Freshman All-American in 2022, third-team All-ACC in ’23, first-team in ’24, when Miller allowed a single sack and was flagged just once in the Tigers’ run to the ACC title. As always, the easier it is to forget he’s there, the better.

49. Kyle Louis | LB, Pittsburgh

For a few years in the 2010s, there was a lot of buzz about the rise of the “spacebacker” – a hybrid defender who split the difference between a traditional off-ball linebacker and a strong safety in response to increasingly spread-oriented offenses. In the 2020s, most of the hybrid types have since yielded to full-time DBs as nickel defenses have become the default setting across the sport. A few “spacebackers” remain, though, and none was more productive in 2024 than Louis, a 6-0, 225-pound ball hawk whose versatility allowed Pitt to run most of its playbook through its standard 4-3 personnel. A jack of all trades, Louis was just as likely to line up in the slot or on the edge as he was in the box; in addition to recording triple-digit tackles, he was productive as a pass rusher (32 QB pressures, 7 sacks) and in coverage, where he recorded 4 interceptions, including a pick-6. 

Oh, and he capped his sophomore highlight reel by returning his own blocked PAT for a 2-point conversion in the bowl game, for good measure. Is Louis built for butting heads with 300-pounders, or running step-for-step with 180-pound slot receivers? No. But as long as he continues producing at an All-ACC level, the “tweener” debate is strictly one for the NFL scouts.

48. Taurean York | LB, Texas A&M

A former 3-star recruit, York isn’t moving the needle with his size, speed or SPARQ score. He’s just always around the ball. As a freshman, he was a Day 1 starter alongside All-American Edgerrin Cooper, finishing second on the team in tackles and stops. Following Cooper’s early exit for the NFL Draft, York led Texas A&M by a mile in 2024 in both categories, as well as racking up 10 tackles for loss by virtue of his instincts and instant diagnosis of blocking schemes. By year’s end, he often looked like he’d hacked the frequency to listen in on the opposing offense’s play calls.

That was Year 2. By the end of Year 3, his grasp of pursuit angles is going to be worth the equivalent of a Ph.D. in trigonometry. 

47. Tyreak Sapp | DL, Florida

The buzz around Florida‘s abrupt U-turn last November largely centered on freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, for obvious reasons. (See: Nos. 75-51.) But the surge really began up front, with a suddenly hellacious d-line anchored by Sapp. A former top-100 recruit, Sapp feasted down the stretch, racking up a dozen QB pressures and 8 TFLs in wins over LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State alone. For the season, he earned the top overall PFF grade (90.4) of any returning SEC defender. If there’s any position where the Gators can count on momentum carrying over into 2025, a front four featuring full-grown versions of Sapp and mammoth DT Caleb Banks is at the top of the list. 

46. Malik Muhammad | CB, Texas

Muhammad spent 2024 overshadowed by Texas’ other starting corner, Jahdae Barron, who claimed just about every honor there was to claim on his way to joining the list of Texas first-round draft picks. Quietly, though, Muhammad settled in for the long haul. He started every game in the Longhorns’ Playoff run as a true sophomore, allowing a single touchdown in coverage and matching Barron for forced incompletions (10, per PFF) on roughly the same number of targets. Now a junior, it’s his turn to take over as one of the ranking vets of a unit that lost both Barron and second-rounder Andrew Mukuba at safety. On that note, there is one thing Muhammad didn’t do last year: Intercept a pass. Any hope of replacing Barron and Mukuba’s combined 10 picks begins with his contribution.

45. Leonard Moore | CB, Notre Dame

Moore wasn’t an especially hyped recruit by Notre Dame standards, and didn’t crack the regular lineup in 2024 until a midseason injury to starter Benjamin Morrison. But once he was on the field, it was clear he wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. Individually, Moore picked off 2 passes, broke up 11 more, forced 2 fumbles, posted one of the top PFF grades (88.4) of any freshman defender in the country, and was a unanimous Freshman All-American. As a team, the Irish ranked at or near the top of the FBS in every column against the pass, including No. 1 in pass efficiency. Morrison and 2-time All-American Xavier Watts are both on NFL rosters, but between Moore, fellow corner Christian Gray, and safety Adon Shuler, don’t bet on a drop-off. Vegas certainly isn’t; the Irish’s have the 7th-best odds to win the national championship.

44. Carnell Tate | WR, Ohio State

Almost anywhere else, Tate would already be an established star. At Ohio State, he’s had to wait his turn, toiling as “the other guy” the past 2 seasons behind Marvin Harrison Jr. (4th overall pick in 2024), Emeka Egbuka (19th overall in 2025) and Jeremiah Smith (presumptive No. 1 overall in 2027, barring catastrophe). Even as a third wheel, Tate was more than productive enough in ’24 to put himself on the radar, finishing with 52 catches for 733 yards and 4 touchdowns, and he notably rose to the occasion in the Buckeyes’ semifinal CFP win over Texas when the Longhorns pulled out the stops to blanket Smith. Tate is not going to threaten Smith’s status as WR1 and the focal point of opposing secondaries – no college wideout in America would – but he does stand to reap the benefits from his promotion to No. 2.

43. Dillon Thieneman | DB, Oregon

Oregon’s 2024 season ended with its secondary engulfed in flames courtesy of Ohio State. Even before the debacle in the Rose Bowl, though, an overhaul was already in motion: All 5 starters on the back end were outgoing seniors, set to be replaced in 2025 by a combination of big-ticket transfers, blue-chip freshmen and holdovers returning from injury. No piece of the rebuilding effort is more crucial than Thieneman, a winter arrival from Purdue who made his bones as the token Good Player On a Bad Team. In 2 years as a Boilermaker, he was a Freshman All-American, an All-Big Ten pick and a triple-digit tackle machine – all in service of outfits that went a combined 3-15 in B1G play. At Oregon, he’s joining a serious national championship contender on a mission to upgrade the talent level at safety ASAP. It might take awhile to find out if they’ve succeeded, if only because the Buckeyes don’t appear on the regular-season schedule. Rest assured, for the Ducks to get where they want to go, Thieneman and the rest of the newcomers will eventually be put to the test.

42. Sam Leavitt | QB, Arizona State

Leavitt took the vagabond route to ASU: 3 different high schools in 2 different states due to COVID, followed by a brief detour at Michigan State as a true freshman. Based on his breakout turn in 2024, he’s going to stick in Tempe. Although he didn’t hit the jackpot statistically, Leavitt was eerily steady for a 19-year-old, leading the Sun Devils to an 11-2 record as a starter and 30+ points in all but 2 of those wins. After a 2-week hiatus at midseason, he returned in November to throw 16 touchdowns vs. 1 INT over the course of a 6-game winning streak that vaulted the Devils from obscurity to the Big 12 title in their first year in the conference. From there, they were only 1 play away from advancing to the CFP semifinals over Texas before letting one of the biggest wins in school histories slip through their grasp in double OT.

The good news in ’25: Leavitt is another year further along the growth curve. The not-so-good news: The MVP of last year’s turnaround, indestructible RB Cam Skattebo, is currently vying for carries with the New York Giants. Skattebo accounted for more than 38% of Arizona State’s total offense in ’24, ranking No. 2 nationally behind only Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty. How much of that share now falls on Leavitt’s arm? For a guy with first-round ambitions, the answer has major implications for ASU’s season and his future at the next level.

41. Jonah Coleman | RB, Washington

Clichés like “chiseled” and “rocked up” imply a statuesque subject, which doesn’t quite do Coleman justice. Listed at a compact 5-9, 228 pounds, he’s more like somebody strapped a hunk of marble to a skateboard and shoved it down a hill. Per PFF, more than three-quarters of Coleman’s 1,923 rushing yards over the past 2 seasons came after contact, good for an average of 4.6 yards per carry as a result of broken tackles alone. And presumably that number only includes instances where the would-be tackler actually managed to, you know, make contact, which isn’t always a given, either. 

For a sturdy back with no notable injury history, no real competition for carries, and no career fumbles, Coleman could probably stand to touch the ball more often than the 16.6 touches per game he averaged in 2024 – especially with a relatively green quarterback, sophomore Demond Williams, easing into the starting role. Regardless, with his combination of balance, violence, and elusiveness, he remains a serious contender for the title of Least Fun to Tackle in the college game.

40. Elijah Sarratt | WR, Indiana
39. Aiden Fisher | LB, Indiana
38. D’Angelo Ponds | CB, Indiana

Indiana’s out-of-the-blue Playoff run in 2024 was the result of a novel premise: What if instead of merely hiring a head coach, we hired a whole team? The coach, Curt Cignetti, arrived fresh from a wildly successful 5-year tenure at James Madison. At Indiana, he immediately went to work reassembling as much of his former squad as possible via the portal, ultimately bringing along 13 players from the JMU team that went 11-1 in 2023 in just its second season as an FBS program. And not just any players – more than half of the JMU contingent were All-Sun Belt in ’23, including Fisher, Sarratt and Ponds, supplying an instant infusion of talent to one of the Big Ten’s most bereft rosters.

The experiment yielded the unlikeliest hit of the season, if not the decade. With the notable exception of quarterback, former Dukes manned starting roles in every position group on both sides of the ball for the best IU outfit anyone can remember. The postseason All-Big Ten team as voted by league coaches featured 8 JMU transfers – 3 on the first team (Fisher, Ponds and edge Mikail Kamara), Sarratt on the third team and 4 others as honorable mentions. Despite another busy offseason in the portal, the core of that group remains intact, along with both coordinators. Even taking unto account a new quarterback and a steeper schedule, dismiss the Hoosiers as one-hit wonders at your own peril.

37. Chandler Rivers | CB, Duke

At 5-10, 185, Rivers lacks ideal size for an elite cornerback prospect. In 3 years at Duke, that’s the only box he’s left unchecked. He’s experienced, with 32 consecutive starts. He’s sticky, boasting an ACC-best 89.8 PFF coverage grade in 2024. He’s decorated, earning first-team all-conference from ACC coaches and a smattering of All-America notices from the media. He’s adaptable, splitting snaps between outside corner, slot corner and occasionally the box. He’s productive, with 5 career interceptions, including a pair of pick-6s, and 21 passes broken up. He’s a willing tackler, and a potentially disruptive presence in opposing backfields, recording 8 TFLs, 10 QB pressures, and a strip sack in 2024 alone. He is, in other words, just a pretty dang good all-around football player. If Rivers was 2 1/2 inches taller, he’d be considered a no-brainer for the first round in 2026. As it is, he might wind up playing his way into the distinction anyway.

36. Desmond Reid | RB, Pittsburgh

The smallest player on any field he steps on, the (officially) 5-8, 175-pound Reid is like the kid who gets picked last at recess on the first day of school and first every day after that. Overlooked out of high school, he spent 2 productive seasons at Western Carolina in 2022-23 before following his WCU offensive coordinator, Kade Bell, to Pitt in ’24. As a Panther, Reid was an instant hit, defying his size to emerge as a versatile, every-down back who hogged carries while also tying for the team lead in receptions. He finished as 1 of only 3 players nationally with 500+ yards rushing and receiving, plus a punt return TD for good measure.

Durability is a concern – Reid missed 2 games to minor injuries, which based on his season average of 154.9 all-purpose yards per game was the only thing that prevented him from joining the exclusive 2,000-yard club for the year. But as long as he’s at full speed, he should have every opportunity to sustain that pace.

35. Carson Beck | QB, Miami

There are not many circumstances in which an 11-2 record paired with a perfectly cromulent stat line goes down as a disappointment. In Beck’s case, though, it was hard to read his 2024 campaign any other way. Coming off a fine debut as Georgia’s QB1 in 2023, Beck was hyped as a Heisman candidate at the helm of a championship-or-bust contender. Instead, he battled inconsistency, a midseason interception spree, a nondescript surrounding cast, and ultimately a season-ending shoulder injury in service of an outfit that never quite put it all together even in victory. Beck was sorely missed in the Bulldogs’ 23-10 Playoff loss to Notre Dame, but not so much that it changed his mind about his decision earlier the same week to show himself the door.

Beck initially declared for the NFL Draft, until Sebastian the Ibis swooped in with a giant novelty check and the keys to a Lamborghini. He is almost certainly being paid more in Miami than he would have been as a mid-round pick, with the dual goals of rehabbing his stock and getting the ‘Canes over the Playoff hump. The offense under 3rd-year OC Shannon Dawson is the same one that led the nation in scoring in 2024 and vaulted the guy Beck is replacing, Cam Ward, to No. 1 overall in a single bound. Beck doesn’t have Ward’s raw physical tools, or for that matter any of Ward’s regular targets, all of whom have also moved on. But if he returns to his 2023 form in a more QB-friendly system, his stock will follow the same trajectory. 

34. Garrett Nussmeier | QB, LSU

Nussmeier was born to be a big-time quarterback: Besides being blue-chip recruit in his own right, his dad, Doug, played in the NFL and has been a high-profile QB coach in the college and pro ranks for two decades. (The elder Nussmeier is currently in his first season as offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints, just down the road from his son.) First, though, he had to wait. As a freshman at LSU, Nussmeier was limited to a redshirt role amid the collapse of the Ed Orgeron administration in 2021. Following Brian Kelly‘s arrival in ’22, he was demoted from heir apparent to understudy behind eventual Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels. To his credit, Nussmeier kept his head down, shrugged off transfer rumors, outlasted a couple of touted underclassmen who subsequently portaled out, and finally ascended to QB1 last year as a redshirt junior.

The results were … well, in the eye of the beholder. From the start, LSU’s offense revolved around his right arm – Nussmeier ranked second nationally at 40.4 attempts per game, accounting for 71.6% of the team’s total offense. He was 1 of 6 passers nationally to throw for 4,000 yards (the other 5 of whom were all drafted), joining Joe Burrow as the only LSU quarterbacks to eclipse the 4,000-yard mark in a season — and just the 6th Tiger to throw for 3,000 yards. He took just 15 sacks on 553 drop-backs, per PFF, and posted the lowest pressure-to-sack ratio in the SEC. (That’s a measure of how many pressured drop-backs actually resulted in sacks – only 9.8% in Nussmeier’s case.) He led a dramatic comeback against Ole Miss, highlighted by clutch touchdown passes at the end of regulation and overtime. Certain scouts raved about his potential if he opted to declare early.

On the other hand, Nussmeier never really threatened to crack the top tier of SEC quarterbacks, and his stat line had the whiff of volume over value. He ranked a distant 44th nationally in yards per attempt (7.7) and 42nd in efficiency (142.7). A season-killing, 3-game losing streak in October/November was a series of lows: He threw 3 interceptions in a second-half collapse at Texas A&M; failed to lead a touchdown drive until the dying seconds of a 42-13 humiliation against Alabama, by which point Tiger Stadium was virtually empty; and endured 7 sacks in an upset loss against what was supposed to be a lame-duck version of Florida. It was around that time that murmurs began about Nussmeier’s job security with top-ranked 2026 commit Bryce Underwood in the pipeline – until Underwood punctuated the Tigers’ month of woe by flipping to Michigan.

All of which is to say, the idea of a 5th-year leap on the order of Burrow in 2019 or Daniels in 2023 works better at this point as a narrative hook than as a prediction. Is it out of the question? No, or Nussmeier wouldn’t have the 2nd-best Heisman odds or be ranked nearly as high as he is here in an extremely competitive year for SEC quarterbacks. Dude can sling it. Is it worth betting on? Caveat emptor.

33. Deontae Lawson | LB, Alabama

Bama has been rolling industry-standard linebackers off the assembly line for so long, at this point they represent their own subgenre of Remembering Some Guys. (Reggie Ragland! Shaun Dion Hamilton!) One of the last blue-chip ‘backers to sign on under Nick Saban, Lawson is cut from the same mold. In 3 years as a regular, he has accounted for more career tackles (194) and stops (102) than any other returning SEC defender, with increased production each season. A torn ACL last November ended his 2024 campaign early, but Lawson is back on the field in preseason camp, and all signs are that he expects to be his usual, heat-seeking self in pursuit of triple-digit tackles in his final turn on campus.

32. Jermod McCoy | CB, Tennessee

A small-town product from the same Texas high school that produced Patrick Mahomes, McCoy started as an obscure, 3-star recruit at Oregon State. He didn’t stay under the radar for long: Even in a part-time role, his freshman campaign was intriguing enough to secure him a ticket to Tennessee, where he promptly broke out in 2024 as a true sophomore. Among returning SEC corners, McCoy ranked No. 1 in interceptions (4), forced incompletions (13) and PFF coverage grade (89.6), as well as in viral highlights thanks to a pair of acrobatic picks against Alabama and Vanderbilt. 

If there’s a drawback to McCoy’s game, it’s that his strength – physicality in press man coverage – was also his Achilles’ heel, resulting in an SEC-high 8 penalties, per PFF. The bigger concern as the season looms is his availability following an offseason ACL tear in January. He returned to practice earlier this month and has “hit all the benchmarks to this point” in his recovery process, according to Tennessee DB coach Willie Martinez. Barring a setback, the question is only when McCoy will be back in the fold. As long as it’s in time for the Vols’ SEC opener against Georgia on Sept. 13, they should get their money’s worth.

31. Avieon Terrell | CB, Clemson

Avieon wasn’t nearly as touted out of high school as his older brother, former Clemson star/current Atlanta Falcon AJ Terrell, but it didn’t him long to begin closing the gap. Coming off a strong finish to his freshman campaign in 2023, Terrell emerged as a fixture in ’24, playing nearly every meaningful snap in the Tigers’ run to the ACC title and Playoff. In coverage, he tied for the conference lead with 14 forced incompletions, including 2 interceptions; against the run, he was arguably better, earning the top PFF run defense grade (90.7) of any ACC defender at any position. 

Now, take that for what it’s worth; at 5-11, 180, Terrell is hardly an enforcer. He’s the kind of undersized corner opposing offenses like to challenge to make tackles in space, and passing the test often meant he had to “hold on for the cavalry to come in” to get the ballcarrier on the ground. But as long as he’s in the right place at the right time, all that really matters is he gets the job done.

30. Dylan Stewart | Edge, South Carolina
29. Colin Simmons | Edge, Texas

As freshmen, Stewart and Simmons entered last season ranked as the No. 1 and No. 2 edge rushers in the 2024 class. They ended the season still ranked No. 1 and No. 2, with no one else even within 100 miles of the conversation. The only caveat was which order to put them in.

Hosannas to Stewart’s potential as a pass rusher began the moment he stepped on the field. A sleek specimen with ideal length, a scorching first step, and slinky-like bend around the corner, he was an instant hit in Carolina, accounting for multiple sacks and a crucial forced fumble in his first college game. Even when not racking up gaudy sack totals, Stewart was a week-in, week-out presence throughout the year, generating 51 QB pressures, per PFF – 11 more than his All-American counterpart, Kyle Kennard, and more than any other returning SEC defender in 2025.

Simmons’ ascent was more of a slow burn. At 6-3, 240, he doesn’t quite boast Stewart’s first-off-the-bus frame, and technically he never cracked the starting lineup in Texas’ run to the CFP semifinals. Still, by year’s end he was the Longhorns’ best pass rusher, finishing with 46 pressures and 9 sacks in a rotational role; he was also a sturdy presence against the run, with 31 stops to Stewart’s 18. In December, Simmons won the Shaun Alexander Award as the nation’s top freshman at any position, beating out not just Stewart but also the likes of Alabama’s Ryan Williams and Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith. (Obviously, that was before Smith cemented his burgeoning legend in the postseason.) Texas’ opener at OSU will mark Simmons’ first career start, but in every other sense – including his new jersey number, No. 1 – he’s a proven commodity.

At any rate, outside of very important lists like this one settling the question of whose name comes first is academic until at least the 2027 NFL Draft, which is still too early to handicap. By then, their respective résumés should both run several pages. For now, let’s just say that if Stewart still represents the higher ceiling, Simmons is absolutely not going to make it an easy call.

28. Dani Dennis-Sutton | Edge, Penn State

If it seems like Penn State fans have been waiting forever for Dennis-Sutton to break out, there’s a good reason: They kinda have. In 3 years on campus, the former 5-star has been overshadowed on the depth chart by 4 top-100 draft picks, including first-rounders each of the past 2 years (Chop Robinson in 2023, Abdul Carter in ’24). Finally, it’s Dennis-Sutton at the top of the rotation as a senior. He took a significant step forward last year, his first as a starter, finishing in the top 10 in the Big Ten in QB pressures (45) and tackles for loss (13) opposite Carter. Notably, most of the latter column came in the bonus round, when he accounted for multiple TFLs in all 3 of the Nittany Lions’ Playoff games – not to mention the highlight of his career to date, a supremely athletic interception in the 4th quarter of their eventual semifinal loss to Notre Dame.

You know, no matter how freaky these guys get, I will never believe 265-pound defensive ends are supposed to be able to do that. Anyway, Dennis-Sutton’s pick set up a short-field, go-ahead touchdown drive by Penn State’s offense with roughly half a quarter to go, and yadda yadda yadda, the Lions lost, nullifying his heroics. This year, they’re counting on more where that came from.

27. Kaytron Allen | RB, Penn State
26. Nick Singleton | RB, Penn State

It wouldn’t be quite right to describe Allen and Singleton as interchangeable: Allen packs more of a wallop running downhill, while Singleton brings more versatility and explosiveness. But the old “thunder and lightning” clichè doesn’t really captured the dynamic, either. From Day 1 at Penn State, they’ve functioned essentially as a tandem: A couple of big, central-casting workhorses who enter their senior season ranked 10th (Singleton, 2,912) and 11th (Allen, 2,877) on Penn State’s career rushing list, separated by just 35 yards. (If they both equal their 2024 production in ’25, they’ll go out as No. 1 and No. 2.) Over 3 seasons, they’ve literally shared reps equally, with Allen at 1,404 career snaps and Singleton at 1,402.

Traditionally, this would be the “how do you feed them both?” graf. In the expanded Playoff era, where serious contenders like Penn State are planning for a 16- or 17-game gauntlet, the load-management approach to divvying up touches will quickly become the norm. In 2024, the fact that Allen and Singleton became the first teammates in school history run for 1,000 yards apiece in the same season was a testament mainly to their durability – the benchmark itself mattered less than the fact that they remained healthy and available for long enough to hit it. (See also: Ohio State’s statistically meh but ultimately successful platoon last year between TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.) Under different circumstances, either guy could be a bigger star in an offense that needed him to carry full freight. Where they’re at, the goal is to get them both to January in one piece.

TOMORROW: The countdown concludes with Part 4 (Nos. 25-1).