Caleb Williams too expensive?! Iowa’s punter not on the list?

With the 2023 college football season practically in the rearview mirror, we ranked the top 100 players for the year. However as with any ranking, there is plenty to debate.Our press reporters break down what they think our list missed, from players ranked expensive or too low to which players we need to be keeping much better tabs on. Who should have remained in the top 10

? Adam Rittenberg: NC State linebacker Payton

Wilson. The leading 10 includes only one defensive player– Alabama edge/outside linebacker Dallas Turner– as well as 3 wide receivers and a tight end. Although the top of the wideout group is excellent, Wilson was perhaps the country’s most embellished defender. He won the Penis Butkus Award as the country’s top linebacker and the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nationwide defensive player of the year. Wilson led the ACC in both overall tackles and deals with for loss, and he was a constant consider pass protection for NC State. Texas’T’Vondre Sweat is another acclaimed protector who should have remained in the leading 10. Editor’s Picks 2 Related Mark Schlabach: Similar To in the NFL

, running backs

didn’t get

much respect in the player rankings. Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II led the FBS with 1,732 hurrying lawns on 285 carries and was 2nd with 21 rushing ratings. The Cowboys’season was spiraling up until coach Mike Gundy chose to ride the sophomore’s shoulders. Gordon ran for more than 100 yards in nine of the Pokes’last 11 games. He had 282 yards with four ratings in a 48-34 success versus West Virginia. He had 271 lawns with two scores in a 45-13 thrashing of Cincinnati the next week. Provide the male some respect.Tom VanHaaren: It looks like not a great deal of individuals know how great UCLA edge Laiatu Latu is and what he has done the past couple of seasons. He was initially among all FBS defenders in quarterback pressures with 56 and second in protective pressure portion, getting pressure on the quarterback on 20.1 %of his pass hurries. He was No. 4 in sacks with 13 and produced havoc being versatile in UCLA’s defense. He is likely going to be among the top protective prospects in the upcoming NFL draft and ought to remain in the top 10 here.Paolo Uggetti: Latu is the ideal call and I wholeheartedly agree with Tom that he was one of the 10 best players in college football

this season. Numbers aside, it was clear, while enjoying UCLA, that even though its whole protective system was stout, it was Latu’s ability to create chaos in advance that established that success. If I were to make a way-outside case for anybody else, I ‘d throw Troy Franklin’s name in the mix. His numbers are absurd– 1,383 yards on 81 catches plus 14 goals– and he was probably simply as important as Bo Nix to Oregon’s offense.Who’s ranked too expensive? USC ended the routine season with a 7-5 record.

Jordon Kelly/Icon SportswireRittenberg: At the danger of Schlabach never speaking to me again, Georgia Bulldogs tight end Brock Bowers. He’s certainly one of the nation’s finest players, which will be shown in the 2024 NFL draft. However to have him at No. 5, ahead of so many national award winners on both sides of the ball, in a season in which he missed out on time since of injury, appears to be a little a stretch. I ‘d feel more comfortable with Bowers around Nos. 10-12. Alabama’s Kool-Aid McKinstry also seems a bit high at 24. Kyle Bonagura: Caleb Williams is great, and it will be completely justified when he is the No. 1 overall choice in the NFL draft, but if this is a ranking of the top players in college football this season, No. 10 is too expensive for him. He ranked 12th in QBR– arguably the best stat to measure a QB’s total performance– 11th in passing backyards and ninth in passing goals on an unranked USC Trojans team that went 7-5. By no objective step did his production warrant inclusion in the leading 10. David Hale: Well, if we’re to believe the committee, Jordan Travis was an absolutely irreplaceable player who was up until now and away responsible for Florida State’s 13-0 record that the rest of the group was not worthy of a playoff berth without him. So, possibly he needs to’ve been in our leading 10. However let’s take another chance at the committee, too: Jared Verse coming in at No. 29 seems like we might be neglecting that FSU defense as much as the committee did. Indeed, in the Seminoles ‘final two games without Travis, Verse controlled as much as any player in college football did at any point this season: 58 pass hurries, 13 pressures, 4.5 sacks, 18 takes on (11 at/behind the line), three QB hurries and one forced fumble, while opponents balanced just 2.7 backyards per play (1.7 on the ground )when Verse was on the field.Who’s undervalued?

Tahj Brooks announced he would be returning to the Red Raiders for 2024. Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Rittenberg: James Madison edge rusher Jalen Green (No. 73 )missed the team’s last 3 games after sustaining a substantial knee injury, and he still ranked among the nation’s leaders in both sacks(15.5) and takes on for loss (21). He earned first-team AP All-America honors and was a very first -and second-team All-America selection from other outlets. We didn’t punish Georgia’s Bowers for missing time due to the fact that of injury. There’s no other way 72 players performed better than Green did before his injury. UTSA’s Trey Moore is another Group of 5 protective standout ranked too low(No. 98). Schlabach: Old Rule linebacker Jason Henderson is another player from a Group of 5 program that probably isn’t ranked high enough. He led the FBS in takes on(170 )and deals with per game (14.2).

Henderson also had 19.5 takes on for loss, 4.5 sacks, 5 quarterback hurries and one forced fumble. He is the first Monarchs player to be honored on an All-America team. He is the first FBS player since Boston College’s Luke Kuechly in 2010-11 to lead the country in deals with in successive seasons; Henderson had 186 stops in 2022. Chris Low: Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks put up substantial numbers this season. He was 3rd among Power 5 players with approximately 118.3 hurrying yards per game in spite of being the target of opposing defenses weekly. The Red Raiders ranked simply 65th in passing offense. The 5-foot-10, 230-pound Brooks was a tackle-breaking machine and led all FBS players with 96 missed deals with forced, according to Pro Football Focus. The very best news for Texas Tech fans is that Brooks revealed he will return to school for the 2024 season.VanHaaren: Virginia went 3-9 this season and most likely didn’t get a ton of attention nationally, so it would’ve been really easy to miss receiver Malik Washington. He transferred to Virginia from Northwestern and was second in the country among all receivers in receiving yards per game, behind Malik Nabers with 118.8 yards. He had nine getting touchdowns, 1,426 total yards and just 4 drops. If Washington is in a various offense, he probably gets more attention.Hale: There are a bunch of guys in the bottom half of our list whom I ‘d have greater, however let me make the case for Oklahoma’s Danny Stutsman. He played in 12 games, had 104 deals with(16 for a loss ), 2 forced fumbles and a pick-six. Furthermore, he was the heart, soul and personality of the Sooners’D, a Brent Venables archetype that, frankly, Oklahoma had too few of

. Besides, if you’re being compared to Brian Bosworth, you’re a top-50 player with a brilliant future either in the NFL or running a small sheriff’s department in a Dr. Pepper-obsessed town outside Tulsa.Which unranked players should have made the list? Tory Taylor was a star for Iowa this season. Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports Dave Wilson: If you break an 85-year-old NCAA record, you are worthy of to shine. And no one was a brighter star for this year’s Iowa Hawkeyes than punter Tory Taylor, a senior from Melbourne, Australia, whose foot touched leather 86 times this year– a lot of in the country– for an all-time record 4,479 lawns, breaking a mark set by a college football Hall of Famer John Pingel in 1938. Taylor, the Ray Guy Award winner, had a profession average of

46.2 yards per kick, the most in Huge 10 history.Rittenberg: Not to toss my voting coworkers under the bus, however my guess is they didn’t see or track Troy Trojans running back Kimani Vidal as much as I carried out in 2023. Vidal ranks second nationally in hurrying yards with 1,661 and third in backyards per game (118.6) for a Troy group that duplicated as Sun Belt champ. He had 3 games of 233 or more rushing backyards. His success is nothing new, as he made All-Sun Belt honors (junior varsity or honorable mention) in each of his very first three seasons and likewise reached 1,000 rushing

yards in 2015. Not including Vidal in the leading 100 is a significant oversight on our part. We likewise truly whiffed by not including Arizona Wildcats prolific wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (1,402 backyards, 90 receptions, 10 goals). Hale: It’s a crime Boston College offensive lineman Christian Mahogany didn’t make it. He’s a potential first-round pick, and his numbers were off-the-charts excellent: one pressure enabled and just seven blown blocks on 788 offensive snaps. But here’s a more telling stat: Last year, with Mahogany injured for the season, BC enabled pressure on 41 %of dropbacks( 127th nationally )and managed just 1.09 lawns per rush before contact(131st ). With Mahogany back healthy for 2023, BC balanced pressure on 29%of dropbacks (25th )and 2.37 lawns before contact per rush (36th). Uggetti: I understand that this a season-wide undertaking and Washington wide receiver Jalen McMillan missed out on over half of the season, however it’s impossible to see McMillan play and not be encouraged that he is one of the leading 100 players in college football. In 6 games this season, McMillan averaged 13.5 yards per catch, had four goals and 4 catches of 35 yards or more. But beyond the numbers, McMillan’s speed and dexterity have actually been on complete screen during the Huskies ‘title run. When he catches the ball and gets downfield, he is nearly impossible to catch.Who’s making a huge leap for 2024? Could Jaydn Ott control the ACC next season? Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports Rittenberg: Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers(No. 90 )would be my choice if he chooses to return in 2024. Ewers became the very first Longhorns QB to guide the group to the College Football Playoff, and he consistently revealed his sparkle in the fourth quarter. A 3rd season under coach Steve Sarkisian should put him in the Heisman Trophy mix as one of the country’s top signal-callers. Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks (No. 62)also should rise into the top 50 and possibly closer to the top 25. Brooks had 1,541 rushing backyards

and 10 touchdowns this season and ought to have been a bit greater in our rankings. He’ll get his due in 2024. VanHaaren: I concur with Adam that if Ewers returns, he has an opportunity to go up. His change has actually been noticeable currently from the past couple of seasons to 2023. To select another person, though, I’m going to choose a various Texas player. UTSA edge Trey Moore is transferring to Texas and has a possibility to shine on the national phase in the SEC in 2024. Moore had 14 sacks this season (third most amongst all FBS players ), 40 quarterback pressures and 16.5 takes on for loss. He will join a veteran Texas defense that has currently enhanced year over year, and he won’t have a ton of pressure to be a star. I would not be shocked if he ends up being a regular name discussed as one of the leading protectors in 2024. Bonagura: After Cal running back Jaydn Ott ran for 1,305 backyards and 12 touchdowns, there was a case for including him on the list this year. Next year, he’ll be among the very best running backs in the ACC, and it should not be a surprise if he is a top-50 player. He balanced 131.8 backyards hurrying over the last five games of the regular season and assisted Cal win its last three to reach bowl eligibility.Hale: This is plainly an overreaction to one game– but boy what a game quarterback Miller Moss had in USC’s bowl win over Louisville. Moss tossed for 372 lawns and six touchdowns in his very first profession start, announcing to the world– and, more notably, Lincoln Riley– that he’s the QB of the future for the Trojans. Does this mean Riley won’t go digging around in the website? Maybe not, but odds are there’s not a much better possibility on the marketplace than Riley currently has at home. Moss was a four-star hire ranked in the leading 100

by ESPN, and now he gets his chance at the star-making Riley offensive game plan? Go ahead and book Moss a spot in the top 50 for next year.Uggetti: He might have ended up landing all the method at No. 30 this season, but Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita feels like a stock that’s just going to keep paying dividends. Fifita came on the scene four games into this season after starter Jayden de Laura got injured and he never ever

looked back. The freshman not only led the Wildcats to 7 straight wins to finish the season( including a win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl)however tossed for 2,869 yards and 25 touchdowns in what was essentially three-quarters of a season. The sky is the limit for Fifita and Arizona as they head to the Huge 12 next year, and it would not shock to see the Wildcats in contention for the conference title while Fifita vies for a top-15 spot on this list.