• Colorado's Travis Hunter takes the No. 1 spot: The do-it-all weapon is neither the best wide receiver nor the best cornerback in the country, but the fact that he excels at both makes him college football's top player entering the 2024 season.
• Ole Miss places three players in the Nos. 41-50 range: Quarterback Jaxson Dart, edge defender Princely Umanmielen and wide receiver Tre Harris all crack the PFF College 50.
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Estimated Reading Time: 22 minutes
Last month, PFF unveiled the NFL’s top 50 players entering the 2024 season. Now, it’s time to do the same for college.
With less than two weeks to go until kickoff, here’s a look at our top 50 players in college football entering this season.
1. WR/CB Travis Hunter, Colorado
Hunter tops this list because of his rare athleticism. The best modern-day comparison is baseball’s Shohei Ohtani, a player capable of dominating two ways while 99.9% of other players focus on excelling at one position. Hunter tallied 721 receiving yards and three interceptions in nine games for Colorado last year. Despite missing three games due to injury, he still led the nation with 1,044 snaps while earning 74.0-plus PFF grades on both sides of the ball.
Travis Hunter | PFF Defense Grades
The Colorado star has Pro Bowl potential at receiver and All-Pro talent at cornerback, and he would likely be a first-round pick at either if he stuck to it full-time. Hunter is neither the best wide receiver nor the best cornerback in college football, but the fact that he’s exceptional at both positions at the same time makes him the best player in college football.
Travis Hunter | PFF Offense Grades
2. RB Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State
Gordon has a strong argument to lead this list as the only player in college football who was the best at his position last year and returned to school. The true sophomore led the nation with 1,732 rushing yards while placing second in rushing touchdowns (21) and yards after contact (1,056). Gordon did all of that while receiving only 19 total carries over the first three games, but he averaged nearly 150 yards over the final 11 contests.
Oklahoma State also finished just 103rd in team run-blocking grade (55.3), making Gordon's dominance even more impressive. He was relied on heavily in the Cowboys’ passing game, as his 330 receiving yards were the third most by a Power Five running back in 2023.
Next year, he’ll attempt to join Jonathan Taylor, Darren McFadden and Ricky Williams as the only running backs to win the Doak Walker Award twice.
3. DI Mason Graham, Michigan
Graham was the fourth-most valuable defensive tackle in the nation this past season, according to PFF’s wins above average metric, and was sixth in that same group with a 15.9% pass-rush win rate. Graham was one of only two interior defensive linemen in the country to finish with top-10 grades as both a pass-rusher and run defender. The other was T’Vondre Sweat. Graham is currently the top prospect on PFF’s 2025 NFL Draft big board.
4. CB Will Johnson, Michigan
Johnson’s 90.1 man-coverage grade since 2022 is tied for the best mark in college football — equal to that of Quinyon Mitchell, who was selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Johnson has ideal size (6-foot-2 and 202 pounds) and technique for the position. He has all the makings of a potential top-five pick in 2025 and will remind many of Pat Surtain II.
5. T Will Campbell, LSU
Campbell started immediately at left tackle for LSU and has been nothing but a star. His 85.6 pass-blocking grade on true pass sets in his 2022 true freshman season trailed only Peter Skoronski among Power Five tackles. This past season, Campbell ranked fifth among FBS offensive tackles with an 84.9 run-blocking grade.
Campbell has a strong upper body and great hand placement. He is the best offensive tackle in college football and should be a top-10 pick in next year’s draft.
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