College football · 2026

Season grade leaderboard

Every FBS player judged play by play against FBS opponents, updated after every game. How is this calculated?

Qualified: played in at least half of their team's games against FBS teams. Show everyone

Defensive grades use box-score stats, not play-level attribution, so they carry lower confidence than offense grades. Why?

#PlayerGrade
1Kingston LopaCalifornia99.5
2Tyren PolleySMU98.8
3Jarvis LeeSMU98.4
4Braylon JohnsonWake Forest98.1
5Davaughn PattersonWake Forest97.8
6Elliot Washington IIClemson97.0
7Marcus UptonBoston College97.0
8Corey MyrickClemson96.6
9Ja'Bril RawlsFlorida State96.0
10KP PriceBoston College95.3
11Daniel HarrisCalifornia94.9
12Charlie ComellaBoston College94.4
13Ashton HamptonClemson92.4
14Jerome Carter IIIClemson91.6
15Kaleb BeasleyLouisville91.6
16Omar ThorntonMiami91.6
17Jay GreenStanford91.0
18Cruce BrookinsPittsburgh91.0
19Darrius DavisStanford90.5
20Ronan HanafinClemson90.5
21Rushaun TongueWake Forest87.9
22Raion StraderPittsburgh87.9
23Greg SmithNorth Carolina87.9
24Charlie EckhardtStanford86.6
25Jimmy WyrickSMU86.6
26Deuce Blades IIWake Forest86.6
27Ashlynd BarkerFlorida State85.3
28Isaiah CrosbyCalifornia84.3
29Somad EaddyWake Forest83.3
30Shawn Lee Jr.Pittsburgh83.3
31T.J. BanksLouisville83.3
32Jaiden PattersonNorth Carolina82.5
33CJ Richard Jr.Florida State81.8
34Carter DavisBoston College81.8
35Quentin ReddishVirginia Tech79.8
36Tyson FlowersVirginia Tech79.8
37Tae HarrisGeorgia Tech78.3
38Josh GuerrierPittsburgh78.3
39Davien KerrSyracuse78.3
40Leroy BryantStanford76.4
41Ronnie Royal IIINC State74.7
42Dylan FlowersDuke74.7
43Andrew PellicciottaDuke74.7
44Kelvin HillGeorgia Tech73.0
45Ma'Khi JonesFlorida State73.0
46Ashaad WilliamsWake Forest71.2
47Jacobie HendersonVirginia71.2
48Savion RileyGeorgia Tech68.9
49Brandon NicholsonStanford68.9
50Ethan O'ConnorMiami68.9

Top 50 of 147. Pick a conference to see more.

How college grades work

College grades use the same method as the NFL: every play's expected points added, adjusted for how good the defense was, ranked against every other player at the position. The play data comes from CollegeFootballData.com, with ESPN's play feed saying who threw, ran and caught the ball. Four things are different.

  • Only games against FBS teams count. A power-conference offense against an FCS defense tells us little about either, so those games show in the game log but aren't graded.
  • Garbage time is left out: plays with a lead of more than 38 points in the 2nd quarter, 28 in the 3rd, or 22 in the 4th. Blowouts are common in college, and backups piling up numbers against backups would otherwise count like starters.
  • No win probability or completion-percentage data. The college play feed doesn't have them, so grades rest on opponent-adjusted EPA and success rate (the share of plays with positive EPA).
  • Grades and leaderboards use a minimum workload: every grade is a percentile among the players who meet it, so a few plays can't skew anyone else's. Per game against FBS teams, 14 dropbacks for quarterbacks, 10 touches for running backs, 5 targets for receivers and 3 for tight ends, counted over at least two games. Defenders need to have played in half their team's games.

Defensive grades use the same box-score impact score as the NFL's, minus forced fumbles, which the college box score doesn't record.