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
1Marques WhiteSMU99.5
2Langston HardyWake Forest99.4
3Xavier LewisNorth Carolina99.1
4Will HeldtClemson99.1
5Gabe KirschkeWake Forest98.9
6E'Lla BoykinBoston College97.8
7Cortez HarrisVirginia Tech97.4
8Tawfiq ThomasGeorgia Tech97.2
9Aycen StevensVirginia Tech97.2
10Marquise LightfootMiami96.9
11Nick JamesPittsburgh96.1
12Bryce DavisDuke96.1
13Clev LubinLouisville95.7
14Aakil WashingtonSMU95.4
15Isaiah NealPittsburgh95.4
16Zach LohavichanWake Forest94.9
17Tyshon ReedDuke93.8
18Dallas AfalavaWake Forest93.3
19London MerrittClemson92.8
20Leroy JacksonNorth Carolina92.1
21Mylachi WilliamsVirginia Tech92.1
22Omar StaplesStanford91.6
23Tunmise AdeleyeSyracuse91.0
24Taje McCoyGeorgia Tech90.4
25Christian DavisSMU89.1
26Tavion AtkinsonSMU88.2
27Nissi OgbeborSyracuse88.2
28Armondo BlountMiami86.7
29Kemari CopelandVirginia Tech85.4
30Christian HudsonBoston College85.4
31Demetrius BallardBoston College85.4
32Jaylen HarveyNorth Carolina85.4
33Malcolm Alcorn-CrowderSMU82.8
34Sean FitzSimmonsPittsburgh82.8
35Elhadj FallVirginia Tech81.5
36Kadear DembeleWake Forest80.0
37Rashard PerrySyracuse80.0
38Fisher CamacVirginia80.0
39Kevin O'ConnorDuke78.5
40Onye NwosisiBoston College75.7
41Matt HerronWake Forest75.7
42Connor BachhuberStanford75.7
43Nate BurrellCalifornia75.7
44Jaeden MoorePittsburgh73.6
45Jahkai LangSMU71.4
46Sichan JohnVirginia71.4
47Jericho JohnsonCalifornia71.4
48Matthew Fobbs-WhiteVirginia69.3
49Zach RowellStanford69.3
50Noah CarterGeorgia Tech69.3

Top 50 of 135. 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.