College Football Player Grades by Position

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?

Collin Gill

Charlotte · DB

99.8

Jo Pierce

UAB · DB

99.3

Kevin Adams III

Tulane · DB

98.7

#	Player	Team	Grade
1	Collin GillCharlotte	Charlotte	99.8
2	Jo PierceUAB	UAB	99.3
3	Kevin Adams IIITulane	Tulane	98.7
4	Ian FosterMemphis	Memphis	96.0
5	Ayden JacksonSouth Florida	South Florida	95.3
6	Jayden SweeneyFlorida Atlantic	Florida Atlantic	94.9
7	Dylan SmithMemphis	Memphis	94.9
8	Tyson WilliamsTulsa	Tulsa	94.4
9	Brandon JonesNorth Texas	North Texas	93.7
10	Peyton TaylorNorth Texas	North Texas	92.4
11	CJ CoombesNorth Texas	North Texas	91.6
12	Bo Simpson-NealyFlorida Atlantic	Florida Atlantic	90.5
13	Jack TchienchouTulane	Tulane	89.0
14	Josh RobertsFlorida Atlantic	Florida Atlantic	86.6
15	Jeremiah JordanUAB	UAB	85.3
16	Anthony RogersTulane	Tulane	84.3
17	Giuseppe SessiNavy	Navy	83.3
18	Darrell SweetingUAB	UAB	82.5
19	Cornell AllenCharlotte	Charlotte	82.5
20	Jamir BenjaminRice	Rice	81.8
21	Chauncey Logan Jr.Memphis	Memphis	81.8
22	Jameel Croft Jr.Charlotte	Charlotte	80.9
23	Saboor KarriemTemple	Temple	80.9
24	Dy'Lon WomackCharlotte	Charlotte	79.8
25	Ashton WilliamsTulsa	Tulsa	79.8
26	Caldra WillifordTulsa	Tulsa	78.3
27	Devin RobinsonTulsa	Tulsa	78.3
28	Jonathan PattersonCharlotte	Charlotte	76.4
29	Jay CrableFlorida Atlantic	Florida Atlantic	76.4
30	Zach WilliamsTulsa	Tulsa	74.7
31	Jason Cross Jr.North Texas	North Texas	74.7
32	Matthew SeligaNavy	Navy	73.0
33	Koa AkuiRice	Rice	71.2
34	Tavin WardSouth Florida	South Florida	71.2
35	Anta'Veon McKenzieUAB	UAB	68.9
36	Tayvion BeasleySouth Florida	South Florida	68.9
37	Zane WoodhamTulsa	Tulsa	68.9
38	Cam RobinsonNavy	Navy	68.9
39	Avery PowellTemple	Temple	66.8
40	Delvon GulleyUAB	UAB	66.8
41	Joel RogersUTSA	UTSA	63.5
42	Kamaurri McKinleyEast Carolina	East Carolina	63.5
43	Adrian LaingTemple	Temple	61.6
44	E'zaiah ShineTulane	Tulane	59.5
45	Rylan LeathersTulsa	Tulsa	59.5
46	JD DrewTulsa	Tulsa	57.1
47	Chris Tooley IIIFlorida Atlantic	Florida Atlantic	57.1
48	Gavench MarcelinFlorida Atlantic	Florida Atlantic	57.1
49	Ayden DuncansonEast Carolina	East Carolina	57.1
50	Kevon Merrell Jr.East Carolina	East Carolina	57.1

Top 50 of 139. 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.