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?

Wendell Gregory

Kansas State · DL

99.2

Khalil Laufau

Houston · DL

97.6

Leroy Harris III

Kansas · DL

96.7

#	Player	Team	Grade
1	Wendell GregoryKansas State	Kansas State	99.2
2	Khalil LaufauHouston	Houston	97.6
3	Leroy Harris IIIKansas	Kansas	96.7
4	Isaiah NixonUCF	UCF	96.6
5	Josh HoughCincinnati	Cincinnati	96.1
6	Lamont Lester Jr.Colorado	Colorado	95.4
7	Ansel Din-MbuhTCU	TCU	93.8
8	Jeffson LafontantUCF	UCF	93.3
9	Ashton PorterHouston	Houston	92.8
10	Toby AneneColorado	Colorado	92.1
11	Jireh MoeUtah	Utah	91.6
12	Tausili AkanaBYU	BYU	91.6
13	Horace LockettUCF	UCF	90.4
14	David SantiagoKansas	Kansas	90.4
15	Nate GabrielWest Virginia	West Virginia	89.1
16	A.J. Holmes Jr.Texas Tech	Texas Tech	89.1
17	Sincere EdwardsUCF	UCF	89.1
18	Corey McIntyre Jr.West Virginia	West Virginia	88.2
19	Jayden BryantKansas State	Kansas State	88.2
20	Jaleel JohnsonOklahoma State	Oklahoma State	87.5
21	Garrick PonderBaylor	Baylor	86.7
22	Harper HollomanWest Virginia	West Virginia	85.4
23	Keviyan HuddlestonOklahoma State	Oklahoma State	82.8
24	Jordan MackBaylor	Baylor	82.8
25	Kyler JordanBaylor	Baylor	80.0
26	Santana HopperColorado	Colorado	80.0
27	John SchobelTCU	TCU	78.5
28	KJ HensonWest Virginia	West Virginia	77.2
29	Patrick BauerCincinnati	Cincinnati	77.2
30	Paul OyewaleTCU	TCU	75.7
31	James WilliamsOklahoma State	Oklahoma State	73.6
32	Zeke Durham-CampbellWest Virginia	West Virginia	73.6
33	Elijah HillKansas State	Kansas State	73.6
34	Dakyus BrinkleyKansas	Kansas	71.4
35	Drew LoganCincinnati	Cincinnati	71.4
36	Malik CharlesOklahoma State	Oklahoma State	69.3
37	David AfoghoWest Virginia	West Virginia	69.3
38	Kamren WashingtonBaylor	Baylor	67.5
39	Karson KaufusiUtah	Utah	65.3
40	Mays PeseArizona	Arizona	65.3
41	Aymeric KoumbaUCF	UCF	65.3
42	De'Marion ThomasHouston	Houston	63.1
43	Jace GilbertIowa State	Iowa State	61.0
44	Bryson LambIowa State	Iowa State	61.0
45	Blake HeroldKansas	Kansas	61.0
46	Lance HoltzclawUtah	Utah	61.0
47	Thomas CollinsUCF	UCF	61.0
48	Julien LaventureTexas Tech	Texas Tech	61.0
49	Kylan SalterColorado	Colorado	58.7
50	Koron HaywardTCU	TCU	56.7

Top 50 of 125. 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.