College Football Player Grades by Position

QB RB WR TE DL LB DB

Qualified: at least 10 touches per game against FBS teams, over two games or more. Show everyone

Wayshawn Parker

Utah · RB

97.6

LJ Martin

BYU · RB

96.9

Cameron Dickey

Texas Tech · RB

91.5

#	Player	Team	EPA/play	Success%	Plays	Grade
1	Wayshawn ParkerUtah · EPA 0.40	Utah	0.398	50%	48	97.6
2	LJ MartinBYU · EPA 0.48	BYU	0.482	51%	39	96.9
3	Cameron DickeyTexas Tech · EPA 0.34	Texas Tech	0.337	56%	40	91.5
4	Aiden FloraIowa State · EPA 0.39	Iowa State	0.387	50%	78	90.8
5	Dylan EdwardsKansas · EPA 0.30	Kansas	0.298	53%	51	88.1
6	J'Koby WilliamsTexas Tech · EPA 0.24	Texas Tech	0.241	42%	41	87.4
7	Joe JacksonKansas State · EPA 0.16	Kansas State	0.158	41%	39	82.0
8	Re'Shaun Sanford IIHouston · EPA 0.08	Houston	0.080	39%	60	65.0
9	Makhi HughesHouston · EPA 0.05	Houston	0.053	48%	68	62.9
10	Dawson PendergrassBaylor · EPA 0.07	Baylor	0.073	49%	62	54.1
11	Cam CookWest Virginia · EPA 0.09	West Virginia	0.093	39%	118	50.0
12	Gi'Bran PayneCincinnati · EPA 0.15	Cincinnati	0.151	38%	46	45.2
13	Duke WatsonUCF · EPA 0.15	UCF	0.149	38%	50	44.6
14	Caleb HawkinsOklahoma State · EPA 0.12	Oklahoma State	0.117	46%	87	43.9
15	Rodney Fields Jr.Kansas State · EPA 0.11	Kansas State	0.110	35%	38	34.4
16	Kedrick ReescanoArizona · EPA 0.05	Arizona	0.049	43%	35	28.2
17	Jeremy PayneTCU · EPA -0.02	TCU	-0.016	47%	80	18.7
18	Caden KnightenBaylor · EPA -0.12	Baylor	-0.118	42%	35	16.0
19	Kyson BrownArizona State · EPA -0.20	Arizona State	-0.195	32%	40	7.8
20	JaQuail SmithColorado · EPA -0.15	Colorado	-0.150	46%	32	3.7

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.