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?

Tony Rojas

Penn State · LB

99.9

Sammy Omosigho

UCLA · LB

99.8

Elijah Melendez

Auburn · LB

99.7

#	Player	Team	Grade
1	Tony RojasPenn State	Penn State	99.9
2	Sammy OmosighoUCLA	UCLA	99.8
3	Elijah MelendezAuburn	Auburn	99.7
4	Xavier AtkinsAuburn	Auburn	99.5
5	Dax CollinsTulsa	Tulsa	99.4
6	Colin GallagherDelaware	Delaware	99.3
7	Isaac ZayToledo	Toledo	99.1
8	MarcAnthony ParkerNavy	Navy	99.0
9	Anthony PalanoBoston College	Boston College	98.9
10	Blake MatthewsDelaware	Delaware	98.7
11	EJ SmithNevada	Nevada	98.6
12	Muaaz ByardUAB	UAB	98.3
13	Gavin WillisCharlotte	Charlotte	98.3
14	Marlin DeanUAB	UAB	98.3
15	Rasheem BilesTexas	Texas	98.1
16	Yhonzae PierreAlabama	Alabama	97.9
17	Troy BowlesMichigan	Michigan	97.9
18	Blake FletcherAir Force	Air Force	97.6
19	Austin RomaineTexas Tech	Texas Tech	97.6
20	Caleb WoodsonAlabama	Alabama	97.3
21	Kaleb SpencerVirginia Tech	Virginia Tech	97.3
22	Jalen WoodsUCLA	UCLA	97.3
23	Alonzo Jackson Jr.Louisiana Tech	Louisiana Tech	96.9
24	Vincent FirenzeWake Forest	Wake Forest	96.9
25	Mason PosaWisconsin	Wisconsin	96.6
26	Matt RoseStanford	Stanford	96.6
27	Nick RinaldiVanderbilt	Vanderbilt	96.6
28	Zach MowchanEastern Michigan	Eastern Michigan	96.3
29	K'Von ShermanUConn	UConn	96.1
30	Braydon BrusNorthwestern	Northwestern	96.1
31	Sullivan SchlimgenIowa State	Iowa State	95.9
32	Zach RuffinMemphis	Memphis	95.6
33	Luke MetzAlabama	Alabama	95.6
34	Curly OrdonezTemple	Temple	95.6
35	Dylan LeeSan José State	San José State	95.6
36	Maverick BaranowskiMinnesota	Minnesota	95.3
37	Kooper EbelPenn State	Penn State	95.1
38	Korey SmithMiddle Tennessee	Middle Tennessee	95.1
39	Tyler LockhartMississippi State	Mississippi State	94.7
40	Chris Thompson Jr.Tulsa	Tulsa	94.7
41	Ben RobertsTexas Tech	Texas Tech	94.7
42	Jayden WoodsFlorida	Florida	94.7
43	Arion CarterTennessee	Tennessee	94.2
44	Owen HeineckeOklahoma	Oklahoma	94.2
45	Brandon TuckerUTSA	UTSA	94.2
46	Jaden YatesHouston	Houston	93.7
47	Jared LloydMissouri State	Missouri State	93.7
48	K'vion ThunderbirdFresno State	Fresno State	93.7
49	Aiden SullivanOregon State	Oregon State	93.7
50	Nathaniel StaehlingMichigan	Michigan	93.2

Top 50 of 749. 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.