PFF ranks Top 50 college football players ahead of 2025 season

The 2025 college football season is officially just 50 days away, as week zero kicks off on August 23.

Using their data and grading, PFF identified the most dominant and valuable players in the country. They ranked the top 50 college football players ahead of the 2025 season.

Alabama, Penn State and Texas lead the way with five players in the top 50, followed by Clemson with four. Ohio State however boasts the top two players in the country, while Clemson has three in the top-10.

1. WR Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State

True sophomore wide receiver Jeremiah Smith was tabbed as the best player in the country heading into the 2025 season.

As a freshman, Smith was a key cog in Ohio State‘s first National Championship winning team since 2014. With Will Howard at quarterback, Smith hauled in 76 receptions for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was named a First Team All-American, earned First Team All-Big Ten honors and was the Rose Bowl Offensive MVP. Big things are expected from Smith as a sophomore, who shattered Cris Carter‘s Ohio State freshman receiving records last season.

2. S Caleb Downs, Ohio State

In Downs’ first season in Columbus in 2024, he was named a unanimous First Team All-American and was named the Big Ten Conference’s Defensive Back of the Year. He, just like Smith, was a key member of a National Championship winning team last season.

As a sophomore, the Alabama transfer totaled 81 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 0.5 sack and two interceptions. He is lauded as the best defensive player in the country heading into the 2025 season.

3. DL Peter Woods, Clemson

Junior defensive lineman Peter Woods is the first of three Clemson Tigers in the top-10 of PFF’s top-50 rankings.

Woods emerged as a defensive monster in the ACC last season, recording 28 tackles with 8.5 TFL and three sacks en route to an All-ACC Honorable Mention last season. Over his first two years of college football, he is both the highest-graded and most valuable returning Power Four defensive tackle, according to PFF WAA.

4. RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame

Notre Dame‘s Jeremiyah Love is tabbed as the highest ranked running back in the country, fresh off a 2024 campaign in which he rushed for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns.

His defining moment came in the Fighting Irish’s Allstate Sugar Bowl victory over Indiana, when he rushed for a 98-yard touchdown. Love was the second-most-valuable running back in college football in 2024, according to PFF WAA, and his 91.0 PFF overall grade ranked fifth.

5. OT Spencer Fano, Utah

OT Spencer Fano is just the latest Utah offensive tackle to earn national praise, as he is the highest ranked offensive lineman in the country heading into the 2025 season.

Fano was named a PFF First Team All-American last season, along with being tabbed to the All-Big 12 First Team. He brings a wealth of experience with 25 career games played for an Utah team looking to get back in the College Football Playoff conversation. The Spanish Fork, UT native’s 93.0 PFF overall grade in 2024 led all FBS tackles.

6. CB Leonard Moore, Notre Dame

Moore was a standout at his position as a true freshman last season, as he was named the 2024 FWAA Freshman Defensive Player of the Year along with being named a FWAA Freshman All-American.

In 16 games, Moore recorded 48 tackles, 2 TFL, 11 pass break ups and two interceptions for a Fighting Irish team that fell just shy of a National Championship. He finished his true freshman season as the third-most-valuable cornerback in college football, according to PFF WAA, trailing only Texas‘ Jahdae Barron and Colorado‘s Travis Hunter.

7. QB Cade Klubnik, Clemson

Clemson‘s Cade Klubnik has been tabbed as the top-ranked quarterback in the country heading into the 2025 season.

As a junior in 2024, Klubnik passed for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He is one of only three two-time ACC Championship Game MVPs all-time and ranks in the top five in Clemson history in nearly every passing category. He has been lauded as a pre-season favorite for Heisman, joining Texas‘ Arch Manning and LSU‘s Garrett Nussmeier.

8. EDGE Colin Simmons, Texas

The 2024 Shawn Alexander National Freshman of the Year award winner heads into the 2025 season as one of the best defensive players in the country.

Simmons exploded in Texas‘ first season in the SEC last season, recording 48 tackles, 14 TFL and nine sacks as a true freshman. He selected to Freshman All-America teams by ESPN, FWAA, PFF and The Athletic and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.

9. EDGE Dylan Stewart, South Carolina

Much like Simmons, Stewart emerged as a superstar freshman last season for Shane Beamer‘s Gamecocks.

As one of the nation’s top pass rusher last season, the Washington, D.C. native recorded 23 tackles, 10.5 TFL and 6.5 sacks with three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Look for Stewart and Simmons to battle over the SEC Defensive Player of the Year honor this season.

10. EDGE T.J. Parker, Clemson

Clemson EDGE rusher T.J. Parker is the last of three Clemson players to round out the top-ten.

As a sophomore last season, Parker recorded 57 tackles, 19.5 TFL and 12 sacks. His 12 sacks led all power-four rushers last season, leading him to be currently projected as the No. 2 overall pick in PFF’s 2026 NFL Mock Draft.

Players 11-50

11. C Jake Slaughter, Florida
12. WR Ryan Williams, Alabama
13. CB Jermod McCoy, Tennessee
14. LB Anthony Hill Jr., Texas
15. EDGE Reuben Bain Jr., Miami
16. G Ar’maj Reed-Adams, Texas A&M
17. QB Sam Leavitt, Arizona State
18. WR Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State
19. TE Eli Stowers, Vanderbilt
20. S Koi Perich, Minnesota
21. QB Carson Beck, Miami
22. QB Drew Allar, Penn State
23. QB Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
24. CB D’Angelo Ponds, Penn State
25. S Dillon Thieneman, Oregon
26. S Michael Taaffe, Texas
27. CB Avieon Terrell, Clemson
28. RB Isaac Brown, Louisville
29. LB Taurean York, Texas A&M
30. EDGE Keldric Faulk, Auburn
31. RB Nick Singleton, Penn State
32. RB Jonah Coleman, Washington
33. CB Chandler Rivers, Duke
34. EDGE LT Overton, Alabama
35. EDGE Tyreak Sapp, Florida
36. EDGE Mikail Kamara, Indiana
37. RB Makhi Hughes, Oregon
38. WR Elijah Sarratt, Indiana
39. DT Zane Durant, Penn State
40. DL Tim Keenan III, Alabama
41. OT Francis Mauigoa, Miami
42. S KJ Bolden, Georgia
43. OT Kadyn Proctor, Alabama
44. LB Whit Weeks, LSU
45. LB Austin Romaine, Kansas State
46. CB Malik Muhammad, Texas
47. S Bray Hubbard, Alabama
48. EDGE Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State
49. S Terry Moore, Duke
50. QB Arch Manning, Texas