By any measure, college football is one of the most popular sports in the United States. This sport is very competitive because it is for college students.
Everyone who plays football wants to be the best football player of all time. However, becoming one of the best college players of all time comes with a lot of effort.
We went through various players, and finally, we could put this list together for you. You would find in this article how these players were ranked.
You would furthermore find the names of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings and what made them stand out from all others. Keep reading.
Table of Contents
- How Were the Best College Players Of All Time 2024 Rankings Ranked?
- Does The Heisman Trophy Have A Say In The Best College Players Of All Time 2024 Rankings?
- What Make The Best College Players Of All Time 2024 Rankings Stand Out?
- 15 Best College Players of All Time | 2024 Rankings
- #1. Herschel Walker – Running Back (RB) for the Georgia Bulldogs
- #2. Archie Griffin – Running Back (RB) for the Ohio State Buckeyes
- #3. Frazier Tommy – Quarterback (QB) for the Nebraska Cornhuskers
- #4. Barry Sanders – Running Back is the position (RB) for the Cowboys of Oklahoma State
- #5. Dick Butkus – Linebacker/Center (LB/C) for the Fighting Illini
- #6. Howard Cassady – Running Back (RB) for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
- #7. Marcus Allen – Running Back for the USC Trojans
- #8. Tim Tebow – Quarterback (QB) for the Florida Gators
- #9. Vince Young – Quarterback (QB) for the University of Texas Longhorns
- #10. Tommy Nobis – Left Guard or Offensive Guard (LG/OG) for the University of Texas Longhorns.
- #11. Deion Sanders – Cornerback (CB) for the Florida State Seminoles.
- #12. Earl Campbell – Running Back (RB) for the University of Texas at Austin Longhorns
- #13. Peyton Manning – Quarterback (QB) for the Volunteers of the University of Tennessee
- #14. OJ Simpson – Running Back (RB) for the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans
- #15. Hugh Green – Defense End (DE) for the Pittsburgh Panthers
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
- References
- Recommendations
How Were the Best College Players Of All Time 2024 Rankings Ranked?
Before each season begins, a few FBS coaches and members of the sports media who cover the sport get asked to rank who they think will be the best players.
Even though these are just guesses, the polls will mostly be on how well a team did the year before. The level of talent on the team and the quality of all the new players are also considered.
During the season, pollsters have to re-rank the teams often to consider how the games went the week before. When a ranked team wins, its ranking usually stays the same or even goes up.
However, these lists are not based on science. Most of the time, they are mostly based on what the pollsters think.
A computer algorithm is mostly used to figure out who are the best college players of all time 2024 rankings. However. this doesn’t matter for a poll of people.
Coaches and media people think that Alabama players are the best college players of all time. However, this is just their opinion and not a fact.
You should read: The 50 Best College Football Players of All Time | 2024 Ranking
Does The Heisman Trophy Have A Say In The Best College Players Of All Time 2024 Rankings?
The Heisman Memorial Trophy is usually given every year to the best American college player. It got named after John W. Heisman, who was a famous college football coach.
He was also the athletic director of the New York Downtown Athletic Club. The Heisman Trophy contributes a lot to who gets into our list of best college players of all time.
Read Also: Top 15 Best Male College Athlete Espy | 2024 Ranking
What Make The Best College Players Of All Time 2024 Rankings Stand Out?
There are factors we saw that the best college players of all time 2024 rankings all have in common. Some of them are:
- They were stars in high school.
- These players all stepped up in their senior year
- They were also ready for after their senior year
- The best college players of all time practiced every day. They were always getting ready in the gym, on the track, or in the weight room.
- Practically have trained their muscles. They are faster, bigger, and stronger, and their bodies are almost at their best.
- These players are fast. The quarterbacks are better at throwing the ball. Linebackers chase down their opponents faster, and running backs run faster.
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15 Best College Players of All Time | 2024 Rankings
So, who are the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings? They are:
#1. Herschel Walker – Running Back (RB) for the Georgia Bulldogs
Herschel Walker is the best college football player of all time, but there is only one of him. Some players were the best for only one or two years.
Walker put the score at 3. Because of this, he is at the top of the list. This sports hero was the running back for the University of Georgia.
He was a Bulldog like no other Bulldog. He played for the Bulldogs and was an All-American three times. In 1982, he won the Maxwell Award and the Heisman Trophy.
He is the only college football player in history to finish in the top three of Heisman voting polls in all three of his collegiate seasons. He was also the first NCAA player ever to get into the top 10 in rushing yards after only three years of playing.
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#2. Archie Griffin – Running Back (RB) for the Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State University Buckeyes were Archie Griffin’s college football team from 1972 to 1975. Griffin won the starting spot as a freshman, which many sophomores didn’t like because they thought Griffin took their spot.
Griffin was the T-formation halfback for the school in 1972. He was the I-formation tailback for two years, from 1973 to 1975, after a year. As a first-year player, he led his team in yards with 867.
A year after their team switched to the I-formation, his number went up. As a sophomore, he ran for 1,428 yards during the regular season. As a junior, he ran for 1,620 yards, and as a senior, he ran for 1,357 yards. Griffin is one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
Griffin ran for 5,589 yards on 924 carries over his four years with the Buckeyes. It was an NCAA record at the time (1972-1975). He also had 26 touchdowns and 6,559 yards from all kinds of plays.
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#3. Frazier Tommy – Quarterback (QB) for the Nebraska Cornhuskers
On our rankings of the best college players of all time, Frazier Tommy comes third. As a quarterback for the University of Nebraska, Tommie Frazier was a source of pride for the school. In 1994 and 1995, he led his team to back-to-back national titles.
Since the 1950s, only four other quarterbacks, Jerry Tagge of Nebraska, Steve Davis of Oklahoma, Matt Leinart of the US, and AJ McCarron of Alabama, have done the same.
He was one of only five players to win two straight national titles with no ties or losses. He got named MVP because he led his team to three national championships. No other player is currently known to have done this.
When he was the quarterback for the Nebraska football team, they were one of the best college football teams in US history. Frazier Tommy is one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
#4. Barry Sanders – Running Back is the position (RB) for the Cowboys of Oklahoma State
Sanders was born on July 16, 1968. He is a professional football player for the National Football League’s Detroit Lions. During college, he was one of the best football players for the Oklahoma State University Cowboys.
In 1988, when he was a junior, he had one of the best individual seasons in the history of the college. He ran for 2,850 yards and 42 touchdowns in 12 games. He won the Heisman Trophy because he was the best college player in the whole country.
Barry Sanders got inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2003, he also got inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Sanders entered the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame that same year. He is one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
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#5. Dick Butkus – Linebacker/Center (LB/C) for the Fighting Illini
Dick Butkus went to the University of Illinois and played for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team. He was a linebacker and center from 1962 to 1964.
During his first year, Butkus got named the third-term center for the 1962 All-Big Ten Conference football team. This was by the Associated Press and the second-team center by the United Press International.
The 1964 Rose Bowl got won by Illinois, which had a record of 8-1-1. His team named him the season’s most valuable player, and the Chicago Tribune Silver Football named him the Big 10’s MVP.
In 1963, all the college football coaches picked him for the All-America team. While in 1963, Butkus’ senior year, he and George Donnelly were both named co-captains of their team.
In 1964, UPI named him Lineman of the Year. The Sporting News and the American Football Coaches Association named him Player of the Year. Dick Butkus is currently one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
#6. Howard Cassady – Running Back (RB) for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Howard Albert “Hopalong” Cassady made it to our rankings of the best college players of all time. He was a good professional football player in the United States. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1955. In 1979, after more than 20 years, he got into the College Football Hall of Fame.
During college, from 1952 to 1955, he played for the Ohio State University Buckeyes. In 36 games as a running back, he scored 37 touchdowns. Even though he was a defensive back, he never gave up a pass in his four years at the university. From 1954-1955, everyone agreed that he should be an All-American. He is one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
In 1954, their team also went undefeated for the whole season and went on to win the national title. Alan Ameche of Wisconsin won the Heisman Trophy that year, and Cassady came in third. The next year, he finally won the Heisman Trophy for the best sport. He also won the Maxwell Award and became the Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press.
During his first year playing for Ohio State, people began calling him “Hopalong.” Sportswriters from Columbus saw him play, and they said that Cassady “hopped” all over the field like he was Hopalong Cassidy, a fictional cowboy. He is #6 on the rankings of the best college players of all time.
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#7. Marcus Allen – Running Back for the USC Trojans
Marcus Allen is #7 on our rankings for the best college players of all time. From 1978 to 1981, Marcus Allen played running back for the University of Southern California. He was first picked up by head coach John Robinson as a defensive back, but then he got moved to tailback.
In 1978, when he was a freshman, he played on the Trojans’ National Championship Team as a backup for Charles White, who would later win the Heisman Trophy. Allen got moved to fullback a year later. Allen was the starting tailback in 1980 and ran for 1,563 yards.
During that time, it was the third-most in the country, just behind George Rogers’ 1,781 yards in South Carolina and Herschel Walker’s 1,616 yards in Georgia.
The next year, he ran for 2,342 yards, making him the second player in NCAA history to run for more than 2,000 yards in just one season.
Furthermore, he has 2,683 yards on offense and won the Maxwell Award, the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp Award, and the Pac-10 Player of the Year award. Marcus Allen remains one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
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#8. Tim Tebow – Quarterback (QB) for the Florida Gators
Tim Tebow ranks #8 on our rankings of the best college players of all time. He was once a quarterback for a professional football team.
He was the quarterback for the University of Florida, and in 2007 he won the Heisman Trophy.
Furthermore, he took advantage of an athletic scholarship and played football for the University of Florida’s Florida Gators from 2006 to 2009. He is one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
During his freshman year, he was a backup player. In the end, he led his team to the 2008 BCS championship. The Gators had a 13-1 record the following year. In 2008, the coaches for the Gators chose him to be the team captain. By 2009, he was the first player to win the Gator’s MVP award three times.
In the first game of that same year, he threw and ran for touchdowns at the same time. They were able to convince Troy and Charleston Southern to join them. In the third game, they beat Tennessee again. But he failed to throw a touchdown pass, which would have been his first since he was a freshman.
After he graduated from college, he held 28 records for the University of Florida, 14 for the Southeastern Conference, and 5 for the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He was the all-time leader in the SEC in terms of completion percentage (67.1%), passing efficiency (170.8), rushing yards (2,947), rushing touchdowns (57), and passing touchdown to interception ratio (5.5 to 1), and total touchdowns (145).
#9. Vince Young – Quarterback (QB) for the University of Texas Longhorns
Before Vincent Paul Young became a quarterback in the NFL, he played for the University of Texas from 2002 to 2005. He was on the Texas Longhorns football team, which got coached by Mack Brown.
In his junior year, he won the Davey O’Brien Award, given every year to the best college quarterback in the country. He also has a Heisman Trophy, even though Reggie Bush won it.
Young led his team to the BCS National Championship in the 2006 Rose Bowl. There, they played against the USC Trojans, who were the defending BCS national champions. He handled 467 yards (267 through the air and 200 on the ground) and three touchdowns on the ground.
This helped their team win 41–38. He got the Rose Bowl Most Valuable Player Award because of the win. He is #9 on our list of rankings of the best college players of all time.
During his early years in college, Young was a “great usher but an average passer.” His strange throwing motion, which became a “side-arm,” was also called into question.
Still, he could get to a record of 30–2 as a starter, which would make him the best quarterback at the school based on the number of wins. He is one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
Social media handle- Instagram
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#10. Tommy Nobis – Left Guard or Offensive Guard (LG/OG) for the University of Texas Longhorns.
Thomas Henry Nobis Jr. played football at the University of Texas before he joined the National Football League and played linebacker for 11 seasons. He ranks #10 on our list of rankings of the best college players of all time.
During his time, he was one of the best college football linebackers of all time as well. From 1963 to 1965, he played for the Texas Longhorns and made about 20 tackles per game, on average.
He was a key member of the 1964 national champion team that beat the Navy team led by Roger Staubach, who won the Heisman Trophy. Nobis was an All-American twice and was on the All-Southwest Conference team three times.
During the Orange Bowl in 1965, when he was still a junior, he made one of the most famous tackles in sports history. With just a 21-17 lead, he led his whole team to stop top-ranked Joe Namath of Alabama.
Tommy Nobis became the “iron man” because he played both offense and defense in college. Even though he was a linebacker, he also played guard on the offensive side. Most of the time, he was the person who blocked the run that led to a touchdown.
#11. Deion Sanders – Cornerback (CB) for the Florida State Seminoles.
This American athlete, Deion Luwynn Sanders, is popular as “Prime Time.” He has been a coach in the National Football League for 14 seasons and is also a sports analyst.
He went to college at Florida State University, where he ran track, played baseball, and played football. In his first year of high school, he went to Seminole and played outfield for the baseball team. He is one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
Sanders was a third-team All-American in 1986 when Bobby Bowden was the football coach at the school and a two-time All-American cornerback in 1987 and 1988.
During his college football career, he picked off 14 passes, and three of those were in bowl games. He also took an interception and ran it back about 100 yards for a touchdown. He broke Fred Biletnikoff’s record of one yard for an interception return.
Sanders won the Kim Thorpe Award in 1988. He was also praised for how well he returned punts for Florida State. In the Sugar Bowl in 1989, he picked off a pass with only 5 seconds left to help Florida State beat Auburn 13-7.
At the end of his career, he had played for 1,429 yards and returned 126 punts. Later, coach Bowden said that Sanders was the person he used to judge how good an athlete was.
You should read: 15 Best College Punters Ever | 2024 Ranking
#12. Earl Campbell – Running Back (RB) for the University of Texas at Austin Longhorns
Earl Campbell is #12 on our list of rankings of the best college players of all time. Back in college, he played for the University of Texas’s Texas Longhorns from 1974 to 1977.
He won the Heisman Trophy, among other awards. In 1974, when he was a freshman, he ran for 928 yards in all 11 games he played and scored six touchdowns on 162 carries.
The next year, the American Football Coaches Association put him on the first-team All-America list. He led the Longhorns to the Southwest Conference championship by running for 1,118 yards, scoring 78 points, and scoring 13 touchdowns.
Due to leg injuries, he had to miss four games during his junior year. In 1977, he set an amazing record by scoring 19 touchdowns and running for 1,744 yards.
In the third game of the season, against the Rice Owls, he scored four touchdowns. Texas won 72–15, and kicker Russell Erxleben set a new NCAA record with a 67-yard field goal.
Campbell’s last regular season game was a 57-28 win over Texas A&M. He ran for 222 yards, which was his career high. They ended the season without losing a game.
After the season, he won the Heisman Memorial Trophy for being the best college player that year. This was the first award given to a player from the University of Texas. Earl Campbell is one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
Social media handle- Instagram
#13. Peyton Manning – Quarterback (QB) for the Volunteers of the University of Tennessee
Peyton Williams Manning was an American football quarterback who played for the National Football League for 18 years. Manning became one of the best quarterbacks of all time and began his football career with the University of Tennessee Volunteers under head coach Phillip Fulmer.
In 1994, his first year of college football, he was the third-string quarterback. In the first game of the season, against UCLA, he was one of three quarterbacks because the team’s starter, Jerry Colquitt, got hurt on the seventh play.
However, Manning didn’t help the offense in any way. He only touched the ball three times, which is why he got taken out of the game in the end.
A year later, Manning and his team started the 1995 season by beating Georgia, an SEC rival, and East Carolina. After this, they go to Gainsville to play against the Gators. Manning threw for two touchdowns and 326 yards against Florida, giving their team a 30-21 lead at halftime.
Still, this wasn’t enough because, in the second half, the Gators outscored them 41-7 and won 62-37. This game was the only one the Vols lost during that season. They won the last eight games of the regular season.
Manning won a lot of awards, like the Maxwell Award, the first-team All-American, the Davey O’Brien Award, and the Johnny Unitas Award. In 1997, he got a Heisman Trophy for coming in second place to Charles Woodson.
He did well in school and got asked to join the Phi Beta Kappa Society and the Omicron Delta Kappa. Lastly, the National Football Association once gave him an award for being a national scholar-athlete. Manning is one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
Social media handle- Instagram
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#14. OJ Simpson – Running Back (RB) for the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans
Orenthal James Simpson was a professional football running back known as “The Juice.” He was also an actor, a spokesperson for an advertising company, and a radio and TV host. Even without his crimes, O.J. Simpson is one of the best football players of all time.
Simpson was a Galileo All-City football player back then. But his below-average grades in high school kept college recruiters from paying attention to him. Simpson became known as a defensive back and running back at the City College of San Francisco in 1965. In Prune Bowl, he led his team to a great win over Long Beach State. Simpson got a lot of attention after that win.
As a football player who wanted to switch schools, he chose his dream school, the University of Southern California. From 1967 to 1968, he was a running back for coach John McKay.
In 1967, he ran for 1,543 yards and 13 touchdowns, which was the most in the country. While in 1968, he ran for 1,880 yards on 383 carries, which was also the most in the country.
In 1968, when he was a senior, he ran for 1709 yards and 22 touchdowns. The Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp Award, and the Maxwell Award were all given to him because of this.
He beat Leroy Keyes by 1,750 points, which has been the biggest difference between the winner and the runner-up for more than 50 years. He is one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
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#15. Hugh Green – Defense End (DE) for the Pittsburgh Panthers
Hugh Green is definitely on our rankings of the best college players of all time. He played defensive end for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers from 1977 to 1980.
Back then, he played on a team with Rickey Jackson (a defensive end), Russ Grimm (a center), and Dan Marino (a quarterback) (quarterback).
Green was unanimously named to the first team of All-Americans three times, from 1978 to 1980, and the second team in 1977. He had a 39-8-1 record in his four years with the Pittsburgh Panthers.
He also won three bowl games (one Fiesta Bowl and two Gator Bowls). Green had 460 tackles and 53 sacks by the time he left college.
Hugh Green also became the fifth-best college football player ever in 1996. In the same year, he also won the College Football Hall of Fame award.
ESPN put Green at number 14 on their list of the top 25 college football players of all time in 2007. He is one of the best college players of all time in the 2024 rankings.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Mastery and control of the ball. The effectiveness of dribbling and running with the ball also contributes a lot toward what makes a football player good.
Dedicate yourself to the game. Learn everything there is to know about the sport. Train regularly. Run every day. Do exercises to increase your speed. Learn to play with both feet. Learn from the pros. Move up the graduate levels.
Making choices and shooting.
Dribbling.
Heading.
Touch and control the ball.
Skills and tricks.
Speed
Herschel Walker
Archie Griffin
Frazier Tommy
Barry Sanders
Dick Butkus
Howard Cassady
Marcus Allen
Practice hard, and you’ll get better at the game and learn more about it. This will help you and your team win.
Be ready to work and get to practice on time. Get your gear ready and bring a lot of water.
Think positively about practice.
Leave your hard work and determination on the practice field.
Develop both your ability to kick and your ability to throw.
Keep your mind on the game at all times, even when the ball is outside of your 18-yard box.
Keep your eyes on the ball at all times.
Try to read your opponent’s body language.
Align your feet, hands, and eyes.
Improve how you talk with your teammates.
Conclusion
The Heisman Trophy isn’t all we used for the rankings of the best college players of all time.
It is a very unreliable way to figure out who the best college football players of all time were. It gets things right sometimes, but not nearly as often as it should.
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References
- collegecliffs.com– Best college players of all time
- foxsports.com– Rankings of the best college players of all time
- clutchpoints.com– College football players of all time
- si.com– Rankings of the best college football players of all time
- Image Link
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