This article outlines the top-performing college players each week. There is a table for each position organized by draft eligibility and, below each table, I’ll note things I find interesting.
QUARTERBACKS
The best metrics for year-over-year correlation at the QB position are QBR, EPA/Play, AYA, and Completion %.
Stetson Bennett – Back under the minimum QBR threshold after only 14 pass attempts this week.
Aidan O’Connell – He’s having a great season. His last 4 games have all been above and 85 QBR which is great.
Grayson McCall – Came back after injury and wasted no time getting back to form. He passed for 319 yards and 5 TD, earning an 87.4 QBR.
Hendon Hooker – Easily handled Southern Alabama. Don’t be surprised when he gets draft capital this year.
C.J. Stroud – He’s legitimately pushing for the #1 QB in college football. I still think it’s Bryce Young because he’s not throwing to 3 future 1st rounders, but there is at least a conversation. He destroyed Michigan State for over 400 yards and 6 TDs, and a QBR of 98.7.
Bryce Young – Earned a 95.4 QBR against Arkansas. He’s the real deal.
Tyler Van Dyke – Looking like the #3 QB in this class as of now.
Will Rogers – He’s stepping it up the last few weeks. His QBR is now in the 66th percentile of drafted players in year 2. Not bad. His RY Share and AYA are still his main concerns.
Small sample size galore.
Caleb Williams – He’s starting to look human. He still earned a solid 73 QBR but he isn’t dominating like he did his first 4 games as the starter.
RUNNING BACKS
The best metrics for RB’s are Yards per Team Play which is a measure of volume and efficiency, Backfield Dominator Rating which is the share of the backfield production, rushing and receiving, that an RB earns, Dominator Rating which is the share of the total team rushing and receiving production, and Reception Share which tells you how big of the reception pie the RB earned.
Tyler Badie – Takes over the top YPTP spot this week. He’s looking like one of the most week rounded players in CFB right now. Probably because he IS the Missouri offense
Kenneth Walker III – Just a bad day all around for Michigan State. Only 6 attempts for 25 yards and 1 rec for 4 yards. It seems like Michigan State just got down in the game way too fast and there was no chance for a run game.
Lew Nichols – Is so good! He’s also a big threat in every aspect of the game for Central Michigan. This guy could declare this year if he wanted to, but he’s still only listed as a freshman so I believe he could stay in school a few more years if he wanted to.
Ty Chandler – He’s looking overrated to me. His high opportunity (BDR) coupled with his low efficiency (YPTPA, RYOE/Att) are red flags.
Kennedy Brooks – Looks like he’s efficient when he’s asked to run but he just hasn’t asked a lot.
Deuce Vaughn – I want to see him have a role at the next level. He’s good enough.
Keaton Mitchell – He’s getting good work at East Carolina and he looks efficient with it. He’ll be a good target this offseason.
Tank Bigsby – Starting to get a big portion of the work finally. He was very efficient against South Carolina and he was most of the offense.
TreVeyon Henderson – What more is there to say? RB2.
Braelon Allen – Had his 7th 100-yard rushing game in a row! He’s rising in the rankings and has a lot of potential.
Alton McCaskill – Doesn’t look efficient with his touches but he’s getting a lot of work so he’ll be a good C2C target.
Devin Neal – 84% BDR! That’s so good for a year 1 player. His coaches trust him.
WIDE RECEIVERS
The most important stats for a WR are their Reception Yards per Team Pass Attempt and their Weighted Dominator Rating. Generally, over 2 is good and 3 is great for RYPTPA, and over 20% is good and 30% is great for Weighted Dominator.
Now that MACtion has started these MAC receivers are shooting up the board.
Jacob Cowing – Still destroying on a low-volume offense. I wish they passed more to unlock his true ceiling.
Treylon Burks – Went beast mode against Alabama going 8-179-2. He should be locked into the top spot in the class.
Wan’Dale Robinson – Catching up to Burks! He went 8-181-0. Kind of wild he didn’t get a TD with that production.
Jameson Williams – May have locked himself into Day 1 draft capital. He went blow for blow with Burks getting 8-190-3. He’s hitting good numbers this year.
Josh Downs – Still blowing the rest of the class away
Jaxon Smith-Njigba – Got in on the action as Ohio State destroyed Michigan State. He went 10-105-1.
Jordan Addison – Probably just had the best college game of his career going 14-202-4. He should be locked into a top 5 receiver in this loaded class.
Parker Washington – Had a decent day going 6-72-1. He’s not unstoppable, but he’s a decent player.
Rakim Jarrett – I had high hopes for him coming into the year but it just hasn’t materialized.
Xavier Worthy – What’s that? Another good day from the tFr? Who could have guessed? He went 7-85-1 against WVU. Texas is bad but at least he’s a major bright spot on the team.
Beaux Collins – Went off for the second time in 3 weeks, going 4-137-1. He’s looking good.
TIGHT ENDS
Trey McBride – Dominates week in and week out.
Brock Bowers – Nothing more to add other than he’s so good.
Beyond Bowers, try and acquire the new 3 TEs if you can.
