College football is my favorite sport to watch by far, due to both the unpredictability of the sport and the electric talent of the players on both sides. After the first weekend of college football, I began to think about some of my favorite players to watch on the college landscape since I got interested in the sport. From rooting for the Western Michigan Broncos during their undefeated season to being simply in awe of the raw ability they have, I’ve thought about some of my favorite players to watch over the 11 years I’ve been invested in college football.
Hendon Hooker
Even if Hooker hadn’t been drafted by the Lions, he’d still be my favorite player to come out of the University of Tennessee. After a couple of lackluster years with Virginia Tech University, Hooker hit the road to Knoxville and earned the starting job as a Tennessee Volunteer. Hooker was a quality player in his first year with the Vols, throwing for 31 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions while also leading the SEC in air yards per attempt. Hooker’s stats stand out despite a shaky 7-6 record, which could’ve led more people to predict him to explode in 2022. The Vols earned a number one spot for a couple of weeks in ’22 after unseating the Bryce Young and Jahmyr Gibbs-led Alabama Crimson Tide. Hooker would lead the nation in yards per attempt and air yards per attempt while also leading the SEC in completion percentage, but a torn ACL late in the year destroyed Tennessee’s hopes at a playoff spot. Hooker would be a third-round selection by Detroit in the 2023 draft, but was released in the preseason prior to the 2025 season.
The three-headed monster of running backs at Western Michigan University
During the mid-2010s, when the Western Michigan Broncos were one of the best teams in the group of 5, they were assisted on the ground by the trio of Jarvion Franklin, Jamauri Bogan, and Levante Bellamy. Franklin earned the 2014 MAC offensive player of the year award as a freshman, scoring 24 touchdowns on 1,551 yards on the ground. Franklin never regained those heights, but his average of over 5 yards per carry and 52 touchdowns in his four years as a Bronco were enough to cement him as an absolute beast in a Bronco uniform. Bogan arrived a year after Franklin and excelled as well, scoring 16 touchdowns on 6.5 yards per carry in 2015. Injuries limited his 2017, but outside of that, Bogan was elite at punching the ball in, finishing with over 15 touchdowns in two years, his first and fourth years with the program. Bellamy only really came on following the departures of Franklin and Bogan, but he set the MAC on fire once he was given his opportunity. In his final two years in Kalamazoo, Bellamy ran for a combined 2700 yards, averaging 5.75 yards per carry in those two years. Bellamy’s 2019 was the best individual year out of any of the three running backs, winning MAC player of the year honors with 23 touchdowns. These three provided the Broncos with an exciting brand of offense as Western Michigan saw continued success in the latter half of the decade.
Khalil Tate
You just had to be there for Khalil Tate. The former Arizona quarterback was possibly the fastest man college football fans had ever seen, as he broke out in 2017 with 1,411 rushing yards at the quarterback position. Tate was practically untouchable in the open field, averaging over 9 yards per carry in that breakout 2017 season; he also averaged 128 yards per game. Although Tate had been a Heisman favorite entering the 2018 season, he was never able to capture the old magic he had in his dream 2017 season. Tate signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as a wide receiver in 2020 but never saw the field in game action.
Chase Winovich and Devin Bush
These two were everywhere on the field for the Michigan defense in the late 2010s. Winovich came on as an edge rusher in 2017 with ridiculous tackle for loss numbers and eight sacks, placing him third in the Big Ten at the time. His flowing blonde hair made him instantly recognizable, and he became one of the faces of a tough Michigan defense under Don Brown. Winovich was drafted in the third round of the 2019 Draft by the New England Patriots and saw some game action, mostly on special teams. He has also been a member of the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins, but has retired as of last year. The other half of the tandem was linebacker Devin Bush. An All-American and Big Ten defensive player of the year, Bush ran up a high tackle number in his last two years with the Wolverines, making 179 tackles (19 for a loss) and ten sacks. Bush was selected 10th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019. After a 3rd place Defensive Rookie of the Year finish in 2019, Bush hasn’t made too big an impact at the NFL level. He has remained in the league, now a member of the Cleveland Browns, but his breakout is starting to feel like a fantasy. They might not have put it all together in the NFL, but when watching Michigan Football between 2017 and 2018, you could expect to see one of those two making almost every play.
Baker Mayfield
One of the most electrifying personalities in college football during his time at Oklahoma, Mayfield continued the legacy of talented quarterbacks at Oklahoma like Sam Bradford. A two-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, Mayfield threw for 119 touchdowns to just 21 interceptions. He finished top-5 in Heisman voting 3 times, culminating in an eventual win in 2017, as he led the nation in completion percentage and led the Big 12 in touchdowns. He averaged over 300 yards per game as a passer in his time at Oklahoma, but his off-the-field issues kept him from being recognized as one of the greatest college football players of all time. Mayfield also won the Maxwell and Camp awards in 2017 and was named an All-American. He was drafted 1st overall by the Cleveland Browns in 2018 and reached his peak with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2023. Mayfield is the most successful player on this list and is continuing to produce at a high level in the NFL.
