College football's top 25 players of the 21st century

There are about 26 consensus All-Americans per season. Twenty-four different players have won a Heisman since 2000. The one thing guaranteed about college football is that no one stays too long, and there are always new stars.

Are these all excuses for why it's almost impossible to rank the 25 best college football players of the 2000s? Absolutely. But we're going to do it anyway. It's ranking season, after all.

I have ranked players in a few different ways through the years: quarterbacks of the 2000s, running backs of the past 60 years, receivers of the past 50 years, defenders of the 2000s. (Sorry, offensive linemen and tight ends. We'll get to you. And hell, maybe you, too, kickers and punters.)

Below is my attempt to gingerly weld those lists together. It feels like everyone on this list should be in the top 10. It feels like there are about 50 more players who should be in the top 25. This is impossible! But here goes nothing.

1. DT Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska

Key accomplishments: 2009 Lombardi Award, 2009 Outland Award, 2009 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, 2009 AP college football player of the year, 2009 Heisman finalist; 49.5 career tackles for loss, 24 career sacks, 4 interceptions, 2 touchdowns.

A four-star prospect from Oregon, Suh enjoyed three good years before posting one of the most devastating individual seasons in college football history. Suh was unblockable in 2009. Despite triple-teams, countless holding penalties (called and uncalled) and entire game plans designed to avoid the middle of the field, he made 20.5 TFLs with 12 sacks. His performance in the Big 12 championship game against Texas -- seven TFLs, 4.5 sacks -- was among the best ever. I realize we don't give Heismans to defensive players, but it's still utterly inexcusable that he didn't win the Heisman that year. Best player of the 2000s and one of the best of all time.

'He tackled him too hard': Inside Ndamukong Suh's legendary 2009 season

2. QB Baker Mayfield, Texas Tech/Oklahoma

Key accomplishments: 2017 Heisman Trophy, 2017 Maxwell Award, 2017 Walter Camp Award, 2017 Davey O'Brien Award, 2015 and 2016 Burlsworth Trophy, 2017 unanimous All-American, 2015 first-team All-American, 2015 and 2017 Big 12 offensive player of the year, 2015, 2016 and 2017 first-team All-Big 12; 14,607 passing yards and 131 touchdowns, 1,083 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns.

In three seasons at Oklahoma, after a brief cameo as a true freshman walk-on starter at Texas Tech, Mayfield put together just about the best combination of high-volume passing and high-level success you'll ever see. He averaged nearly 4,100 passing yards per season, he led three straight Big 12 title runs, he went 3-0 against Oklahoma State and 2-1 against Texas, and he led road wins at Tennessee and Ohio State.

Mayfield was so good that he ended up as the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft despite standing only 6 feet. The only thing lacking from his resume: a national title. But it wasn't for lack of effort. It took the greatest game of the CFP era to keep him from having a shot at it.

3. QB Cam Newton, Florida/Auburn

Key accomplishments: 2010 Heisman Trophy, 2010 Maxwell Award, 2010 Walter Camp Award, 2010 Davey O'Brien Award, 2010 AP national player of the year, 2010 consensus All-American, 2010 SEC offensive player of the year, 2010 first-team all-SEC; 2,908 passing yards and 30 TDs, 1,586 rushing yards and 24 TDs.

Once considered Tim Tebow's heir apparent at Florida, Newton landed at Auburn after a controversial departureand controversial recruitment. And he became maybe the best one-year wonder in college football history.

Despite a defense that allowed at least 27 points in half its games, and despite having to play in seven games with a margin of one score, Auburn won the 2010 national title because the Tigers had Cam and their opponents didn't. He threw for 2,854 yards and 30 touchdowns and ran for 1,473 yards and 20 more scores. He rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns in one win over South Carolina, then threw for 335 and four scores in another. He led an historic comeback win over Alabama. He defined a title team as much as anyone possibly can.

Watch: Roll Tide/War Eagle

4. QB Vince Young, Texas

Key accomplishments: 2005 Davey O'Brien Award, 2005 Maxwell Award, 2005 first-team All-American, 2005 Big 12 offensive player of the year, 2005 first-team All-Big 12, 2005 national champion; 6,040 career passing yards and 44 TDs, 3,127 rushing yards and 37 TDs.

For the first half of his three seasons in Austin, Young was up and down, an incredible athlete who was inconsistent at actual quarterbacking. But midway through his sophomore season in 2004, everything fell into place. As a junior in 2005, Young became the first player to throw for at least 3,000 yards and rush for at least 1,000 in the same season -- just five years earlier, it had been a big deal that Clemson's Woody Dantzler hit even 2,000/1,000. And in Young's final game, he threw for 267 yards and rushed for 200 and three scores as Texas knocked off USC in probably the greatest game of the 21st century.

A perfect ending to a perfect career arc.

5. S Ed Reed, Miami

Key accomplishments: 2001 unanimous All-American, 2001 Big East defensive player of the year, 2001 national champion, College Football Hall of Fame; 288 career tackles, 21 interceptions (fourth in NCAA history), 31 pass breakups, 4 forced fumbles, 4 blocked punts, 5 touchdowns.

The most memorable player from one of college football's most memorable teams. After recording five sacks as a linebacker in 1999, Reed moved to more of a safety role and proceeded to pick off 17 passes, including four pick-sixes, in 2000-01. He also was responsible for one of the most iconic plays of the century.

6. QB Tim Tebow, Florida

Key accomplishments: 2007 Heisman Trophy, 2007 and 2008 Maxwell Award, 2007 Davey O'Brien Award, 2007 AP college football player of the year, 2007 consensus All-American, 2008 and 2009 SEC offensive player of the year, 2007, 2008 and 2009 first-team All-SEC, 2006 and 2008 national champion; 9,285 career passing yards and 88 TDs, 2,947 rushing yards and 57 TDs.

After serving as a short-yardage, red zone specialist during Florida's 2006 national title run, Tebow moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore and immediately became the sport's best and most defining player. He won the Heisman in 2007 while combining 3,286 passing yards with 895 rushing yards and 55 total TDs. He produced 77 more touchdowns in 2008 and '09, leading Florida to a national title in 2008 and coming up just short in a quest for a third ring as a senior. Does your home stadium have a plaque immortalizing a postgame speech from its starting quarterback? Because Florida's does.

7. RB Reggie Bush, USC

Key accomplishments: 2005 Heisman Trophy (for real!), 2005 Doak Walker Award, 2005 Walter Camp Award, 2005 AP national player of the year, 2004 and 2005 consensus All-American, 2004 and 2005 Pac-10 offensive player of the year; 3,169 career rushing yards and 25 touchdowns, 1,301 career receiving yards and 13 touchdowns; 4 career return touchdowns (one kickoff, three punt).

It was like watching a player from the future. Bush was equally scary via run or pass. He was not only faster than everyone else, he also seemed to have different instincts. He saw and attempted things others couldn't. And if you couldn't rein him in before he got to the edge, he was going to hit the afterburners.

All of Bush's strengths coalesced in one perfect evening. In a wild, late-season track meet against Fresno State, Bush produced 294 rushing yards, 68 receiving yards and 151 return yards. In one game.

8. OT Bryant McKinnie, Miami

Key accomplishments: 2001 Outland Trophy, 2001 unanimous All-American, 2000 and 2001 first-team All-Big East, eighth in the 2001 Heisman voting as an offensive lineman, College Football Hall of Fame.

For all the absurd skill-corps talent Miami had during its early 2000s renaissance -- Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, Frank Gore, Reggie Wayne, Santana Moss, Najeh Davenport, Jeremy Shockey, Andre Johnson, James Jackson, Kellen Winslow II -- it also had the most devastating offensive line in college football to lean on when it needed to. And that line was at its best when McKinnie was leading the way. Even by the standards of big offensive linemen, McKinnie stood out -- he measured at 6-foot-8, 343 pounds at the NFL combine -- and when Miami had 11 players selected in the 2002 NFL draft, his was the first name called.

9. QB Joe Burrow, Ohio State/LSU

Key accomplishments: 2019 Heisman Trophy, 2019 Davey O'Brien Award, 2019 Walter Camp Award, 2019 Maxwell Award, 2019 AP national player of the year, 2019 unanimous All-American, 2019 SEC offensive player of the year, 2019 first-team all-SEC, 2019 national champion; 8,852 career passing yards and 78 TDs, 820 rushing yards and 13 TDs.

You can find plenty of people who think 2019 LSU was the greatest team of the century, maybe of all time. I'm not here to relitigate that argument, but I'll say this much: LSU was definitely one of the coolest teams ever, and the guy behind center had a lot to do with that. After finding a different level late in 2018, his first season as LSU starter, Burrow started 2019 in fifth gear and stayed there all year. He completed an otherworldly 76% of his passes at more than 14 yards per completion, he threw for at least 320 yards 13 times, and he produced the most incredible two-game CFP performance you'll ever see: 60-for-88 passing for 956 yards, 12 touchdowns and no interceptions.

10. WR Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh

Key accomplishments: 2003 Heisman runner-up, 2003 Biletnikoff Award, 2003 Walter Camp Award, 2003 Big East offensive player of the year, 2003 unanimous All-American, 2003 first-team All-Big East, College Football Hall of Fame; 2,677 career receiving yards and 34 touchdowns.

Fitzgerald announced himself as a freshman, posting 103 yards on Texas A&M in his second career game and topping 1,000 yards for the season. But in 2003, he pulled off something magical. He scored at least one touchdown in 12 straight games (18 straight dating back to the previous season), and he led the nation in touchdowns from scrimmage. He gained at least 100 yards 10 times and topped 200 yards twice. His speed was excellent, his technique perfect. And while not every great college player hits it big in the pros, Fitzgerald became one of the greatest ever in the NFL, gaining 1,000 yards nine times and playing until he was 37.

11. DE Terrell Suggs, Arizona State

Key accomplishments: 2002 Lombardi Award, 2002 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, 2002 unanimous All-American, 2002 Pac-10 defensive player of the year; 65 TFLs and 44 sacks -- in three seasons!

"It was magical to watch," former ASU safety Jason Shivers told the Arizona Republic in 2018. "Guys were scared of him. They were scared of his speed and they were scared of his quickness." Can you blame them? After an outstanding pair of seasons in 2000 and 2001, the 6-3, 265-pound Suggs put together maybe the best defensive season ever by a guy not named Suh. In 2002, one guy recorded 24 sacks and 31 total TFLs. He finished his career with 46 total sacks, most of anyone in the 2000s, and he went on to record 139 sacks (he hit double digits seven times) in a 17-year NFL career.

12. OT Joe Thomas, Wisconsin

Key accomplishments: 2006 Outland Trophy, 2006 unanimous All-American, 2005 and 2006 first-team All-Big Ten, College Football Hall of Fame.

Even though almost no one in the sport has produced as many road-grading linemen as Wisconsin over the last 30 or so years, Thomas stands out among all those awesome Badgers. An all-conference shot putter and discus thrower on the side, the Brookfield, Wisconsin, native moved into the starting lineup at left tackle as a true sophomore in 2004 and was one of the best in the nation in 2005. In 2006, returning to school after tearing his ACL in the bowl game the year before, he was untouchable. He blocked for a 1,500-yard rusher for the second straight year and became the first Badger to win the Outland Trophy.

Oh yeah, and then he did it all over again in the pros, earning All-Pro honors eight times in 11 years and reaching the Hall of Fame there too.

13. LB Khalil Mack, Buffalo

Key accomplishments: 2013 first-team All-American, 2013 Jack Lambert Trophy, 2013 MAC defensive player of the year, three-time first-team All-MAC, most career TFLs and forced fumbles (since 2005); 327 career tackles, 74.5 TFLs, 28.5 sacks, 16 forced fumbles, 4 interceptions, 2 touchdowns.

He played only one year of high school football and therefore didn't really appear on recruiters' radar. He landed at Buffalo, which was just unfair to the rest of the MAC. Mack made between 14.5 and 21 TFLs for four straight seasons, increasing his sack totals every year (he peaked at 10.5 in 2013) and even picking off three passes and returning two for touchdowns as a senior. And when he got a chance to show out against Ohio State, he was the best player on the field.

'He's like Superman': Revisiting Khalil Mack's incredible feats of strength at Buffalo

14. DT Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh

Key accomplishments: 2013 Lombardi Award, 2013 Outland Trophy, 2013 Bednarik Award, 2013 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, 2013 unanimous All-American, 2013 ACC defensive player of the year, 2012 and 2013 first-team all-conference; 181 tackles, 66 TFLs, 29.5 sacks, 10 pass breakups, 6 forced fumbles.

A midlevel recruit who began his career as a backup, Donald just slowly got better, and better, and better. He enjoyed a lovely breakout season with 16 TFLs and 11 sacks as a sophomore in 2011, he jumped to 18.5 TFLs (as the team's No. 3 leading tackler!) as a junior, then really took off. As a senior in 2013, he made 28.5 TFLs -- including six against Georgia Tech's option attack -- with 11 sacks. And because he was listed only at 6-1, 280 pounds, 12 NFL teams somehow talked themselves out of drafting him in 2014. He fell all the way to the Rams at 13th.

15. DE David Pollack, Georgia

Key accomplishments: 2004 Chuck Bednarik Award, 2004 Lombardi Award, 2003 and 2004 Ted Hendricks Award, 2003 and 2004 consensus All-American, three-time first-team All-American, 2003 and 2004 SEC defensive player of the year, three-time first-team All-SEC, College Football Hall of Fame; 36 career sacks.

After a completely nondescript freshman season, Pollack announced himself to college football fans with one of the most spectacular defensive plays you'll ever see.

From there, he just kept making plays. Even this list isn't exactly overflowing with three-time All-Americans, but he was a first-teamer in 2002, 2003 and 2004. His status was perhaps diminished by a quick and injury-plagued pro career, but make no mistake: Pollack was devastating in college.

16. QB Deshaun Watson, Clemson

Key accomplishments: 2015 and 2016 Davey O'Brien Award, 2015 consensus All-American, 2015 ACC player of the year, 2015 first-team All-ACC, 2016 national champion; 10,163 career passing yards and 90 TDs, 1,934 rushing yards and 26 TDs.

Under Dabo Swinney, Clemson was an intriguing but frustrating program when Watson showed up on campus. It was a national powerhouse, Alabama's equal, when Watson left. He tantalized as a freshman before tearing his ACL, but in his final two seasons the Tigers went 28-2, losing a down-to-the-wire classic against Bama in the 2015 national title game, then winning one in 2016. He threw for 8,697 yards and 76 touchdowns in those two seasons and, despite the knee issues, rushed for 1,734 yards and 21 scores in that span as well. He was the first guy to combine 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a season, and the final pass of his career was a title-winning touchdown. Hard to top that.

17. S Roy Williams, Oklahoma

Key accomplishments: 2001 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, 2001 Jim Thorpe Award, 2001 Jack Tatum Trophy, 2001 unanimous All-American, 2001 Big 12 defensive player of the year, 2000 and 2001 first-team All-Big 12, 2000 national champion; 35 TFLs, 9 sacks, 9 interceptions, 49 pass breakups.

How good was Roy Williams? In 2001, he topped Ed Reed to win the Nagurski, Thorpe and Tatum awards. That's almost all that needs to be said. Few players are more revered than Reed, and in 2001, voting media either considered Williams and Reed equals or gave Williams the edge.

There's also the fact that he could fly.

'The Superman Play' at 20: Roy Williams' amazing leap still resonates in Red River Showdown

18. QB Kyler Murray, Texas A&M/Oklahoma

Key accomplishments: 2018 Heisman Trophy, 2018 Davey O'Brien Award, 2018 AP national player of the year, 2018 big 12 offensive player of the year, 2018 first-team All-American, 2018 first-team All-Big 12; 5,406 career passing yards and 50 TDs, 1,478 rushing yards and 13 TDs.

If Cam Newton was the best one-year wonder, Murray was second best. After backing up Baker Mayfield and weighing a professional baseball career, Murray took college football by storm in 2018. He became the second 4,000/1,000 quarterback after Watson, combining 4,361 passing yards with 1,001 rushing yards and 54 total touchdowns. He threw for at least 300 yards 10 times, rushed for at least 90 yards five times and led OU to at least 34 points 13 times. Despite a dreadful defense, OU won another Big 12 title and reached a third straight CFP thanks to Murray, who elected to forego a baseball career to become the No. 1 pick in the NFL instead.

19. WR DeVonta Smith, Alabama

Key accomplishments: 2020 Heisman Trophy, 2020 Walter Camp Award, 2020 Maxwell Award, 2020 AP college football player of the year, 2020 unanimous All-American, 2020 SEC offensive player of the year, 2019 and 2020 first-team All-SEC, 2017 and 2020 national champion; 3,965 career receiving yards and 46 touchdowns, one career punt return touchdown.

A member of a transformative Alabama receiver haul (which featured two other elite receivers in Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs), Smith was a role player for much of his freshman season. But he caught the final pass of the year, a second-and-26 overtime bomb from Tua Tagovailoa to win the national title.

That sent him on his way. He gained 100 yards twice as a sophomore (including once in the CFP semifinals), then broke out as a junior, gaining 1,256 yards with 14 scores. And as a senior, he was probably the best player in college football. The numbers are staggering. In just 13 games he caught 117 balls for 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns. He had 13 for 164 against Ole Miss, 11 for 203 against Mississippi State, eight for 231 against LSU, 15 for 184 against Florida and, in the national title game, 12 for 215 against Ohio State. He just kept getting better and better.

20. QB Lamar Jackson, Louisville

Key accomplishments: 2016 Heisman Trophy, 2016 Walter Camp Award, 2016 Maxwell Award, 2016 AP national player of the year, 2016 unanimous All-American, 2016 and 2017 ACC player of the year, 2016 and 2017 first-team All-ACC; 9,043 career passing yards and 69 TDs, 4,132 rushing yards and 50 TDs.

While Vince Young was the first player to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season, Jackson was the first guy to do it twice. And he topped 3,500 and 1,500 each year in the process. After serving notice by throwing for 227 yards and rushing for 226 against Texas A&M in the final game of his freshman season, Jackson produced stats we'd never seen before in 2016. One could make the case that his early 2016 performance against Syracuse was the single best we've ever seen.

Jackson threw for 411 yards and rushed for 207, producing iconic play after iconic play. He would go on to torch even better defenses, but the Syracuse game was near perfection.

21. WR Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State

Key accomplishments: 2010 and 2011 Biletnikoff Award, 2010 and 2011 Paul Warfield Trophy, 2010 and 2011 unanimous All-American, 2010 and 2011 first-team All-Big 12, 2010 Big 12 offensive player of the year; 3,648 receiving yards and 40 touchdowns.

Sometimes everything suddenly clicks. Blackmon followed a pretty normal developmental trajectory for a while, signing with OSU as a three-star recruit, redshirting in his first year in Stillwater, then catching a pedestrian 20 balls for 260 yards in 2009. And then, click, he became just about the best player in college football. He caught 111 passes for 1,782 yards and 20 scores as a sophomore, pacing an 11-win season and AP top-15 finish for the Cowboys. In 2011, he replicated his efforts (122 for 1,522 and 18 scores) as OSU charged to within a millimeter of the BCS championship game. He was the greatest player on Oklahoma State's greatest team.

22. LB Will Anderson Jr., Alabama

Key accomplishments: 2021 and 2022 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, 2022 Chuck Bednarik Award, 2021 and 2022 unanimous All-American, 2021 and 2022 SEC defensive player of the year, 2021 and 2022 first-team All-SEC, 2020 national champion; 205 career tackles, 62 TFLs, 34.5 sacks, 1 interception, 1 touchdown.

Will Anderson Jr. was so good that he could make a 17-TFL, 10-sack season feel underwhelming. That's what he posted as a junior in 2022; it topped his freshman breakout year in 2020 (10.5 TFLs and seven sacks), but it couldn't top what he did in 2021, when he briefly reached a different plane of existence.

Let's talk about that 2021 season for a moment. Anderson was credited with 34.5 TFLs and 17.5 sacks. He had at least two TFLs in 11 games and hit four against both Mississippi State and LSU. It was criminal that he finished only fifth in the Heisman voting; Bryce Young won the Heisman that year, but Young wasn't even the best player on own team!

23. S Tyrann Mathieu, LSU

Key accomplishments: 2011 Chuck Bednarik Award, 2011 consensus All-American, 2011 SEC defensive player of the year, 2011 first-team All-SEC; 133 tackles, 16 TFLs, six sacks, 8 interceptions, 12 breakups, 11 forced fumbles, 8 fumble recoveries, 4 touchdowns.

The Honey Badger makes this list despite playing only two collegiate seasons. But he made the most of his opportunities, posting some of the best numbers we've ever seen from a true freshman in 2010 (8.5 TFLs, 4.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, 5 forced fumbles), then raising his game and playing a key role in one of the most iconic defenses -- and maybe the most iconic secondary -- of the 21st century.

Mathieu finished fifth in the Heisman voting in 2011, scoring four touchdowns (two via punt return, two via fumble return), making 7.5 TFLs and forcing six fumbles. Only seven players have forced more fumbles in the 2000s, and they all played more than two seasons. He is one of the most relentless players this sport has seen.

24. DE Julius Peppers, North Carolina

Key accomplishments: 2001 Lombardi Award, 2001 Chuck Bednarik Award, 2001 unanimous All-American, 2000 and 2001 first-team All-ACC, College Football Hall of Fame; 167 tackles, 53 TFLs, 30.5 sacks, 5 interceptions, 5 forced fumbles, 3 touchdowns.

There's a pretty easy case for Julius Peppers to rank much higher on this list: No one else here posted a double-double in an NCAA (basketball) tournament game. Peppers was just a staggering athletic specimen, measuring 6-7, 283 pounds and running a 4.7 40 at the NFL combine. And after a solid redshirt freshman campaign (10 TFLs, six sacks), he went from good to great, leading the nation with 15 sacks as a sophomore and earning Heisman votes as a junior. He went second in the 2002 NFL draft and ended up a Hall of Famer at two different levels of the sport.

25. RB Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin

Key accomplishments: 2018 and 2019 Doak Walker Award winner, 2018 and 2019 unanimous All-American, three-time first-team All-Big Ten (2017, 2018, 2019); 6,174 career rushing yards and 50 touchdowns (No. 4 all time, No. 2 in the Big Ten), 407 career receiving yards and 5 touchdowns.

A two-time, 2,000-yard rusher, Taylor was an inevitable presence. He rushed for 223 yards in his second career game, he carried the ball at least 18 times in 35 games, he rushed for at least 100 yards on 32 occasions, and he topped 200 yards 12 times. And in a triple-overtime win over Purdue in 2018, he painted his masterpiece: 33 carries, 321 yards and 3 touchdowns, including an 80-yarder and the game-winner.

First 10 out (alphabetical)

WR Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech (2007-08)

DE Dwight Freeney, Syracuse (1998-01)

OT Robert Gallery, Iowa (2000-03)

QB Robert Griffin III, Baylor (2008-11)

WR Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech (2004-06)

LB Derrick Johnson, Texas (2001-04)

LB Luke Kuechly, Boston College (2009-11)

QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson (2018-20)

QB Marcus Mariota, Oregon (2012-14)

RB Christian McCaffrey, Stanford (2014-16)