There weren\u2019t many college football fans outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area who knew much about Kevin Jennings this time last year. The former three-star recruit began the 2024 season as a backup quarterback but replaced starter Preston Stone a month into the season and led SMU to an ACC title game appearance and the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n
Indiana was picked to finish 17th in the Big Ten preseason poll a year ago, but went 11-1 in the regular season and crashed the CFP with a bunch of transfers from James Madison.<\/p>\n
The point? There is so much we don\u2019t know about who will impact the race for the 12 spots in the Playoff.<\/p>\n
That won\u2019t stop us from speculating. Here are 20 players \u2013 or in some cases, position groups \u2013 on contending teams who could go a long way in determining which teams will have an opportunity to play for a national championship. We\u2019re focusing on players who have yet to see significant snaps for their current team or are new to the Power 4 level.<\/p>\n
We will start with the non-quarterbacks.<\/p>\n
1. Penn State\u2019s receivers:<\/strong> The Nittany Lions\u2019 national title hopes will likely hinge on whether Kyron Hudson (USC), Trebor Pena (Syracuse) and Devonte Ross (Troy) can provide reliable pass-catching options for senior QB Drew Allar.<\/p>\n 2. Ohio State left tackle Ethan Onianwa:<\/strong> Onianwa has lost more than 20 pounds since arriving on campus in January. He\u2019s leveling up in competition after starting 34 games at left tackle in his career at Rice.<\/p>\n 3. Oregon running back Makhi Hughes:<\/strong> Hughes is a proven commodity from the Group of 5 ranks after rushing for 2,779 yards and 22 touchdowns in the last two seasons at Tulane. That said, the Ducks are counting on four new starters on the offensive line \u2013 including three transfers \u2013 to open holes for their new lead back.<\/p>\n 4. LSU\u2019s offensive line:<\/strong> Ultimately, the success of star quarterback Garrett Nussmeier will come down to whether transfers Braelin Moore (Virginia Tech) and Josh Thompson (Northwestern) \u2013 who have a combined 45 starts \u2013 are as good as the guys they\u2019re replacing. LSU had four offensive linemen drafted off last season\u2019s 9-4 team.<\/p>\n 5. Miami safety Zechariah Poyser<\/strong>: Mario Cristobal signed six defensive backs in the portal<\/a> and hired defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman to patch up the holes that cost the Hurricanes a trip to the ACC title game. Poyser, a redshirt sophomore from Conference USA champion Jacksonville State, wore the green dot on his helmet during the spring and will be the new maestro on the revamped back end for the Canes.<\/p>\n 6. Texas A&M receiver KC Concepcion:<\/strong> The Aggies came close to reaching the SEC championship game in Mike Elko\u2019s first season. Quarterback Marcel Reed, five starters on the offensive line and the entire backfield return. What\u2019s needed is a dynamic playmaker at receiver, and Concepcion, the 2023 ACC Rookie of the Year, has the talent and experience to fill the void.<\/p>\n 7. Clemson defensive end Will Heldt:<\/strong> It\u2019s easy to forget Clemson\u2019s defense wasn\u2019t very good last season \u2013 especially against the run. Peter Woods and T.J. Parker are arguably the best tackle-edge combo in college football, but they need help. Heldt arrives from Purdue and should be even more productive (he had five sacks in 2024) now that he is playing with far more talent.<\/p>\n 8. Arizona State running back Kanye Udoh:<\/strong> Cam Skattebo\u2019s impact on the Sun Devils last season didn\u2019t become evident on a large scale until late in the season. Udoh, who is bigger than Skattebo at 6-1, 220 pounds, enters the lead back role with a stronger resume than his predecessor. Udoh ran for 1,117 yards and 10 touchdowns last season at Army.<\/p>\n 9. SMU\u2019s defensive line:<\/strong> The Mustangs have put together back-to-back 11-win seasons \u2013 the first in the American and the second in their ACC debut. Still, many are expecting Rhett Lashlee\u2019s squad to take a step back after losing nine starters from the league\u2019s top defense. Jeffrey M\u2019Ba (Purdue), Terry Webb (Texas State) and Aakil Washington (South Alabama) are the proven trio among nine new additions on the D-line.<\/p>\n 10. Illinois receiver Hudson Clement:<\/strong> Illinois is 12th in both the AP and Coaches poll, the highest preseason rank for the program since it was 11th in 1990. The Illini welcome back quarterback Luke Altmyer and five starters on the offensive line, but they must replace the top two receivers, including third-round pick Pat Bryant. Clement, a former walk-on at West Virginia, caught 51 passes for 741 yards for the Mountaineers in 2024.<\/p>\n Quarterbacks<\/p>\n 1. Texas\u2019 Arch Manning:<\/strong> The preseason Heisman Trophy favorite has played only 260 offensive snaps since arriving in Austin as the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class. He won both of his starts last season in place of the injured Quinn Ewers \u2013 at home against Louisiana-Monroe and at Mississippi State \u2013 and ended the year with 939 yards passing with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. But now, it\u2019s his show entirely and he will be operating an offense that has four new starters on the line. The path to stardom doesn\u2019t start easy \u2013 on the road against the defending national champions.<\/p>\n 2. Ohio State\u2019s Julian Sayin:<\/strong> Ryan Day took his time choosing Sayin over Lincoln Kienholz. Now, all eyes will be on Sayin, who will be tasked with throwing passes to Jeremiah Smith this fall. Sayin, the top quarterback recruit in the 2024 cycle, played 27 snaps last season as a true freshman.<\/p>\n 3. Georgia\u2019s Gunner Stockton:<\/strong> By the time Carson Beck pulled his name out of the NFL Draft and instead took a big payday at Miami<\/a>, the defending SEC champions had already moved on and invested their financial resources elsewhere. That\u2019s not to say Georgia didn\u2019t look for QB help after the season. Kirby Smart\u2019s team kicked the tires on former Cal starter Fernando Mendoza before he ended up at Indiana. Stockton made his only start in the 23-10 Playoff loss to Notre Dame.<\/p>\n 4. Notre Dame\u2019s CJ Carr:<\/strong> Marcus Freeman turned to redshirt freshman CJ Carr (four career snaps) over redshirt sophomore Kenny Minchey (17 career snaps) to start the opener at 10th-ranked Miami. Neither has played much to this point. That\u2019s a different approach after Notre Dame went with seasoned transfers in the last two seasons \u2013 Riley Leonard (Duke) and Sam Hartman (Wake Forest).<\/p>\n 5. Oregon\u2019s Dante Moore:<\/strong> The redshirt sophomore and former five-star recruit from Detroit started five games as a true freshman at UCLA two seasons ago. His 461 career snaps at the Power 4 level are valuable for the defending Big Ten champions as they look to replace Heisman finalist Dillon Gabriel and eight other starters on offense.<\/p>\n