Six Longhorns included in a list of the top 150 players in college football, a number likely to grow

CBS Sports dropped a ranking of the Top 150 Players in College Football heading into the 2025 season. The article was penned by Texas and NFL ex Blake Brockermeyer, who is more well known by the current generation of Longhorn recruiting fans as the father of the twins who once scorned Tom Herman. Anyways, here are my reactions to the article.

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Ohio State, Clemson and Texas lead the list with six players apiece. The Georgia Bulldogs only have three. Is this Dabo Swinney’s version of Michael Jordan’s Last Dance?

I have no arguments with Buckeye Jeremiah Smith being number one. I’m hard pressed to remember a time Texas opened their season against the consensus best player in the country on offense and defense, with Caleb Downs (#7) on the other side of the ball.

The Longhorns on the list are as follows: Anthony Hill (13), Colin Simmons (22), Michael Taaffe (38), Arch Manning (45), Ryan Wingo (82) and Trevor Goosby (113). How you could not have Anthony Hill and Colin Simmons in the top 10, I’m not sure. Of the Texas players not included, I feel like Trey Moore, Quintrevion Wisner, Malik Muhammad and DeAndre Moore Jr. should be feeling pretty snubbed.

The top 10 is made up of familiar quarterback names as though recognition is what merited their inclusion. The list clearly rewards Clemson quarterback and Austin native Cade Klubnik (#2) for his performance in his hometown against Texas in the playoff. But the inclusions of Garrett Nussmeier and Drew Allar near the top are absurd. Nussmeier imploded against Texas A&M, and Allar was a big game liability. How you’d say they’re 100 spots ahead of Vanderbilt folk hero and icon of the American Southwest Diego Pavia, I’m not sure.

If you had to guess how the unholy trinity of Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Texas Tech rank on this list, what would you guess? What a time to be alive, because the Red Raiders lead with five players after their big spending in the transfer portal. The Aggies have three, and Oklahoma has two.

There’s certainly a lot less love given to Manning here than I’d expect. Here’s my (not so) hot take. When Simmons and Manning have the types of seasons their coaches and Texas fans expect them to have, the Longhorns will go into 2026 with the number one and number two players in the country. And Simmons might just be number one.

If I was doing my own top five players heading into the 2025 season, I’d rank them:

Jeremiah Smith, WR (Ohio State)

Anthony Hill, LB (Texas)

Ryan Williams, WR (Alabama)

Cade Klubnik, QB (Clemson)

Caleb Downs, S (Ohio State)

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What jumps out to you? Who would your top five players in college football be?

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