Reviewing The Top 25 College Football NIL Earners (Allegedly) This Season

Thank you T-Bob for bringing this list to my attention.

Keep in mind, this is an old tweet. And the NIL numbers we hear aren't always perfectly accurate (if ever). Honestly, all these numbers could be soooo far off. But according to that particular graphic, as of February 2025, long before the college football season started, these were the highest paid players in college football... not all of them were worth it. Let's review. 

1. Arch Manning, QB, Texas - $6.5M

It took a bit for Steve Sarkisian to figure out the best way to use him, but Archie Manning did come around by the end of the season. He was my no means the bust we thought he might turn out to be early on. He might not be $6.5M good. There's QB's on this list allegedly making a fraction of the money who I'd take over Archie Manning. But his career isn't over. A Texas National Championship next season would make it all worth it in the eyes of Longhorns fans.

2. Carson Beck, QB, Miami - $4.2M

I don't think you can say Carson Beck wasn't worth the money for Miami. It was touch and go for the Hurricanes there for a minute. Thanks to their dumbass conference tiebreaker, they didn't even make their conference championship. But in the end, Miami made the college football playoff. They've got a shot to play for the National Championship. That's what you pay for. 

3. Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State - $4.0M

Probably the best player in college football. Feel like that's worth $4M. But if Ohio State doesn't win a National Championship, the season is going to be looked at as a disappointment. 

4. D.J. Lagway, QB, Florida - $3.8M

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This one gets a big YIKES for 2025. But if Jon Sumrall comes in and gives D.J. Lagway some competent coaching, and Florida winds up making the playoffs next year, that salvages a lot.

5. Lanoris Sellers, QB, South Carolina - $3.7M

Just simply not the same player he was in 2024. I'm not entirely certain South Carolina didn't accidentally kill Lanoris Sellers and replace him with a body double.

6. Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU - $3.6M

Hindsight is 20/20, but I swear I never saw it with Garrett Nussmeier. I just couldn't picture a world where he was one of the best QB's in college football. To be fair, he may have been injured from the jump this season. But LSU fired their head coach mid-season. That should tell you all you need to know about their return on investment here. 

7. Cade Klubnik, QB, Clemson - $3.3M

Same thing as Lanoris Sellers. He's just not the same player he used to be. In a year where the ACC was incredibly down, there's no reason Cade Klubnik, with that roster, shouldn't have led Clemson to at least the conference championship game. But they weren't even close.

8. Drew Aller, QB, Penn State - $3.2M

Woof. Another QB on a team with National Championship expectations who's coach was fired mid-season. Drew Aller had fans questioning whether or not Penn State made the wrong choice in committing to him rather than Beau Pribula – who left for Missouri, and wasn't especially impressive this season either.

9. Nico Iamaleava, QB, Tennessee/UCLA - $3.1

This one's a bit of a moot point. In the end, Nico fumbled away a cool $1.5M to wind up playing for a hapless UCLA team. But there was that 3 week stretch in October where they beat Penn State, and Nico had UCLA looking like a real college football team. 

Then they lost by 50 Indiana and never won again.

10. Sam Leavitt, QB, Arizona State - $3.0M (currently in transfer portal)

Coming off a CFB Playoff appearance, and a near win over Texas in the 2024 quarterfinals, Arizona State just didn't have it this year. Sam Leavitt had Arizona State at 5-2 before suffering a foot injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. Now he's entered the transfer portal. I can think of better things to throw $3M at.

11. Darian Mensah, QB, Duke - $2.8M

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I mean… they did win the ACC. That's something. And for the most part, Duke's problems weren't with their offense. Darian Mensah was a damn good quarterback this season. But if you're going to drop millions on a QB, you're certainly expecting more than 7 regular season wins. But still… especially by Duke football standards… the guy was electric this season.

T12. John Mateer, QB, Oklahoma - $2.7

Oklahoma is having a hell of a season. They're overachieving in most people's eyes. But their success is all about the defense. Whereas John Mateer, Oklahoma's highest paid player, is arguably the #1 thing holding them back.

T12. Ryan Williams, WR, Alabama - $2.7M

What the hell happened to Ryan Williams? He was supposed to be nearly on par with Jeremiah Smith. He's got a great quarterback in Ty Simpson. But Ryan Williams isn't even his #1 target anymore. He's not the best wide receiver on Alabama. He's second in receiving yards. WR's Germie Bernard and Isaiah Horton both have double the TD's Ryan Williams does. Which is only 4. He's still a well-above average SEC receiver. But after last year where you held your breath every time he touched the ball… 

Ryan Williams kinda fell off the face of the earth this season.

14. Josh Hoover, QB, TCU - $2.6M

He's above average. But overall pretty underwhelming. Threw too many interceptions this year. Got completely shut down by BYU's defense. At no point this season did people see TCU as a serious threat (except maybe after Week 1 when they blew out North Carolina, before we fully realized how much of a dumpster fire Bill Belichik was cooking up).

15. Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State - $2.4M

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Unequivocally, 100% worth it. The brains of what's probably the best defense in college football. Good use of NIL money. But again, with Ohio State, they have to win the National Championship, or else it'll be a disappointing season. Losing the Big Ten Championship to Indiana is a bad enough look for them already (but it sure wasn't their defenses fault).

16. C.J. Bailey, QB, NC State - $2.3M

There are so many QB's like this. Teams of NC State's caliber throw a shit load of money at them. They wind up playing fine. But there's just no way they're good enough to solve ALL of the team's problems. I guess C.J. Bailey made NC State an entertaining product for a portion of their games. But at no point were they competitive when playing the likes of Notre Dame and Miami. 

17. Taylen Green, QB, Arkansas - $2.1M

I like Taylen Green a lot. But he's a similar case to C.J. Bailey. He would have needed to go for 300+, 4 TD's, and score over 40 points per game to have made Arkansas a real threat this season. If you're going to pay $2M for a QB, but have a shit roster otherwise, what's really the point?

18. Dylan Raiola, QB, Nebraska - $2.0M

He plays for Nebraska. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about Dylan Raiola's situation.  

19. Jackson Arnold, QB, Auburn - $1.9M 

Jackson Arnold is one of many examples of why I don't trust recruiting rankings. He's why I don't trust that these SEC rosters are SO MUCH better than the rest of college football. Jackson Arnold showed the world who he was last year with Oklahoma. He stunk out loud. Then he gets $1.9M from Auburn, and everybody thinks Auburn is a threat to win the SEC. Why? Because someone gave him 5-stars out of high school? Jackson Arnold could not have possibly had better weapons to throw too this season, and he stunk again. He's probably going to get another million next season too, and the pre-season AP poll will rank whichever team he ends up playing for in the top 20.

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T20. Nick Singleton, RB, Penn State - $1.8M

Penn State's whole season was just a wash. Nick Singleton wasn't even their best running back. I heard Penn State fans complaining all year long that they were giving Singleton the ball too much. That his carries should have been going to Kaytron Allen. I suppose when you pay a guy $1.8M, you feel inclined to force feed him.

T20. Dylan Stewart, DE, South Carolina - $1.8M

He's probably worth the money. His team stinks. His coach stinks. But if you put him on a real team, I think he'd be more of a household name. I almost always prefer when players stick out their college careers with one team, but this is a player who I wouldn't mind to see enter the transfer portal.

T20. Xavier Chaplin, OL, Auburn - $1.8M

I'd be lying if I told you I was familiar with the stylings of Xavier Chaplin. But there's not an offensive lineman in the world who would have been good enough to make up for the incompetent duo of Hugh Freeze and Jackson Arnold.

T20. Cam Coleman, WR, Auburn - $1.8M

He's so fucking good. It's a bit of a tragedy he plays for Auburn. Somebody free that man.

T20. Avery Johnson, QB, Kansas State - $1.8M

For the quarterback of a team who at the start of the season was a favorite to win the Big 12, he certainly didn't live up to expectations. Kansas State got off to a horrific start (1-3 with a loss to Army, only win was barely squeaking by North Dakota). It wasn't all Avery Johnson's fault. But Kansas State paid him to win the Big 12, and they finished the season 6-6.

25. Behren Morton, QB, Texas Tech - $1.7M

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Here's a team with a roster who I believe is good enough to a win a National Championship, and paid millions to a quarterback good enough to lead them there. This was a good, responsible use of oil money.

But again, that list was made very early on this year. More NIL deals came to fruition since then. On3 has their own more up to date rankings. Here's the players in their top 25 not on the original list.

4. Bryce Underwood, QB, Michigan - $3.0M

Bit of a rough start to his career. You hate to have a QB facing accusations of not being able to read a defense. But he's got a lot of football ahead of him. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I'm afraid if Michigan doesn't move on from Sherrone Moore, they're just flushing any money they spend on a QB down the toilet.

Holy shit they fired him before I was done with the blog. Well done Michigan. I didn't think they had it in them.

T5. Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana - $2.6M

Helped change an entire culture. I couldn't possibly think of a better use of $2.6M for Indiana University than buying themselves their first ever Heisman Trophy, a B1G Championship over Ohio State, and the #1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

T7. Julian Sayin, QB, Ohio State - $2.5M

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Great quarterback for a National Championship caliber team. Any team of Ohio State's ilk would be happy to pay a couple million for that level of production.

T7. Diego Pavia, QB, Vanderbilt - $2.5M

Yep. I'd say it was worth it. What he's doing for Vanderbilt is nearly on par with what Cignetti and Mendoza are doing for Indiana.

T10. Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama - $2.3M

Good quarterback for a National Championship contending team. Any team of Alabama's ilk would be content to pay a couple million for that level of production (there's about to be a run of QB's on this list who make a little over $2M, and are playing for a college football playoff team, that seems to be the going rate)

T10. Dante Moore, QB, Oregon - $2.3M

See: Ty Simpson

T13. Marcel Reed, QB, Texas A&M - $2.1M

See: Dante Moore

T13. Jayden Maiava, QB, USC - $2.1M

USC under Lincoln Riley is always going to have a capable offense. But maybe think about throwing a little more money on the other side of the ball. Except it probably wouldn't matter anyways. USC could have the Seattle Seahawks defense and they're still going to give up 40+ to Oregon if Lincoln Riley is on the sideline.

T17. Brendan Sorsby, QB, Cincinnati - $1.9M

Solid quarterback. I understand Cincinnati paying big for a QB. That's a school in a talent rich area of the country that's always liable to make a run in the Big 12 if they have the right player leading them. It didn't quite work out this year. Cincinnati completely fucking nosedived their last 4 games of the season. But there's far worse NIL blunders than Cincinnati giving a couple million to Brendan Sorsby.

T21. David Stone, DL, Oklahoma - $1.7M

Only finished the season with 1.5 sacks, but he's part of one of the best defenses in college football. Hard to say any money Oklahoma spent on that side of the ball was a bad idea.

T21. Jordan Seaton, OL, Colorado - $1.7M

I'm sure the money is nice, but you gotta wonder if Jordan Seaton is regretting his decision at this point. Colorado might have more problems than NIL money can fix.

25. Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame - $1.6M

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He's headed to the Heisman Ceremony, so in that regard, he earned his money. On the other hand, Notre Dame was left out of the playoffs for losing their first two games of the season. Jeremiyah Love had 10 carries for 33 yards vs Miami. That's one of the most important games you're paying him for, and he didn't really show up (but to be fair, Notre Dame should have tried to get him involved more, it wasn't entirely on him).

Boy that was a lot of regurgitating information into a blog. But I thought that was interesting to look back on. I'd imagine there's players those lists left out too. Regardless, those numbers just further go to show how much of a gamble the NIL is. In many cases, there's no guarantee these players won't leave you high and dry after one season. And it takes WAY more than one elite player's worth of NIL money to make yourself a real contender. Maybe consider spreading that money around a bit, guys.