ESPN names five most impactful players in the College Football Playoff

Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza headlines the College Football Playoff | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The College Football Playoff gets underway this coming Friday night as Alabama travels to face Oklahoma in the 8-9 matchup. Ahead of a full weekend of CFP action, though, ESPN outlined the five players they expect to dominate the postseason and lead their teams on deep, successful runs.

The 2025 field, college football's second ever with 12 teams, is packed with star power. Just look at the Heisman Trophy Ceremony: two of the four are quarterbacks on top-four seeds in the Playoff, while the other two were on teams left just outside the mix. To be a top-20, or even luckier, a top-12 team, you probably have to have some star power. And if you're top five? Well, you probably have a guy on this list.

There is one caveat. ESPN's writer made it clear this list reflects not just the most talented athletes, but great players on teams who are also likely to make a real run late into January. So, take a look at an obvious No. 1 just below...

ESPN's five most impactful CFP players

Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza wins the Heisman Trophy. | Todd Van Emst/Heisman Trust via Imagn Images

1. Fernando Mendoza (QB) | Indiana — Mendoza continued a fairy tale 2025 season to date by leading Indiana to 13-0 and a. Big Ten championship a couple weeks back, then took home the Heisman Trophy and added a touching speech to cap off one heck of a four-month run for the young man. Oh, and his Hoosiers haven't even gotten started on their postseason run as the No. 1 overall seed in the CFP field.

2. Jeremiah Smith (WR) | Ohio State — Smith may not have won the Fred Biletnikoff Award, and he may not have even led his own team in receiving yards through the first half of the season, but the true sophomore is still one of the easy choices for a top-10 player in all of college football. On the best team in football for much of the season, Smith was an 1,000-yard, 11-touchdown receiver who we all feel like could have easily added 50% to that production if he and Ohio State wanted to.

3. Jacob Rodriguez (LB) | Texas Tech — Awards named after Bronko Nagurski and Check Bednarik now belong to the Red Raider defensive signal caller. Rodriguez is the leader of a top-three defense in college football who has now led the Big 12 in tackles for back-to-back seasons. He also leads the nation in forced fumbles.

4. David Bailey (OLB) | Texas Tech — Yeah, that Texas Tech linebacker room is pretty stout. While Rodriguez had been around Lubbock for four years and was more of a defensive quarterback and ace in the middle of the field and run game, Bailey is the pure pass rusher and total game wrecker. He led the Big 12 in sacks with an astounding 13.5 of them, and also, almost by default, led in tackles for loss with 17.5 of those in total. Good luck stopping him from reaching your QB.

5. Julian Sayin (QB) | Ohio State — Mendoza floated a pretty second-half touchdown pass and put Indiana in position to win the Big Ten championship over OSU, but had the Buckeyes prevailed, Julian Sayin very well may rank first or second on this list. The first-year starter finally looked that part against the Hoosiers but has still been so skilled and so tough for this Ohio State team all year long.

For those who are curious, here are ESPN's next five guys to keep an eye on outside of this top tier: Cashius Howell (Texas A&M), Caleb Downs (Ohio State), CJ Allen (Georgia), Rueben Bain (Miami), KC Concepcion (Texas A&M).