College Football's Most Important Players in 2026: No. 15 EDGE Clev Lubin, Louisville

Louisville Cardinals star Clev Lubin has played for four programs in five years, and the backfield disruption he creates has traveled with him to every stop. He redshirted at Army in 2022, won an NJCAA national championship at Iowa Western in 2023, piled up 9.5 sacks in 10 games at Coastal Carolina in 2024 and then answered the only question left about his game by going hard against Power Four offensive tackles.

Pro Football Focus credited him with 64 quarterback pressures last fall, the sixth-most in the FBS and the most by any Cardinal since the site began grading players in 2014.

On Jan. 2, the first day of the transfer portal window, the edge rusher posted "#L1C4...run it back" on social media and removed any suspense about joining another program.

That single post did more for Louisville's 2026 outlook than any of the transfers Jeff Brohm signed afterward, and it is the reason Lubin sits at No. 15 on this list of college football's most important players.

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No. 15: Clev Lubin, EDGE, Louisville Cardinals

Lubin started all 13 games in his first ACC season and finished with 61 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and five pass breakups. The sack total tied for fourth in the conference and ranked 25th nationally, the tackles for loss ranked seventh in the league, and the whole package earned him third-team All-ACC honors along with an All-ACC Academic nod.

His signature snap came in Week 2 against James Madison, when he beat the tackle and strip-sacked Alonza Barnett III in the end zone, a fumble teammate A.J. Green recovered for a touchdown in a 28-14 win.

He closed the regular season with three tackles for loss, two sacks and two hurries against Kentucky. Asked in September why the transition from the Sun Belt looked so effortless, the 6-foot-3, 250-pound end gave the most honest scouting report of his own season anyone would produce.

"Truthfully, I just think it's because I'm a baller," Lubin said.

Fair point. No returning ACC defender forces an offensive coordinator to redraw a protection plan the way Lubin does. Armchair scouts will quibble about his timed speed, but a player who pressured quarterbacks at a top-six national rate across two different conferences has proven something that workout numbers cannot undo.

Lubin was the defensive piece Louisville could not afford to lose

Lubin's announcement came at a fragile moment for the Cardinals. Green, running back Isaac Brown and defensive back Antonio Watts had all signaled plans to transfer, and defensive coordinator Ron English had just stepped away from the program to watch his son's final season at Navy.

Within days of Lubin's post, Brown and Watts withdrew from the portal, and Green also pulled his name out despite interest from Ole Miss, SMU and Texas A&M.

"Definitely took a lot of thinking, especially with the opportunity to go to NFL," Lubin said of his decision in March.

Louisville's Clev Lubin | Ranks Among Returning EDGEs:

🔴 91.4 PFF Grade (2nd)
🔴 14 QB Hits (T-1st)
🔴 64 QB Pressures (1st)
🔴 24% Win Rate (1st)@LouisvilleFB pic.twitter.com/3ONyxkMdJV
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 11, 2026

Brohm replaced English by elevating Mark Ivey and Steve Ellis to co-defensive coordinators, an arrangement that tends to work best when the roster covers for the transition. Lubin is the coverage. He headlines an edge room with Green, North Carolina transfer Tyler Thompson and Kentucky transfer Jerod Smith II, whom Ivey clearly believes in.

"We got a bunch of guys who can rush the passer," Ivey said during spring ball.

It all begins for Lubin and the Cardinals against Ole Miss on Sunday, Sept. 6, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

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