Way-Too-Early Athlete NIL Rankings for 2024 College Football Season
With a new champion crowned in Michigan, a new head coach at Alabama and NIL infractions imposed at Florida State, among many other stories - it has been a wild week in college football.
Looking ahead to next season already, early top-25 rankings for next season have launched, with movement to come from every new transfer or coaching change in our near and distant future.
2024 will bring new conference alignment, an expanded College Football Playoff pool, more transfer portal movement and NIL money flowing across the country. New NIL stars will come to the forefront with top performers like Caleb Williams of USC, Jayden Daniels of LSU, Marvin Harrison Jr. of Ohio State, Michael Penix Jr. of Washington and Bo Nix of Oregon all moving onto the NFL.
Here is a way-too-early athlete NIL ranking for the coming season.
10. Will Howard - Ohio State - Quarterback: The former Kansas State quarterback moves to a much bigger stage in Columbus - with national brand opportunities - taking over for the transferred Kyle McCord. Howard will have strong collectives behind him at Ohio State and can easily build on his current NIL portfolio of Jack Stack Barbecue, Charlie Hustle Clothing, National Marrow Donor Program and Long McArthur Performance, among others.
9. Riley Leonard - Notre Dame - Quarterback: Similar to Howard, the former Duke quarterback Leonard is now moving to a much larger NIL opportunity as the Irish's new signal caller. He can absolutely mirror the NIL jump that Sam Hartman experienced when he transferred from fellow ACC program Wake Forest to Notre Dame a year ago. Leonard has already found NIL success with such deals as Gillette, Rhoback, Raising Cane's, Leaf, Panini, Haggar, Topps, and Wildcard, among others and will see his portfolio expand even more at Notre Dame.
8. Emeka Egbuka - Ohio State - Wide Receiver: Egbuka announced his return to Ohio State this week instead of heading to the NFL and should take over for the departed Heisman Trophy finalist Marvin Harrison Jr. both on the field and in NIL. Egbuka has the opportunity to seriously grow his current brand roster that includes CVS, Amazon Style, Casey's Pizza and THE Foundation collective.
7. Nico Iamaleava - Tennessee - Quarterback: The highly-regarded recruit will take over as QB1 for the Volunteers next season and his NIL should explode. Vol Nation got a glimpse of his play in the Citrus Bowl so expectations both on and off the field are high for Iamaleava, who counts Force Factor and The Volunteer Club as NIL partners.
6. Dillon Gabriel - Oregon - Quarterback: Gabriel should follow the Bo Nix model of transferring to Oregon and expanding his NIL portfolio roster, especially with the Ducks moving to the Big Ten next season. His current NIL roster includes Brands Unlimited, Booster Athletes and EvoShield.
5. Carson Beck - Georgia - Quarterback: Announcing his return to Athens and a new NIL deal with Associated Credit Union, Beck is poised to become one of the best players and top NIL earners in 2024. He will absolutely grow his current portfolio - that currently includes Zero FG Energy Drink and The Players’ Lounge - as Georgia looks to redeem themselves from missing the College Football Playoff.
4. Travis Hunter - Colorado - Wide Receiver / Defensive Back: Already one of the strongest NIL performers, Hunter's personal brand should continue to grow as his widely popular Bleacher Report podcast expands. He will again be one of the most electric players on the field and his NIL partners - that currently include CELSIUS, Rock 'Em Socks, HEYDUDE, Fortnite, American Eagle and 7-Eleven, FreeForm - will increase even more.
3. Quinn Ewers - Texas - Quarterback: Integrating his NIL partnership with Panini to make his return to Austin announcement was a stroke of genius and should set Ewers on a path to become one of the top earners in football next season. Yes, he has the wifely popular Arch Manning behind him, but that shouldn't stop Ewers from growing his own portfolio in 2024 - which currently includes HEYDUDE, 7-Eleven, Beats by Dre and Ryl Tea, among others - as Texas makes their SEC debut.
2. Jalen Milroe - Alabama - Quarterback: With a new coach - Washington's Kalen DeBoer - Milroe will be the new face of the Saban-less Alabama program. The Crimson Tide's quarterback found massive success with his LANK brand and all-team apparel line this season and should absolutely expand his NIL roster that includes Rhoback and Beats by Dre.
1. Shedeur Sanders - Colorado - Quarterback: Yes, he is already one of the most prolific football players in NIL, but there is no slowing down the entire Sanders family. Through his partnership with College Football Playoff sponsor AT&T, Sanders was one of the most talked about players during the media day festivities and he wasn't even playing in the National Championship. He should take over for Caleb Williams as the most visible college athlete on TV next season and if the Buffaloes stay consistent on-field, their QB1's NIL exposure will only continue to grow.
