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The first ever 12-team College Football Playoff kicks off on Friday night, as the Indiana Hoosiers make the short trip from Bloomington to South Bend to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. This in-state matchup will be followed by a triple-header of games on Saturday, and surely, eyes of football fans across the country will be glued to their screens to see who advances to the quarterfinals in a week and a half.
It won't just be fans who are tuning into the four games this weekend. NFL scouts, executives and coaches will have no shortage of players to keep an eye on over the course of the weekend. In fact, in compiling a top ten list of the NFL Draft prospects to watch this weekend, there are at least ten players who could theoretically be selected in the opening round of the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay.
And by the way, that doesn't include players from Oregon (Derrick Harmon, Josh Conerly Jr., Evan Stewart), Georgia (Malaki Starks, Mykel Williams, Jalon Walker, Jared Wilson), or Boise State (Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty). Nor does it include Notre Dame's Benjamin Morrison, whose suffered a season-ending injury back in October but will still likely be a 1st Round pick this April.
With that said, here are the top ten players that NFL fans should be paying attention to this weekend as the College Football Playoff begins.
1. Abdul Carter – Edge, Penn State
2024 Season – 60 tackles, 20 tackles for loss (1st in Big Ten), 10 sacks (2nd in Big Ten), Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, 1st Team All-American
It's not out of the question that Abdul Carter ends up being the first non-Colorado Buffalo off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft, meaning he could be selected as high as No. 3 in the Draft, depending on whether it's a QB-needy team that possesses that pick — the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns or Tennessee Titans — or a team that is simply looking to draft the best player available — New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears.
The last Penn State player to be selected in the top three was Saquon Barkley back in 2018, but after making the move from inside linebacker to edge rusher, Carter has given himself a shot to add his name to a list of Nittany Lions who were top three picks that includes Barkley, Courtney Brown, LaVar Arrington, Ki-Jana Carter, Blair Thomas, and Curt Warner.
2. Kelvin Banks Jr. – Offensive Tackle, Texas
2024 Season – Vince Lombardi Award Winner, Outland Trophy Winner, 1st Team All-American
Depending on how you feel about LSU's Will Campbell, Banks may be the top offensive lineman in the 2025 NFL Draft class, which all but ensures he'll be selected inside of the top ten. This hardly comes as a surprise though. Ever since the Houston, Texas native arrived on campus in Austin, he's been a fixture along a Longhorns offensive line that has been hell-bent on proving they're one of the most physical teams in the country. Banks is a big reason why Texas fared so well in their first season in the SEC.
3. James Pearce Jr. – Defensive End, Tennessee
2024 Season – 35 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks (8th in SEC), 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 1st Team All-SEC
Pearce didn't put up the raw numbers in 2024 that he did during the 2023 season, but the junior edge rusher is still projected to be a top 15 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, in large part because his 19.8% pressure rate was one of the best in the country. Against an Ohio State offensive line that includes a pair of players who will likely hear their name called next April — Donovan Jackson and Josh Fryar — Pearce has a chance to make himself a household name on Saturday night in Columbus.
4. Tyler Warren – Tight End, Penn State
2024 Season – 88 receptions (2nd in Big Ten), 1,062 receiving yards (2nd in Big Ten), 6 receiving touchdowns (9th in Big Ten), 23 carries, 191 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns, 1 passing touchdown, John Mackey Award Winner, 2nd Team All-American, 7th in Heisman Trophy vote
There may not be a more unique offensive weapon than Tyler Warren, who became just the 3rd tight end to finish in the top ten of the Heisman Trophy vote in the last fifty years. The Nittany Lions will utilize Warren in all sorts of ways against an SMU defense has given up at least 25 points on six different occasions this year. Next April, when the NFL comes calling, any creative offensive coordinator will be clamoring for the opportunity to add Warren to his offense.
5. Emeka Egbuka – Wide Receiver, Ohio State
2024 Season – 60 receptions, 743 receiving yards (9th in Big Ten), 9 receiving touchdowns (4th in Big Ten), 3rd Team All-Big Ten
Though Emeka Egbuka isn't even the best wide receiver on his own team — that distinction belongs to Buckeyes freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith — he'll likely still become the fifth Ohio State wide receiver selected in the opening round of the NFL Draft since 2022 next April. Egbuka is perfectly equipped to be a high-end WR2 in the NFL, just as he is in Columbus, but in a high-pressure spot against the Volunteers, don't be surprised if the senior wideout stars on the national stage on Saturday night.
6. Jahdae Barron – Cornerback, Texas
2024 Season – 47 tackles, 1 sack, 5 interceptions, 9 passes defended, 1 fumble recovery, Jim Thorpe Award Winner, 1st Team All-American
Jahdae Barron is listed as a cornerback, but he has the makings of a Swiss Army Knife sort of player who can line up all over a defense at the next level, a la an Eric Berry or Minkah Fitzpatrick… past winners of the Jim Thorpe Award. Barron came into the season as a projected Day 2 or Day 3 pick, but because he thrived playing outside corner this season, he's seen his draft stock skyrocket. A strong showing in the College Football Playoff and NFL Scouting Combine, and he could see his stock rise again.
7. Jack Sawyer – Defensive End, Ohio State
2024 Season – 46 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 2nd Team All-Big Ten
Had the Ohio State Buckeyes managed to eke out a victory over the Michigan Wolverines in their regular season finale, Jack Sawyer's interception at the goal line would've gone down as an iconic Ohio State moment. Instead, it'll go down as nothing but a footnote to everyone except those who take great joy in the moments when Gus Johnson briefly loses his mind during the call of a particularly dramatic game.
Gus Johnson goes wild as Michigan QB Davis Warren throws a goal-line interception to Ohio State star Jack Sawyer. 🏈🎙️ #Gusgasm pic.twitter.com/HGQMdAdH75
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 30, 2024
Fortunately for the Columbus, Ohio-born Sawyer, he'll get one more chance to play at the Horseshoe and go out on a high-note as the Buckeyes host the Vols on Saturday night. Sawyer will be heading to the NFL after the season, but you know he wants to rewrite his Ohio State legacy so that the first thing mentioned when you hear his name isn't that he's 0-4 against Michigan.
8. Barrett Carter – Linebacker, Clemson
2024 Season – 76 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 7 passes defended, 1 fumble recovery, 1 receiving touchdown, 1st Team All-ACC
It's a bit of a surprise that Barrett Carter is even playing in the College Football Playoff this year at all, as many scouts expected that the Clemson linebacker was bound to enter the 2024 NFL Draft. However, Carter decided to return and now he has a chance to play a key role in bringing the Tigers back to the promised land. The first test — a Texas Longhorns offense that hasn't exactly set the college football world on fire this season.
9. Quinshon Judkins – Running Back, Ohio State
2024 Season – 147 carries, 805 rushing yards, 8 rushing touchdowns, 15 receptions, 109 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown, 3rd Team All-Big Ten
Quinshon Judkins, Treveyon Henderson… pick your poison. Both of the Buckeyes running backs are going to get work in the College Football Playoff, and both will be off the NFL after the season. Judkins is held in slightly higher regard by most NFL scouts, and he got slightly more work — 162 touches compared to 127 for Henderson — throughout the season. No matter who you prefer, they'll face a tough test in a Tennessee Volunteers defense that gave up just 3.2 yards per carry this year.
10. Quinn Ewers – Quarterback, Texas
2024 Season – 233-352, 2,665 passing yards (6th in SEC), 25 passing touchdowns (3rd in SEC), 9 interceptions, 1 rushing touchdown
By virtue of the position he plays, Quinn Ewers is almost required to crack the top ten on this list, especially since coming into the season, many scouts believed he was going to be the first quarterback taken in the 2025 NFL Draft. Ewers' stock has taken a hit — due to both injury and not-so-spectacular play — but with a solid College Football Playoff run and the Longhorns' first National Title in nearly 20 years, it's possible that the redshirt junior could soon be considered a Round 1 prospect again.
