The Signal Callers

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Josh Hoover — QB, Indiana

Let's set the stage here: Josh Hoover enters 2026 as college football's active career leader in passing yards (9,629) and is second in touchdown passes with 71. He's inheriting a program fresh off a national championship and a Heisman-winning quarterback in Fernando Mendoza — a genuinely impossible act to follow. And yet, Hoover might be the most qualified person on the planet to try. He completed 65.9% of his attempts for 3,472 yards and 29 touchdowns at TCU in 2025, though he did lead the Big 12 with 13 interceptions. The big arm is real, the production is real, and the interception rate is a known problem that Indiana's staff has a track record of fixing. Dating back to 2021, four of the five quarterbacks who have played under Curt Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan have earned conference player of the year or offensive player of the year honors. Hoover is the next science experiment. The lab has a very good track record.

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Brendan Sorsby — QB, Texas Tech

Texas Tech's magical 2025 season ended in the most painful way possible — a 23-0 shutout at the hands of Oregon in the Orange Bowl. The Red Raiders became just the third CFP team ever to be held scoreless. Four days later, Joey McGuire had his answer: Sorsby proved one of the country's most effective dual-threat quarterbacks in 2025, throwing for 27 touchdowns on 2,800 passing yards and rushing for nine more scores on 580 yards. Texas Tech celebrated his signing with advertisements posted in Times Square's famous digital billboards. If that's not a statement of intent, nothing is. The $5M price tag and a lawsuit from Cincinnati notwithstanding — welcome to the big stage, Brendan.

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CJ Carr — QB, Notre Dame

The most quietly dominant quarterback in college football last season is about to become very loud. Carr finished his 12-game regular season with a 10-2 overall record, racking up 2,741 passing yards, completed 66.6 percent of his passes, threw 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. ESPN's Bill Connelly named him the top returning Power Four quarterback in the country. His grandfather is Lloyd Carr. His bloodline says first-round pick. His tape says it louder. Carr is already a Heisman co-favorite heading into 2026. If Notre Dame's supporting cast steps up around him, the Irish are going to be genuinely frightening.

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The Backfield

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Waymond Jordan — RB, USC

Before an ankle injury in October against Michigan, Jordan led USC with 576 rushing yards and five touchdowns through just six games, averaging 6.5 yards per carry. He came out of Hutchinson CC as the No. 1 junior college running back in the country and delivered two 150-yard performances in his first three games at USC. Lincoln Riley called him "a diamond in the rough." A full, healthy season in 2026 — alongside what shapes up to be a loaded Trojans offense — and we're talking about one of the most electric backs in the country. The résumé is already there. Now give the man a clean year.

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Jadan Baugh — RB, Florida

Baugh is a bruising 6-foot-1 and 231 pounds, coming off a 1,170-yard, eight-touchdown sophomore season. He became just the third underclassman in Florida history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, joining Emmitt Smith and Errict Rhett. His 266-yard explosion against Florida State was the second-most rushing yards in a single game in program history. He chose to stay in Gainesville over entering the portal, and the reason is clear: with Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner's run-heavy scheme and an unproven quarterback room, Baugh is going to be counted on to carry Florida's offense for stretches. That's a feature, not a bug, for someone who finished eighth nationally in forced missed tackles last season.

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The Weapons

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Cooper Bakate — WR, Miami

The name is spelled "Bakate" on the roster but pronounced "breakout." Bakate caught 72 passes for 1,106 yards and seven touchdowns at Duke in 2025, earning second-team All-ACC honors — then followed star quarterback Darian Mensah to Miami in the transfer portal. The Mensah-Bakate connection is already seasoned and dangerous. Moving from Duke to the Hurricanes means brighter lights, a better roster around him, and a full ACC slate with national eyeballs watching. This is a guy who had 13 catches for 172 yards against Georgia Tech in a single game. The ceiling here is genuinely special.

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Jamari Johnson — TE, Oregon

Johnson spent his first season at Oregon as the backup to Kenyon Sadiq — a Mackey Award finalist who just exhausted his eligibility. That's a long walk up to the starting role for a player who was already showing out in big spots, including a touchdown reception in Oregon's Peach Bowl semifinal against Indiana. Multiple NFL draft analysts have him in their top-35 prospects for 2027. With Sadiq gone, Johnson is the TE1 on a team that many believe is a national title contender. Expect Dante Moore to find him early and often.

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The Trenches

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Trevor Goosby — OT, Texas

He stepped in to replace Kelvin Banks — a top-10 NFL Draft pick — at left tackle for Texas and delivered an 83.3 overall PFF rating, with grades above 80.0 in both pass blocking and run blocking. He then turned down NFL Draft feedback suggesting a late first-round grade to come back to Austin. He gave Texas A&M pass rusher Cashius Howell fits in last season's matchup, recording a career-high PFF pass-blocking grade of 91.9. A 6'7" wall with vines for arms protecting Arch Manning's blind spot. This is as good as it gets at the position in college football.

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David Stone — DT, Oklahoma

Stone played in all 13 games, totaling 42 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and six quarterback hurries while leading all defensive tackles on the Sooners roster. The stats won't leap off the page, but he clearly emerged as one of the top defensive linemen in the country, and he's already on the radar as a potential Day 1 pick in an interior defensive line class without a slam-dunk top option. Oklahoma's run defense was elite last season. Stone was the reason why.

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The Defense

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Yhonzae Pierre — EDGE, Alabama

In 2025, Pierre didn't just emerge — he erupted. As a redshirt freshman, he tallied 52 total tackles, eight sacks, three forced fumbles, and a pass deflection, making huge plays when they mattered most. Eight sacks as a first-year starter in the SEC. He had three sacks against Tennessee alone. Pierre returns a team-high eight of the Crimson Tide's 33 sacks from 2025 and is already being called a potential All-American. Nick Saban who? Kalen DeBoer has a pass-rusher who's about to make opposing quarterbacks very uncomfortable.

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Sammy Brown — LB, Clemson

Sammy Brown might be the most complete linebacker in college football. His sophomore year was the announcement: he led the Tigers with 107 total tackles, 13.5 for loss, and five sacks while earning first-team All-ACC honors and the 2025 Blanchard-Rogers Trophy as South Carolina's most outstanding collegiate football player. He had a sack and an interception in the same game — first Clemson player to do it since Jeremiah Trotter Jr. His high school résumé includes 153 tackles, 2,289 rushing yards, and 36 touchdowns in his senior year. He was literally doing two jobs. Now he's doing one, and he's doing it better than almost anyone in the country.

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Ellis Robinson — CB, Georgia

Robinson was named the FWAA Defensive Freshman of the Year after tying for the SEC lead with four interceptions as a true freshman for Georgia — a defense that already ranked among the best in the nation. He earned Freshman All-America honors from virtually every outlet, matching the school's previous FWAA freshman winner: Brock Bowers. Four picks. Seven pass breakups. Twelve starts. As a true freshman. The word "breakout" doesn't quite cover it when you're already in the starting lineup for Kirby Smart, but the leap from "impressive freshman" to "premier corner in college football" is a real jump that Robinson looks ready to make.

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Ty Benefield — S, LSU

Benefield joins LSU after three standout seasons at Boise State, totaling 235 career tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 16 pass breakups, and five interceptions across 41 appearances. He was the defensive MVP of the Mountain West Championship Game and led Boise State with 107 combined tackles in 2025. Now he's stepping into the SEC under Lane Kiffin and DC Blake Baker, filling the shoes of the departed AJ Haulcy. Like Mansoor Delane before him, Benefield is expected to emerge as a national name once he's on the biggest stage in college football. He covers space like a center fielder, diagnoses the run like a linebacker, and plays 48 minutes per game. That profile fits the SEC just fine.

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The 2026 season hasn't started yet, but the cast is already assembled. Some of these names you'll know by Week 4. Others might be Heisman finalists by November. All thirteen of them are worth watching on Day 1 — because when breakout seasons happen in college football, they rarely announce themselves in advance. They just show up. And this group? They've already been showing up for a while.