As the weather starts to warm, college football teams are hitting the field for the first slate of practices ahead of the 2024 season. Though there's still one transfer window left, which means rosters aren't entirely solidified, the next month or so will give coaches a good idea of what their programs will look like moving into the fall.
The changing calendar also meant CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd released his latest round of top 25 rankings following January's way-too-early peak at how things stand for 2024. Dodd took a stab at identifying the teams that will dominate a season defined by a wave of realignment and a shifting landscape.
The SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 are all welcoming new members to the fold while the Pac-12 has been whittled down to Oregon State and Washington State. The College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams for the first time since its inception a decade ago, with five automatic bids now up for grabs among the nation's five highest-rated conference champions.
Those top teams, poised to take advantage of a larger playoff field, each have one or two players that could define their success. There are a lot of factors that determine a player's importance: their impact at a position of need, their ability to change a game or their relative experience compared to the rest of the roster.
Whatever the case may be, every team has a player it can rely on to lead the way for success. With that in mind, here's the most important player -- before spring practices conclude, of course -- for each team in Dodd's latest top 25.
Key players for top-25 teams
| 1 |  |
| Joenel Aguero, DB: Quarterback Carson Beck would be an easy pick here, but he's expected to have a big impact after a stellar first season as Georgia's starter. Instead, the Bulldogs need a versatile secondary player to step up after losing do-it-all safety Javon Bullard and starting nickel Tykee Smith. Aguero, who could play safety or slot corner, is going to have an opportunity to start. Though Georgia's defense rarely falls below elite status, the Bulldogs have always been able to rely on solid backend play. Aguero needs to fill that role, in some capacity, to help Georgia stay consistent. | |
| 2 |  |
| Will Howard, QB: Howard's importance for Ohio State goes beyond the quarterback position. He's a proof of concept for the new offensive style that coach Ryan Day is clearly trying to implement. The Buckeyes are still going to air it out -- they have too many talented wide receivers not to -- but Day's moves this offseason have emphasized physicality. New offensive coordinator Chip Kelly is an expert at scheming the run game. Running back Quinshon Judkins, a transfer from Ole Miss, does his best work between the tackles. And the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Howard is an absolutely punishing runner that might be more comfortable on the move than in the pocket. Day's new philosophy may be dead on arrival if Howard has a tough season. | |
| 3 |  |
| Isaiah Bond, WR: Texas has to replace a pair of all-star defensive linemen in Byron Murphy and T'Vondre Sweat, but that position is in good hands with what the Longhorns have coming back. The wide receiver spot, on paper, looks dire by comparison. Texas is losing its top three wideouts to the draft, taking a combined 2,541 yards and 18 touchdowns from 2023 with them. Bond, who emerged as a hero for Alabama last season, was an immense get through the transfer portal. He hit his stride late in the year and is now poised to break out as one of the best receivers in America. He'll get plenty of time to shine as Texas' apparent alpha in its WR room; the Longhorns desperately need him to fill that role, at least. | |
| 4 |  |
| Dillon Gabriel, QB: Gabriel has some huge shoes to fill as he steps into Oregon's starting role. Bo Nix won 22 games, threw for more than 8,0000 yards and accounted for 94 total touchdowns in two seasons as Oregon's starter. Not that Gabriel is unaccomplished: through a five-year career that's taken him through UCF and Oklahoma, he has 14,865 yards and 125 touchdowns passing to just 26 career interceptions. Still, those Nix-sized expectations loom large and any sort of drop off from the QB position could spell danger for Oregon in its inaugural Big Ten season. | |
| 5 |  |
| Malachi Moore, DB: Moore is a known commodity for Alabama's defense, and that's exactly what makes him so important. Whether it be through natural attrition or the transfer portal, the Crimson Tide were decimated by defensive departures this offseason. The secondary in particular will have to break in new starters at practically every position. Moore is the one notable holdover from 2023, and his veteran presence will be invaluable as new coach Kalen DeBoer tries to make the pieces work. | |
| 6 |  |
| Walter Nolen, DL: Ole Miss' defense was, overall, average in coordinator Pete Golding's first year, but it had one glaring deficiency: the run game. The Rebels were too often gashed on the ground, allowing eight opponents -- six of which came in conference play -- to reach at least 150 yards rushing. In its only two losses of the season, against Alabama and Georgia, Ole Miss gave up a combined 431 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. Too often the Rebels were moved off the point of attack. That shouldn't be an issue with Nolen, who has immense disruptive potential along the interior and can more than hold his own in the SEC's trenches. | |
| 7 |  |
| Mitchell Evans, TE: Evans tore his ACL eight games into the 2023 season and still finished as Notre Dame's leading receiver with 29 catches for 422 yards and a touchdown. Then the Irish lost their next two leading receivers, and fellow tight end Holden Staes, to the transfer portal. Duke quarterback transfer Riley Leonard certainly needs to make an impact, but in order to do that he needs some reliable options. In that regard, Evans' ability to recover and return to form might determine Notre Dame's offensive ceiling. | |
| 8 |  |
| Luther Burden III, WR: Simply put, Burden is one of the best players in America. Smart money says he'll be a Heisman contender, and his rapport with quarterback Brady Cook could give Missouri another stellar season as it looks to build off of 2023's 11 wins. Burden's good enough to take over a game, and his health is paramount for the Tigers' continued success. | |
| 9 |  |
| KeAndre Lambert-Smith, WR: Quarterback Drew Allar needs some help. He had an up-and-down first year as a starter. Some of that was on him, but Penn State's wide receivers deserve blame, too. For his part, Lambert-Smith was the only wide receiver with more than 300 yards and even he struggled with inconsistency with just two catches for 28 yards in Penn State's final four games. Still, the potential is there for so much more, and he definitely has the highest ceiling among Penn State's pass catchers. | |
| 10 |  |
| Garrett Nussmeier, QB: This one's a no-brainer. LSU is losing a Heisman winner in quarterback Jayden Daniels. Since the Tigers didn't turn to the transfer portal, Nussmeier is the next man in line. Yes, the "Nuss Bus" is finally in motion after three years of patiently waiting. He's certainly shown flashes of excellence in his limited playing time. Nussmeier was named the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl MVP after shredding Wisconsin's defense to the tune of 395 yards passing and three touchdowns. More games like that will take some of the sting off losing Daniels. | |
| 11 |  |
| Donovan Edwards, RB: Michigan lost head coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL and a litany of players are following suit after the Wolverines' national championship-winning 2023 season. Eighteen players with starting experience are testing the NFL Draft waters, including most of UM's offensive lineup. Blake Corum is leaving consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons and 58 touchdowns in his wake. That's a lot of production to replace for a team that will have a run-first identity, with a brand new QB running the show, under new coach Sherrone Moore. Luckily, Edwards is back. He looked poised for big things in 2023 after a breakout 2022 but was largely quiet for most of the season -- until Michigan's CFP National Championship win against Washington, in which he had six rushes for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Michigan's offense needs him to carry that momentum into the fall. | |
| 12 |  |
| Cameron Rising, QB: The 2023 season underscored Rising's importance to Utah. With him sidelined all year due to injury, the Utes bounced between Nate Johnson and former walk-on Bryson Barnes, but neither moved the needle. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham still dragged eight wins out of his team, which is impressive given the context but still a step back from the 11 wins in each of the two years prior with Rising leading the way. How Rising recovers from tearing every major ligament in his knee will determine Utah's Big 12 outlook. | |
| 13 |  |
| Jackson Arnold, QB: Oklahoma practically shoved two-year starter Dillon Gabriel out of the door to make way for Arnold, a former five-star prospect who spent most of his freshman season in a backup role. He did get to start Oklahoma's Alamo Bowl showdown against Arizona, and though he got better as the game wore on, he threw three bad interceptions and largely struggled with commanding the offense. Oklahoma is hitching its schooner to Arnold without many viable alternatives if he can't handle a full-time starting role. | |
| 14 |  |
| Noah Fifita, QB: A bit of a run on quarterbacks here, but each has a good reason why. Jedd Fisch led Arizona to its best season in almost a decade, winning 10 games and beating Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl, and then left for Washington. Bucking the modern trend of post-coaching departure transfers, Fifita decided to stick around and play things out under new coach Brent Brennan. That gives Brennan a young, bought-in program guy with upside as one of the nation's best quarterbacks. Doesn't get much more valuable than that. | |
| 15 |  |
| Nico Iamaleava, QB: The No. 2 overall prospect in the 2023 cycle, Iamaleava is Tennessee's unquestioned starter moving forward now that Joe Milton is out of eligibility. Tennessee really needs him to pan out. If he fails to live up to the billing, the Volunteers' other options are a redshirt senior walk-on (Gaston Moore) and a true freshman (Jake Merklinger). Earning MVP honors in Tennessee's Citrus Bowl win against Iowa was a good start for Iamaleava. | |
| 16 |  |
| Drew Azzopardi, OL: New Washington coach Jedd Fisch has a lot of roster issues to address as he picks up the pieces left by Kalen DeBoer, but none are more pressing than offensive line. Gone are seven key players from that 2023 Joe Moore Award-winning unit, including all five starters. The 6-foot-7 Azzopardi, a former San Diego State transfer, committed to DeBoer and stuck around during the coaching transition. That was a huge win; he gives the Wolverines a bonafide starting offensive tackle in a unit that so sorely needs options. | |
| 17 |  |
| Phil Mafah, RB: Mafah certainly isn't a one-to-one comparison to departing running back Will Shipley. Clemson will likely need a committee to replace Shipley, who impacted the game out of the backfield, as a kick returner and as a receiver. He was singlehandedly Clemson's most dynamic offensive option, and he'll be sorely missed. But with issues all over the offense, Mafah should emerge as a steady hand. He hasn't missed a game in two years and got plenty of run last season while Shipley dealt with injuries, rushing for 965 yards and 13 touchdowns. | |
| 18 |  |
| Avery Johnson, QB: Johnson and Arnold are in comparable decisions. Kansas State was OK with letting veteran Will Howard hit the portal because of Johnson's presence. The highest-rated quarterback to sign with the Wildcats since 247Sports started ranking prospects, Johnson was named the Pop-Tarts Bowl MVP after tallying almost 250 total yards and three touchdowns. | |
| 19 |  |
| Savion Byrd, OL: SMU is making a huge leap to the ACC in 2024, and one of the primary concerns is how its offensive line will translate to the increase in competition level, especially after the Mustangs struggled against the likes of TCU and Oklahoma. Enter Byrd, an Oklahoma transfer who has plenty of experience playing at the power-conference level. Having someone like that hold down a starting tackle spot for a transitioning program is invaluable. | |
| 20 |  |
| Patrick Payton, EDGE: All-American edge rusher Jared Verse and his 18 sacks from two seasons with the Seminoles are off to the NFL. Payton, the top option to replace Verse, flirted with the transfer portal before finally deciding to return for another year. He's a huge boon for a Florida State defense that has to replace a plethora of key pieces, and his ability to get after the quarterback will help alleviate any other issues that might present themselves. | |
| 21 |  |
| Jalon Daniels, QB: Daniels' 2023 season was limited to three games due to injury in 2023, and backup Jason Bean did exceedingly well when pressed into service. But Bean is gone and Daniels, who's recovering from nagging back issues, is on another level. He's a legitimate difference-maker with an elite ability to impact the game with his legs and through the air. He's arguably the Big 12's best quarterback and gives Kansas potential conference title upside when healthy. | |
| 22 |  |
| Cameron Ward, QB: A lack of ingenuity and playmaking ability have plagued Miami's quarterbacks under coach Mario Cristobal. Too often, when a play breaks down, the Hurricanes have looked lost. That shouldn't be a problem with Ward running the show. The Washington State transfer can make throws at every level of the field and his improvisational skills are almost unmatched. He should be what Miami needs to finally get its offense out of first gear. | |
| 23 |  |
| Kevin Concepcion, WR: NC State has a lot of moving pieces on its offense, with multiple transfers penciled in to presumed starting positions. But Concepcion, the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, is one constant after carrying NC State's offense on his shoulders in 2023. The Wolfpack like to move Concepcion all over the field, and his utility is huge for a team with so many moving parts. | |
| 24 |  |
| Ollie Gordon, RB: You know how it's easy to tell when a player is individually important? When an entire unit on that player's team is noticeably worse with him absent. That was the case with Oklahoma State, which relied on Gordon to do a lot of heavy lifting in 2023. The Cowboys' struggles without Gordon were so apparent that he tried to battle through various injuries to try to keep the ship afloat. Mark Gordon down as a Heisman contender in 2024; he'll certainly get a requisite workload. | |
| 25 |  |
| Kyron Drones, QB: Few players are in a better position to go from relative unknown to household name than Drones. He quietly had an excellent 2023, throwing for 17 touchdowns to just three interceptions as the Hokies won more than six games for the first time since 2019. Drones returns to lead a veteran Virginia Tech team that could make some waves in the ACC. | |
