Best college football players of all time ranked by jersey number
By John Buhler
Doak Walker
Running Back, SMU Mustangs
There is a reason that the best running back in college football annually receives the Doak Walker Award. The dude was incredible for the SMU Mustangs back in the old Southwest Conference in the late 1940s. Walker would win the 1948 Heisman Trophy as a junior and remains the only Mustang to do so.
That fall, Walker rushed for 598 yards on 11 carries for 4.9 yards per carry and eight touchdowns. He would find pay dirt three times through the air that season on 16 catches for 284 yards. Walker was the signature player of SMU football until the Pony Express came to town in the early 1980s in the form of Eric Dickerson, Craig James and Lance McIlhenny.
George Rogers
Running Back, South Carolina Gamecocks
Well before the South Carolina Gamecocks joined the SEC in 1992, they didn’t have much of a football history. However, they did have one of the best tailbacks of his generation in the form of George Rogers. Rogers would win the 1980 Heisman Trophy before being the No. 1 overall pick by the New Orleans Saints in the 1981 NFL Draft.
In 1980, Rogers would rush for 1,781 yards on 297 attempts for 14 touchdowns, averaging 6.0 yards per carry. Three times would Rogers rush for over 1,000 yards in college. He would leave Columbia with 5,091 career rushing yards on 927 carries and 31 touchdowns. Before Steve Spurrier arrived in 2005, Rogers was South Carolina football.
Larry Csonka
Running Back, Syracuse Orangemen
It does get overlooked sometimes, but the Syracuse Orange have had themselves some fantastic running backs over the years. Ernie Davis won a Heisman Trophy, Jim Brown is the best pure running back talent the NFL has ever seen. They also some guy named Larry Csonka.
Csonka would go down as the star running back for the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins in the NFL. In college, Csonka had 594 carries for 2,934 yards and 19 touchdowns in his three years with the then Orangemen. Csonka was a powerful runner for Syracuse and is held in high regard by his alma mater and the Dolphins organization for his contributions to the game of football.
Luke Kuechly
Linebacker, Boston College Eagles
No recency bias here. While currently stars as the middle linebacker for the Carolina Panthers, Luke Kuechly tore it up for the Boston College Eagles his three years of college ball from 2009 to 2011. He is a two-time All-American and won just about every defensive award you can think of during his junior year in 2011.
Kuechly would leave school a year early to begin his journey in the NFL. In just three years with Boston College, Kuechly would total 299 solo tackles, 233 assists and 35.5 for a loss of yardage. Though he only had 2.5 career sacks in college, Kuechly had seven interceptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns.