Best college football players of all time ranked by jersey number
By John Buhler
Steve McNair
Quarterback, Alcorn State Braves
Are we really going to give the best player to ever wear a No. 9 jersey in college football to a guy that played in the FCS level? Well, if you’ve heard of Steve McNair and what he did for the Alcorn State Braves in the 1990s, you should have no problem with that whatsoever. He was simply dynamic collegiately for the Braves and professionally for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans.
McNair would finish third in the 1994 Heisman Trophy ceremony behind winner Rashaan Salaam and runner-up Ki-Jana Carter. At Alcorn State, McNair garnered almost 6,000 yards his senior year with the Braves. He still hold several FCS records, including 14,496 passing yards and 16,283 career yards.
Vince Young
Quarterback, Texas Longhorns
Though his NFL career didn’t turn out like the Tennessee Titans had hoped it would, Vince Young was utterly sensational at quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. While Ricky Williams won a Heisman Trophy in Austin, it will be Young that will have the longest lasting legacy of the Mack Brown era of Longhorns football.
Young was the 2005 Big 12 Player of the Year, leading the Longhorns to a national title over the overwhelming favorite USC Trojans. As a junior, Young would finish second in the Heisman voting to Trojans tailback Reggie Bush. Young would leave Austin completing 61.8 percent of his passes for 6,040 yards, 44 touchdowns and 20 interceptions as a passer. As a runner, Young would find pay dirt 37 times on 457 carries for 3,127 yards.
Matt Leinart
Quarterback, USC Trojans
While Carson Palmer had the howitzer of a right arm, Matt Leinart will go down as the best quarterback of the Pete Carroll era of USC football. Leinart was tremendously consistent in his three years as the Trojans starting quarterback.
Replacing Palmer was hard, but Leinart threw for over 3,000 yards, 25 touchdowns and under 10 interceptions each year under center at USC. Leinart won the 2004 Heisman Trophy, was a two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year, and won two national titles with the Trojans. His southpawed nature and underwhelming throwing arm hurt him as a professional, but Leinart is an all-time in the college game without question.
Roger Staubach
Quarterback, Navy Midshipmen
Seemingly every quarterback of note in the NFL game today wears a No. 12 jersey. From Tom Brady to Andrew Luck to Aaron Rodgers, yes, the are all rocking No. 12. Nobody wore that jersey better in college than 1963 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Roger Staubach.
Staubach would eventually achieve greater heights in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, but he first came on the scene as a junior quarterback for the Navy Midshipmen. His 1963 campaign featured a 66.7 completion percentage for 1,702 yards, seven touchdowns and seven picks. Staubach would also find pay dirt nine times in his Heisman season on 168 carries for 371 yards.