College Football: Most valuable player on every Top 25 team

College football is a short time away from returning in 2018. Before it gets started, here are the most valuable players on each top 25 team.

The college football season is just weeks away. Every team is filing their way into fall camp, each team with the hopes of reaching the ultimate goal: a national championship. The field is looking to dethrone the reigning champs, the Alabama Crimson Tide. But, this is a whole new season, and with that comes new rosters on every team. Each team loses players to graduation and the NFL Draft and reloads with more talent.

However, like every season before this one, teams have to locate their top guys. Often they make them captains of the team. These players are integral to the team’s success, and they can’t win or execute at a high level without those players. While yes, football is a team sport, there is a certain player (or certain players) that a team just isn’t the same without.

Where would the Oklahoma Sooners have gone without Baker Mayfield last season? I’m sure they would still be a solid squad, but is that a team that makes the College Football Playoff? How different would the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2014 have looked without Ezekiel Elliott? Sure, there was elite talent all over that team, but Elliott was extremely valuable to that offense.

Every team in the top 25 right now, in these preseason rankings, has a player that they cannot afford to lose, whether it be because of their position they play or their leadership. If they do lose that player, their title hopes are gone, or, at the very least, that much tougher to achieve. So, without further ado, let’s dive in and take a look at the most valuable player on every Top 25 team heading into the 2018 college football season.

Note: These rankings are based on Phil Steele’s preseason top 25 rankings as of early July.