Top Juniors at Each Position Heading into the 2026 College Football Season
College football is loaded with upperclassmen talent in 2026, and with NIL money flowing now, it's not uncommon to see kids come back for a year of development and to soak in the sport's pageantry before heading to the NFL.
The junior class is especially bursting at the seams with talent as plenty of the teams expected to challenge for the title are represented with talented guys who've been in the system.
A couple of teams (Notre Dame and Ole Miss) have two players apiece on this list, and a couple more just missed with the player considered the runner-up at another position. In other words, a glimpse of this list will show you teams you should really pay attention to this upcoming season.
If you've got veteran stars, you've got the chance to be really good. These teams do, and this year will be the final time you get to enjoy watching most of the guys in this group before they go pro.
Let's take a look at the top junior returning player at each position for the '26 season.
Quarterback: Dante Moore, Oregon Ducks
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There's a groundswell of hype surrounding Arch Manning after the light suddenly came on late last season, and rightfully so. He's destined for a big year.
But he'll still take a back seat to Dante Moore at Oregon, who has the chance to be really special. Moore stunned everybody when he decided to return to Eugene rather than be one of the top two quarterbacks taken in this year's draft.
"With this decision, mainly all my life has just been about being as most prepared as I can for any situation I go into," Moore told SportsCenter (via Pete Thamel) of his decision to get better and try to win a national championship at Oregon.
The redshirt junior will be surrounded by the best roster in college football and pass-catchers that would be the envy of most teams. Last year after sitting for a season behind Dillon Gabriel, Moore was awesome. He completed 72 percent of his passes for 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
The Detroit native also ran for 156 yards and a couple more scores, but his game is flinging the ball around the yard, which he does as well as anybody. He got the nod here over Manning and Miami's Darian Mensah, who also should have a tremendous season in Coral Gables.
Running Back: Kewan Lacy, Ole Miss Rebels
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It may seem silly to first talk about Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz in regards to Ole Miss rising junior Kewan Lacy. But take into consideration that Lacy originally committed to the Tigers, and when he left, the other player considered here – Ahmad Hardy – transferred into CoMo.
So, yeah, Coach Drink is having a nice run at running backs.
But this is ultimately about Lacy, who left Mizzou for Oxford where he blossomed into an instant-impact weapon for Lane Kiffin a season ago, starred in the College Football Playoff and decided to stay and play for new coach Pete Golding.
Lacy is big, powerful and has breakaway speed. He's the complete package and the 5'11", 206-pound runner teamed with Trinidad Chambliss to make the Rebels one of college football's darlings a year ago.
He ran 306 times for 1,567 yards, scored 24 touchdowns and even flashed the ability to be a weapon in the passing game with 177 yards.
You'd better believe Golding will showcase him this season, because as short as the shelf life is for NFL running backs, Lacy is gone after '26.
Wide Receiver: Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State Buckeyes
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There's not a more exciting, NFL-ready player on this list – or in college football at all – than Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith.
Pro teams have been waiting on him to be draft-eligible after the former No. 1-ranked prospect in the nation left Florida for the Buckeyes where he immediately carried them to a national title run in '24 and was elite again last year.
With Julian Sayin back for his sophomore season and more settled in, Smith is going to have another fantastic season. Even though Carnell Tate is off to the NFL, the Buckeyes have plenty of talent, and coach Ryan Day lines up Smith everywhere and gets him the ball as many ways as he can.
Smith does the rest. Last year, he caught 87 passes for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns. As a true freshman, he had 76 grabs for 1,315 yards and 15 scores.
The kid just produces, and even when teams focus on him and shade safeties to his side, it doesn't matter. He's WR1 in next year's NFL draft and a no-brainer for this list, even with guys like Cam Coleman's ability in the mix.
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Tight End: Trey'Dez Green, LSU Tigers
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There are so many exciting toys for new coach Lane Kiffin to play with in Baton Rouge, including guys he brought into the program and players already on the LSU roster.
One of the most intriguing of the latter group is 6'7", 240-pound tight end Trey'Dez Green, who is one of the jaw-dropping athletes in college football who is a playmaker waiting to be a superstar talent in the right offense.
With Sam Leavitt throwing him the ball and Kiffin calling plays, watch out for him to break out in '26. Green isn't being talked about enough, and he is exactly the type of player who could be the next Kenyon Sadiq-type player at the position that makes you go, "Wow," when he gets in the open field.
Last year on a poor offense, Green still finished with 33 catches for 433 yards and seven touchdowns. With a massive wingspan and unreal size, Green is a monster of a red-zone weapon, but he also has the ability to gallop away from defenders, too.
This is exactly the type of athlete Kiffin came to LSU to coach, and he is going to have a great season and be coveted by NFL teams everywhere.
Offensive Tackle: Jordan Seaton, LSU Tigers
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With the news this week that Notre Dame's Anthonie Knapp is moving over to left guard – at least for now – that made this pick a lot easier.
Knapp is a mauler who at 6'4", 296 pounds, is probably better-suited for the interior offensive line than on the perimeter, and his NFL future could be there, too. So, that paves the way for LSU's second consecutive player on this list.
Colorado transfer Jordan Seaton was formerly a 5-star recruit, thought to be a massive win for coach Deion Sanders when he committed to the Buffaloes two seasons ago. In two seasons in Boulder, Seaton was very good, starting right away and protecting Shedeur Sanders.
Last year, as everybody knows, was atrocious for the Buffaloes, so Seaton entered the transfer portal to seek big bucks and bigger win totals, and he may just have found it in Baton Rouge, who paid a nice price to keep him from Miami and others.
Now, the 6'5", 330-pound player is being counted on to be a massive star right away, and at a high cost.
"Jordan Seaton's numbers give me heartburn for what's coming next year," an SEC NIL operator told On3's Pete Nakos. "I've heard anywhere from $3 million to $6 million on him alone. I think $3 million, I can wrap my head around. Anything more, no way."
At that cost, he'd better be good.
Interior Offensive Lineman: Evan Tengesdahl, Cincinnati Bearcats
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If you know anything about college football offensive linemen, you've heard of Spencer Fano, the former Utah offensive tackle who will be one of the first players at his position taken in the draft.
But you may not be as familiar with the only other Big 12 offensive lineman to be named an Associated Press All-American a season ago.
As a redshirt sophomore, Cincinnati guard and Dayton, Ohio, native Evan Tengesdahl was brilliant, which is why he narrowly gets the nod over Kade Pieper, who will shift over from guard to center to take over for All-American Logan Jones at Iowa.
Tengesdahl was the linchpin of a Cincinnati line that was a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, which goes to the nation's top offensive line. The Bearcats were second nationally with just seven sacks allowed and was third-best in tackles for loss allowed with 39. They led the Big 12 in yards per play.
In his first year starting, Tengesdahl was a three-time Big 12 offensive lineman of the week, and he looks like he's poised for a nice pro career whether he leaves after this season or next.
Edge: Colin Simmons, Texas Longhorns
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The SEC is the home of two of the most talented edge-rushers in all of college football in Colin Simmons at Texas and Dylan Stewart at South Carolina.
Where Stewart took a bit of a step back on a bad team in 2025, though, Simmons continued to surge for a Longhorns team that may have underachieved but just missed the playoffs. With Will Muschamp coming to town to be the new coordinator, Simmons could thrive in 2026.
If he does, he could reach the very top of NFL draft boards. As valued as edge-rushers are in the pros, it's hard to imagine somebody as talented as Simmons not being taken early in next year's draft.
The 6'3", 240-pound rising junior finished last year with 43 tackles, 12 sacks, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery playing much of the time. As a freshman two years ago, Simmons was too talented to keep off the field, too, registering 48 tackles, nine sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception.
All Simmons does is produce, and with Anthony Hill Jr. gone, he'll be the team leader on a defense expected to be among the nation's best.
Interior Defensive Lineman: Will Echoles, Ole Miss Rebels
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It's not easy for defensive tackles to get a lot of publicity in college football. But while they may not make many headlines, they do wind up getting big bucks on the next level if they're elite, because exceptional space-eaters are so difficult to come by.
Of all the positions on this list, it was most difficult to find a junior here. The vast majority of expected impact players at the position are seniors, and there are a couple of elite underclassmen, too.
But the Ole Miss Rebels have a wildly productive junior who could be one of the top playmakers at the position in the sport. Former 4-star recruit Will Echoles had a huge season a year ago in the team's run to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Pro Football Focus is especially bullish on Echoles returning. PFF's Max Chadwick wrote that "Echoles led the Power Four in both pressures (39) and defensive stops (35.) His six batted passes were also second in the nation. Only (Texas Tech's) A.J. Holmes Jr. was more valuable among Power Four defensive tackles according to PFF's WAA metric."
The 6'3", 310-pound Houston, Mississippi, native could be a long-time pro after a potential All-American season.
Linebacker: Rolijah Hardy, Indiana Hoosiers
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For all the talk about Indiana coach Curt Cignetti's desire to go after production over projection in the portal, that isn't always the case. The man knows talent when he sees it, and his evaluations have been spot-on for the Hoosiers, too.
One of those portal victories that didn't have a lot of proverbial meat on the bone when he arrived in Bloomington from a statistical prowess standpoint was Rolijah Hardy, a linebacker who came to IU from Navy.
Hardy's story in today's recruiting-crazy world of college football is wild. The Florida native didn't have a single star coming out of high school. This was his 247Sports profile, which didn't even have a picture.
All he did in his first year as a sophomore starter for the undefeated national champions a year ago was roll up 103 tackles (48 solo), five passes defended and a whopping eight sacks.
The kid just makes plays. And while he isn't the biggest, most physically imposing player at his position at 5'11", 225 pounds, Hardy is all over the field and makes play after play.
Cornerback: Leonard Moore, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
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Leonard Moore doesn't have quite the recruiting no-name story that Rolijah Hardy has, but 247Sports thought there were 41 cornerbacks better than him in the 2024 recruiting class.
Turns out, none were.
The Round Rock, Texas, native is special. At 6'2", 195 pounds with long arms and precision technique, Moore was an instant-impact starter in South Bend as a true freshman and has turned into an All-American.
He can shut down one side of the field as well as anybody, and with Marcus Freeman leading the charge, the Irish are poised to have the nation's best secondary in 2025. Moore likely will be playing his final season in South Bend, as he's a first-round lock in the NFL draft.
Last year, Moore had 31 tackles, a forced fumble, five interceptions and a touchdown. But stats don't tell the whole story. The unanimous All-American from a season ago is the highest-rated coverage cornerback in the Pro Football Focus era.
His "88.4 grade in 2024 and 91.8 grade in 2025 were the first time in the 'PFF era' where a cornerback had scored an 85-plus in his first two seasons," according to MSN's Oliver Vandervoort.
He's a special player.
Safety: KJ Bolden, Georgia Bulldogs
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It was a tough call on whether to go with veteran, two-year starter Koi Perich for this slide or going with elite talent KJ Bolden at Georgia.
A season ago, Bolden really was a full-time starter for the first time, and he showed out, displaying his versatility by playing all over the Bulldogs secondary thanks to so many injuries in coach Kirby Smart's unit.
Perich has plenty of versatility, too, but Bolden gets the nod here because of his elite athleticism. Also, Perich is going to a brand new defense, leaving Minnesota where he starred for two seasons to play at Oregon. Bolden will be in Year 3 of the UGA system, and he has the ability to be the top playmaker on that defense.
If you can do that in Athens, you'll be among the nation's top defenders overall.
Last year, Bolden had a breakout sophomore season, finishing with 76 tackles, a fumble recovery, two interceptions and five passes defended. The 6'0", 185-pound defensive back is a former 5-star prospect who has been impossible to keep on the sideline during his two seasons.
He'll break through and be an All-American this year for the Dawgs.
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