The 2021 college football regular season is officially over. The long trek to conference championship week ended with a still-undecided College Football Playoff picture for at least three spots. Georgia looks like a lock even with a loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship, but contenders Cincinnati, Oklahoma State and Michigan will all need to come out on top next week as Notre Dame looks on comfortably from home.
With fewer games being played this coming weekend, we may have seen the end of the movement at the top in each of these highest-graded player rankings. Michigan‘s Aidan Hutchinson, Alabama‘s Bryce Young and Georgia‘s Nakobe Dean each have a chance to pull away even further from their peers with big performances in their championship games.
Without further ado, here are the highest-graded players in the Power Five and Group of Five following the 2021 college football regular season.
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Quarterback
Power Five: Bryce Young, Alabama Crimson Tide | 92.6
Young wasn’t dinged too hard after a meager offensive output against Auburn given how poorly his offensive line played. He’s also shown great ability over the season to make free rushers miss, and that will come in handy against Georgia next week. Young has graded out below 75.0 in only three games this season while topping 90.0 in five contests.
Group of Five: Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | 91.8
Of McCall's 21 career starts at quarterback for the Chanticleers, only five earned him a sub-70.0 grade — and just one was from this season. He is a master of efficiency, with his accuracy being on full display every week in Coastal Carolina’s modern option offense. He will likely finish as the highest-graded Group of Five quarterback in the PFF College era (2014-).
Running Back
Power Five: Dameon Pierce, Florida Gators | 92.4
Michigan’s Hassan Haskins is just .7 grading points away from Pierce, so he could catch the Gator running back with a big outing in the Big Ten championship game albeit, against a tough Iowa defense. Michigan's Blake Corum is also in striking distance at 90.5, and Utah’s Tavion Thomas, who will play in the Pac-12 title game, sits at 90.2.
Group of Five: Tyler Allgeier, BYU Cougars | 87.9
It doesn’t seem like anyone will catch Allgeier. The BYU runner is 4.4 grading points above Kent State’s Xavier Williams, the second-highest-graded Group of Five runner who also plays this weekend. BYU doesn’t play, so it would take a herculean effort from Williams to catch Allgeier.
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Wide Receiver
Power Five: Drake London, USC Trojans | 91.3
An injured London will be hard to catch. Pittsburgh’s Jordan Addison boasts an 87.0 grade and plays in the ACC Championship game. London was a force while healthy and should finish with the most contested catches in the Power Five despite having his season cut short. He'll also likely finish top 10 in catches, targets, first-down receptions and missed tackles forced.
Group of Five: Brandon Lewis, Air Force Falcons | 93.7
Western Kentucky’s Jerreth Sterns has a small chance to usurp Lewis with a big Conference USA Championship game on Friday night. His 88.4 grade is still a way off of Lewis' mark. The Air Force receiver’s 95.8 receiving grade dwarfs all other pass-catchers in the country. The next highest mark is 91.9 from Western Michigan’s Skyy Moore.
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