The 2025 college football season starts in Texas on Aug. 23, when Sam Houston travels to Western Kentucky in a Week Zero Conference USA clash between a pair of contenders from 2024. The other 12 FBS programs in the Lone Star State kickoff their respective seasons a week later. 

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football compiled a list of the 50 best players in the state and used it to countdown the days until the start of the season. The list concludues with players ranked Nos. 10-1. 

Previous: 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11

No. 10 – SMU QB Kevin Jennings 

The South Oak Cliff legend became SMU’s starter after the non-conference loss to BYU and led the Ponies to an 8-0 ACC record in the regular season and into the College Football Playoff during the program’s first season in the Power Four. He passed for 3,245 yards and 23 passing touchdowns while adding 354 yards and five scores on the ground. Jennings was 9-2 as the starter. He added over 10 pounds of muscle to his frame in the offseason and should benefit from receiving all the first-team reps. 

No. 9 – TCU QB Josh Hoover 

Hoover set a TCU passing record for a season with 3,949 yards through the air, breaking Trevone Boykin’s mark in 2014. He completed 66.5 percent of his passes and tossed 27 touchdowns while leading the Big 12 with 61 completions over at least 20 yards. Hoover is one of the most prolific returning quarterbacks in the entire country and is a third-year starter in the same system. The Rockwall-Heath export could easily top 4,000 yards passing as a junior and end the year on the All-Big 12 team. 

No. 8 – Baylor LB Keaton Thomas 

Thomas was an impact transfer in Year 1 as a Bear, leading the team with 114 tackles, including seven TFL and 2.5 sacks. The preseason All-Big 12 selection also added three quarterback hurries and returned an interception for a touchdown. And all that with a cast on one of his arms for most of the season. He started all 13 games at inside linebacker and immediately became the leader on the defense that helped Baylor end the year with six straight wins in Big 12 play. 

No. 7 – Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson 

Like Jennings at SMU, Robertson didn’t start the 2024 season as the starter. He took over the job in the third game of the year and ended with 3,071 yards and 28 touchdowns while completing 62.2 percent of his passes. Robertson isn’t an unknown commodity heading into 2025. He’s the face of a resurgent Baylor program with Big 12 championship aspirations in 2025. The Bears offense returns its top running back, best two wide receivers, star tight end, and four starters on the offensive line. Robertson could put up video game numbers in Jake Spavital’s offense. 

No. 6 – Texas QB Arch Manning 

Ranking an unproven quarterback ahead of proven stars like Jennings, Hoover, and Robertson invites understandable pushback. Manning’s detractors can point to his lack of accomplishments and experience with reasonable cynicism. But it is also logical to project Manning as one of the top players in college football, much less the Lone Star State. Forget his last name and five-star status, head coach Steve Sarkisian let Quinn Ewers walk out the door and into the 7th round of the NFL draft because he believes Manning is an upgrade for a team that’s reached consecutive CFP semifinals. That’s a big endorsement.  

No. 5 – Texas A&M OL Armaj Reed-Adams

Reed-Adams is the walking embodiment of what Mike Elko wants from his program in College Station. He’s tough. He’s nasty. He’ll bully opponents. He even carries around a steel chair before games. Reed-Adams is a future NFL starter at guard and his return to Aggieland was a big coup for offensive coordinator Collin Klein and quarterback Marcel Reed. The Aggies should be the top rushing team in the SEC because of the Reed-Adams led offensive line and a strong stable of running backs. 

No. 4 – Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez 

Rodriguez was an All-Big 12 First Team selection on multiple lists as a junior in 2024 and enters 2025 as the Big 12 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. The Wichita Falls Rider product started his career at Virginia on the offensive side of the ball and was a quarterback in high school. He’s evolved into the top linebacker in the Big 12 who overcame injury in 2023 to start all 13 games and finish with 127 tackles in 2024.  

No. 3 – Texas DE Colin Simmons 

Simmons was a Freshman All-American and the winner of the 2024 Shawn Alexander National Freshman of the Year award after leading the Longhorns with nine sacks. His 14 tackles for loss were second on the team. Simmons, a five-star state champion from Duncanville, was credited with one sack in at least seven games and enters 2025 as one of the two or three premier edge rushers in college football. He’ll be on the Forty Acres for at least two more seasons because he’s not eligible for the NFL Draft until at least 2027. 

No. 2 – Texas A&M LB Taurean York 

York will go down as one of the best leaders in modern Aggie football. He’s also one hell of a linebacker. The Temple native started in all 26 games of his college career through two seasons and was a team captain as a teenager. York led the Wrecking Crew defense with 82 tackles, which ranked 12th in the SEC. He was also second on the team with 9.5 tackles for loss. What he lacks in God-given size and athleticism, he makes up for with football IQ and sheer determination. He enters Year 3 with 156 career tackles. 

No. 1 – Texas LB Anthony Hill Jr. 

Hill is a former five-star recruit out of Denton Ryan who has started 22 times heading into his third season at Texas. The 6-3, 238-pound middle linebacker started all 16 games for the Longhorns last season and was the only Texas defender to register over 100 tackles. Hill is a playmaker. He compiled 13 sacks and 24.5 tackles for loss through two seasons. He also forced four fumbles in 2024 alone. The Longhorn defense could be the best in the nation and Hill is the lynchpin.