College Fantasy Football Awards (2025)

As a history teacher, I love studying the game, coaches, teams, and players who have made Saturdays great over the past 125 seasons. For the past decade, I have chronicled the top performers of the College Fantasy Football campaign for the historical archives.

Once again, I have asked five CFF experts (Joe Arpasi, Mike Bainbridge, Chris Battistel, Jared Palmgrem, and Luke Probasco) to vote with me on their top three players at each position. The results of the top performers in six award categories are profiled below. As the CFF season has concluded, I look forward to sharing more highlights and awards in the seasons to come. Enjoy, my fellow CFF diehards.

2025 College Fantasy Football Awards

Cam Newton Award: The Preeminent Fantasy Quarterback

1. Byrum Brown, South Florida (30 points)
2. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt (13 points)
3. Colton Joseph, Old Dominion (7 points)

South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown takes home the hardware as the runaway winner of the Cam Newton award, given to the best college fantasy quarterback in the country, as he outscored the next closest QB by over 50 Fantasy Points (FPs) this season. If the voting committee were also handing out a Comeback Player of the Year award, Brown would have come away with that trophy as well, rebounding from his season-ending injury that had some CFF drafters hesitant he would return to his 2023 form.

Brown was that and then some this season, scoring 23 or more FPs in 11 of 12 games played, including three-straight 50-point performances in the final three weeks, singlehandedly winning some folks their CFF leagues. Brown improved drastically as a passer from last year, completing over 66% of his passes with 28 touchdowns to just seven interceptions, and was one of four quarterbacks in the country to rush for over 1,000 yards during the regular season. Not to go unnoticed, South Florida’s improved pass protection played a monumental role in Brown’s resurgence this season, allowing just 17 sacks compared to 36 the year prior.

A truly outstanding season from the South Florida quarterback, but now the wait begins to see where Brown could play in 2026, as he has one year of eligibility remaining, and perhaps, following his coach to the Plains at Auburn?

Mike Bainbridge, @MBainbridge

Roll the tapes 📹

Congratulations, @byrumbrown17! 👏 pic.twitter.com/ZcORm18dS5

— South Florida Football (@USFFootball) December 2, 2025

Barry Sanders Award: The Fantastic Fantasy Running Back

1. Caleb Hawkins, North Texas (26 points)
2. Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame (18 points)
3. Emmett Johnson, Nebraska (9 points)

The running back position during the 2025 CFF cycle started in one of the bleakest states I can remember the position being in. The turnover at the position, between draft-bound players and transfers, left us little work to do. In fact, of the top 12 from 2024, zero running backs returned to their respective teams, and only 3 of the top 24 did so. In drafts, you wouldn’t be surprised to see what little-known commodities we had fly off the board before things got questionable at the position quickly.

Even after all that, once the season started, the known commodities suffered a rash of injuries. Of the top 12 running backs in drafts this year, seven missed at least three games, and while Demond Claiborne and Bryson Washington are labeled as playing 12 games, they were far less than 100% for a good chunk of their games. The only top-12 RB whose value returned was Jeremiah Love (more on him in a minute). Just a brutal year for the top of the position, but the game we love does not forsake us, and this year we saw a new class of elite options rise. A lot of these guys were available in the mid-late rounds and were big payoffs if you were willing to take the risk. Guys like Cameron Cook, Kewan Lacy, and Kaytron Allen come to mind. However, the No. 1 RB in all of CFF was a complete unknown freshman coming into the season and took the entire game by storm.

With that, we can introduce our winner of the 2025 Barry Sanders Award: Caleb Hawkins, the freshman running back out of North Texas. I said Hawkins took the game by storm, but in reality, we’re talking Hurricane Katrina levels of destruction across the league. Hawkins finished the season, outperforming the 2nd-place RB by 25 FPs, and that is with him doing very little of note in the first three games of the season while North Texas eased him in. Week 4 onwards, Hawkins averaged 35.4 FPPG in complete PPR formats. There is only one CFF RB in recent memory who beats that insane pace, and that was Ashton Jeanty last year.

In nine games as the full-time starter for North Texas, Hawkins finished in the top 12 of weekly CFF RBs in seven of those games. In the playoff weeks, he was a league MVP in every sense, scoring 30-plus FPs in all three playoff weeks. The crazy part about Hawkins was how hard he was to see coming. There wasn’t a lot of pre-season buzz coming out of North Texas camp reports. At the very least, nothing that was different than regular praise for RBs. Eric Morris has exclusively run committee approaches in recent years, and when Hawkins popped early in the season, many, including myself, dismissed it, as we’d seen Eric Morris backs pop big games before only to fade the following weeks. But that didn’t happen, and those who hesitated on Hawkins would massively pay the price. Unfortunately, Hawkins’ future is now questionable, with Eric Morris heading to Oklahoma State. If Hawkins follows Morris to Oklahoma State, you can expect him to be a first-round choice in CFF leagues next year. If he goes anywhere else, his talent won’t be in question, but his ability to repeat a RB No. 1 season undoubtedly will be.

If it weren’t for Hawkins, the winner of this year’s Barry Sanders award would almost assuredly be awarded to our runner-up, Jeremiyah Love. As mentioned at the start of this section, the RB position this year was decimated by injuries. Love was the lone man left standing, running across the field, avoiding bombs, claiming his fellow RB soldiers like he was in 1917. Because of his ability to stay healthy, Love was the definition of a consistent starter for CFF this year, scoring 18-plus FPs in PPR formats in 10 of his 12 games, and his only real disappointments came in the first and last weeks of the season.

Notre Dame’s schedule gave Love weekly matchups where he could feast constantly, and he took every bit of the advantage. Some questioned Love as a first-round pick in CFF leagues before the season, citing his reliance on efficiency rather than volume. After all, he hit 1,000 yards in the regular season in 2024, but it came on only 141 attempts, a far less than desirable volume. However, the possibility we should always leave room for when we see running backs give that kind of performance is “Okay, but what if he did get more volume but managed to keep that efficiency?” because that’s precisely what happened with Love. He got 58 more carries in 2025 during the regular season than he did in 2024, and his efficiency only dropped 0.5 yards per carry, leaving him with a still-elite 6.9 yards per carry, allowing him to almost eclipse 1,400 yards in the regular season.

Sometimes, a great running back is a great running back, and volume will come to those who earn it. Love is the poster child for that. Unfortunately, it’s all but guaranteed that Love will be headed to the draft so that CFF will lose one of its top scorers this year. It will be interesting to see if his partner in crime, Jadarian Price, also leaves or stays behind to continue the legacy of recent elite Notre Dame RBs.

Our third-place finisher for the Barry Sanders award is Emmett Johnson of Nebraska. Third place was a battle between the likes of Johnson, Jacksonville State’s Cameron Cook, and Ole Miss’ Keway Lacy, but once you look at the data, it’s easy to see what gave Johnson the edge among voters. After Dana Holgerson took over as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator in 2024, Johnson started to see elite usage, and that continued into 2025, allowing Johnson to finish as the CFF RB3 for the season.

Many CFF prognosticators predicted before the start of the season that Emmett Johnson’s receiving usage would be a significant factor in his fantasy production and that he could even lead the country in targets at the position. While he came in fourth in targets, Johnson’s receiving work was huge for him. Johnson saw 31.9% of his points scored this year come from his receiving work, easily the highest among the top 12 RBs this year. This allowed Johnson to be one of the safest floor RBs on the year, scoring under 15 full PPR points only once on the season. Unfortunately, Johnson is another who seems locked into the NFL draft and will be dearly missed by the CFF community.

As I close the book on the CFF 2025, I’m always going to have one eye on the 2026 season, and at the running back position, we have a chance to have an elite class, similar to the one we were all drafting in the 2024 pre-season. There’s a host of elite young guys who have to play another season. Hawkins, if he ends up at Oklahoma State, will be an elite option. Lacy is likely to follow Lane Kiffin to LSU. I’d be shocked if Ahmad Hardy leaves Columbia, Missouri. Antwan Raymond is unlikely to leave Rutgers, but if he does, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t for a workhorse role somewhere else. That’s four top 12 RBs we know for a fact will be back in some capacity next year.

The wildcards are the G5 running backs Cook and Evan Dickens. Recent history says top G5 talent will transfer up to the Power 4, but one can dream. There are also second-tier options like LJ Martin, Jadan Baugh, and Kendrick Raphael, who, if they stay put, should bolster the class even further. It all comes down to the transfer portal and who decides to go pro, which we’ll all know by January, but we could be looking at one of the strongest pre-season classes of RBs we’ve ever seen in CFF. Can’t wait!

Jared Palmgren, @CFF_Jared

Scholar’s 2025 CFF All-American Team

• QB Byrum Brown, South Florida
• QB Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt
• RB Caleb Hawkins, North Texas
• RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame
• WR Skyler Bell, UConn
• WR Makai Lemon, USC
• WR Beau Sparks, Texas State
• TE Eli Stowers, Vanderbilt
• Flex Emmett Johnson, Nebraska
• S-Flex Colton Joseph, Old Dominion

Desmond Howard Award: The Finest Fantasy Wide Receiver

1. Skyler Bell, UConn (28 points)
2. Makai Lemon, USC (20 points)
3. Malachi Toney, Miami (3 points)

In 2009, when UConn upset Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, my friends and I committed to buying Huskies’ season tickets. For the past 16 years, we have traveled to East Hartford, CT, to watch UConn at Rentschler Field. Regrettably, the Huskies recorded 11 losing seasons before finally posting back-to-back nine-win campaigns under Coach Jim Mora. Fortunately, I have witnessed many great players and teams come into town to compete against UConn.

During the past two years, I have had the pleasure of watching the most exciting receiver to wear a Huskies’ uniform, Skyler Bell. The dynamic pass catcher subjugated opponents and was nominated as one of the three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award. Bell recorded 101 receptions for 1,276 yards and 13 scores on a whopping 143 targets. In seven games, he eclipsed the century mark in receiving yards, averaging 108 ypg, and scored a touchdown in eight contests. The only blemish on the CFF resume was his unavailability during Championship Week because the Huskies did not play.

Digging deep into the advanced stats reveals his stupendous season in more detail: He was employed all over the formation, lining up on the outside 61% of the time and in the slot 37% of snaps. With the ball in his hands, Bell logged 835 yards after the catch and averaged 3.15 yards per route run. Incredibly, the Huskies’ playmaker was a waiver-wire gemstone, drafted by fewer than 15% of CFF teams over the summer. CFF coaches who grabbed Bell were rewarded with the top receiver in the nation.

On the other side of the country, Makai Lemon dominated secondaries all season, finishing second among receivers with over 23 FPPG. The only negative during the Trojans’ receiver’s campaign occurred in the final game of the season when he was benched for the opening two offensive series against cross-town rival UCLA. At halftime, Lemon had not scored a fantasy point, and many CFF coaches, myself included, were on the edge of their seats. Luckily, in the second half, Lemon caught a 32-yard touchdown, which lifted his fantasy performance to 10.4 points—better than a zero for sure, but not up to his weekly standards. Often during the season, Lemon looked unstoppable, and CFF diehards were rewarded for selecting the USC receiver during the offseason. Lemon concluded the year with 79 catches on 106 targets (74% catch rate) for 1,156 yards, averaging 14.6 ypc, and reached the end zone 11 times. He recorded double-digit FPs in every game except one and exceeded 30 FPs five times.

If the vote had concluded three weeks ago, there is no question that Danny Scudero would have finished among the top three. Unfortunately, the Spartans’ air attack crashed and burned, and Scudero scored single-digit fantasy points in three of his final four games this season. His fall opened the door for freshman receiver Malachi Toney to take flight. The Hurricanes’ home run hitter obliterated opponents during the CFF playoffs, the final three weeks. Toney recorded 24.4, 34.8, and 40.9 FPs in the biggest games of the fantasy campaign. Despite ranking sixth among CFF WRs with 253 FPs for the season, the voters clearly weighed his late-season performances, finishing third on three ballots, which was far behind Bell and Lemon in the voting. For the season, Toney corralled 84 passes for 970 yards and seven scores. All three young men helped CFF coaches win games throughout the season and are well-deserving of being honored in 2025.

John Laub, @GridironSchol91

SKYLER BELL‼️

Huskies lead 17-14. pic.twitter.com/GodJSOdSeR

— UConn Football (@UConnFootball) November 8, 2025

Scholar’s 2025 ‘My Guys’ Team

• QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana
• QB Trindad Chambliss, Mississippi
• RB J’Mari Taylor, Virginia
• RB Cam Edwards, UConn
• WR KC Concepcion, Texas A&M
• WR Omar Cooper, Indiana
• WR Amare Thomas, Houston
• TE Kenyon Sadiq, South Florida
• Flex Kendrick Raphael, California
• S-Flex Joe Fagnano, UConn

Ozzie Newsome Award: The Top Fantasy Tight End

1. Michael Trigg, Baylor (21 points)
2. Eli Stowers, Vanderbilt (15 points)
3. Brody Foley, Tulsa (10 points)

Tight ends are usually glossed over when prepping for CFF drafts, but finding the “right” one can make all the difference. With the 2024 Ozzie Newsome Award winner, Harold Fannin, off to the NFL, CFF enthusiasts were looking for the next tight end difference maker in 2025. Six CFF experts from across the nation deemed this year’s Newsome winner to be Michael Trigg from the Baylor Bears.

Trigg was the third-highest-scoring tight end in fantasy with 155.4 FPs. However, his 14.1 FPPG was the best in the nation, which was 0.65 more points per game than the expert’s second selection and No. 1 overall scoring (161.7 FPs) tight end, Eli Stowers. Another key point in Trigg winning the award is undoubtedly the number of shares available to scoop up off the waiver wire—Trigg was only drafted in 10% of leagues!

If a CFF coach was lucky enough to have Trigg on their squad, they reaped the benefits. First, he led the nation in targets per game with 7.73, and his 4.55 receptions per game ranked fourth. As a result, Trigg was second in the country amongst tight ends in yards per game with 63.1. If you couple those points with the fact he was third in the nation, amongst tight ends, in receiving touchdowns (6), Trigg may have been one of the most impactful free agent pickups of the past campaign. The Bears’ tight end provided consistency throughout the season that every CFF enthusiast seeks. Additionally, CFF diehards got that not-so-sticky stat, TOUCHDOWNS!

Congratulations to Michael Trigg, as he is the Ozzie Newsome Award winner for the 2025 season! On behalf of CFF enthusiasts across the globe, let me be the first to thank you for your consistency week in and week out. Michael, your award is in the mail. I am told it should arrive on campus in 10-12 business days.

Luke Probasco, @ProbascoLuke

Scholar’s 2025 All-Waiver Wire Team (Drafted %)

• QB Joe Fagnano, UConn (1%)
• QB Trinidad Chambliss, Mississippi (1%)
• RB Caleb Hawkins, North Texas (1%)
• RB Kewan Lacy, Mississippi (25%)
• WR Skyler Bell, UConn (12%)
• WR Wyatt Young, North Texas (2%)
• WR Beau Sparks, Texas State (4%)
• TE Brody Foley, Tulsa (1%)
• Flex J’Mari Taylor, Virginia (1%)
• S-Flex Jake Retzlaff, Tulane (14%)

Link to the Best of the 2025 College Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: shorturl.at/EJmsj

College Fantasy Football Diehards on Fire!

Other than Caleb Hawkins, who was the 2025 CFF Waiver Wire Player of the Year (drafted in less than 20% of leagues)?

• RB J’Mari Taylor, Virginia: 14%
• WR Skyler Bell, UConn: 58%
• WR Wyatt Young, North Texas: 14%
• QB Brad Jackson, Texas State: 14%

“My vote would be for Evan Dickens, Liberty, if he were on the list.” @PepperJames

“This HAS to be Skyler Bell. He finished with 306 FPs and averaged 25.5 FPPG. Not to mention his consistency week in and week out. Just Amazing!” @ProbascoLuke

Adrian Peterson Award: Freshman of the Year

1. Caleb Hawkins, North Texas (30 points)
2. Malachi Toney, Miami (18 points)
3. Bear Bachmeier, BYU (3 points)

When it came down to the final weeks to determine who was going to be the recipient of the prestigious Adrian Peterson Award, it really turned into a two-horse race. Bear Bachmeier, who finished as CFF QB32 in FPPG, cooled off after his hot first half of the season. He averaged 28.3 FPPG over his first six games, 23.1 over his last six, and 21.2 during the playoffs. So it came down to Hurricane Toney, who averaged 33.1 FPPG in the playoffs, and Caleb “Touchdown” Hawkins, a player who was a thorn in my side down the stretch because I just didn’t have many shares of him. And even though I wanted to believe this thing stayed tight, Hawkins’ dominance was reminiscent of Michael Schumacher in the rain. It was framed as a race, but in reality, it was Schumacher comfortably in first and everyone else fighting for second.

Scoring 334 total FPs and averaging 30 FPs per week, Caleb Hawkins’ output of dominance was historic. Since the inception of the Adrian Peterson Award for college fantasy’s best true freshman, there hasn’t been a single player to break 300 fantasy points. In 2021, TreVeyon Henderson came close with 297, but Hawkins’ 2025 season takes the crown. Of the six recipients, he is the fifth running back to accept the award, with Ahmad Hardy winning it last year after posting 229 FPs. Caleb’s season was special, especially the back half, where he averaged 40 FPPG over his final five contests and 43.1 in the fantasy playoffs. He was the third overall player in points per game among all positions.

He scored 16 of his rushing touchdowns over his last four games, and when Caleb went over 100 rushing yards, he didn’t just sneak past the mark. He averaged 168 rushing yards in those games. Over the last four, he posted 197, 189, and 183 yards. I honestly couldn’t believe his projections when I saw them sitting higher than my starting quarterbacks; He had only one game all season where he didn’t meet the expectations his legs had set, and it came in North Texas’s only loss of the year against South Florida, a game where they were playing catch-up all day.

Hawkins’ season was special from top to bottom. He totaled 221 touches, 1,547 all-purpose yards, and 26 touchdowns on a team where most of us, as fantasy analysts, wanted shares of the Mean Green passing game heading into the season. Not only was he the top-scoring true freshman, but he also finished as the top-scoring running back overall and the highest-scoring non-quarterback in college fantasy football. Among running backs who handled 50% or more of their team’s backfield touches, Caleb ranked 13th in rushing yards (1,213), 1st in touchdowns (23), 1st in average yards after contact (4.62), 4th in total yards after contact (891), 3rd in runs of 10 or more yards (39), 10th in runs of 15 or more yards (17) and 6th in first downs (77), all while ranking 38th in snaps and 23rd in attempts by PFF.com.

The fact that his historic season could have been even bigger if he had received the volume of the backs in the top five of snaps and attempts almost feels like we were robbed of what could have been. All in all, the transfer portal will determine his actual value heading into next draft season, but I really don’t think it’ll matter. With HC Eric Morris departing for Oklahoma State, many expect Hawkins to follow him. And just like last year’s Adrian Peterson Award winner, Ahmad Hardy, who transferred to Missouri after a stellar season at UL-Monroe, you shouldn’t be wary of Hawkins stepping up in competition.

Chris Battistel, @FFChrisB

College Fantasy Football Diehards on Fire!

Other than Caleb Hawkins, who is the CFF Freshman of the Year?

• QB Bear Bachmeier, BYU: 19%
• RB Nate Sheppard, Duke: 5%
• WR Malachi Toney, Miami: 70%
• RB Bo Jackson, Ohio State: 6%

“Malachi Tony for me. What a star!” @aceholesrule

“Malachi Toney for me. His 13.8 FPPG from the slot was eighth best in the nation. His 255.2 FPs on the season were fourth best amongst WRs.” @ProbascoLuke

Red Grange Award: The CFF MVP

1. Caleb Hawkins, North Texas (24 points)
2. Byrum Brown, South Florida (22 points)
3. Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame (4 points)

Many of the names you would have expected to see in consideration for the Red Grange Award at the start of the season did not live up to expectations. This opened the door for new names to emerge as the season played out. When looking at a college fantasy football MVP, I envision a player who is so decisive that he literally makes the difference between having a good team and coaching a league-winning fantasy team. This year’s voting was extremely close between our top two players, a quarterback returning from a devastating injury the season before, and a freshman running back taking the fantasy world by storm.

Like most freshmen, Caleb Hawkins started his first season of college football as a backup. It wasn’t until September 20, in a game versus Army, that the college football world would come to know the Mean Green ball carrier. Against the Black Knights, it was the first game where he received double-digit carries and cemented his place in the North Texas backfield. Hawkins carried the ball 13 times for 99 yards and four touchdowns in an impressive 37.3 FPs performance.

Hawkins was a touchdown machine in 2025, scoring a total of 16 rushing touchdowns in his final four games of the year (averaging four scores per game), and a total of 26 touchdowns on the season. Hawkins was putting up fantasy quarterback numbers, scoring 30-plus FPs six times, 40-plus FPs in four games, and 50-plus FPs once.

If you made it to the CFF playoffs, you feared facing an opponent that had Hawkins on its roster. There was no overcoming the Mean Green runners’ dominance. No other player that I personally feared more than Hawkins, which is why I voted for him as this year’s MVP. It is my honor and privilege to bestow the 2025 Red Grange Award for the Most Valuable Player in college fantasy football to running back Caleb Hawkins from North Texas.

Joe Arpasi, @UW_Purple_Reign

Touchdown ✌️ for @CalebHawk2025

📺 @ESPNCFB #GMG🦅 https://t.co/eYdL6nlB3M pic.twitter.com/BdnRUa7Frx

— UNT Football (@MeanGreenFB) November 28, 2025

College Fantasy Football Diehards on Fire!

Who is the 2025 CFF Player of the Year?

• RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame: 28%
• QB Byrum Brown, USF: 20%
• RB Caleb Hawkins, North Texas: 44%
• WR Skyler Bell, UConn: 8%

“Caleb Hawkins, but Skyler Bell is a close second.” @CffDfs

“Jeremiyah Love for me, but I am biased. He cost a first-rounder, and Caleb Hawkins was a pickup.” @aceholesrule

“Caleb Hawkins won my league for me!” @awoodsports

“Byrum Brown for me. He led college football in total FPs by 52.8 over second place. His 38.43 FPPG also led the college football ranks. Plus, when you needed it the most in the playoffs, he delivered with three straight 50-plus point performances.” @ProbascoLuke

Award Scoring:

First Place = 5 points

Second Place = 3 points

Third Place = 1 point

All-Time CFF Award Winners

Cam Newton Award

Barry Sanders Award

Desmond Howard Award

Red Grange Award

Adrian Peterson Award

Dennis Pitta Award