The 40 most important players in college football in 2025

Find it hard to believe that Joey Aguilar isn’t on this list. He is the difference between Tennessee going to the playoffs and going 6-6. Not sure how he isn’t included and Diego Pavia is

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Find it hard to believe that Joey Aguilar isn’t on this list. He is the difference between Tennessee going to the playoffs and going 6-6. Not sure how he isn’t included and Diego Pavia is

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Who is Joey Aguilar?

Gunner Stockton is Brock Vandergriff 2.0. A gamer, tough kid but not SEC caliber. What is the dawgs backup plan?

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That Manning name sure is paying off for the kid. Let's see how Texas performs this year against powerhouses like San Jose State, UTEP, Sam Houston, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Arkansas.

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The boost it gives us in recruiting sure helps. Blame the media. They created this shite even I am tired of it.
Once the games start it won’t matter. If that kid can perform, considering the amount of pressure that everyone is putting on him, then I’m going to be impressed.
Still not sure if our issue last season was quinn or sark. We are going to find out pretty early.

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2. Gunner Stockton, Georgia

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For all the wrong reasons.

How can you be tired of it?

I've watched Texas go through offseason purgatory for mediocre season after mediocre season, with horrible head coaches at the helm. This has been one of the greatest offseasons ever. Maybe the greatest. I don't think anyone could have handled the attention better than Arch Manning has. I guess with the name comes pros and cons. Sure, there's a lot of unwanted attention, but there's also preparation available to him that's not going to be there for another player.

Just yesterday the OTF guys were talking about how Manning had the whole offense out on the field after practice working through their sets all by themselves. There's no way to know how good he's going to be, or how he'll respond to mistakes. But he couldn't have done a better job in terms of his approach thus far.

And the first game is against Ohio State. This has been tremendously exciting!

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How can you be tired of it?

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Frankly, I don't like the added pressure being put on him and the extra motivation it gives defenses to ring his bell.

I get it. He's a Manning. He's had the target on his back from the moment he could pick up a football and is prepared for what comes with that name.

I'm just tired of the hype and ready for football to start.

I'm ready for football to start too, but I've found the hype exciting and fun.

Heck, I wouldn't be posting on here without the hype we have heading into the season. A big part of my joy as a Texas fan is watching other fan bases get worked up about us. This offseason has been amazing!

Obviously the results on the field are what matter, but I don't have any control over that. So I'll figure out a way to enjoy another football season regardless of the outcomes. Winning is a lot better than losing, but the bad times allow me to appreciate the good times even more. I'm going to soak in with everything I've got where we are as a football program right now, because it hasn't always been this way. When I was a little kid I just assumed Texas would always be good, but it hasn't worked out that way at all. Now that I'm much older I appreciate our current status in a way I never could have without the struggles.

So we'll see what the year brings. And yeah, won't be long now until kickoff. In the meantime it's been fun seeing and hearing about the preparations, who is starting to step up in practice, and what kind of composition the team will have. Plus we'll have players break out in unexpected ways as the season goes on.

So much fun!

true. I think I'm just more cautiously optimistic than most. At times it would be fair to call me negative.

I need to learn to just enjoy it for what it is. After living through Strong and Herman it should be easy.

I do think it's funny that after constantly being called "overrated" and "media darlings" by other fans, this is the first time we've been preseason #1. You'd think that if there was some grand burnt orange media conspiracy this wouldn't be the case.