Three Sooners Named to Pro Football Focus' Top 50 College Football Players Right Now

Quarterback Spencer Rattler, linebacker Nik Bonitto and running back Kennedy Brooks made the cut with Rattler and Bonitto in the top five.

As the college football season draws nearer and nearer, Pro Football Focus released their list for who they deem are the 50 best players in the sport right now.

The list is based solely on how good the players are at their respective position, not how valuable. Meaning, for example, a quarterback doesn’t get extra credit just for the sake of being a quarterback.

Despite that qualifier, Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler was still able to earn the nod as the No. 1 player in college football.

“Rattler took over the OU starting job as a redshirt freshman last season, hoping to continue Oklahoma's run of dominance at the quarterback position under head coach Lincoln Riley,” PFF’s Anthony Treash wrote. “The 6-foot-1, 205-pound signal-caller lived up to expectations, earning a 92.5 mark that not only ranked fourth in the FBS but was also the best grade PFF has ever given to a true or redshirt freshman quarterback.”

“Rattler has a little bit of Texas Tech Patrick Mahomes in him, both stylistically and situationally. He has an ultra-quick, effortless release to pair with jaw-dropping arm talent and elite playmaking ability outside of structure. The Oklahoma quarterback produced a 91.3 passing grade and a 69.7% accurate-pass rate when creating off structure in 2020, both of which led all FBS passers. That passing grade beat out Joe Burrow for the best grade ever earned by a Power Five quarterback.”

Spencer Rattler :: Ty Russell / OU Athletics

The Sooners’ signal-caller was a pretty obvious choice as the best player in the sport as the Heisman favorite and overall face of college football heading into the 2021 season. His placement at No. 1 seems fitting and correct.

Rattler would not be the only Oklahoma player located in the top five, as linebacker Nik Bonitto also landed himself a very high placement on the list all the way up at No. 4.

“Bonitto might be the most underrated player in all of college football,” Treash wrote. “The rush-end led all FBS edge defenders in pass-rush grade (93.6), pass-rush win rate (28%) and pressure rate generated (25.7%) in 2020. Among all Power Five edge defenders since we began grading college seven years ago, Bonitto ranks in the top five in all three metrics.”

“Bonitto’s explosiveness and athleticism caused headaches for every offensive tackle he faced, and no lineman succeeded in shutting him down in 2020. His lowest win rate in a single game this past year sat at 17.6% — a pretty solid day for most FBS edge rushers.”

PFF has made their opinion on Bonitto quite clear over the last year or so, clearly viewing him among the elite players in the sport and furthering that with his placement as the second-highest defensive player in the country on this list.

The last Sooner to make the cut on the list is a player many Oklahoma fans are very excited to see reintroduced into the fold after opting-out of the 2020 season: running back Kennedy Brooks. The redshirt junior landed at No. 42.

Kennedy Brooks / Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

“Brooks opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, but he will be back for the 2021 campaign — very good news for the Sooners,” Treash wrote.

“Brooks was the third-highest-graded ball carrier in the FBS from 2018 to 2019 and established himself as one of the top breakaway threats at the position. No FBS running back churned out 10 or more yards on a higher rate of carries over that period than Brooks (23.4%). He doesn’t have electrifying speed, but he is elusive and fights through contact as well as anyone.”

Prior to opting-out a year ago, Brooks was simply one of the best running backs in the country. In both 2018 and 2019, he ran for over 1,000 yards with 18 total rushing touchdowns (12 in 2018, 6 in 2019).

His return to the game in 2021 is easily one of the biggest storylines coming into the year for the Sooners as he gets back into the swing of things alongside Tennessee transfer Eric Gray.