These Players Are Top NIL Earners in College Football

With college football season right around the corner, these are the players who have capitalized most off the field.

Nov 11, 2023; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) celebrates his touchdown with head coach Deion Sanders in the first half against the Arizona Wildcats at Folsom Field / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

It's almost that time for football fans everywhere to be locked into the television on weekends, or start making arrangements to travel around the country to see their favorite teams in person.

Football has dominated the landscape of sports in the United States, and the collegiate level has seen an explosion in viewership that has turned those players into household names.

That's why Name, Image, and Likeness was such a huge talking point for a long time.

Once the NCAA allowed student-athletes to make money through NIL while still maintaining eligibility, things have completely taken off in ways many might not have foreseen.

Not only are current collegiate players making money through endorsement deals and others things that utilize their name, image, and likeness, but high schoolers are now doing the same while commanding NIL money before even enrolling in a school.

The NIL marketplace is here to stay, so the NCAA and programs around the country will have to make adjustments, but it's clear that this new aspect of the sport is going to be a major factor in things moving forward.

With that in mind, On3 has been able to give a valuation for many of the top student-athletes.

Their Top 10 in college football are:

1. Shedeur Sanders - Colorado ($4.8 million)
2. Arch Manning - Texas ($3.1 million)
3. Travis Hunter - Colorado ($2.6 million)
4. Jalen Milroe - Alabama ($1.7 million)
5. Quinn Ewers - Texas ($1.7 million)
6. Carson Beck - Georgia ($1.4 million)
7. Evan Stewart - Oregon ($1.3 million)
8. Jaxson Dart - Ole Miss ($1.3 million)
9. Dillon Gabriel - Oregon ($1.2 million)
10. Nico Iamaleava - Tennessee ($1.2 million)

What's interesting when taking a look at this list is monitoring what schools they play for and what positions they play.

Travis Hunter and Evan Stewart are the only two out of this Top 10 that aren't quarterbacks. Both are wide receivers with Hunter playing cornerback on the defensive side as a two-way player.

QBs have dominated this sport when it comes to notoriety for a long time, and NIL is another example to prove that. They are the most recognizable and most important part of a team, so it's not surprising to see them be the ones who are able to capitalize on their own name, image, and likeness the most.

Colorado and Oregon are the only two schools with more than one of their players in the Top 10.

Both programs have been able to get them on this list in different ways, too.

Deion Sanders is one of the most recognizable people in the game of football, having finished his professional career considered the best cornerback of all time. He then got into media before switching over to coaching and has dominated headlines since he took over the Buffaloes.

In turn, that has made Colorado's two best players, Shedeur Sanders and Hunter, two of the most discussed athletes in college sports, giving them opportunities to cash in.

Oregon, on the other hand, is extremely aggressive when it comes to their NIL usage.

Dillon Gabriel hasn't played a snap for them after they landed him in the transfer portal this offseason, but he's still valued as one of the highest earners in the sport.

How these rankings and numbers change during the season will be seen since there are plenty of players who could be in the running for the Heisman Trophy award that comes with built in media coverage and opportunities surrounding that.