No fantasy sports game is as popular as NFL fantasy football. While it is still possible to play fantasy football with college players, it makes sense that it has not become as popular, with there being 136 FBS teams, meaning a massive pool of players to track.
However, I still find it awesome to think about drafting and managing a college football fantasy team. What makes it very intriguing is that it's not just about picking the obvious stars, but also finding the more under the radar players at smaller schools that put up monster numbers.
With that in mind, here is my perfect college football fantasy roster for the 2025 season.
When it comes to the quarterback position in fantasy football, dual-threat ability is huge, and that is exactly what John Mateer has. Last season at Washington State, Mateer threw for over 3,000 yards and 29 touchdowns, while also racking up 826 yards and 15 scores on the ground.
He will enter a new scene this season at Oklahoma, but the offense will look the same with his offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle coming with him from Pullman. The Sooners offense must show major improvement this season, and Mateer will be heavily relied on to make that happen.
Jeremiyah Love was one of the top running backs in college football last season, and I would expect no different this year as he enters as the favorite to win the Doak Walker Award. Last season, Love rushed for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns despite dealing with injury issues for parts of the season.
This year, he will take on an even larger load in Notre Dame’s offense with a first-time starter at quarterback, and will be running behind an experienced offensive line.
This is the ideal fantasy running back as Desmond Reid should get just about all of the snaps in Pitt’s offense at the position and has great abilities to both run and be a threat in the pass game. He showed that he is the perfect fit in offensive coordinator Kade Bell’s eccentric and high tempo offense with his electric speed and big-play potential anytime he touches the ball.
Last season, Reid accounted for over 120 total yards in seven different games, and I would expect more of the same in his second year with the Panthers.
Coming off a true freshman campaign where he racked up 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns, Jeremiah Smith is arguably the best player in college football heading into this season. Now some might argue that he’ll be limited with defenses doubling him or scheming to completely take him out of the game, but that is easier said than done when the Buckeyes have other talented weapons like Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss in their receiver room.
The quarterback situation in Columbus is worrisome, but with Smith’s ability to get open and make absurd catches, it feels like he can make any QB look good.
This is the perfect example of an unknown player that could statistically blow up this season. Through three seasons at Western Kentucky, Easton Messer accumulated 1,300 yards and just nine touchdowns, but he now has an opportunity to be the feature guy in what will be a high-powered, air-raid offense.
FAU’s new head coach Zach Kittley will throw the football, and throw it a lot. Messer also came to FAU from WKU alongside his QB Caden Veltkamp, so the connection is already there. Don’t be surprised if Messer comes close to, or even surpasses, his career receiving totals in just the 2025 season.
Tight end is a tough position to draft in college fantasy, with only a handful of well-known names heading into the season. So I am going with a proven veteran in Eli Stowers, who is coming off a First-Team All-SEC season.
Stowers also has strong rapport with his quarterback Diego Pavia and offensive coordinator Tim Beck, dating back to their days together at New Mexico State.
As much as I would have liked to include one of Penn State’s running backs here, splitting carries is not ideal when it comes to fantasy football. Instead, I will take Isaac Brown who is also coming off an outstanding true freshman season, rushing for over 1,000 yards and scoring 12 total touchdowns.
Brown will be a major piece of a Louisville offense that should put up big numbers this year, especially with the schedule they are set to face.
Contrary to NFL fantasy, where most defenses are clustered in terms of production, I believe college football has a few that can stick out and really rack up some points. Notre Dame is one of those, returning seven starters from a unit that was one of the best last season.
In 2024, the Irish led the country in forced turnovers and ranked fifth in points allowed per game. While they did lose their defensive coordinator to the NFL, they brought in a proven and experienced college coach in Chris Ash. Plus they still have head coach Marcus Freeman, who is a defensive guy and will always have Notre Dame humming on that side of the ball.
It’s not always a great sign when your kicker is one of the best and most well known players on your team, but that is what Dominic Zvada was last season for Michigan. In his first year kicking on the big stage after transferring from Arkansas State, Zvada looked unfazed, missing just one field goal all season.
He can also boom it, going a perfect 7-for-7 last season on kicks from 50+ yards.
Bench
- QB: Byrum Brown (USF)
- RB: Ahmad Hardy (Missouri)
- RB: Dylan Edwards (Kansas State)
- WR: Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State)
- WR: Antonio Williams (Clemson)
- WR: Denzel Boston (Washington)
- TE: Tanner Koziol (Houston)
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