Player ($) Valuation

The NIL/Transfer Portal Era of college football has evolved to include direct monetary payments from schools to players. At the upper end of the market, some team rosters are expected to receive as much as $50M in total compensation (direct payments, NIL deals, etc.) in 2026.

Based on public reporting, online references, and research articles, we estimate the total 2026 FBS market cap (i.e., the total compensation to be received by 15,000+ FBS players) to be approximately $3.2B. In these tables, 25% of this amount is reserved for inexperienced players, leaving about $2.4B in total compensation for the experienced FBS players included in the lookup table below.

Combining the 2026 market cap with the pioneering analytical rating systems proprietary to McIllece Sports, all experienced FBS players can be ascribed fair market $ valuations for the 2026 season. It must be emphasized that these are not predictions or representations of actual compensation received.


Column Information

  • Team.ID: Numeric team identifier. Useful for filtering out teams with similar names, such as Michigan and Western Michigan.
  • Team: All 138 FBS teams are included, including newcomers ND State and Sac State.
  • Order: Default position (POS) ordering, from offense to defense to special teams. Using the Order filter is the most efficient way to review position group
  • POS: Position group. Complete groupings:
    • Offense: Quarterbacks (QB), Running Backs (RB), Wide Receivers (WR), Offensive Line (OL), Tight Ends/Fullbacks/H-Backs (TE)
    • Defense: Defensive Line/Edge (DL), Linebackers (LB), Defensive Backs (DB)
    • Special Teams: Kickoffs (KO), Punts (PT), Field Goals/Extra Points (PK), Kick Returns (KR), Punt Returns (PR)
  • Player: 2026 roster player based on official team rosters, where available. Only players with D1 college football experience are explicitly listed. Some roster errors inevitably occur, and injured players are not removed.
  • NetWin: Player’s estimated net win value as a full-time starter on an average FBS team running standard college football schemes/systems. Scaled to a 12-game regular season. NetWin can be negative if a player rates below average.
  • Pctile: Player’s national percentile, on a 0–100 scale, compared to all FBS players at the same position. Pctile is based on the estimate of NetWin and the player’s total experience. Estimates for more experienced players are more precise (low variance), while inexperienced players are rated closer to average/50th Pctile due to lack of sufficient statistical information (high variance). Because of differences in precision, some players with higher NetWins can have lower Pctiles than other players, and vice versa. See CGE below for more information about player experience.
  • 2025 Weight: How much of the player’s rating is based on 2025 performance/production statistics. When this number is low relative to others in the same position group, that can be an indicator of adverse playing time conditions (injuries, low in depth chart, difficulty adjusting to higher level of football, etc.) and warrants further investigation. This column is collapsed in mobile/tablet view.
  • CGE: Complete Game Equivalents. CGE is a measure of experience, where larger numbers indicate more experienced players. Specifically, CGE measures the absolute total of win probability effects the player has had on games throughout his career. CGEs tend to be large for players who are heavily involved throughout the game, like QBs. Players with CGE close to zero do not have much competitive game experience, and so the NetWin and Pctile ratings of these players are based on very little data. This column is collapsed in mobile/tablet view.
  • Valuation: Estimated fair market value for the 2026 season, based on player percentile (Pctile) and the standardized win probability shares of the position. For example, QBs have the largest impact on winning and losing in college football, and their generally high valuations reflect that importance. These are not predictions of actual compensation received. Totals at the bottom reflect the sum of all players selected by the current filters, an easy way to view total team or position group valuations. Again, note that inexperienced players (such as high-profile recruits) are not included in these tables. See below for more detail on concepts and methods.

 


Unit shares are derived from all 138 FBS staff offensive, defensive, and special teams systems, informed by the detailed statistical histories of over 6,000 D1 college football coaches. [For more information about coaching systems, see the Coach and Staff Ratings pages in the tabs above.]

Player valuations are determined by their Pctile, how they compare to all other experienced players in the FBS at their position, in standard college football systems, not relative or specific to their 2026 team only. Position on the depth chart is not included as a factor, so multiple QBs for a single team can be valued highly, even though only one can be the starter. Essentially, the valuations reflect how the player, as a full-time starter, would affect an average team with average coaching against an average schedule. Thus, it is a “standardized” valuation, conceptually analogous to concepts like Standard Wins (coaches) or Net Wins (players) are computed in our analytical framework.

If you feel the market cap is too high or low, custom adjustments can be made based on changing the cap and prorating the difference.

Ultimately, while imperfect, we believe these valuation tables are groundbreaking, providing ADs, coaches, players, and fans with a comprehensive, systematic, analytical approach to fairly estimate roster compensation values, and we are confident there is no comparable resource available.

Please direct any inquiries to: analytics@mcillecesports.com