ESPN

Oct 23, 2026, 06:15 AM ET

After the first few weeks of the season, Kamario Taylor looked like a potential Heisman Trophy winner. Then he got hurt, and he has missed Mississippi State' s past two games.

Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell might have been a Heisman favorite, too, right up until a nightmare performance in a loss to Tennessee in Week 7. Ditto Georgia QB Gunner Stockton .

Arch Manning was supposed to be a star, but instead, he has reverted to his first-half-of-2025 version. Leonard Moore is elite, but he has been banged up. Kewan Lacy , Dante Moore and Whit Weeks were preseason favorites but have sustained in-season injuries.

Our perception of the 2026 season has had more twists and turns than the average Tennessee coaching search.

In other words, finding the right 25 players to rank atop our midseason list of best performances was no easy task for ESPN's college football experts (Bill Connelly, David Hale, Max Olson, Adam Rittenberg and Paolo Uggetti). Except, of course, for No. 1.…