Chris Hummer built an all-star team of the best position groups across college football for 2026 at CBS Sports, with Oregon’s quarterback depth at the top and Indiana’s receivers ranked ahead of Texas and Miami. The list landed earlier this month as Big 12 media days opened at AT&T Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The selection rule is strict: each program contributes only one unit, so a school with the best QB room can’t also claim the top wideout group.
Movement drove almost every pick on the list. Oregon’s QB room exists because Dante Moore walked away from a 2026 draft in which he was a potential No. 2 overall pick. Miami’s edge room is on the list in part because two 2025 starters, Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor, were taken in April.
Oregon’s Quarterback Room, Built Around a Draft Pick That Never Was
Hummer called Oregon’s quarterback room the best in the country. The Ducks return Dante Moore, the program’s starter, and brought in Dylan Raiola, a former Nebraska five-star, from the transfer portal. Both have started multiple Power Four seasons. Raiola spent 2024 and 2025 as Nebraska’s starting quarterback before heading to Eugene.
Moore’s return surprised the sport. The On3 roundup of CBS Sports’ picks noted he was a potential No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft before opting back into college. Oregon head coach Dan Lanning had targeted Raiola out of the portal before Moore reversed course. The combination gives the Ducks two former five-star quarterbacks on the same depth chart.
In this era where even solid Power Four starters cost $2 million-plus, it’s really difficult to have two good quarterbacks on the same roster, especially when both have played. Oregon has two great ones.
The economics underpin the construction. CBS Sports’ separate top-10 QB room ranking, published July 1, credited Moore as the top returning quarterback and counted 42 combined starts between Moore and Raiola. That experience, paired with starter-level talent at backup, is hard to find in the current transfer portal economy.
Moore spent a year behind Dillon Gabriel at Oregon before taking over as the starter. Raiola is positioned to take the reins in 2027 if Moore leaves for the NFL. The pipeline mirrors Oregon’s recent track record with Gabriel and Bo Nix.
Ole Miss Held Its Top Back Through a Coaching Shakeup
Ole Miss kept Kewan Lacy through an offseason coaching change. Lacy is coming off a 1,567-yard, 24-touchdown 2025 season that led the SEC in rushing touchdowns. The Rebels’ backfield now stands as the most productive three-man rotation in college football.
- Kewan Lacy: 1,567 rushing yards, 24 TDs (SEC-best)
- Makhi Frazier: 520 rushing yards, 4.5 YPC (Michigan State)
- Joshua Dye: 1,831 rushing yards, 28 TDs (FCS-best, Southern Utah)
Lacy forced 89 missed tackles and created more than 1,000 yards after contact as a junior, per CBS Sports. Frazier gives Ole Miss a proven second option who can lighten Lacy’s workload. Dye produced the most prolific rushing season in the FCS last year. The Rebels’ room tops FBS backfields on cumulative collegiate production.
Indiana Edged Miami and Texas for the Best Wide Receiver Room
Indiana took the top receiver room even with Texas, Ohio State, and Miami in the conversation. Hummer wrote that the Hoosiers lack the crossover name recognition of those three programs but feature NFL-ready prospects at the position.
Charlie Becker leads the group. The 6-foot-3, 207-pound receiver caught 13 of 17 contested balls thrown his way in 2025 and hit 22.5 miles per hour on the GPS per Indiana’s tracking data. Some scouts view Becker on the same tier as Cam Coleman. Nick Marsh arrived from Michigan State, where the 6-foot-3 receiver caught 100 passes for 1,311 yards and nine touchdowns as an underclassman. Slot starter Tyler Morris and Tulane transfer Shazz Preston round out the rotation.
Miami fans have already pushed back. A Canes Warning column this week argued the Hurricanes have the best receiver room top-to-bottom, with Malachi Toney and Cooper Barkate both inside the top 10 in receiving yards last season. CBS Sports chose differently, betting on Indiana’s NFL-prospect depth over Miami’s raw 2025 production. The Hurricanes’ loaded room is the kind of counter-example that will follow the list all summer.
Three Lines Forged Through the Transfer Portal
Three of CBS Sports’ line picks turned on the transfer portal. Texas, Ohio State, and Texas Tech each identified their unit as the class of 2026. The build was different at each stop.
| Line | Team | Returning Anchor | Portal Pickup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offensive tackle | Texas | Trevor Goosby (6-foot-7, first-round upside) | Melvin Siani (Wake Forest, all-ACC) |
| Interior OL | Ohio State | Carson Hinzman + Luke Montgomery | Retention built |
| Defensive tackle | Texas Tech | AJ Holmes (5th-year senior) | Mateen Ibirogba (Wake Forest, No. 1 portal DT) |
Texas had a first-round-pick left tackle at one side and an all-ACC pickup at the other. Goosby would have been a first-round pick in the 2026 draft had he entered. Sarkisian built the room by adding Siani, a 6-foot-6, 302-pound transfer from Wake Forest who didn’t allow a sack in 2025, opposite him. Brandon Baker, last year’s starting right tackle, moved to guard to strengthen the rest of the line.
Ohio State took the interior over its own edge and tackle units. Luke Montgomery enters 2026 with 1,142 career snaps, per CBS Sports. Carson Hinzman is a three-year starter at center who has allowed two career sacks. The two of them, plus Phillip Daniels and Austin Siereveld, give the Buckeyes nearly 75 combine career starts between them.
Texas Tech leaned hardest into the portal. CBS Sports wrote that “Very few teams can afford to have five or six proven defensive tackles on their roster. Texas Tech bet big this offseason that its d-line depth is a winning strategy.” The Red Raiders added Ibirogba, the top-rated interior defensive lineman in the 2026 portal from Wake Forest, plus Washington transfer Bryce Butler (325 pounds). Only Holmes returns from the unit that led the FBS in run defense last season.
Tennessee, Miami, and Notre Dame Fill Out the Defense
Tennessee took the linebacker spot. The Volunteers return Arion Carter, who opted out of the 2026 NFL Draft after offseason foot surgery, alongside Penn State transfer Amare Campbell. Campbell totaled 179 tackles, 20 TFLs, and 9.5 sacks as a Nittany Lion. Edwin Spillman (81 tackles in 2025) and Jeremiah Telander (80) return as starters in waiting behind the duo.
The Vols’ depth took a hit in late June. Penn State transfer edge rusher Chaz Coleman, the No. 16 overall player in the 2026 portal cycle, parted ways with Tennessee in late June, per al.com. CBS Sports reported he had been dismissed from the program, while On3 reported the departure was medically related after he missed all of the Volunteers’ spring practice and offseason program. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel told On3 in May that Coleman “has been dealing with some things, and we’re here to support him.” Tennessee had already lost its top four sack producers from the 2025 team before Coleman’s exit.
Miami landed the edge rusher slot in spite of heavy draft losses. 2025 starters Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor were taken in the 2026 NFL Draft. Damon Wilson, who recorded 9 sacks and 54 pressures for Missouri last season after a year at Georgia, took the top spot. Marquise Lightfoot (5.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks in 292 snaps) and Armondo Blount (2.5 sacks) round out the rotation.
Notre Dame took the cornerback slot. Leonard Moore, a 6-foot-2 consensus first-team All-American, returns as the anchor and likely first-round pick in 2027. Christian Gray (six career interceptions) and Colorado transfer DJ McKinney (four interceptions and 97 tackles the past two seasons) fill out the rotation behind him. Hummer singled out Notre Dame’s trio as the deepest cornerback group in FBS. Notre Dame’s pick is the rare slot on the list built through the program’s own player development, with no portal pickup named among the rotation.
In terms of pure cornerback depth and experience, they’re the best in the country.
Alabama Returns Both Starting Safeties
Alabama took the safety room with two starters coming back. Bray Hubbard and Keon Sabb are likely first-team preseason All-SEC players. Both rank in the top five on the team in tackles: Hubbard with 79, Sabb with 54.
- Bray Hubbard: 79 tackles, 4 INTs (tied for SEC lead) in 2025
- Keon Sabb: 54 tackles, top PFF-graded defender at Alabama in 2025
- Pair ranked in the top 25 safeties in the Power Four (per PFF)
Hubbard tied for the SEC lead with four interceptions in 2025. Sabb brings starting experience from his previous stop. CBS Sports noted that Hubbard and Sabb were Alabama’s top-graded defenders last year per PFF. The room is built on retention, with no portal acquisition on the depth chart.
