An almost all defensive top 5?! College football’s top 100 players for 2024
It’s an odd season for big names in college football. There are some known commodities, of course — Travis Hunter, Carson Beck, Ollie Gordon II, for example — but there are relatively few established superstars. Just two of the top 10 in last year’s Heisman Trophy voting return for 2024. Just four of the 25 players to earn consensus All-America status last year are back this season. Last year’s national champs, Michigan, sent 13 players to the NFL draft. There’s simply a vacuum of stardom waiting to be filled.
That makes the job of ranking the 100 best players particularly difficult. Quarterback is the most important position on the field, but this year’s crop is a bit thin. There are some elite pass rushers, but that’s a narrow skill set to take the top spot. There’s a reasonable case for at least seven or eight players to be ranked No. 1 overall — and that’s before we even get to the next 99 spots.
But we don’t rank the top 100 players because it’s easy. We do it because it’s hard. And also because it’s fun to debate the relative merits of a 330-pound offensive lineman and a corner with 4.3 speed. — David Hale
Methodology: To compile this year’s list, we utilized a panel of ESPN experts — David Hale, Adam Rittenberg, Bill Connelly, Chris Low and Paolo Uggetti — and went through four rounds of voting to select a pool of players worthy of consideration. They considered players’ past contributions on the field, along with their anticipated roles for 2024, their recruiting pedigrees and their draft stocks, and formulated a reasonable expectation for this coming season. Then they debated, argued and discussed (and possibly played a few rounds of rock paper scissors as a tiebreaker) to put them in order, 1 through 100.
The result is an unimpeachable ranking of the 100 best players in college football for the 2024 season.
Jump to: 100-76 | 75-51 | 50-26 | 25-1
CB, Florida State, Junior
2023 stats: 29 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 12 PBUs
2023 ranking: NR
A big, long corner whom head coach Mike Norvell describes as a future All-American, Thomas showed glimpses of his immense potential in 2023, racking up 12 pass breakups, a forced fumble and 4.5 tackles for loss. Thomas contested 24 of his 35 targets and allowed just 172 yards and one touchdown all season. He played in press coverage on nearly half his coverage snaps, but only two passes were completed for 20 yards or more against him.
S, Alabama, Senior
2023 stats: 51 tackles, 1 INT, 4 PDs
2023 ranking: NR
Moore has been a mainstay in Alabama’s secondary seemingly forever, and he has played 2,334 snaps in 52 games the past four seasons. He was a permanent captain as a senior in 2023 and will take on an even greater leadership role in coach Kalen DeBoer’s first season. He’s moving from the Star position to safety, which will put him further away from the line of scrimmage.
CB, NC State, Senior
2023 stats: 23 solo, 2 INTs, 10 PDs
2023 ranking: NR
White has been dominant over the past two seasons at NC State. He has been targeted 116 times since the start of the 2022 season, and he has allowed just three completions of more than 20 yards. Opposing QBs have posted a woeful 10.9 raw QBR when targeting White in that span, and he has allowed just 4.1 yards per target, tied for the fifth-lowest mark among Power 5 DBs. Of the four players ahead of him, one is still active and three were previous All-Americans, including two who were selected in the first round of this year’s NFL draft.
OL, Miami, Junior
2023 stats: 11 pressures allowed, 2 sacks allowed
2023 ranking: NR
Rivers is widely considered a potential first-round draft pick next year, but for now, he’s locking down Miami QBs’ blind side. Rivers allowed just 11 pressures and two sacks on 847 snaps at left tackle last season, while posting a 1.9% blown block rate that ranked second among ACC left tackles.
TE, Notre Dame, Senior
2023 stats: 29 catches, 422 yards, 1 TD
2023 ranking: NR
Evans appears to be the heir apparent to Notre Dame’s exceptional legacy of game-changing tight ends. While his 2023 season was limited by an injury that cost him the final four games, he still finished second on the team with 422 receiving yards, and his six-catch, 134-yard performance in a win over Duke was one of the season’s highlights.
S, Purdue, Sophomore
2023 stats: 74 solo tackles, 2 FFs, 6 INTs, 2 PDs
2023 ranking: NR
How good was Thieneman last season? Just ask opposing QBs, who targeted him just 11 times all year — or 2.6% of his snaps in coverage. That was the lowest rate of any DB in college football with at least 300 snaps. What’s even more astounding is that, of those 11 targets, he intercepted six and broke up two more. The lesson here: Eleven targets was at least eight too many.
CB, Arizona, Junior
2023 stats: 15 PBUs, 16 PDs, 1 INT
2023 ranking: NR
A possible first-round NFL pick in 2025, Davis had a breakout 2023 season as Arizona finished ranked No. 11 in the country. He was an honorable-mention All-Pac-12 selection but given second-team honors by The Associated Press.
QB, Kansas State, Sophomore
2023 stats: 479 yards, 5 TDs
2023 ranking: NR
A top-100 national recruit, Johnson was a huge get for the Wildcats, ranked as the top player in Kansas and the top dual-threat QB in the country. Johnson has legitimate 4.3 speed and is a dangerous runner who played in eight games as a true freshman. He was named the MVP of the first game he started in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. With last season’s starter, Will Howard, transferring to Ohio State, the job is Johnson’s full time.
QB, Tennessee, Freshman
2023 stats: 314 yards, 2 TDs, 79.3 QBR
2023 ranking: NR
A top-25 recruit in 2023, Iamaleava gave us a taste of what he’s capable of in 2023, completing 28 of 45 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns, scrambling nine times for 72 yards and rushing for three bowl TDs versus Iowa. He looks like the total package.
QB, USC, Junior
2023 stats: 681 yards, 7 TDs, 1 INT
2023 ranking: NR
Not many players on this list, if any, secured a spot on the efforts of one single game, but Moss — who has been biding his time behind Caleb Williams the past two seasons — made the most of his opportunity in last year’s Holiday Bowl. Against Louisville, the junior exploded for 372 yards and a bowl-record six touchdowns, which set him on the path to securing the starting spot for USC this fall.
CB, Louisville, Senior
2023 stats: 49 tackles, 3 INTs, 12 PBUs
2023 ranking: NR
Arguably the ACC’s best lockdown corner in 2023, Riley was the lynchpin of an exceptional Louisville secondary, intercepting three passes and surrendering an opponent QBR of just 8.7. Riley was in coverage for nearly 500 snaps last season and didn’t allow a touchdown.
LB, Old Dominion, Senior
2023 stats: 51 solo, 4.5 sacks, 1 FF
2023 ranking: 60
Over the past two seasons, Henderson has been a part of 324 tackles in 24 games, an incredible 13.5 per game and one for every 5.1 snaps. In that span, no one else made even 280 tackles. He had more tackles for loss (24.5) than missed tackles (21). He is an absolute tackling machine.
CB, Virginia Tech, Senior
2023 stats: 3 INTs, 8 PBUs, 2.8 yards allowed per target
2023 ranking: 80
Virginia Tech likes to tout its reputation as DBU, but it’s been some time since the Hokies produced a genuine star at the position. Strong figures to change that. Last season, Strong was as dominant as any corner in the country, with QBs completing just 25% of their throws targeting him, allowing just 2.8 yards per target (third in FBS) and just 0.29 yards per coverage snap.
QB, SMU, Junior
2023 stats: 3,197 yards, 32 total TDs
2023 ranking: NR
As explosive a passer as there was in the country last season, Stone started 12 games and led SMU to its first conference title since 1984 while throwing for 28 touchdowns and just six picks. Stone threw multiple touchdowns without an interception in six of his final seven games last season, and his 9.3 yards-per-pass average ranked ninth nationally.
WR, Texas, Junior
2023 stats: 48 receptions, 668 yards, 4 TDs
2023 ranking: NR
After catching 48 passes for 668 yards as a sophomore at Alabama, Bond decided not to stick around when coach Nick Saban announced his retirement. Bond was increasingly more involved in the Crimson Tide’s offense as the season went along and was a key performer in the SEC championship game upset of Georgia, when he caught five passes for 79 yards.
OL, Arizona, Junior
2023 stats: Allowed 2 sacks in 889 snaps
2023 ranking: NR
Savaiinaea was one of the better offensive linemen in the Pac-12 the day he walked onto campus at Arizona in 2022 following a standout career at famed St. Louis High in Hawai’i. He has started all 25 games since arriving and has developed into a dominant force in both run and pass blocking. He has played a major role in Arizona’s rise from a one-win team in 2021 to a 10-win team in 2023.
CB, Kentucky, Junior
2023 stats: 5 INT, 68 tackles, 6 PBUs
2023 ranking: 97
The junior from Michigan was ranked outside the top 100 cornerback prospects when he signed with the Wildcats in 2021. Last season, he led the SEC and ranked fifth nationally with five interceptions. In a 45-28 win at Vanderbilt, Hairston returned two interceptions for touchdowns and had a career-high three pass breakups.
RB, Georgia, Junior
2023 stats: 131 carries, 753 yards, 8 TDs
2023 ranking: 86
The Bulldogs like to rotate their backs, but they could lean heavily on Etienne, who led rival Florida in rushing average (68.4 ypg), rushing touchdowns (8) and yards per carry (5.7) last fall. Etienne, the younger brother of Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr., had three rushing touchdowns against LSU last season. He also contributed as a receiver (21 receptions) and on returns (224 kickoff return yards).
QB, Notre Dame, Senior
2022 stats: 2,967 yards, 20 TDs, 6 INTs
2023 ranking: NR
After a 4-0 start to the 2023 season, Leonard nearly led Duke to a massive upset over Notre Dame before going down with an ankle injury. He came back to make two more starts, but his final stat line — three TD passes, four rushing TDs — hardly tells the story of his impact. Prior to the injury, he was 13-5 as Duke’s starter over the past two seasons, racking up more than 5,000 yards of total offense and 40 total touchdowns. Now he’s at Notre Dame, where expectations are sky-high for 2024.
QB, Texas A&M, Sophomore
2023 stats: 979 yards, 8 TDs, 2 INTs
2023 ranking: NR
Weigman’s sample size in 3½ games last season was small, but he looked like a quarterback who could lift the Aggies out of their doldrums before he went down with a foot injury against Auburn. In a 52-10 rout of New Mexico, he threw five touchdowns, the most in regulation by an A&M passer since Johnny Manziel in 2013. In a 47-3 win against Louisiana-Monroe, Weigman completed 25 of 29 attempts (86.2%), the highest completion percentage (minimum 20 attempts) in school history.
CB, Ohio State, Senior
2023 stats: 1 FF, 1 INT, 8 PDs
2023 ranking: NR
Burke’s skill set is undeniable, with NFL scouts viewing him as a possible first-round draft pick. Last season, he allowed completions on just 38.5% of his targets, picked off one pass and broke up nine others while blossoming into one of the most effective press-coverage corners in the country. The one area Burke needs to show some improvement this season, however, is with big plays. He allowed just 15 completions all season, but seven of them went for 20 yards or more.
WR, UNLV, Senior
2023 stats: 88 receptions, 1,483 yards, 8 TDs
2023 ranking: NR
A perfect all-around skill player for UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, the Michigan State transfer ranked third nationally in receiving yards in 2023 and topped 140 yards six times, including four straight late games as UNLV was making a charge to the MWC championship game.
WR, USC, Sophomore
2023 stats: 31 receptions, 320 yards, 2 TDs
2023 ranking: 83
The USC freshman exploded onto the scene last year as one of the fastest players in the sport and his 774 punt and kickoff return yards earned him an All-America team spot. Now the real challenge begins. Not only will Branch be a known quantity that special teams will be selling out to stop, but the Trojans need him to be one of the offense’s top producing receivers in a post-Caleb Williams world.
CB, Kansas, Senior
2023 stats: 32 tackles, 4 INTs, 9 PBUs
2023 ranking: NR
A lockdown corner who doesn’t get a lot of passes thrown in his direction, Bryant is a two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection who returned for his senior season. He is eighth in school history with nine career INTs and his two pick-sixes are tied for the most at KU all-time.
DE, Arkansas, Senior
2023 stats: 44 total tackles, 22 solo, 6.5 sacks
2023 ranking: NR
When Jackson transferred to Arkansas from LSU after his freshman season, he was coming off a torn ACL and was thin. Now, 6-7 and 280 pounds, Jackson might just now be scratching the surface of his abilities, according to Hogs coach Sam Pittman. That’s a scary thought after Jackson piled up 9.5 sacks combined over the past two seasons.
DT, Michigan, Junior
2023 stats: 16 solo, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT
2023 ranking: NR
In his second season at Michigan, Grant quickly became not just one of the defensive stalwarts of a stout defense but one of the most physically imposing players in the country. Grant tallied 16 solo tackles and 3.5 sacks, including a key one in the national championship game. Going into his third season, the sky seems to be the limit for a player ready to once again showcase his talent and unique physicality.
WR, Oklahoma, Junior
2023 stats: 47 receptions, 629 yards, 7 TDs
2023 ranking: NR
Despite playing for a 4-8 Purdue team last season, Burks was one of the top non-quarterback additions in the winter transfer portal. He gives new Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold a No. 1 target who can find the end zone (seven touchdowns in 2023) and stretch defenses. Burks had a reception of 42 yards or longer in four games last fall, including an 84-yard score against Fresno State.
S, Oklahoma, Senior
2023 stats: 37 solo, 6 INTs, 4 PDs
2023 ranking: NR
Bowman has started 29 of the 35 games he has played in his career and was named a first-team All-Big 12 player for his efforts in 2023. He was second in the country with six interceptions (three of which he took back for touchdowns) and ranked third on the team with 63 total tackles.
RB, Michigan, Junior
2023 stats: 119 carries, 5 TDs, 497 yards
2023 ranking: NR
After three years of playing behind standout backs Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum, Edwards gets his chance to be Michigan’s lead back. The timing couldn’t be better as he’s on the cover of the College Football 25 video game. Edwards showcased his speed late in 2022 when he had 520 rushing yards on only 70 carries in Michigan’s final three games.
QB, Liberty, Junior
2023 stats: 2,876 yards, 32 TDs, 6 INTs
2023 ranking: 91
Salter was by far the most effective quarterback in the Group of 5 last season, producing an 83.7 Total QBR (ninth overall) and averaging both 9.4 yards per dropback and 7.5 yards per carry (not including a small number of sacks). He’s the perfect fit for the dynamic Jamey Chadwell offense.
CB, Oregon, Senior
2023 stats: 41 solo, 3 INTs, 14 PDs
2023 ranking: NR
From purple to green, Muhammad’s offseason move was a short one down from Seattle to Eugene where he should become one of the Ducks’ key defensive players this season. Muhammad had 3 interceptions, 2 sacks and 46 tackles last season and is already getting plenty of hype from his new Oregon teammates, ready to crown him one of the best defensive backs in college football.
RB, Penn State, Junior
2023 stats: 902 yards, 6 TDs, 172 carries
2023 ranking: NR
He has shared carries with Nicholas Singleton in his first two seasons but projects as the stronger NFL draft prospect. Allen earned second-team All-Big Ten honors last fall and has shown remarkably similar production in his first two college seasons. His usage as a pass catcher likely will increase under new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.
OL, Alabama, Sophomore
2023 stats: 80.7 run-blocking grade
2023 ranking: NR
After helping Washington reach the CFP national championship game last season, Brailsford followed DeBoer to Alabama. He’s expected to help fill a major void on the Tide’s offensive line. He was the anchor of a unit that won the Joe Moore Award as the best offensive line in the FBS. The best news: He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
LB, Georgia, Junior
2023 stats: 14 solo tackles, 5 sacks, 1 FF
2023 ranking: NR
He has been a reserve in his first two seasons with the Bulldogs but is expected to occupy a much more significant role this fall. Walker led Georgia with five sacks and had a forced fumble against Florida. The former ESPN top-40 recruit could rise up NFL draft boards with a big junior season.
WR, Miami, Senior
2023 stats: 85 receptions, 1,092 receiving yards, 6 TDs
2023 ranking: NR
Restrepo caught at least five passes in 10 of Miami’s 13 games last season, finishing with 85 grabs for 1,092 yards and six touchdowns despite a revolving door at QB. Restrepo was Miami’s safety blanket in the passing game, dominating the slot, including three games with at least 11 catches. Restrepo was just the second Miami receiver with at least 1,000 yards in a season in the playoff era.
QB, Missouri, Senior
2023 stats: 3,317 yards, 21 TDs, 6 INTs
2023 ranking: NR
In his second season as a starter, Cook led the Tigers to an 11-win season and a victory in a New Year’s Six bowl game. He might be even better in 2024, especially with star receiver Luther Burden III coming back. Last season, Cook broke former Kentucky star Andre’ Woodson’s SEC record of 325 consecutive pass attempts without an interception at 365.
LB, Texas, Sophomore
2023 stats: 41 solo, 5 sacks, 1 FF
2023 ranking: NR
He was the No. 1 linebacker recruit in the 2023 class, and he became an immediate contributor for the best Texas team in 14 years. Hill ranked second on the Longhorns in tackles (66) and sacks (five), and his 95.7% tackle success rate was as high as you’ll see for a linebacker. A surefire star.
DE, Virginia Tech, Senior
2023 stats: 23 solo, 9.5 sacks, 3 FFs
2023 ranking: NR
Powell-Ryland transferred to Virginia Tech last season from Florida and put up big numbers in his first year with the Hokies, with 40 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss (fifth in the ACC) and 9.5 sacks (second in the ACC). Powell-Ryland had multiple sacks in four games last season and is hoping for more consistency in 2024.
CB, Wisconsin, Junior
2023 stats: 27 solo, 7 INTs, 5 PDs
2023 ranking: NR
Hallman’s journey has been one to watch. After being a redshirt freshman who barely got any snaps during his first two seasons, Hallman made a leap last year. The Miami native secured a starting spot in the Badgers’ secondary and tallied a nation-leading seven interceptions on his way to All-America status. Going into his junior season, Hallman somehow remains one of the more underrated defenders — and players — in college football and should be primed for another big year.
DE, Ole Miss, Senior
2023 stats: 39 tackles, 11½ TFLs, 7 sacks
2023 ranking: NR
The Florida transfer was one of the most coveted pass rushers in the portal, and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin hopes he reaches his ceiling in Oxford. In 24 starts in four seasons with the Gators, he had 99 tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss and 15 sacks. He recorded a strong 20.7% pass rush win rate in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus.
LB, Alabama, Junior
2023 stats: 67 total tackles, 32 solo, 3 sacks
2023 ranking: 49
The second-leading tackler on Alabama with 67 last season, along with tallying 5.5 for loss and three sacks, Lawson will continue to be all over the field in 2024. He was a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and will undoubtedly be in the running again this season
OL, Minnesota, Senior
2023 stats: 86.7 run-blocking grade
2023 ranking: NR
The 6-foot-6, 330-pound Ersery enters his third season as a starter at tackle and could be one of the top offensive linemen for the 2025 NFL draft. He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2023. His 86.7 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus trailed only Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga, selected 14th overall in April’s NFL draft.
DT, Ohio State, Senior
2023 stats: 54 total tackles, 20 solo, 3 sacks
2023 ranking: NR
The 327-pound defensive tackle comes off of a breakout season, where he led Ohio State’s defensive linemen in total tackles (53) while tying for the lead in tackles for loss (10). Williams is much more than a space filler, showing pass-rushing talent and affecting passes, as he ranked third on the team with five pass breakups last fall.
OL, Ohio State, Senior
2022-23 stats: Has allowed only three sacks
2023 ranking: NR
On an offensive line that is one of the most experienced in the country, Jackson stands out for his consistency. Over the past two seasons in Columbus, the 6-4, 320-pound Jackson has started every game at left guard and allowed only three sacks during that span. The Texas native opted to forego the NFL draft after last season and return to Ohio State for his senior year, which was a huge boon for the Buckeyes and their aspiring title efforts.
QB, Miami, Senior
2023 stats: 3,735 yards, 25 TDs, 5 INTs
2023 ranking: 52
One of the biggest reasons expectations around Miami have skyrocketed is the addition of Ward, one of the most prolific passers in the country over the past several seasons. In two years at Washington State, Ward threw for 6,963 passing yards, 48 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, while adding 13 rushing touchdowns. He expects to do more at Miami.
WR, Colorado State, Senior
2023 stats: 96 receptions, 1,136 yards, 8 TDs
2023 ranking: NR
Horton has been CSU’s most dangerous offensive player for two straight seasons, catching 167 balls for 2,267 yards and 16 touchdowns in that span. He has gained at least 130 yards in seven of his past 16 games, and he caught 16 passes against Colorado last season. Lanky and dynamic.
OL, Jacksonville State, Senior
2023 stats: 1 blown run block, 1 sack allowed
2023 ranking: NR
A former five-star Georgia signee, Webb landed at Jacksonville State two years ago, and in the Gamecocks’ first season in FBS, he was almost perfect: According to Sports Info Solutions, he attempted 500 run blocks in 2023 … and blew just one of them. He allowed only one sack, too.
QB, Utah, Senior
2022 stats: 3,034 yards, 26 TDs, 8 INTs
2023 ranking: NR
A major knee injury sidelined Rising for all of 2023. Before that, he guided the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 titles, delivering an MVP performance in the 2022 Pac-12 title game. In 2021, he was the first-team All-Pac-12 selection before settling for an honorable mention nod the following season.
S, Notre Dame, Senior
2023 stats: 7 INTs, 0 TDs allowed, 52 tackles
2023 ranking: 25
A unanimous All-American and winner of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy in 2023, Watts led the nation with seven interceptions. He added 4 pass breakups, 52 tackles and 3 TFLs for good measure. Perhaps more impressive, Watts was in coverage on 350 snaps last season and didn’t allow a touchdown.
QB, Arizona, Sophomore
2023 stats: 2,869 yards 25 TDs, 6 INTs
2023 ranking: 31
Despite beginning the 2023 season as Arizona’s No. 2, Fifita turned in one of the best seasons by a Wildcats quarterback in school history and guided the Wildcats to seven straight wins to end the season. Had Fifita been the starter from the opener, it’s likely he would have received Heisman votes.
DT, Clemson, Sophomore
2023 stats: 13 solo tackles, 1 FF
2023 ranking: NR
As expected, the 6-2, 215-pound Woods had a Freshman All-America-caliber season for the Tigers last year. But headed into this season, Clemson wants to take advantage of his versatility and plans to play him at both defensive tackle (his natural position) and defensive end. Coach Dabo Swinney called Woods one of the team’s “best pass rushers” and said simply, “He’ll play everywhere.”
DE, Texas, Junior
2023 stats: 30 solo tackles, 14 sacks, 1 FF, 1 INT
2023 ranking: 98
Moore transfers in to Austin from UTSA, where he owns records for both single-season sacks, with 14 last season, as well as tackles for loss, with 18 in 2022 for the Roadrunners. The 2023 AAC Defensive Player of the Year and first-teamer will fit right in with the Longhorns.
WR, NC State, Sophomore
2023 stats: 10 TDs, 71 receptions
2023 ranking: NR
Here’s the list of Power 5 players in the playoff era who’ve had a season of 800 receiving yards, 300 rushing yards and double-digit touchdowns: Ohio State’s Curtis Samuel in 2016 and Concepcion last year. Oh, and did we mention Concepcion did it as a true freshman? Or that he also threw a 17-yard touchdown pass? Or that he’ll be surrounded by a far better supporting cast of skill-position talent in 2024? Yeah, the NC State star is primed for big things this season.
OL, LSU, Junior
2023 stats: 73.7 run-blocking grade
2023 ranking: NR
Jones is one of two anchors on an LSU offensive line that’s going to be a pain for anyone lining up against them to play. He was named second-team All-SEC by coaches as a member of an offensive line that was a Joe Moore Award finalist. He’s also a durable player, having played every offensive snap in 16 of 17 games against SEC opponents in two years, according to LSU.
RB, Miami, Junior
2023 stats: 194 carries, 1,185 yards, 9 TDs
2023 ranking: 92
Martinez was the highest-profile player to enter the transfer portal after spring practice, and he fills an obvious need for the Hurricanes heading into a crucial year. Last season at Oregon State, Martinez ran for 1,185 yards with nine touchdowns, averaging 6.1 yards a carry. Now, he joins quarterback Cam Ward and a slew of other transfers hoping to be difference-makers for the Canes.
DT, Notre Dame, Senior
2023 stats: 28 solo tackles, 2 sacks, 2 FFs
2023 ranking: NR
A second-team All-American last year, Cross returns to Notre Dame for his sixth season as one of the top defensive linemen in the country. Last year, Cross started all 13 games at nose tackle, and had 66 tackles, seven tackles for loss, two sacks and forced two fumbles.
DE, Florida State, Junior
2023 stats: 28 solo tackles, 7 sacks, 2 FFs
2023 ranking: NR
It seems counterintuitive that a player with 14.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and 10 pass breakups had a “quiet” season, but Payton was often overshadowed last season on defense with Jared Verse, Braden Fiske and Kalen DeLoach often getting more of the headlines. That will not be the case in 2024, as Payton is poised to have his best season yet.
DE, Miami, Sophomore
2023 stats: 44 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 12.5 TFLs
2023 ranking: 94
Bain had a somewhat slow start to his freshman campaign, managing just 1.5 tackles for loss in his first five games. But when the switch flipped, he was borderline unstoppable. Over his final eight games, Bain racked up 17 tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage, a 12% pressure rate, six sacks and 27 pressures — including nine from the interior.
RB, Cal, Junior
2023 stats: 245 carries, 1,305 yards, 12 TDs
2023 ranking: NR
Perhaps a sleeper for Heisman, Ott has not shied away from having big goals for the Bears as they join the ACC. In fact, he has embraced the conference move because he believes it will create more exposure on the East Coast. Those who may not have been watching missed out last year — Ott enters the 2024 season ranked second among all active FBS players with an average of 92.2 rushing yards per game, while his 119.58 all-purpose yards per game ranks fourth.
QB, Ole Miss, Senior
2023 stats: 3,364 yards, 23 TDs, 5 INTs
2023 ranking: NR
Dart led Ole Miss to its first-ever 11-win season in 2023. He threw for 3,364 yards, 23 touchdowns, and just five picks, while adding 389 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. He was named to the 2024 Maxwell Award Preseason watch list, as he and the Rebels try to crack the playoff this season.
QB, Kansas, Junior
2022 stats: 2,014 yards, 18 TDs, 4 INTs
2023 ranking: NR
Last year’s Big 12 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year was sidelined with back problems after just three games. When healthy, Daniels is one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the country, and he is currently the career leader for completion percentage in Kansas history (63.6%). In 2022, he led Kansas to its first bowl game since 2008, then threw for 544 yards and five TDs and ran for another in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
DE, Louisville, Senior
2023 stats: 23 solo, 11 sacks, 3 FFs
2023 ranking: 78
Gillotte enters the season as one of the preseason favorites in the ACC Defensive Player of the Year race after finishing second behind Payton Wilson a year ago. In 2023, Gillotte had 14.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks, but decided to return to school for one more season to not only try to improve his draft stock, but to help the Cards make it back to the ACC championship game. Only this time, he wants to win.
WR, Ole Miss, Senior
2023 stats: 54 receptions, 985 yards, 8 TDs
2023 ranking: 53
Harris began his career at Louisiana Tech, where he spent three seasons before leading the Rebels in receiving yards in 2023 with 985 on 54 receptions. Harris also had eight touchdowns along the way. He was given preseason first-team All-SEC honors by the media.
RB, Texas Tech, Junior
2023 stats: 1,538 yards, 10 TDs
2023 ranking: 62
Brooks opted to return for his senior year with an eye on becoming the Red Raiders’ all-time leading rusher. Though he’s seventh on the school rushing list with 3,052 yards, he’s only 1,167 yards behind No. 1, Byron Hanspard. Last year, Texas Tech leaned on Brooks in conference play, where he averaged 25.7 carries and 130.6 yards per game in the Big 12.
LB, Iowa, Senior
2023 stats: 79 solo, 2 sacks, 1 FF
2023 ranking: 66
Iowa’s defense has carried the team recently, and Higgins has been at the center of it. He led the Big Ten and ranked third nationally with 171 tackles last season, matching the team’s single-season record. The All-America selection was always around the ball, forcing a fumble, intercepting a pass and recording five pass deflections.
RB, Ohio State, Senior
2023 stats: 156 carries, 926 yards, 11 TDs
2023 ranking: 93
One of the nation’s most experienced ball carriers tries to cap his college career like he started it, when he rushed for 1,248 yards and set an Ohio State freshman record with 19 touchdowns (15 rushing, four receiving). Henderson battled injuries in 2022 but earned first-team All-Big Ten honors last fall, when he again reached double digits in touchdowns.
RB, Ohio State, Junior
2023 stats: 271 carries, 15 TDs, 1,158 yards
2023 ranking: NR
The Ole Miss transfer was a two-time first-team All-SEC selection. In 2022, Judkins rushed for 1,567 yards, second only to Georgia great Herschel Walker in rushing yards by an SEC freshman. Judkins broke a Power 5-best 53 tackles last season. With him and TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State boasts a formidable rushing duo.
DE, Ohio State, Senior
2023 stats: 24 solo, 6.5 sacks, 2 FFs
2023 ranking: NR
The former ESPN No. 1 overall recruit truly blossomed last season when he led Ohio State in sacks (6.5) and tackles for loss (10). A second-team All-Big Ten selection, Sawyer will help anchor one of the nation’s most experienced defensive fronts alongside fellow end J.T. Tuimoloau and tackle Tyleik Williams.
LB, Oklahoma, Senior
2023 stats: 51 solo, 3 sacks, 2 FFs, 1 INT
2023 ranking: 89
The senior linebacker is one of the players who will be key to Oklahoma’s success in 2024. An All-Big 12 first-team selection last season, Stutsman led the Sooners with 104 total tackles, 51 solo tackles and 16 tackles for loss. He also had three sacks, a pick, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
OL, Alabama, Junior
2023 stats: 41 total knockdown blocks, allowed 2.5 sacks
2023 ranking: NR
One of the premier interior offensive linemen in the country, the 6-5, 352-pound Booker also spent some time at tackle this spring and is a dominant blocker wherever he lines up. He was a first-team All-SEC selection last season for the Crimson Tide from his left guard position and a Freshman All-American two years ago.
DE, Georgia, Junior
2023 stats: 9 solo, 4.5 sacks, 1 FF
2023 ranking: NR
Williams should be a first-round pick by the time next April’s NFL draft comes around. The 6-5 junior from Columbus, Georgia, started 10 games for the Dawgs last season, accumulating 18 tackles, 11 solo tackles and 4.5 sacks. He is going to be one of the most disruptive players in college football.
DE, Texas A&M, Junior
2023 stats: 33 solo, 10 sacks, 1 FF
2023 ranking: NR
A Purdue transfer, Scourton had 72 tackles, 48 solo tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 3 passes defended in two seasons with the Boilermakers. Last season, he led the Big Ten in sacks with 10, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors.
WR, Ohio State, Senior
2023 stats: 4 TDs, 41 receptions, 515 yards
2023 ranking: NR
A preseason All-American, Egbuka is on the verge of breaking multiple Ohio State career receiving records. He needs just 1,041 receiving yards and 78 receptions to set new school marks in both categories. Over the past two years, Egbuka has 786 receiving yards after the catch, second most of any Big Ten player.
RB, North Carolina, Junior
2023 stats: 253 carries, 1,504 yards, 15 TDs
2023 ranking: 64
Hampton came in as a highly touted freshman in 2022 but really emerged as the feature back last year, rushing for 1,504 yards and 15 touchdowns while adding 29 receptions for 222 yards and a touchdown as a Doak Walker Award finalist. His rushing yards total ranks second on the school’s single-season list.
TE, Michigan, Sophomore
2023 stats: 4 TDs, 45 receptions, 649 yards
2023 ranking: NR
The 6-5, 245-pound Loveland is coming off a banner year for Michigan’s title team with 649 receiving yards, fourth most among Power 4 tight ends. On top of that, 71.1% of Loveland’s 45 grabs went for either first downs or touchdowns, the second-highest rate in the Big Ten.
RB, Boise State, Junior
2023 stats: 220 carries, 1,347 yards, 14 TDs
2023 ranking: 47
Jeanty ranked first among FBS running backs in both forced missed tackles (100) and receiving yards (459). He trailed only Ollie Gordon II in total yards from scrimmage, topping 100 yards in the category in all but two games. A dynamic, powerful and durable back.
QB, Colorado, Senior
2023 stats: 3,230 yards, 27 TDs, 3 INTs
2023 ranking: 69
Sanders boasted a remarkable 27-to-3 TD-INT ratio last season playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in college football. If his protection is better, Sanders should rank among the national leaders in every statistical category and is widely considered to be in the running for first quarterback selected in the 2025 NFL draft.
QB, Texas, Junior
2023 stats: 3,479 yards, 22 TDs, 6 INTs
2023 ranking: 90
Ewers’ 3,479 passing yards last season were the fifth most in school history. A 22-game starter in his career, the 6-2, 210-pound junior was a second-team All-Big 12 selection by the AP last year. He completed 69% of his passes and accounted for 27 touchdowns. His six 300-yard passing games tied for the most in a season in program history.
QB, Alabama, Junior
2023 stats: 2,834 yards, 23 TDs, 6 INTs
2023 ranking: 18
Milroe was one of the country’s hottest players during the second half of last season and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting. He accounted for 26 touchdowns and turned the ball over just five times in his final 10 regular-season games. His fourth-and-31 touchdown pass to win the Auburn game was one of the best plays of 2023 in college football.
DT, Kentucky, Junior
2023 stats: 28 solo, 7.5 sacks
2023 ranking: NR
The 6-6, 348-pound junior has started 24 straight games. Despite frequent double-teams, Walker led the Wildcats with 12.5 tackles for loss last season and finished eighth in the SEC with 7.5 sacks. He was a first-team All-SEC selection by the AP and is equally disruptive against both the run and pass. Walker also has incredible footwork.
LB, Penn State, Junior
2023 stats: 26 solo, 4.5 sacks, 1 FF, 1 INT
2023 ranking: NR
Carter became the first Penn State linebacker since 2007 to finish with at least six sacks and 10 tackles for loss in a season. He has since moved to defensive end, where he’ll spearhead the Nittany Lions pass rush after posting a 24.4% pressure rate on 90 pass rushing attempts last year.
S, Iowa, Senior
2023 stats: 47 solo, 1 FF, 3 INTs
2023 ranking: NR
Castro was everywhere last year with 74 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions. Among Big Ten DBs with at least 70 tackles, he led the league surrendering just 3.4 yards per passing attempt as the primary defender. He also allowed a completion rate of just 40% as the primary defender in coverage.
WR, Oregon, Senior
2023 stats: 86 receptions, 1,182 yards, 10 TDs
2023 ranking: NR
Troy Franklin garnered more attention in 2023, but Johnson set Oregon’s single-season record with 86 receptions and has 209 receptions for 2,780 yards the past three seasons at Oregon and Troy. The prolific senior should be the top target for new quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
OL, Georgia, Senior
2023 stats: 87.4 pass-blocking grade, 1.3% pressure rate allowed
2023 ranking: NR
One of the men responsible for the safety of Carson Beck is Ratledge, and he’s a good one to have in your security detail. He started at right guard for 13 of Georgia’s 14 games for an offensive line unit that ranked first in the SEC in sacks allowed with 0.93. He was named a second-team All-American in 2023.
QB, Oregon, Senior
2023 stats: 3,660 passing yards, 30 TDs, 6 INTs
2023 ranking: 28
This two-time transfer brings experience to Oregon with 49 career starts. He already ranks in the top eight in FBS history in both passing yards (14,865) and passing touchdowns (125), earning all-conference honors for both the Sooners and Golden Knights. There’s a reason why Gabriel is the preseason Heisman betting favorite.
LB, Clemson, Senior
2023 stats: 37 solo, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT
2023 ranking: NR
Carter turned heads after the season-opening loss to Duke last year when he said he did not feel as if he was in game shape. He still had a solid season with 9.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 6 pass breakups, an interception and a fumble recovery, but he returned for his senior season with more in mind — domination.
LB, LSU, Junior
2023 stats: 43 solo, 5.5 sacks, 3 FFs, 1 INT
2023 ranking: NR
Perkins will remain primarily at inside linebacker for his junior season, but coach Brian Kelly said Perkins would also slide outside on passing downs. The 6-1, 220-pound Perkins has 26 tackles for loss and 13 sacks in 27 career games. He was a second-team All-SEC selection by the coaches last season and a Freshman All-American and first-team All-SEC selection by the AP two years ago.
WR, Arizona, Junior
2023 stats: 90 receptions, 1,402 yards, 8 TDs
2023 ranking: NR
A likely first-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft, McMillan is a strong candidate to win the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver following an incredible sophomore season. With the departure of Jacob Cowing (90 catches in 2023) for the NFL, T-Mac will become an even more essential piece in Arizona’s offense and it’s reasonable to expect he’ll face more double-teams than in the past.
CB, Notre Dame, Junior
2023 stats: 25 solo, 3 INTs, 10 PDs
2023 ranking: NR
Morrison emerged as a shutdown cornerback as a true freshman and continued to impress last year as a sophomore with 10 pass breakups. His presence helped lead Notre Dame to the No. 1 pass efficiency defense in the country. Morrison had offseason surgery on his right shoulder, and his status for the opener against Texas A&M is up in the air.
S, Ohio State, Sophomore
2023 stats: 70 solo, 1 FF, 2 INTs
2023 ranking: 39
The reigning SEC Freshman of the Year became the first Alabama true freshman since at least 1970 to lead the Crimson Tide in tackles with 107, which was 40 more than any other Alabama player. Downs’ nose for the ball gives an already loaded Ohio State defense yet another weapon.
S, Georgia, Junior
2023 stats: 31 solo, 3 INTs, 7 PDs
2023 ranking: 57
A starter since his true freshman season, Starks has been one of the cornerstones of Kirby Smart’s defense the past two seasons. The 6-1, 205-pound junior was a consensus All-American a year ago. He was fourth on Georgia’s team with 52 total tackles and also had three interceptions. Starks was one of five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Award as the country’s top defender.
OL, Texas, Junior
2023 stats: 1 sack allowed in 550 pass-blocking situations
2023 ranking: NR
After a first season that saw Banks earn Freshman All-America honors, he blossomed into an AFCA second-team All-America selection last season at left tackle. The 6-4, 320-pound junior has played in and started 27 games. He allowed just one sack in 550 pass-blocking situations last season. Texas finished 17th nationally in passing offense and 25th in rushing offense.
RB, Oklahoma State, Junior
2023 stats: 285 carries, 1,732 yards, 21 TDs
2023 ranking: 11
Gordon was a breakout star in 2023 after rushing for 308 yards in 2022, garnering the most Heisman votes among running backs after leading the country in rushing (1,732) and yards from scrimmage (2,062) in 2023. He was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, an unanimous All-American and just the fourth sophomore to win the Doak Walker Award. He’s now a Heisman front-runner this season.
QB, Georgia, Senior
2023 stats: 3,941 yards, 24 TDs, 6 INTs
2023 ranking: 22
In just his first season as a starter, Beck ranked third nationally and first in the SEC with 3,941 passing yards. He was fourth in the nation with a 72.4 completion percentage. Beck threw 24 touchdown passes and rushed for four more and was intercepted only six times in 417 pass attempts. The 6-2, 220-pound senior could be the top quarterback taken in the 2025 NFL draft.
OL, LSU, Junior
2023 stats: No sacks allowed
2023 ranking: NR
Campbell makes up half of perhaps the top tackle tandem in the country with Emery Jones Jr. on the other side. Campbell returns for a third straight season as the Tigers’ starter at left tackle. He was a first-team All-SEC selection last season and second-team selection as a freshman. The 6-6, 320-pound Campbell didn’t allow any sacks in 13 games last season.
WR, Missouri, Junior
2023 stats: 86 receptions, 1,212 yards, 9 TDs
2023 ranking: 15
After a dynamic freshman season, the 5-11, 208-pound Burden was named a second-team All-American by the AP a year ago. He finished second in the SEC and ninth nationally with 1,212 receiving yards. Burden reached the 100-yard receiving mark six times in the regular season. He’s electric in the open field and ranked third nationally with 725 yards after the catch.
CB, Michigan, Sophomore
2023 stats: 20 solo, 4 INTs, 4 PDs
2023 ranking: NR
A consensus All-Big Ten performer, Johnson had four interceptions last year, including a pick on the first play of the second half in Michigan’s national title victory over Washington. Opposing QBs had a QBR of just 4.3 (scale of 0-to-100) targeting Johnson last year, easily the lowest score for Big Ten DBs.
CB/WR, Colorado, Junior
2023 stats: 57 catches, 721 rec yards, 5 TDs, 30 tackles, 3 INTs
2023 ranking: 35
The most talented two-way player of his generation, Hunter has the ability to be an All-American on either side of the ball. For the Buffs to improve off their four-win season a year ago, it will likely require a monster season from Hunter, who is all but guaranteed to leave for the NFL after the season.
DT, Michigan, Sophomore
2023 stats: 23 solo, 3 sacks, 1 FF
2023 ranking: NR
The 320-pound Graham is back to anchor the inside of a revamped but still talented Michigan defense that lost several players to the NFL draft. Graham, a second-team All-American last year, had 7.5 tackles for loss on a Michigan defense that led the nation in defensive EPA.
DE, Tennessee, Junior
2023 stats: 18 solo, 9.5 sacks, 2 FFs, 1 INT
2023 ranking: NR
Entering his third season at Tennessee, the 6-5, 243-pound Pearce is the top pass rusher in the country despite having started only three career games. He’s projected as a top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL draft and has 16.5 tackles for loss and 12 sacks in his first two seasons. Pearce was a first-team All-SEC selection last season by both the AP and coaches after ranking fifth nationally with 38 total pressures.
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Bradford Doolittle
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Hall of Famers coming to Cooperstown — the newbies and the veterans alike — are typically subject to a fairly regimented schedule. They have a garden party. Ozzie Smith holds an annual charity event. There’s a golf tournament on Saturday morning. They roll down Main Street on Saturday night during the Parade of Legends. Finally, there is the induction itself.
Ichiro Suzuki, a 2025 inductee, took part in much of this, but even though he is an avid golfer, he did not play in the golf tournament. It turns out that doing so would’ve meant that he wouldn’t be able to maintain his usual workout routine. So he headed out to one of the numerous Little League fields a few miles outside of Cooperstown and got in his work.
At 51 years old, he follows the same routine he always has. He played long toss, did his stretching and running, played catch with Billy Wagner’s son — an aspiring ballplayer himself — and took batting practice against Wagner.
When asked why, Ichiro kept it simple.
“Because I love it,” he said.
That much has been clear, not only through his 19-year MLB career but well before it and since. His induction weekend was not the first time Ichiro made the pilgrimage to Cooperstown — he has been here many times. Each trek he made as a player was to view and study different relics that held special meaning to him.
“You just don’t see players come to the Hall of Fame, while they’re actively playing in the winter time — seven, eight times, because they just want to touch the bat of the guy whose record they broke,” Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch said, “or be here in the freezing cold and snow to see this place.”
Ichiro didn’t limit those travels to the stops in Cooperstown — he famously visited the gravesite of Hall of Famer George Sisler after he broke Sisler’s single-season hit record in 2004 — but the beauty of the Hall of Fame is that it ties all of these interlocking stories together, linking the stars of the past with the stars of the present with the stars of the even more distant past, and in some cases, the stars of the future.
For a person like Ichiro, who is deeply interested in historical artifacts and the stories they represent, there is no better place than Cooperstown, and there is no better ambassador for Cooperstown than Ichiro.
“The history of baseball is very important,” Ichiro said. “We’re able to play the game today because of players of the past. I really want to understand them and know more about them. I think we all need to know the game of the past, things of the past, so we can keep moving it forward.”
Ichiro’s plaque there suggests the closing of a historical, cultural and symbolic loop that brings together two great baseball cultures.
It was the converging of paths, joining the practice of yakyu, the game Ichiro began playing at age 3, and the pastime of baseball, the game he still plays — with ritualistic abandon — at 51.
For all of the cultural significance and the historic nature of Ichiro’s induction, it’s this work ethic and his meticulous nature that is almost certainly going to be his greatest legacy. And it’s one that spins into the future, as he blazes a path to serve as a guide for the Japanese and American stars of the future — and present — to follow.
Before Shohei Ohtani, there was Ichiro. Before Ichiro, there were many, but none who followed the path that perhaps only he could see.
EVEN BEFORE SUNDAY, Ichiro Suzuki had a Hall of Fame plaque on a wall. That one was hung in January at the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame Museum, located within the Tokyo Dome.
The contrast between Cooperstown, a tiny rustic village in upstate New York, and Tokyo, one of the world’s largest and most dense cities, couldn’t be more stark. But the baseball galleries within them look very similar, right up to the shape and size of the plaques themselves.
This is no coincidence. The American version came first; the very concept of a Hall of Fame is a purely American convention. So when one was built in Japan, back in the late 1950s, it was an early sign of the dissolution of differences between the two leading baseball cultures.
The differences, convergences and exchanges between the two is the story told in the Hall of Fame’s stunning new exhibit “Yakyu | Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game.”
“This isn’t just an exhibition about baseball in Japan,” said RJ Lara, the curator of the exhibit. “This isn’t just an exhibition about baseball in the United States. It’s about how the two countries and how baseball in two countries has come together and exchanged equipment, ideas, concepts, players, teams.”
Baseball’s roots in Japan trace to the 1850s, the game exported there by visiting Americans and seafarers. For decades, even as the popularity of baseball spread, it remained a strictly amateur practice, with the college level seen as the pinnacle of the sport into the middle of the 20th century.
While baseball grew into America’s pastime as a source of joy and play for anyone who could toss a ball or swing a bat, in Japan, at least in the early years, yakyu was viewed as a martial art. In fact, the first thing you see when you walk into the exhibit is a suit of traditional Samurai armor, full of red and gold — a gift from the Yomiuri Giants to Los Angeles Dodgers president Peter O’Malley in 1988.
Yakyu, one of the Japanese words for baseball, describes a game that evolved from the American version and still differs in mainly intangible ways and strategic preferences. The gap between the two has narrowed, as the success of Ichiro, Ohtani and others strongly suggests. But it might never completely disappear.
The “Samurai Way of Baseball” — as author Robert Whiting described it — meant a painstaking focus on practice and repetition, a heavy emphasis on fundamentals and a standardized version of the game in which every discrete act had a precise method behind it, and everything was about the team: the “wa,” as outlined by Whiting in the seminal “You Gotta Have Wa.”
Starting around 1905, teams on both sides of the Pacific began making the voyage to compete against one another. But the biggest influence on the professionalization of baseball in Japan came in 1934, when a team of American barnstormers stuffed with future Hall of Famers — including Babe Ruth — toured the country, drawing huge crowds nearly everywhere they went.
Plans for a professional league were already being hatched, and the success of the 1934 tour helped to cement them. The Yomiuri Giants were founded in 1935, and, as longtime Tokyo resident Whiting put it, grew into a behemoth that became as popular as the Dodgers, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox combined. It set the stage for Sadaharu Oh, Shigeo Nagashima and the legends who laid the foundation of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) — and the collision of Japanese and American baseball that the exhibit celebrates.
THE YAKYU EXHIBIT has three centerpieces, and appropriately the first one you encounter focuses on Hideo Nomo. (Ichiro is the second and, though you can probably guess who is the third, we will come to that a bit later.)
Nomo was not the first Japanese-born player to make the transition to the major leagues: The seal was broken in the mid-1960s, when Masanori Murakami pitched two seasons for the San Francisco Giants. There was a lot of rancor in Japan over the move, and after two seasons, Murakami went back to Japan. Meanwhile, greats such as Oh and Nagashima stayed put, both spending their careers with Yomiuri, thanks to the reserve clause in place in Japan, as well as a societal pressure to remain true to Japanese baseball.
Oh talked in later years about how he would’ve liked to have played in the majors, but he just couldn’t do it. The taboo against jumping the pond remained in place until the mid-1990s. This was when Nomo “retired” from his team in Japan, a ploy cooked up by agent Don Nomura to exploit a loophole. Nomo ended up with the Dodgers, and Nomo-mania was born.
Nomo was heavily criticized at the time in Japan, and doubt existed in America about whether a Japanese player could truly make the leap. Nomo more than proved his ability to make the transition, and did so with such verve that it swept through Southern California and beyond, and also captivated audiences in Japan. The practice of baseball fans on the other side of the Pacific rising in the early morning to watch MLB began at that time.
The exhibit features some of Nomo’s equipment, as well as videos of hitters flailing at his nasty splitter. There are also some model baseballs with which you can try to simulate the grips Nomo used on his various pitches, including that splitter.
Jack Morris was in the midst of praising the nastiness of Nomo’s splitter when fellow Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith interjected, “You should try to hit it!”
NOMO’S DEBUT SEASON in 1995 preceded the now-celebrated 1996 Japan tour, which saw an MLB all-star team that included Cal Ripken Jr. play an eight-game series against players from the NPB, then called All-Japan. Ripken had gone on a similar tour in 1986, along with Morris and Smith, and a decade later he already noticed a marked difference in the caliber of play from his Japanese opponents.
“Going over there, you kind of look and shake your head and go, ‘These people are crazy about baseball,'” Ripken said. “They were talking about drawing 60,000 fans for a high school championship game.
“I thought the Japanese were always really competitive and very serious. They wanted to do really well. They wanted to beat us.”
One of the opponents of the all-star group in 1996 was Ichiro, and that experience for the Japanese star, in combination with the phenomenon that Nomo created, began to turn his head toward the other side of the Pacific. He wanted to test himself.
“The excitement I felt in that series was definitely a turning point,” Ichiro told author Narumi Komatsu in “Ichiro on Ichiro.” “Instead of something I just admired from afar, the majors became a set goal of mine.”
Ichiro had become a phenomenon in his home country, his face splattered on billboards all over Tokyo and beyond, as he exploded on the scene by becoming the first player in Japanese professional history to record 200 hits in a season, setting the since-broken record of 210 at age 20. He hit .353 during his nine years for Orix, which would far away be the all-time highest average in Japanese history if he qualified for the career leaderboard.
He did it in his own way, forging a path unlike any players before him. He famously refused to change the batting stance he’d used since high school — much to the chagrin of his first manager with Orix.
Ichiro also donned the name “Ichiro” on his jersey, departing from Japanese tradition. Suzuki is a common name in Japan and his club felt that would make him all the more marketable, which it did. To this day, in baseball everywhere, when you hear the name “Ichiro”, you know exactly who’s being referenced.
Bobby Valentine, who initially bucked against tradition when he went to manage in Japan, eschewing conventions such as marathon practice sessions and incessant meetings, saw things evolving, especially when he prepared for his first stint with the Chiba Lotte Marines in 1995, the year Nomo debuted with the Dodgers.
“That was the year after Ichiro was Rookie of the Year for Orix in 1994,” Valentine said. “Every night, all the coaches got together and looked at video and looked at charts, trying to figure out one guy, Ichiro.
“He showed me what he could do. I asked him for an autographed bat and told him that he was one of the best players I ever saw.”
Later, when Valentine was managing the New York Mets, he unsuccessfully lobbied his front office to pursue Ichiro.
“I was told at the end of the day, that they didn’t want a singles hitter in the outfield,” Valentine said mournfully. “And I said, ‘What if you get 200 of them?’ I swear. And he got like 240 of them.”
AT TIMES, IT has been far from certain that the paths that came together through Ichiro on Sunday would indeed merge. That part of the story isn’t overlooked in the yakyu exhibit.
It’s depicted in a couple of very different ways that relate the baseball sliver of the story of the years during and after World War II, including the post-war period when the United States occupied Japan under the supervision of Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
One object from the war years is the most melancholy relic in the exhibition, and indeed perhaps in the entire Hall of Fame.
It is a handmade, wooden home plate that once was part of Zenimura Field at the Gila River in Arizona internment camp during the war. The field was built by Kenichi Zenimura, a baseball advocate born in Hiroshima who spent most of his childhood in Hawaii.
The home plate is a a solemn reminder of how the forces that too often keep nations apart can’t be overcome by baseball alone. But if baseball can’t keep nations from conflict, conflict can’t keep people from baseball.
“It was the anchor of the Gila River community, and that’s how we like to describe it,” Lara said. “During these tragic, incredibly hard times at this camp in Arizona, it was the anchor that brought the community together, around a single baseball diamond that they built with their hands.”
After the war, when the occupation of Japan began, much of the country, and especially Tokyo, was in ruin. The battle for the ideological soul of the country was well underway in those early years of the Cold War, and the influence of communist Russia was of chief concern for the Americans.
MacArthur thought that reigniting the dormant cultural elements of Japanese society might help to calm things down and help make some headway in turning heads from the encroaching communist influence. With many of the country’s cultural institutions in rubble or ashes, sports, especially baseball — which can be played outside and a sport the Japanese already loved — was the answer.
Author Robert K. Fitts describes the sequence in “Banzai Babe Ruth.” League play resumed in 1946. Things improved enough that in 1947, Japan celebrated Babe Ruth Day at the same time that the major leagues were honoring the dying slugger. Quality of play began to recover but the overall fervor around yakyu still fell short of the pre-war years.
In 1949, on a suggestion from MacArthur staffer Cappy Harada, the project was turned over to Lefty O’Doul, who had fallen in love with Japan on a 1931 tour with other major leaguers and played a key role in helping convince Ruth to join the 1934 tour.
O’Doul, manager of the San Francisco Seals, brought his Pacific Coast League squad to Japan after the 1949 season to tour the country. The Seals were welcomed with a parade and, over the course of four weeks, helped boost the morale of a struggling nation. One evening before a game, for the first time, the flags of the United States and Japan were raised together, bringing many fans to tears.
Japanese journalist and historian Tadao Kunishi sees the O’Doul tour as one of the turning points in the evolution of Japanese baseball, especially in its gradual move toward becoming more like the American game.
“During that time, Japan was still doing the rebuilding,” Kunishi said. “We did not have much entertainment, and baseball is outside. So many movie theaters were burned down, so they cannot play, but baseball is outside, and anybody can go there. And really [Lefty] O’Doul brought the joy of watching baseball.”
A veritable baseball Forrest Gump, O’Doul always seemed to be in the middle of baseball history. He pitched for John McGraw. He converted to hitting and one year batted .398 in the National League. He managed and mentored life-long friend Joe DiMaggio, whom he brought along on a later, much-celebrated tour of Japan. He saw the potential of Japan as a baseball nation from the start.
“He said it was just a matter of time that Japanese ballplayers are going to be playing in America,” said Tom O’Doul, Lefty’s cousin. “And they’re going to be playing American baseball because they’re good and they respect the game. And that’s what happened.”
Though you don’t need to attribute the eventual boom in Japan — baseball and beyond — entirely to Lefty O’Doul and baseball, those tours proved to be a turning point in the ongoing exchange in the sport between Japan and America, which had seemed hopelessly severed.
THE THIRD CENTERPIECE of the yakyu exhibit, along with Nomo and Ichiro, as you probably have guessed, is the display for Shohei Ohtani, who is in the midst of a Hall of Fame career, and thus years away from joining Ichiro in the Japanese and the American plaque rooms. But he will get there.
Ohtani’s display looms in the back of the room behind Ichiro and indeed, from a certain angle as you stand there and look upon Ichiro’s uniform and bat and shoes and batting glove, a little lower to the left and against the wall behind him, you see an image of Decoy, the most famous dog — and literary muse — in all of baseball.
As for the player himself, Ohtani’s display is a stunning piece of museum technology. Depending on which angle you take to look at his image, you might see him pitching or hitting for the Los Angeles Angels, doing the same for the Dodgers, or celebrating the end of Japan’s victory in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, which he clinched by fanning Mike Trout for the last out.
The rise of Ohtani is also a chief part of the legacies of Oh and Nagashima and Nomo and Ichiro. By now, 74 players have made the transition to the major leagues — not all with resounding success, but many have reached All-Star status. All you have to do is look in the financial ledgers and the contracts that have been dolled out to the likes of Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki to know how Japanese stars are valued today.
For his part, Ichiro does think that the differences between yakyu and MLB have softened, but they still exist — and they should.
“It usually takes a few years for Japanese baseball to pick up the things that happen in major leagues,” Suzuki said. “It’s definitely getting closer.
“I don’t think that Japan should copy what the MLB does. I think Japanese baseball should be Japanese baseball in the way they do things, and MLB should be the way they are. I think they should be different.”
And yet in so many ways, Ichiro himself was the bridge. He was yakyu and he was baseball.
Ichiro, who will generally give frank answers about himself and his thoughts about baseball, almost always deflects when asked about the thoughts or impressions of others. He still does it.
When asked about his role or his sense of how Japanese fans are reacting to his induction to Cooperstown, he says he doesn’t know. When asked about his relationship to the current Japanese stars in the major leagues, he says that he sees them at the ballpark when they come through Seattle.
He doesn’t get any more detailed when asked about the path that he has opened up for other Japanese stars, but he does open up a little when discussing his role in spreading knowledge to the next generation of players on both sides of the Pacific.
“The players need to tell the younger players about the game,” Ichiro said. “That’s a responsibility that those who have played this game have. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to help in that aspect, but it’s something I’d really like to do.”
As much as anything, Ichiro’s legacy is helping to bring the paths of two different baseball cultures together.
“We used to say that yakyu and baseball are different games with the same rules,” Kunishi said. “Now yakyu and baseball is the same game and the same rules.”
As far as legacies go, that’s not bad, even if the process remains ongoing. In the meantime, Ichiro will be there, connected with Cooperstown and Japan alike, making sure that no aspects of all the history he has been a part of will be lost.
MIAMI — Sandy Alcantara admitted that Thursday was one of the hardest days of his career.
It has been thought all season that the Miami Marlins could move on from Alcantara amid their rebuilding project, which has included shipping out established players for prospects.
And as Thursday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline approached, the Marlins’ ace could not hide his nerves.
He sat in front of his television watching baseball programming with his family for most of the day, repeatedly checking his phone to see if he had been traded.
“It was hard, man,” Alcantara said Friday. “Every time I get on my phone, I see my name. I thought that I was leaving.”
Miami opted not to trade its 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner. In their only trade Thursday, the Marlins sent their longest-tenured position player, outfielder Jesús Sánchez, to the Houston Astros for right-hander Ryan Gusto and two prospects, infielder Chase Jaworsky and outfielder Esmil Valencia.
The rest of the team, which has won five straight series and went 15-10 in July, remains intact. Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said Friday that the club’s recent success, in part, factored into its approach at the deadline.
And manager Clayton McCullough said if there weren’t trade scenarios that “moved the needle for us in the near and the long term,” the Marlins were happy to continue competing with the group they have.
Amid what was expected to be a season of finding out which of its relatively inexperienced pieces Miami could build around in the future, the Marlins are third in the National League East at 52-55 and entered Friday seven games behind San Diego for the National League’s third wild-card spot.
Bendix declined to say how close Miami was to finalizing a trade for Alcantara but noted that the team “felt really comfortable” with its ultimate decision.
“All of the things that go into building a sustainably successful team were taken into consideration,” he said, “at a deadline where you have all of these decisions in front of you. It’s our job to be disciplined. Disciplined means listening, means having conversations, and then means trying to figure out the best decision to make for every decision point that we have.”
Alcantara has played most of his eight-year career in Miami, going 47-64 with a 3.64 ERA in 159 starts while becoming the first Miami player to win the Cy Young Award after a 2022 season in which he pitched a league-high 228 innings and six complete games.
Alcantara, 29, missed the 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery and hasn’t yet returned to form in 2025. He is 6-9 with a 6.36 ERA, and despite being known as one of MLB’s most durable starters, has pitched only seven innings once.
He said it has taken a new level of mental toughness to play through a season not knowing if he would finish the year with the Marlins.
“It was a little hard because everywhere you go, every time you grab your phone, you see your name on the media,” Alcantara said. “But you [can’t] think too much about it. Just stay focused on everything you can do. I just came here, and if something happened, it just happened.”
Alcantara’s most recent two starts have been his best, an indicator to both the player and the Marlins that he might be close to returning to his All-Star caliber play.
He allowed one run and four hits in a season-high seven innings against the San Diego Padres on July 23, then pitched five shutout innings in a win at St. Louis on Tuesday.
“Sandy is continuing to trend,” McCullough said. “And we’re going to continue to be the beneficiaries of having Sandy for the rest of the season, continuing to get back to the pitcher that we all know Sandy is.”
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