College Fantasy Football: 2025 Tadpole Bowl Rankings and Strategy

The first ever Tadpole Bowl college fantasy football tournament kicks off for most drafters on Monday, July 14th. Steve Bulanda breaks down the unique scoring system and ranks the top 300 players.

July 13, 2025

College Fantasy Football: 2025 Tadpole Bowl Rankings and Strategy

By:

Steve "The Spatula" Bulanda

July 13, 2025

College Football Draft Kit

The inaugural Tadpole Bowl -- the college fantasy football spinoff of the popular Scott Fish Bowl charity tournament -- kicked off with live drafts in Las Vegas, Atlanta and Minneapolis. One more live draft will take place on July 19th in Austin, but the majority of participants will be drafting in an online slow draft on Fantrax starting Monday, July 14th.

For many participants, this will be their first exposure to a season-long college fantasy football league. With a player pool including 70 different college football teams, the roster-building possibilities are endless, but they can also be overwhelming. Meanwhile, the unique roster and scoring settings will make even the most experienced CFF players rethink their draft strategy.

Tadpole Bowl Scoring Breakdown

Scoring Category	Points
Passing Yards (YDS)	0.05
Passing Touchdowns (TD)	6
Interceptions Thrown (Int)	-2
Rushing Yards (YDS)	0.1
Rushing Touchdowns (TD)	6
Fumbles Lost (FL)	-2
Receiving Yards (YDS)	0.1
Receiving Touchdowns (TD)	6
Receptions (REC)	1
Two Point Conversion Passes (2Pa)	2
Two Point Conversion Rushes & Receptions (2RR)	2
Kickoff Return Yards (KRY)	0.05
Punt Return Yards (PRY)	0.05
Kickoff/Punt Return Touchdowns (RtT)	6

Tadpole Bowl Strategy

As is the case with the Scott Fish Bowl, the Tadpole Bowl comes with custom scoring and roster settings that make standard fantasy rankings and cheat sheets mostly irrelevant. Luckily, at RotoWire we have a Custom Rankings tool that generates a new cheat sheet that adjusts to any league's unique settings.

A few rules make this league different than many other college fantasy football leagues:

Passing Touchdowns are worth six points, and Passing Yards are worth 0.05: Other leagues feature four-point passing TDs and 0.04 points per passing yard. Tadpole Bowl scoring boosts the value of pocket passers and gives less of an edge to dual-threat quarterbacks. That levels the playing field at the position and will allow us to wait longer on drafting QBs.
Full-Point PPR: If you're going to dabble in Underdog's Best Bowl Mania, you need to factor in that pass catchers score a half point per reception. In the Tadpole Bowl, players receive a full point per reception. Pass catching running backs and high-volume receivers are even more valuable here than in other formats.
Kickoff Return and Punt Return Scoring: This is both the most unusual and most complex rule to quantify. A player like Kansas State's Dylan Edwards, who contributed in both the kick and punt return game in 2024, may pass that role off to a teammate now that he will be taking over the lead running back duties. Because of all of the uncertainty, I'm only adding a small amount of value for potential return yards into my rankings.

2025 Tadpole Bowl Rankings

Rank	Player Name	Team	Position	Bye
1	Desmond Reid	Pittsburgh	RB	11,4
2	Jeremiah Smith	Ohio State	WR	4,9
3	Jordyn Tyson	Arizona State	WR	11,6
4	Bryson Washington	Baylor	RB	11,7
5	Darius Taylor	Minnesota	RB	11,4
6	Anthony Hankerson	Oregon State	RB	13,9
7	Isaac Brown	Louisville	RB	3,7
8	Jeremiyah Love	Notre Dame	RB	2,9
9	Dylan Edwards	Kansas State	RB	11,4,8
10	Ryan Williams	Alabama	WR	10,4
11	Cade Klubnik	Clemson	QB	5,9
12	Cam Coleman	Auburn	WR	12,6
13	Eric McAlister	TCU	WR	10,2
14	Nicholas Singleton	Penn State	RB	4,9
15	Makhi Hughes	Oregon	RB	10,6
16	Demond Claiborne	Wake Forest	RB	4,8
17	Arch Manning	Texas	QB	11,5
18	Antonio Williams	Clemson	WR	5,9
19	Jahiem White	West Virginia	RB	13,7
20	LaNorris Sellers	South Carolina	QB	11,6
21	Caden Durham	LSU	RB	10,6
22	Ahmad Hardy	Missouri	RB	10,6
23	Deion Burks	Oklahoma	WR	11,5
24	Quintrevion Wisner	Texas	RB	11,5
25	Waymond Jordan	USC	RB	6,9
26	Quinten Joyner	Texas Tech	RB	13,5
27	Jamal Haynes	Georgia Tech	RB	11,6
28	Wayshawn Parker	Utah	RB	11,6
29	Cayden Lee	Mississippi	WR	13,6
30	Jonah Coleman	Washington	RB	10,3
31	Kamari Moulton	Iowa	RB	10,6
32	Aaron Anderson	LSU	WR	10,6
33	James Peoples	Ohio State	RB	4,9
34	Emmett Johnson	Nebraska	RB	12,5
35	Justice Haynes	Michigan	RB	11,5
36	Denzel Boston	Washington	WR	10,3
37	Chase Sowell	Iowa State	WR	12,4,8
38	Elijah Sarratt	Indiana	WR	13,6
39	Caullin Lacy	Louisville	WR	3,7
40	Hollywood Smothers	North Carolina State	RB	11,8
41	Eugene Wilson	Florida	WR	5,9
42	Makai Lemon	USC	WR	6,9
43	Demond Williams	Washington	QB	10,3
44	T.J. Moore	Clemson	WR	5,9
45	Carnell Tate	Ohio State	WR	4,9
46	John Mateer	Oklahoma	QB	11,5
47	Garrett Nussmeier	LSU	QB	10,6
48	Josh Cameron	Baylor	WR	11,7
49	Nate Frazier	Georgia	RB	4,9
50	Chris Bell	Louisville	WR	3,7
51	Kevin Coleman	Missouri	WR	10,6
52	Yasin Willis	Syracuse	RB	12,7
53	Caleb Douglas	Texas Tech	WR	13,5
54	Ryan Wingo	Texas	WR	11,5
55	Kenyon Sadiq	Oregon	TE	10,6
56	Trent Walker	Oregon State	WR	13,9
57	Darrell Gill	Syracuse	WR	12,7
58	De'Zhaun Stribling	Mississippi	WR	13,6
59	Sawyer Robertson	Baylor	QB	11,7
60	TJ Harden	SMU	RB	12,5
61	Daniel Hishaw	Kansas	RB	12,3,8
62	Dane Key	Nebraska	WR	12,5
63	Eli Stowers	Vanderbilt	TE	12,7
64	Nolan Ray	Maryland	RB	5,9
65	Jam Miller	Alabama	RB	10,4
66	Hudson Clement	Illinois	WR	11,8
67	Bryant Wesco	Clemson	WR	5,9
68	Ja'Kobi Lane	USC	WR	6,9
69	Dakorien Moore	Oregon	WR	10,6
70	Coy Eakin	Texas Tech	WR	13,5
71	Malik Rutherford	Georgia Tech	WR	11,6
72	Haynes King	Georgia Tech	QB	11,6
73	Avery Johnson	Kansas State	QB	11,4,8
74	Joseph Williams	Colorado	WR	12,8
75	Joe Royer	Cincinnati	TE	11,4
76	Jayce Brown	Kansas State	WR	11,4,8
77	Germie Bernard	Alabama	WR	10,4
78	LJ Martin	BYU	RB	10,3
79	Nick Marsh	Michigan State	WR	11,5
80	Carson Hansen	Iowa State	RB	12,4,8
81	Jack Endries	Texas	TE	11,5
82	Lewis Bond	Boston College	WR	13,4
83	Ian Strong	Rutgers	WR	12,6
84	Mark Fletcher	Miami	RB	5,7
85	Que'Sean Brown	Duke	WR	7,9
86	Johntay Cook	Syracuse	WR	12,7
87	Elija Lofton	Miami	TE	5,7
88	CJ Daniels	Miami	WR	5,7
89	Le'Veon Moss	Texas A&M	RB	10,4
90	KC Concepcion	Texas A&M	WR	10,4
91	Dre'lon Miller	Colorado	WR	12,8
92	Chase Roberts	BYU	WR	10,3
93	Sam Leavitt	Arizona State	QB	11,6
94	Marcel Reed	Texas A&M	QB	10,4
95	Kevin Jennings	SMU	QB	12,5
96	Jayden Maiava	USC	QB	6,9
97	Austin Simmons	Mississippi	QB	13,6
98	Isaiah Horton	Alabama	WR	10,4
99	Jacory Barney	Nebraska	WR	12,5
100	Jalil Farooq	Maryland	WR	5,9
101	Jadan Baugh	Florida	RB	5,9
102	Kyson Brown	Arizona State	RB	11,6
103	Tawee Walker	Cincinnati	RB	11,4
104	Chris Hilton	LSU	WR	10,6
105	Eric Rivers	Georgia Tech	WR	11,6
106	Justin Joly	North Carolina State	TE	11,8
107	Davion Gause	North Carolina	RB	5,7
108	Josh Meredith	Washington State	WR	11,6
109	Duke Watson	Louisville	RB	3,7
110	Joshisa Trader	Miami	WR	5,7
111	Mike Matthews	Tennessee	WR	11,6
112	Turbo Richard	Boston College	RB	13,4
113	Jordan Dwyer	TCU	WR	10,2
114	Xavier Townsend	Iowa State	WR	12,4,8
115	Antwan Raymond	Rutgers	RB	12,6
116	DeSean Bishop	Tennessee	RB	11,6
117	Dorian Fleming	Maryland	TE	5,9
118	Julian Sayin	Ohio State	QB	4,9
119	Dante Moore	Oregon	QB	10,6
120	Devon Dampier	Utah	QB	11,6
121	Kenny Johnson	Pittsburgh	WR	11,4
122	Jeff Caldwell	Cincinnati	WR	11,4
123	Myles Montgomery	Central Florida	RB	3,9
124	Ryan Davis	Utah	WR	11,6
125	Dilin Jones	Wisconsin	RB	10,5
126	Noah Rogers	North Carolina State	WR	11,8
127	DT Sheffield	Rutgers	WR	12,6
128	Josh Hoover	TCU	QB	10,2
129	Kwazi Gilmer	UCLA	WR	10,4
130	Anthony Evans	Mississippi State	WR	13,7
131	Jaden Greathouse	Notre Dame	WR	2,9
132	Carlos Hernandez	Wake Forest	WR	4,8
133	Jaivian Thomas	UCLA	RB	10,4
134	Trell Harris	Virginia	WR	13,7
135	Jaydn Ott	Oklahoma	RB	11,5
136	Kaytron Allen	Penn State	RB	4,9
137	Eli Holstein	Pittsburgh	QB	11,4
138	Brendan Sorsby	Cincinnati	QB	11,4
139	Ismail Mahdi	Arizona	RB	4,9
140	Diego Pavia	Vanderbilt	QB	12,7
141	Ty Simpson	Alabama	QB	10,4
142	Fernando Mendoza	Indiana	QB	13,6
143	Taylen Green	Arkansas	QB	11,6
144	Luke Reynolds	Penn State	TE	4,9
145	CJ Donaldson	Ohio State	RB	4,9
146	Logan Diggs	Mississippi	RB	13,6
147	Carson Beck	Miami	QB	5,7
148	Jackson Arnold	Auburn	QB	12,6
149	Eric Singleton	Auburn	WR	12,6
150	Adam Randall	Clemson	RB	5,9
151	Javonnie Gibson	Oklahoma	WR	11,5
152	Trey'Dez Green	LSU	TE	10,6
153	Kanye Udoh	Arizona State	RB	11,6
154	Damari Alston	Auburn	RB	12,6
155	Trent Howland	Oklahoma State	RB	11,3
156	Micah Mays	Wake Forest	WR	4,8
157	Duce Robinson	Florida State	WR	3,9
158	Marquis Johnson	Missouri	WR	10,6
159	Jordan Marshall	Michigan	RB	11,5
160	Malachi Fields	Notre Dame	WR	2,9
161	Cam Pickett	Kansas	WR	12,3,8
162	Zachariah Branch	Georgia	WR	4,9
163	Terion Stewart	Virginia Tech	RB	11,8
164	Trebor Pena	Penn State	WR	4,9
165	O'Mega Blake	Arkansas	WR	11,6
166	Tony Johnson	Miami	WR	5,7
167	Joseph Manjack	TCU	WR	10,2
168	Kaden Feagin	Illinois	RB	11,8
169	Terrance Carter	Texas Tech	TE	13,5
170	Max Klare	Ohio State	TE	4,9
171	Rocco Becht	Iowa State	QB	12,4,8
172	Jaylen Lloyd	Oklahoma State	WR	11,3
173	Behren Morton	Texas Tech	QB	13,5
174	Kaidon Salter	Colorado	QB	12,8
175	Logan Loya	Minnesota	WR	11,4
176	CJ Bailey	North Carolina State	QB	11,8
177	Sam Roush	Stanford	TE	1,12,6
178	Reggie Virgil	Texas Tech	WR	13,5
179	Jack Velling	Michigan State	TE	11,5
180	RJ Maryland	SMU	TE	12,5
181	DeAndre Moore	Texas	WR	11,5
182	Olsen Patt-Henry	Clemson	TE	5,9
183	Sedrick Alexander	Vanderbilt	RB	12,7
184	Hogan Hansen	Michigan	TE	11,5
185	Devin Mockobee	Purdue	RB	13,5
186	Cam Porter	Northwestern	RB	10,4
187	Seydou Traore	Mississippi State	TE	13,7
188	Evan Pryor	Cincinnati	RB	11,4
189	Tommy Castellanos	Florida State	QB	3,9
190	Braylen Russell	Arkansas	RB	11,6
191	Drew Allar	Penn State	QB	4,9
192	CJ Campbell	Rutgers	RB	12,6
193	Raphael Williams	Pittsburgh	WR	11,4
194	Chamon Metayer	Arizona State	TE	11,6
195	Nico Iamaleava	UCLA	QB	10,4
196	Dante Dowdell	Kentucky	RB	4,7
197	Roman Hemby	Indiana	RB	13,6
198	Nate Palmer	TCU	RB	10,2
199	Luke Altmyer	Illinois	QB	11,8
200	Rahsul Faison	South Carolina	RB	11,6
201	Jadarian Price	Notre Dame	RB	2,9
202	Noah Whittington	Oregon	RB	10,6
203	Benjamin Brahmer	Iowa State	TE	12,4,8
204	Gideon Davidson	Clemson	RB	5,9
205	Nic Anderson	LSU	WR	10,6
206	Nyck Harbor	South Carolina	WR	11,6
207	Freddie Brock	Oklahoma State	RB	11,3
208	Kewan Lacy	Mississippi	RB	13,6
209	Trech Kekahuna	Wisconsin	WR	10,5
210	Kedrick Reescano	Arizona	RB	4,9
211	Garrett Oakley	Kansas State	TE	11,4,8
212	Steve Angeli	Syracuse	QB	12,7
213	CJ Baxter	Texas	RB	11,5
214	Jaden Nixon	Central Florida	RB	3,9
215	Derrick McFall	SMU	WR	12,5
216	Miller Moss	Louisville	QB	3,7
217	Darian Mensah	Duke	QB	7,9
218	DJ Lagway	Florida	QB	5,9
219	Yamir Knight	SMU	WR	12,5
220	Rashid Williams	Washington	WR	10,3
221	Dae'Quan Wright	Mississippi	TE	13,6
222	Michael Trigg	Baylor	TE	11,7
223	Kyron Drones	Virginia Tech	QB	11,8
224	Chandler Morris	Virginia	QB	13,7
225	Blake Shapen	Mississippi State	QB	13,7
226	Oscar Adaway	South Carolina	RB	11,6
227	Dylan Raiola	Nebraska	QB	12,5
228	Tanner Koziol	Houston	TE	12,4
229	Lance Mason	Wisconsin	TE	10,5
230	Josh Cuevas	Alabama	TE	10,4
231	Kevin Green	Washington	WR	10,3
232	Emmett Mosley	Texas	WR	11,5
233	Kirby Vorhees	Washington State	RB	11,6
234	LJ Johnson	California	RB	7,12
235	Gavin Sawchuk	Florida State	RB	3,9
236	Fluff Bothwell	Mississippi State	RB	13,7
237	Davon Booth	Mississippi State	RB	13,7
238	Braydon Bennett	Virginia Tech	RB	11,8
239	Damien Taylor	Mississippi	RB	13,6
240	Benji Gosnell	Virginia Tech	TE	11,8
241	Dean Connors	Houston	RB	12,4
242	Nicco Marchiol	West Virginia	QB	13,7
243	Aidan Laughery	Illinois	RB	11,8
244	Darrion Dupree	Wisconsin	RB	10,5
245	Chris Brazzell	Tennessee	WR	11,6
246	Chris Hunter	Arizona	WR	4,9
247	Beau Pribula	Missouri	QB	10,6
248	Addison Ostrenga	Iowa	TE	10,6
249	Donaven McCulley	Michigan	WR	11,5
250	Omar Cooper	Indiana	WR	13,6
251	Dramekco Green	SMU	RB	12,5
252	Jaquez Moore	Duke	RB	7,9
253	Vinny Anthony	Wisconsin	WR	10,5
254	Dakota Twitty	Virginia	TE	13,7
255	Luke Hasz	Mississippi	TE	13,6
256	Devonte Ross	Penn State	WR	4,9
257	CJ Carr	Notre Dame	QB	2,9
258	Javon Tracy	Minnesota	WR	11,4
259	Noah Fifita	Arizona	QB	4,9
260	Eli Sanders	USC	RB	6,9
261	Gio Lopez	North Carolina	QB	5,7
262	A.J. Turner	Minnesota	RB	11,4
263	Justus Ross-Simmons	Syracuse	WR	12,7
264	Aidan Chiles	Michigan State	QB	11,5
265	Zevi Eckhaus	Washington State	QB	11,6
266	Ty Lockwood	Boston College	TE	13,4
267	Gunner Stockton	Georgia	QB	4,9
268	Eli Raridon	Notre Dame	TE	2,9
269	Dan Villari	Syracuse	TE	12,7
270	Kaelon Black	Indiana	RB	13,6
271	Jalon Daniels	Kansas	QB	12,3,8
272	Conner Weigman	Houston	QB	12,4
273	Joey Aguilar	Tennessee	QB	11,6
274	Ka'Morreun Pimpton	TCU	TE	10,2
275	Jameson Geers	Minnesota	TE	11,4
276	Decker DeGraaf	Washington	TE	10,3
277	Lake McRee	USC	TE	6,9
278	Malik Benson	Oregon	WR	10,6
279	Griffin Wilde	Northwestern	WR	10,4
280	Angel Johnson	Washington State	RB	11,6
281	Donavon Greene	Virginia Tech	WR	11,8
282	Ayden Greene	Virginia Tech	WR	11,8
283	Dean Patterson	Georgia Tech	WR	11,6
284	Jahmal Edrine	Virginia	WR	13,7
285	Octavian Smith	Maryland	WR	5,9
286	Harlem Berry	LSU	RB	10,6
287	J'Koby Williams	Texas Tech	RB	13,5
288	Kendrick Raphael	California	RB	12,7
289	Luke Wysong	Arizona	WR	4,9
290	Kris Hutson	Arizona	WR	4,9
291	Andrel Anthony	Duke	WR	7,9
292	Aziah Johnson	North Carolina	WR	5,7
293	Raylen Sharpe	Arkansas	WR	11,6
294	Re'Shaun Sanford	Houston	RB	12,4
295	Ashtyn Hawkins	Baylor	WR	11,7
296	Rodney Gallagher	West Virginia	WR	13,7
297	Cyrus Allen	Cincinnati	WR	11,4
298	Cooper Barkate	Duke	WR	7,9
299	Ismael Cisse	Arkansas	WR	11,6
300	Josh McCray	Georgia	RB	4,9