The Sun Belt underwent significant changes following the 2024 campaign, with its conference champion, Marshall, losing its head coach, Charles Huff, to Southern Miss and nearly all of its roster to the transfer portal. Losing players to the transfer portal was a recurring theme along the Sun Belt, with standouts like Joey Aguilar, Gio Lopez, Ahmad Hardy, Fluff Bothwell, Devonte Ross and more leaving the conference. While that may muddy the fantasy waters during the preseason, there will be players who step up into those roles as elite fantasy options.
Note: These rankings are based on four-point passing touchdowns and half-point per reception format and may vary based on the format of your league. Visit our College Football Rankings page to customize the rankings to fit your league's format. The rankings are also subject to change as more information rolls in during fall camp, and up-to-date rankings can be found there.
2025 College Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- College Fantasy Football Custom Rankings (linked above)
- College Fantasy Football Projections
- College Football Cheat Sheet
- National Championship Picks
- National Championship Odds
- Heisman Odds
- Tapole Bowl Rankings and Strategy
- Underdog Best Ball Tools and Tips
- 2025 Quarterback Rankings
- 2025 Running Back Rankings
- 2025 Wide Receiver Rankings
- Mountain West Conference Preview
- AAC Conference Preview
- Conference USA Conference Preview
Sun Belt All-Conference Fantasy Teams
First Team (overall position rank in parentheses)
QB Colton Joseph, Old Dominion 
(2)
RB Kentrel Bullock, South Alabama 
(40)
RB Zach Palmer-Smith, Louisiana-Monroe 
(44)
WR Ted Hurst, Georgia State 
(11)
WR Corey Rucker, Arkansas State 
(12)
TE Camden Overton, Georgia State (20)
Second Team
QB Matthew Sluka, James Madison 
(13)
RB Lincoln Pare, Texas State 
(57)
RB George Pettaway, James Madison (90)
WR Devin Voisin, South Alabama (31)
WR Micah Davis, Southern Miss 
(50)
TE Toby Payne, Marshall 
(30)
Third Team
QB Braylon Braxton, Southern Miss (23)
RB OJ Arnold, Georgia Southern 
(95)
RB Ja'Quez Cross, Arkansas State (97)
WR Jameson Tucker, Coastal Carolina 
(66)
WR Elijah Metcalf, Southern Miss (73)
TE Caden Jensen, Louisiana-Lafayette 
(43)
2025 Sun Belt Fantasy Sleepers
Walker Howard, Louisiana-Lafayette
Howard comes with plenty of pedigree, coming into college as the sixth-best quarterback in the class of 2022, according to 247Sports. He began his career at LSU before transferring to play at Ole Miss in 2023 and 2024. He has played in four total games and has attempted just 10 passes in his career. He walks into Lafayette as the shoe-in starting quarterback for a Ragin' Cajuns team that went 8-1 before starting quarterback Ben Wooldridge suffered an injury. In those nine games, Woodridge threw for 2,301 yards and accumulated 22 touchdowns. Walker, though inexperienced, is highly talented. If Woodridge's 2024 performance is any indicator, Howard could wind up as one of the top-performing quarterbacks in the Sun Belt.
Zylan Perry, Louisiana-Lafayette
Perry, Bill Davis and Dre Washington formed a committee last season with the Ragin' Cajuns. Washington, ranking third in carries and rushing yards of the bunch, transferred to Alabama, leaving Davis and Perry atop the RB room. Davis rushed 163 times in 2024 compared to Perry's 112 carries, but Perry's 6.2 yards per carry outpaced Davis' 4.9 ypc. Perry's efficiency could afford him more carries in 2025, and it's not unrealistic to think he takes a hold of the lead back role.
Brad Jackson, Texas State
Jackson played in three games as a true freshman last season and dazzled as a rusher, completing eight of his 15 pass attempts for 118 yards and a touchdown while adding 164 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. He's locked into a competition with transfer Holden Geriner, who served as a reserve for Auburn the past three seasons. I'm betting on Jackson to win the spot, and if he does, he'll instantly become one of the Sun Belt's top dual-threat signal callers. Add in the fact he'll have an experienced receiving corps headlined by Chris Dawn and Beau Sparks along with a quality run game, and there should be ample support for the second-year quarterback.
Nick DeGennaro, James Madison
Whether it's Matthew Sluka, Camden Coleman or Alonza Barnett (leg) under center, the JMU offense is expected to be explosive. There aren't any proven returning wideouts for the Dukes, and DeGennaro is probably the most accomplished transfer the team nabbed through the portal, making him a clear candidate for WR1 duties. Over the last two years at Richmond, DeGennaro totaled 1,480 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns in 22 games. It's a significant step up in competition level, but DeGennaro has a clear shot at being the leading wideout in one of the conference's better offenses.
D'Shaun Ford, Louisiana-Monroe
I'm going to go more in-depth on the Louisiana-Monroe backfield in the Position Battles to Monitor portion of this preview, but Ford is a guy with league-winning upside, so it makes sense to double-up. ULM produced one of the nation's top tailbacks last season, handing the ball off to true freshman Ahmad Hardy 237 times in his true freshman season. Hardy, now playing for Missouri, racked up 1,351 yards -- the 12th most rushing yards in the country -- and 13 touchdowns as a result. Zach Palmer-Smith is the perceived favorite to land the starting gig for the Warhawks, leaving, but Ford carries a similar profile as Hardy, being a talented true freshman who could win the starting role. Ford passed up offers from Alabama, Tennessee, Penn State and LSU, among others, for the Warhawks. Ford could very well end up a reserve back, but if he can earn the No. 1 job, he's going to be a major producer.
2025 Sun Belt Position Battles to Monitor
Louisiana-Monroe Running Backs
The Warhawks produced the Sun Belt's leader in carries and rushing yards, while being tied for first in rushing touchdowns. Obviously, I'm referring to Ahmad Hardy, who transferred out of the program during the offseason. Head coach Bryant Vincent isn't one to use a running back committee, as he didn't in 2024 and hadn't in his previous stop at New Mexico. When he did utilize two tailbacks in 2022 at UAB, each back ranked in the top three in Conference USA in rushing yards. D'Shaun Ford and Zach Palmer-Smith are the likeliest candidates to win the starting job. Palmer-Smith comes to Louisiana-Monroe after racking up 1,382 rushing yards and 14 total touchdowns on 263 carries in 2024 at Richmond. Transfers Tyrell Reed (Arkansas) and Braylon McReynolds (South Alabama) fill out the room, but neither was productive at their previous stop. Whether it's Ford or Parker-Smith, ULM is going to run the football a ton in 2025, and one of these running backs will benefit greatly.
James Madison Quarterbacks
On a per-week basis, this group is almost guaranteed to produce a top-3 quarterback in the Sun Belt from a fantasy point perspective, so while it's not a straight-up position battle, it's a room worth monitoring. We all saw what Alonza Barnett did in 2024, racking up 2,598 passing yards and a 26:4 TD:INT while rushing for 442 yards and seven scores. But Barnett suffered what's considered a "serious" leg injury at the end of November. James Madison responded by acquiring Matthew Sluka and Camden Coleman through the portal, which could indicate Barnett will miss a significant chunk of the regular season. Head coach Bob Chesney said during Sun Belt Media Day that Barnett would "certainly play this year." That doesn't fully reveal how much time Barnett will miss, but Sluka -- who played for Chesney at Holy Cross from 2021-2023 -- shouldn't be considered a step down. Sluka is Holy Cross's second-leading rusher (3,583 yards) and their fifth-leading passer (5,916), and he got off to a great start at UNLV in 2024 before sitting out due to an alleged NIL dispute. Not knowing how many games either quarterback will see makes them a bit riskier to draft, but whoever's under center for the Dukes should be an elite fantasy option.
Old Dominion Wide Receivers
The Monarchs' offense is set for a big season. In the seven games Colton Joseph started during 2024, Old Dominion averaged 30.9 points per game. Joseph's set to serve as the team's starter in 2025, but there's plenty of uncertainty at the wide receiver position. The top five pass catchers from last season's roster have either graduated or departed in the portal. Reports from spring ball pointed to TJ Lott (two targets, no catches for ODU in 2024), Ja'Cory Thomas (JUCO transfer) and Tre Brown (JUCO transfer) as first-teamers. Na'eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding figures to be in the mix as well after catching a pair of passes for 18 yards and a touchdown in 2024 as a true freshman. A heavy rotation could be possible, but with Joseph under center, somebody has to emerge as a fantasy viable option.
Georgia State Running Backs
Head coach Dell McGee enters his second season at Georgia State after coming over from Georgia, where he served as the run game coordinator and running backs coach. He's been around some of the best backs to come out of college football in recent memory, and he made the best of a rough RB room in 2024. He'll have more tools to play with in 2025. It looks to be a three-person race. Rashad Amos transferred in from Ole Miss, where he played in merely four games. In 2023, though, Amos accumulated 1,075 rushing yards and 13 scores for Miami (OH). Branson Robinson transferred from Georgia, where he rushed 87 times for 371 yards and six touchdowns over two seasons. Akron transfer Jordon Simmons rounds out the trio, as he enters his fifth collegiate season after coming over from Akron. Simmons rushed for 664 yards and caught 21 passes for 183 yards in 2024. There's no shortage of talent in Georgia State's running back room, and if somebodies can separate themselves, it could be a fantasy gold mine.
Louisiana-Lafayette Wide Receivers
There's been plenty of turnover in the Ragin' Cajuns' passing game, but they've supplemented the roster with some high-end talent. There are a couple of contenders for the WR1 spot, including one of the aforementioned top-end guys. Shelton Sampson comes over from LSU for his third collegiate season. He played in just five games with the Tigers and didn't reel in any of his eight targets. A spring report had him running with the ones. Robert Williams is also in contention, having caught 26 of 41 targets last season for 290 yards and a score with the Ragin' Cajuns. Those two figure to have the best chances of topping the wide receiver room, but don't discount Charles Robertson. Robertson was ineligible last season for academic reasons, but he caught 17 passes for 189 yards in 2023 as a redshirt freshman.
