It has been just four years since the NIL era of college football began in 2021. Currently, Texas Longhorns QB Arch Manning leads in estimated annual earnings, bringing in an estimated $6.6 million. Close behind are names like DJ Lagway and LaNorris Sellers, among several other QBs dominating the scene with seven-figure earnings.
However, our generation has also witnessed some true college football legends who were arguably more influential than today’s Manning or Lagway. That leads to the intriguing question of whether those stars would have earned millions if NIL opportunities had existed during their college careers. Three analysts recently made bold predictions with some eye-popping figures to explore that idea.
Controversial Superstar Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel Among Top NIL Earners in Hypothetical Breakdown
The college football offseason is in full swing, so it’s officially “hypothetical” season. FOX Sports analysts Laken Litman, RJ Young, and Michael Cohen created a fun hypothetical exercise.
Each analyst was given a fictional $100 million to distribute among five former college football legends. The goal was to imagine what these players might have earned if NIL deals had existed during their playing days, based on their fame, performance, and cultural impact.
Which players from the last 25 years would have benefitted the most from NIL?
Our own @Michael_Cohen13, @LakenLitman and @RJYoung1414 weighed in pic.twitter.com/gm7hXBTUCf
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) June 26, 2025
Names like Johnny Manziel, Tim Tebow, and Michael Vick were at the top of the lists. Litman made Johnny Manziel her top pick and gave him a $35 million valuation.
Manziel became the first freshman in history to win the Heisman Trophy in 2012. That season, for Texas A&M, he threw for 3,706 yards and 26 touchdowns while rushing for 1,410 yards and 21 scores, totaling an SEC-record 4,600 yards of offense.
Tim Tebow was another unanimous selection. He was the face of Florida football during its dominant national title runs in the late 2000s. Young ranked him second with a projection for $22 million. This prediction is backed by his two BCS National Championships (2006 and 2008) and a Heisman Trophy win in 2007.
Michael Vick, the Virginia Tech phenom, was analyst Michael Cohen’s top quarterback pick with a projected NIL value of $30 million. His electrifying play and cultural impact made him a household name before NIL was even a concept.
In just two seasons at Virginia Tech (1999-2000), he threw for 3,074 yards and 20 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,202 yards and 16 more scores, leading the Hokies to a BCS National Championship appearance in 1999.
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Other big names also received hefty projected valuations. Reggie Bush and Lamar Jackson were both estimated at $25 million each. Jackson’s dynamic style at Louisville, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 2016, and Bush’s electrifying play at USC, including winning the Heisman in 2005 (later vacated), made them perfect fits for high NIL figures.
Bush recorded 3,169 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns, along with 1,301 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, in his USC career.
Kyler Murray, the 2018 Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma, was also projected to earn around $20 million. That season, he passed for 4,361 yards, rushed for 1,001 yards, and totaled 54 touchdowns (42 passing, 12 rushing). Darren McFadden and Cam Newton were also projected in the same $20 million range.
McFadden, a two-time Heisman finalist at Arkansas, rushed for 4,590 career yards and 41 touchdowns. Newton led Auburn to a national championship and won the Heisman in 2010, throwing for 2,854 yards and 30 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,473 yards and 20 touchdowns that season.
Meanwhile, Vince Young was projected to earn $15 million, based on his iconic performance in the 2006 Rose Bowl, where he led Texas to a national championship. In that game, Young famously accounted for 467 total yards (267 passing, 200 rushing) and three rushing touchdowns in a 41-38 victory over Bush and USC.
