We’re at about the midseason mark of the 2026 FCS football season, and we’ve already seen some players emerge at elite levels. Here’s a position-by-position look at the best players in the FCS, right now.

Quarterback  — Beau Brungard, Youngstown State

There hasn’t been a back-to-back Walter Payton Award winner since Sam Houston’s Jeremiah Briscoe won the award in 2016 and 2017, but Youngstown State quarterback Beau Brungard could be the next to pull off the feat.

He’s been the best quarterback in the FCS, once again impacting games in the air and on the ground. Brungard has 1,821 passing yards and 17 passing touchdowns, ranking fifth and fourth in the FCS. He has the most rushing yards of any quarterback with 567 (17th-most in the FCS) and the fourth-most rushing touchdowns regardless of position with 10.

Running back — Eli Gillman, Montana

Eli Gillman is the top running back in the nation behind a nation-leading 17 total touchdowns and 13 rushing touchdowns. He has four receiving touchdowns, the most of any running back in the FCS, which separates him from other top backs like Lehigh’s Luke Yoder and Southern Utah’s Floyd Chalk.

Gillman has rushed for the second most yards in the FCS with 877 and has 206 receiving yards. In a top-10 matchup against UC Davis, he ran for 275 yards and four touchdowns. It arguably was the best single-game performance of the year.

Wide Receiver — Brooks Davis, Montana

Montana finds its second player on this list in wide receiver Brooks Davis. Davis beat out fellow Big Sky receivers like Weber State’s Noah Kjar and UC Davis’ Samuel Gbatu Jr. While Davis trails Kjar’s nation-leading nine receiving touchdowns, he leads the country in every other receiving category.

Brooks Davis ranks first nationally with 56 receptions and 810 receiving yards, while ranking fifth nationally with six receiving touchdowns. That’s enough to hold off his Big Sky counterparts and Yale’s Jaxton Santiago — who has seven touchdowns in just four games — for the top spot.

Tight end — Jeter Purdy, Northern Arizona

Jeter Purdy is the nation’s best tight end at the midseason mark after a pair of 100-plus yard games this season. He also has scored one touchdown in four different games this season, tying him for the second-most among FCS tight ends. He’s been crucial in Northern Arizona’s two most recent wins over ranked teams, combining for nine catches, 216 yards and two touchdowns.

Offensive line — Quinten Christensen, South Dakota State

Quinten Christensen entered the season as one of the top offensive linemen in the FCS and has lived up to the hype. He’s allowed zero sacks at left tackle for a team that ranks fifth in sacks allowed among teams that have played six games. Christensen also is a a big part in why the Jackrabbits lead the nation in rushing offense at almost 300 yards per game.

Defensive line — Khalid Bueno, Stony Brook

Stony Brook edge rusher Khalid Bueno leads the FCS in sacks (10.5) and tackles for loss (16.0). He has three more sacks than anyone in the FCS with just six games, where others have played seven. He leads in TFLs by 2.5. Bueno has also forced two fumbles this season, including one in his best game of the season against Towson where he finished with eight tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 3.0 sacks and three quarterback hurries.

What makes the stats more impressive is that it’s Bueno’s first year of action after redshirting last year.

Linebacker — Tre Yanez, Gardner-Webb

Gardner-Webb’s Tre Yanez has been all over the field for Runnin’ Bulldogs this season. He has five games with double-digit tackles, bringing his season total to 74 — the second-most in the FCS. 

What gives Yanez the edge for the top linebacker spot over another standout like Villanova’s Omari Bursey is that Yanez has been able to make plays in the backfield. Yanez has 12.5 tackles for loss and five sacks on the season.

Defensive back — Xaden Benson, Harvard

It’s always hard for any Ivy League players to make a midseason list since they start the season later than the rest of the FCS teams (see Yale’s Jaxton Santiago in the wide receiver section), but the play of Harvard’s Xaden Benson has been outstanding so far.

Benson leads the nation with six interceptions, doing so in just four games. He might’ve had the best game of any defender this year with three interceptions and a fumble recovery against Brown. His three interceptions are tied for the most in a single game in the FCS since Richmond’s David Jones had four picks in 2015. Benson’s six interceptions have already matched the national lead for interceptions set last year, and he’s only four games in.