| YEAR | WINNER | TEAM | POSITION |
| 1935 | Jay Berwanger | Chicago | HB |
| 1936 | Larry Kelley | Yale | TE |
| 1937 | Clint Frank | Yale | HB |
| 1938 | Davey O'Brien | TCU | QB |
| 1939 | Nile Kinnick | Iowa | HB/QB |
| 1940 | Tom Harmon | Michigan | HB |
| 1941 | Bruce Smith | Minnesota | HB |
| 1942 | Frank Sinkwich | Georgia | HB |
| 1943 | Angelo Bertelli | Notre Dame | QB |
| 1944 | Les Horvath | Ohio State | HB/QB |
| 1945 | Doc Blanchard | Army | FB |
| 1946 | Glenn Davis | Army | HB |
| 1947 | Johnny Lujack | Notre Dame | QB |
| 1948 | Doak Walker† | SMU | HB |
| 1949 | Leon Hart | Notre Dame | TE |
| 1950 | Vic Janowicz | Ohio State | HB/P |
| 1951 | Dick Kazmaier | Princeton | HB |
| 1952 | Billy Vessels | Oklahoma | HB |
| 1953 | Johnny Lattner | Notre Dame | HB |
| 1954 | Alan Ameche | Wisconsin | FB |
| 1955 | Howard Cassady | Ohio State | HB |
| 1956 | Paul Hornung‡ | Notre Dame | QB |
| 1957 | John David Crow | Texas A&M | HB |
| 1958 | Pete Dawkins | Army | HB |
| 1959 | Billy Cannon | LSU | HB |
| 1960 | Joe Bellino | Navy | HB |
| 1961 | Ernie Davis | Syracuse | HB/LB/FB |
| 1962 | Terry Baker | Oregon State | QB |
| 1963 | Roger Staubach† | Navy | QB |
| 1964 | John Huarte | Notre Dame | QB |
| 1965 | Mike Garrett | USC | HB |
| 1966 | Steve Spurrier | Florida | QB |
| 1967 | Gary Beban | UCLA | QB |
| 1968 | O. J. Simpson‡ | USC | HB |
| 1969 | Steve Owens | Oklahoma | FB |
| 1970 | Jim Plunkett | Stanford | QB |
| 1971 | Pat Sullivan | Auburn | QB |
| 1972 | Johnny Rodgers | Nebraska | WR/RB |
| 1973 | John Cappelletti | Penn State | RB |
| 1974 | Archie Griffin | Ohio State | RB |
| 1975 | Archie Griffin | Ohio State | RB |
| 1976 | Tony Dorsett† | Pittsburgh | RB |
| 1977 | Earl Campbell‡ | Texas | RB |
| 1978 | Billy Sims | Oklahoma | RB |
| 1979 | Charles White | USC | RB |
| 1980 | George Rogers | South Carolina | RB |
| 1981 | Marcus Allen† | USC | RB |
| 1982 | Herschel Walker | Georgia | RB |
| 1983 | Mike Rozier | Nebraska | RB |
| 1984 | Doug Flutie | Boston College | QB |
| 1985 | Bo Jackson | Auburn | RB |
| 1986 | Vinny Testaverde | Miami | QB |
| 1987 | Tim Brown† | Notre Dame | WR |
| 1988 | Barry Sanders† | Oklahoma State | RB |
| 1989 | Andre Ware | Houston | QB |
| 1990 | Ty Detmer | BYU | QB |
| 1991 | Desmond Howard | Michigan | WR/PR |
| 1992 | Gino Torretta | Miami | QB |
| 1993 | Charlie Ward | Florida State | QB |
| 1994 | Rashaan Salaam | Colorado | RB |
| 1995 | Eddie George | Ohio State | RB |
| 1996 | Danny Wuerffel | Florida | QB |
| 1997 | Charles Woodson | Michigan | CB/PR |
| 1998 | Ricky Williams | Texas | RB |
| 1999 | Ron Dayne | Wisconsin | RB |
| 2000 | Chris Weinke | Florida State | QB |
| 2001 | Eric Crouch | Nebraska | QB |
| 2002 | Carson Palmer | USC | QB |
| 2003 | Jason White | Oklahoma | QB |
| 2004 | Matt Leinart | USC | QB |
| 2005 | Reggie Bush† | USC | RB |
| 2006 | Troy Smith | Ohio State | QB |
| 2007 | Tim Tebow | Florida | QB |
| 2008 | Sam Bradford | Oklahoma | QB |
| 2009 | Mark Ingram Jr. | Alabama | RB |
| 2010 | Cam Newton | Auburn | QB |
| 2011 | Robert Griffin III | Baylor | QB |
| 2012 | Johnny Manziel | Texas A&M | QB |
| 2013 | Jameis Winston | Florida State | QB |
| 2014 | Marcus Mariota | Oregon | QB |
| 2015 | Derrick Henry | Alabama | RB |
| 2016 | Lamar Jackson | Louisville | QB |
| 2017 | Baker Mayfield | Oklahoma | QB |
| 2018 | Kyler Murray | Oklahoma | QB |
| 2019 | Joe Burrow | LSU | QB |
| 2020 | DeVonta Smith | Alabama | WR |
| 2021 | Bryce Young | Alabama | QB |
