3 Future College Football Stars Who Emerged During Spring Games

College Football has one more week of spring games this coming weekend, but these three young stars have already announced their presence. Some were making their public debut in front of their fanbases, while another is a redshirt who may have earned the starting spot.

Here are three surefire future stars who announced their arrivals over the past two weekends during intrasquad spring game action.

Ohio State WR Chris Henry Jr.

At their 2026 spring game, the Ohio State Buckeyes found out that Chris Henry Jr. is worth all the hype he received coming into Columbus as a 5-star recruit out of famed Mater Dei High School in Orange County, California.

Henry had four catches for 96 yards, with one of those receptions from redshirt freshman QB2 Tavien St. Clair being a 40-yard touchdown connection.

In Arthur Smith's offense's debut, it's clear that Henry and Jeremiah Smith could be worthy co-stars by winning individual matchups on the outside through sheer athleticism and receiving instincts.

If Henry doesn't explode in 2026 with Julian Sayin, it seems likely that he and St. Clair are destined to do big things together in 2027.

Alabama QB Keelon Russell

A-Day was an up-and-down outing for the Alabama Crimson Tide last weekend.

On one hand, an injury to NC State Wolfpack transfer receiver Noah Rogers will keep him out for the early portion of the 2026 season. There's no way to spin that into a positive, but the silver lining of the afternoon was quarterback Keelon Russell's emergence as the clear No. 1 option.

Russell was 21/33 passing for 240 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception across nine drives in the unofficial stat sheet. While the Crimson Tide will have questions on both sides of the ball, Kalen DeBoer may have at least found his first QB1 in Tuscaloosa, since Ty Simpson and Jalen Milroe were inherited from the Nick Saban era.