Seniors: Seventh-year players in college football

After the UNLV situation this week, in which Matthew Sluka left a NIL dispute and UNLV named Hajj-Malik Williams the starter, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney looks at Williams and more college football players in their seventh season.

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BRYAN ADDISON -UCLA

Addison ranked one level below five-star status in the class of 2018 out of Gardena (Calif.) Serra and originally chose UCLA, but was released the summer after signing day due to a standardized test score issue.

The high-ranking four-star athlete landed at Oregon, where he started playing receiver but switched to defense a few years later. Addison spent six seasons with the Ducks before transferring to UCLA for this final season. He is third on the Bruins with 14 tackles and a fumble recovered so far.

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TYNEIL HOPPER – Michigan State

An early Auburn lean before the Tigers decided to go in a different direction, Hopper looked at Tulane, Western Kentucky and others before the four-star tight end from Roswell, Georgia, signed with Boise State. Hopper played five seasons for the Broncos before transferring to Michigan State.

But Hopper suffered a season-ending injury in the Spartans’ third game against Washington and was given a seventh year by the NCAA. He has no catches yet this season.

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JORDAN MCCLOUD – Texas State

McCloud, a three-star quarterback in the class of 2018 out of Tampa (Fla.) Sickles, played four seasons at South Florida, where his redshirt freshman year was his best, throwing for 12 touchdowns. He stayed with the Bulls for a few more years before transferring to Arizona and then James Madison, and now he’s wrapping up his college career at Texas State.

Marking his 25th birthday on November 4, McCloud has thrown for 815 yards with nine TDs and three INTs so far this season.

DAVID REESE-Cal

Miami and Michigan were the other top contenders in Reese’s recruitment, but the four-star mid-major from Vero Beach, Florida, chose Florida the summer before his senior season. Ranked as the fourth-best inside linebacker in the class of 2018, Reese played five seasons for the Gators before transferring to Cal for his final two years.

He has two tackles in three games for the Golden Bears this season.

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RAYMOND SCOTT – James Madison

Scott played in 41 games over four seasons at USC and two at Fresno State before transferring to James Madison for a senior year. Scott was a four-star linebacker from Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne in the class of 2018.

In three games this season, Scott has a total of ten tackles to his name. He was a member of Rivals250 and the seventh best ILB in his class.

REGGIE SUTTON-Rutgers

Sutton is the unique example of signing with one program and staying there for his entire college career, as he is now in his seventh season at Rutgers. In 2018, the three-star offensive guard from Towson (Md.) Calvert Hall was redshirted after four games. He played six in 2019, the 2020 COVID year didn’t count toward eligibility, he was injured after three games in 2021, missed all of 2022 with an injury, then played nine games in 2023 before becoming a major contributor delivered to the Scarlet Knights in his final season.

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HAJJ-MALIK WILLIAMS-UNLV

Williams, an unranked dual-threat quarterback from Atlanta (Ga.) Hapeville Charter, signed with Army but then attended U.S. Military Academy Prep before leaving and spending five seasons at Campbell.

Williams then transferred to UNLV for the season, where he was expected to be the backup to Matthew Sluka, who left this week due to an NIL situation, and now Williams is expected to start this weekend against Fresno State. He hasn’t thrown a pass yet this season.