​The Coloradoan is proud to present another aspect of our weekly Athlete of the Week series, partnering with Blue Federal Credit Union to honor the best Fort Collins-area tackle football players throughout the fall 2026 season.The weekly Fort Collins-area Football Player of the Week poll has five nominees, and fans can vote every Tuesday through Thursday at coloradoan.com/sports.You can find the nominees and ballot below. Voting is open this week until 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 8, with the winner announced Oct. 9.Return to this page to see the official winner and a video of this week’s Fort Collins-area Football Player of the Week. You can see last week’s winner in the video currently atop this page.Fans can nominate their favorite players (deadline: 11:59 p.m. every Sunday) and the Coloradoan sports staff will ultimately select the nominees each week.If you have nominations for a future football Player of the Week, please send them via email to ChrisAbshire@coloradoan.com for consideration.Meet Blue FCU Football Player of the Week nominees for Week 6 (Oct. 2-3):Kaden Bennett, Wellington LB: The Eagles’ defense looked scary in a dominant 35-7 road win at top-5 Eaton. Bennett was a game-changer in this one, recording a team-high 12 tackles (seven solo) with a sack and an interception for a career night.Holden Devereux, Fort Collins DL: The Lambkins moved to 6-0 and crushed another opponent in a 45-0 win at Arvada West. That shutout was spurred by their senior lineman, as Devereux compiled a team-best five tackles (all solo) with two sacks and two QB hurries.Charlie Hanna, Timnath DL: The Cubs had to work hard in a 42-14 at Silver Creek that was closer than the final score suggested. Timnath’s defense stepped up on the road, led by Hanna’s big game. The junior lineman had six tackles (four for loss), 3.5 sacks and four QB hurries in a defensive showcase.Makai Major, Timnath RB: We try to avoid repeat regular-season winners but the Cubs senior deserves another nomination here. Major led that road win at Silver Creek on the offensive side, posting 263 rushing yards and four touchdowns — both Timnath school records.Gavin Zanotelli, Fossil Ridge WR: The SaberCat junior was the best player on the field in Fossil’s 31-21 rivarly win over Rocky Mountain last week. Zanotelli hauled in nine passes for over 200 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair of scoring grabs from over 40 yards out.Vote here: