College Football's Rising Stars: Top Freshman Prospects to Watch
Each fall, a wave of true freshmen takes the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision by storm, demonstrating the ability to quickly adapt from high school to the college game. These emerging talents, soon to become household names, are distributed across offense, defense, and special teams.
Offensive Standouts
Quarterback
Bryce Underwood (Michigan): All eyes are on Bryce Underwood as he steps into the role of QB1 for his home state program, the Michigan Wolverines. Rated as the No. 1 overall recruit for 2025, Underwood was a standout at Belleville High, accumulating 5,726 passing yards and 72 touchdowns (with only eight interceptions) in 25 career starts. He also added 745 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground. College football betting oddsmakers have taken notice, listing Underwood at +4000 to win the Heisman Trophy in 2025 and +3000 for the Davey O'Brien Award. It looks like Underwood's path to stardom at UM is there for the taking.
Running Backs
Gideon Davidson (Clemson): Davidson is coming off a high school career where he racked up 5,057 yards and 86 total touchdowns (80 rushing) in two seasons of varsity play.
Harlem Berry (LSU): Berry was the top-ranked running back in this year's class out of St. Martin's Episcopal School in Metairie, Louisiana, per 247 Sports.
Looking ahead to 2026, Alabama will look to running back Ezavier Crowell to boost its rushing attack. The 5-foot-11, 205-pounder reclassified from the class of 2027 after rushing for 6,333 yards, 91 touchdowns over the course of three seasons at Jackson High School in Jackson, Alabama. 247Sports rated Crowell as a five-star prospect and ranked him as the No. 1 prospect in the class of 2026. Crowell has long been viewed as a potential Day 1 contributor at the next level; "We're thinking of him being a guy who can help us," Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said of him in December.
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Wide Receivers
Dakorien Moore (Oregon): Moore finished his two seasons at Duncanville High School in Texas with 2,763 receiving yards and 34 touchdowns, earning him the title of top-ranked WR in the class of 2025, according to 247 Sports. Aside from Underwood, the only offensive player with notable odds for awards consideration with college football betting sites is Moore, who is +30000 for the Heisman on DraftKings Sportsbook and +6000 for the Biletnikoff Award (nation's top wide receiver) with Bet365.
Jayvan Boggs (Florida State): Boggs, a three-star recruit from Cocoa (Florida), recorded 234 catches for 4,363 yards and 50 TD catches in high school.
Dallas Wilson (Florida): A four-star recruit out of Tampa Bay Tech, Wilson was the eighth-ranked WR in the class of 2025. He concluded his three-year varsity career with 2,423 yards and 28 touchdowns on 130 receptions. He will have to shake off a leg injury from preseason camp to help improve the Gators' online sportsbooks odds.
Tight End
Linkon Cure (Kansas State): Cure, hailing from Goodland (Kansas) High, made 32 catches for 754 yards and 10 TDs across two varsity seasons. He is considered the top-ranked prep tight end in the nation.
Offensive Line
David Sanders (Tennessee) and Michael Fasusi (Oklahoma): Tackles
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Michael Carroll (Alabama) and John Mills (Washington): Guards
Spike Sowells (North Carolina State): Center
Defensive Stars
Defensive Line
Marco Jones (Texas A&M): Jones, a four-star recruit from San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, California, was ranked the 19th-best edge rusher in the class of 2025. He totaled 440 tackles, 14.0 sacks, seven forced fumbles, and six interceptions in 41 games.
Jahkeem Stewart (USC): Stewart, a four-star recruit from New Orleans Edna Karr, was ranked the 13th-best rusher.
Elijah Griffin (Georgia): Griffin, a five-star recruit from Savannah (Georgia) Christian Prep, earned a rare 100 grade from 247 Sports. He finished his four-year varsity career with 301 tackles, 96.0 tackles for loss, 44.0 sacks, and an interception in 46 games.
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Amare Adams (Clemson): Adams, a five-star recruit from South Florence (South Carolina), secured a 98 grade as the second-ranked DL. He amassed 86 tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks, and two pass deflections across 18 games.
Linebackers
Sidney Stewart (Maryland): Stewart enters College Park as a three-star recruit out of Concordia Prep in Towson, Maryland.
Riley Pettijohn (Ohio State): Pettijohn is a four-star recruit from McKinney (Texas) High.
Charles Ross II (LSU): Ross is a four-star prospect out of Houston North Shore.
Defensive Backs
Devin Sanchez (Ohio State): Sanchez enters the NCAA ranks as a five-star prospect and a Texas product. Sanchez was the top-ranked CB in the class coming out of Houston North Shore High.
Demetres Samuel Jr. (Syracuse): Samuel was a four-star prospect; the former ranked as the third-best safety in the class and Samuel was the 32nd-ranked safety nationally before committing to Fran Brown and the Orangemen.
Tae Harris (Georgia Tech): Harris was a four-star prospect; the former ranked as the third-best safety in the class.
Jonah Williams (Texas): Williams enters the NCAA ranks as a five-star prospect and a Texas product. Williams was the top-ranked safety out of Galveston Ball High School.
Among our defensive players, Williams and the Longhorns have the best college football betting odds in 2025, with Caesars Sportsbook giving Texas the top College Football Playoff championship odds at +475. Sanchez and the Buckeyes are second nationally, at +500.
Special Teams Specialists
Scott Starzyk (Arkansas): Kicker. Starzyk of Arkansas is the 10th ranked kicker in this year's class.
Archie Wilson (Nebraska): Punter. Archie Wilson of Nebraska is the most well-traveled true freshman this year, hailing from Melbourne, Australia, where the 6-foot-1 punter learned the tricks of the trade. He can boot the ball with both feet.
Josiah Abdullah (Virginia): Returner. Virginia's Josiah Abdullah gets the nod at returner on our list. He chose UVA out of Woodward Academy in Georgia, where he was a three-star recruit ranked No. 111 among WR prospects. He had 2,312 receiving yards and 30 TDs in 50 high school games, racking up 1,378 kick return and 141 punt return yards to cement his status as the top true freshman returner to watch in 2025.
Head Coach
Bill Belichick (North Carolina): Belichick starts his first NCAA head coaching season this fall at North Carolina. Belichick last coached in 2023, capping his 467-game NFL run with a 4-13 clanger with the New England Patriots.
The Evolving Landscape of College Football
The introduction of the NCAA transfer portal to college football has inadvertently created challenges for freshmen looking for quick paths to the field. The passage of NIL in the summer of 2021 legalized the payment of college football players, and the NCAA transfer portal has become a vessel for players to find more lucrative NIL compensation. Add in the fact that recent national championship contenders are the teams that heavily utilize the portal, and the odds of major programs leaning on coveted freshmen grow lower.
However, many Power Four programs will still turn to incoming freshmen in areas of need during the 2026 season.
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