• Bryce Underwood has some of the most hype ever seen for a true freshman: Michigan’s new quarterback has an immense amount of pressure on his shoulders to return the Wolverines to the top of the sport.
• Is Dakorien Moore Oregon’s No. 1 wide receiver?: Because of an injury to Evan Stewart, the 18-year old projects as the Ducks’ top weapon from Week 1.
• The best deal of the year: Use the discount code earlybird to save up to 33% on your PFF+ subscription.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

The 2024 college football season was the year of the true freshman. The sport saw an unprecedented number of first-year players dominate the sport. So much so that the two cover athletes of EA College Football 26 are rising sophomores in wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams. Three second-year players are the No. 1 players at their respective positions in PFF’s offseason rankings. That’s only happened five other times in the history of our rankings. 

Players who entered their true sophomore seasons as the No. 1 player at their position

Will that trend continue in 2025? Here are the 10 true freshmen who are best positioned to make an immediate impact.

1. QB Bryce Underwood, Michigan

Rivals Industry Ranking: No. 1 overall, No. 1 QB (Five star)

Underwood made waves in November when he flipped his commitment from LSU to Michigan, thanks in part to a reported “Godfather” NIL offer from the Wolverines. 

And it makes sense why Sherrone Moore was so desperate to keep him in state. Since the Rivals’ Industry rating began in 2004, no quarterback recruit has had a higher rating than Underwood (99.87). And Michigan had the fourth-worst team passing grade in 2024 (54.3), starting three different signal-callers last season. 

Underwood has elite physical tools, from his arm talent to mobility, and was the first ever true freshman to be featured on the cover of the EA College Football video game. He had a 50-4 career record in high school with two state championships and broke the Michigan high school record for career passing yards and touchdowns. He’s expected to be the savior of the Wolverines’ program and should start Week 1 under center. Underwood enters Ann Arbor with some of the most hype ever seen for an incoming true freshman. 

2. WR Dakorien Moore, Oregon

Rivals Industry Ranking: No. 5 overall, No. 1 WR (Five star)

This past season was the year of the true freshmen, especially at wide receiver, as Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams both dominated immediately. The easy top candidate to continue that trend at the position is Moore.

With Evan Stewart potentially missing all of 2025 due to a knee injury suffered in June, Moore projects as the top wideout for the Ducks. He has elite speed, running a 10.4-second 100-meter dash in high school, which translates over nicely to the gridiron. Moore also has outstanding agility, which makes him an excellent separator and dynamic after the catch. Despite only measuring in at 5-foot-11, 186 pounds, he plays far bigger than that size and has a large catch radius thanks to his strong hands and leaping ability. He played at one of the highest classifications of high school football in Texas and had monster numbers throughout his career at Duncanville with 4,113 receiving yards and 40 touchdowns in four years. 

3. OT David Sanders Jr., Tennessee

Rivals Industry Ranking: No. 9 overall, No. 2 OT (Five star)

Tennessee’s offensive line only posted a 61.5 grade as a unit in 2024, 105th in the FBS. The Volunteers also lost four starters up front, opening the door for Sanders to start immediately as a true freshman. He’s the current favorite to start Week 1 at right tackle for Tennessee and is an elite athlete for the position who’s a freight train in space. Sanders also didn’t allow a sack in his senior year.  He will need to continue adding strength to his frame but is already up to 305 pounds after playing at around 275 pounds in high school. 

4. WR Dallas Wilson, Florida

Rivals Industry Ranking: No. 41 overall, No. 8 WR (Four star)

After an incredible spring game performance, Wilson projects as one of Florida’s starting wideouts in 2024 along with Eugene Wilson III and J. Michael Sturdivant. In that scrimmage, Wilson caught 10 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He’s a twitchy player at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds who’s much better after the catch than most receivers his size. Wilson is also a very physical player who takes a lot of pride in his run blocking, which will help him see the field, too. Also, keep an eye on Vernell Brown III in that receiving corps, who was rated even higher than Wilson was as a five-star recruit.

5. RB Gideon Davidson, Clemson

Rivals Industry Ranking: No. 90 overall, No. 4 RB (Four star)

With Clemson’s leading rusher from 2024, Phil Mafah, now with the Dallas Cowboys, running back is one of the only question marks for the Tigers this season. Therefore, Davidson has a great chance of starting in that role as a true freshman. He’s produced monster numbers across the last two years in Virginia, rushing for 5,057 yards and 80 touchdowns as a junior and senior, averaging 10.6 yards per carry. Davidson’s game seems ready-made for the college level as he wins with outstanding vision and patience. Even if he doesn’t start immediately, expect a healthy dosage of carries for Davidson in what’s a wide-open competition in that backfield. 

Rivals Industry Ranking: No. 105 overall, No. 11 QB (Four star)

Even though Washington wasn’t a top-100 overall recruit or a top-10 quarterback in the 2025 class, he’s still absolutely a freshman to know heading into the 2025 season. That’s because he has a great chance of starting for Maryland in Week 1. Washington is the highest-rated recruit that the Terrapins have landed in four years and is battling UCLA transfer Justyn Martin and redshirt freshman Khristian Martin for the job. The former made one start in his career with the Bruins, while the latter has never played a snap. 

Washington has a college-ready build at 6-foot-5, 231 pounds and impressed during the spring game, completing 12 of his 18 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. He’s poised under pressure and can make a play with his legs if need be. 

7. CB Devin Sanchez, Ohio State

Rivals Industry Ranking: No. 6 overall, No. 1 CB (Five star)

Ohio State lost its top corner from last season in Denzel Burke, and while it’s unlikely that Sanchez starts as a true freshman over Davison Igbinosun or Jermaine Matthews Jr., he should be in line to see significant playing time. 

Sanchez has often drawn comparisons to All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez due to his outstanding combination of size (6-foot-2), speed (10.69-second 100-meter dash) and technical ability at such a young age. He’s already drawn rave reviews in both spring ball and fall practice and could seize one of the starting corner spots by season’s end.

8. CB DJ Pickett, LSU

Rivals Industry Ranking: No. 11 overall, No. 2 CB (Five star)

Sanchez isn’t the only cornerback who could make an immediate impact. One of LSU‘s starting outside cornerback spots will be manned by Virginia Tech-transfer Mansoor Delane, but the other is very much up for grabs. While the Tigers do return a starter in Ashton Stamps, he had a sub-70.0 PFF grade in 2024 and LSU needs some star power on what’s been a lackluster defense for the last couple of seasons.

That could come in the form of Pickett, who has ridiculous tools. He has absurd length for the cornerback position at 6-foot-5, 195 pounds while running a 10.7-second 100-meter dash. He’s also a fluid mover as well with great ball skills (10 interceptions in his high school career). Pickett could follow in the footsteps of Derek Stingley Jr. and Eli Ricks as cornerbacks who made massive impacts as true freshmen at LSU.

9. EDGE Jahkeem Stewart, USC

Rivals Industry Ranking: No. 33 overall, No. 5 DI (Four star)

Stewart was once the top overall recruit in the 2026 class, but reclassified up to 2025 back in October. Because he was ineligible for all of his junior season, he finished his high school career with just 12 games of varsity football experience. 

Even though he lacks experience and should be a senior in high school, Stewart is expected to make a big impact on USC’s defensive line this fall. During his one season of varsity football, he had 20 sacks and 33 tackles for loss. He can play either on the edge or on the interior at 6-foot-6, 270 pounds and has better technique than expected for someone with a lack of in-game reps. The Trojans’ defense was just 90th in run-defense grade and 89th in pass-rush grade last season, and it only brought back two of the five defensive linemen who played 300 snaps, meaning there’s an opportunity for Stewart to see the field immediately.

10. QB Julian Lewis, Colorado

Rivals Industry Ranking: No. 56 overall, No. 7 QB (Four star)

Lewis is currently in a battle with Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter to replace Shedeur Sanders at Colorado. While Salter has 29 collegiate starts to his name and an excellent 89.8 PFF grade since 2023, head coach Deion Sanders still brought both quarterbacks to Big 12 Media Days, thus tipping his hand that Lewis is very much competing for the starting job. 

While he’s undersized (6-foot-1, 190 pounds) and doesn’t have elite tools, Lewis is one of the more accurate and polished quarterbacks from the 2025 class whose game more closely resembles Shedeur’s than Salter’s does. Lewis was the MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year in 2022, the National Sophomore of the Year in 2023, and was a first-team All-American during his third and final season in 2024. He was also named the Gatorade Georgia Player of the Year twice, joining Trevor Lawrence as the only players to win the award multiple times.