There are few things more exciting for college football fans than watching superstars emerge in real-time. On Monday, ESPN projected the top 10 freshmen for the 2025 campaign, while including 15 other first-year players to watch.

College football had no shortage of freshmen standouts last season. Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith staked his claim as arguably the best player in the country, guiding the Buckeyes to a national championship.

Meanwhile, in the SEC, freshmen such as DJ Lagway, Dylan Stewart and Ryan Williams raised eyebrows. With a fresh class of talent entering the scene, let’s examine who ESPN believes will rise to the top of the college football world this fall.

Dakorien Moore was the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2025 recruiting cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings. Evidently, ESPN expects Moore to live up to his billing and follow in the footsteps of last year’s No. 1 freshman wideout: Jeremiah Smith.

Moore should immediately be athletic enough to compete with elite competition. He boasts a 10.4-second 100-meter dash and 24-foot long jump. With senior Oregon WR Evan Stewart expected to miss a significant portion of the season, Moore will have plenty of opportunities to shine.

It’s a bit surprising that ESPN didn’t have Bryce Underwood at No. 1 on its list. After all, Underwood is the No. 1 player in the 2025 recruiting cycle, and has reportedly impressed Michigan’s staff this summer.

Nonetheless, it’s not a sure thing that Underwood will start for the Wolverines this fall, which gives ESPN some pause. When Underwood does his get his chance to shine, most experts are willing to bet he’ll succeed. NFL scouts are already drooling over the 6-foot-4, 210-pound freshman.

Despite being the No. 4 running back in the Class of 2025, Gideon Davidson is the first running back on ESPN’s list. In fairness, Davidson is entering an excellent situation. Clemson is returning four of its five starting offensive linemen from last season, but lost RB1 Phil Mafah to the NFL.

Davidson could immediately fill the hole left by the standout RB. During his time at Liberty Christian, Davidson amassed 7,438 rushing yards and 118 rushing touchdowns on 701 carries. For those who aren’t mathematicians, that’s a ridiculous 10.53 yards per carry.

Ohio State sure knows how to pick ’em. ESPN believes cornerback Devin Sanchez will be the Buckeyes’ next great freshman. Sanchez gets plenty of excellent practice, defending players like Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate at practice.

In turn, when Sanchez faces outside competition, it should feel significantly easier than what’s he grown accustomed to. At 6-foot-2, with a 10.69-second 100-meter dash, Sanchez has the physical attributes necessary to go up for jump balls against the best wide receivers in the country.

Bryce Underwood isn’t the only Big Ten freshman quarterback expected to make waves this fall. Malik Washington was the No. 11 QB in the 2025 recruiting cycle and is expected to be starting behind center before the season is over.

In his senior season at Archbishop Spalding, Washington erupted for 1,970 passing yards and 22 passing touchdowns while adding eight more in the ground game. He led the school to a 25-0 record in conference play as a starter.

While David Sanders Jr. won’t be launching 60-yard touchdown passes or hurdling defenders, he could be the most important freshman in the nation to his team. Tennessee lost Nico Iamaleava to the transfer portal this offseason, and will have a QB inexperienced with its systems running the offense in 2025.

It’ll be up to Tennessee’s front five to protect the Volunteers’ QB until he’s able to find his groove. Sanders is seemingly determined to provide that protection. The North Carolina native has reportedly added 30 pounds of muscle this offseason, with hopes of winning starting spot on the line.

DJ Pickett has more experience ahead of him on the roster than most of the players on this list. Alas, it won’t be easy for Tigers head coach Brian Kelly to keep the 6-foot-5, lightning-fast defender on the sidelines.

Pickett was the No. 2 cornerback in his recruiting class. He collected 94 total tackles and 10 interceptions during his prep career. His uncle is former NFL defensive tackle Ryan Pickett, who won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers.

Demetres Samuel is looking to join the trend of two-way stars in college football after Colorado‘s Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy last season. While Samuel isn’t particularly large, neither was Hunter, and he ended up being the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Samuel can run a 10.5-second 100-meter dash and has elite hands. He’ll most likely start for Syracuse’s defense, but don’t be surprised if he becomes one of the team’s best pass-catchers before the season concludes.

Julian Lewis is engaged in a heated quarterback battle with veteran transfer Kaidon Salter. Although Lewis lacks Salter’s experience, Colorado’s coaching staff is considering him a legitimate successor to Shedeur Sanders.

Lewis is consistent, with a ball that shoots out of his hand quickly and on target. Lewis was a three-year starter in high school, logging 11,010 passing yards and 144 touchdowns, the fifth-most in Georgia high school football history.

There’s been nothing but great things coming out of Texas’ camp about Graceson Littleton. With only six returning starts on Texas’ defense this season, there is an opening for Littleton to immediately contribute.

In his senior campaign at Wiregrass Ranch, Littleton notched 30 tackles, two interceptions, eight pass break-ups, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. For his efforts, he was named a Sunshine Athletic Conference East First-Team selection.

Watch list freshmen

***In alphabetical order.***
DT Amare Adams, Clemson
OL Andrew Babalola, Michigan
WR Jayvan Boggs, Florida State
WR Lotzeir Brooks, Alabama
WR Elijah Burress, Notre Dame
TE Linkon Cure, Kansas State
WR Quentin Gibson, Colorado
DT Elijah Griffin, Georgia
OL Brayden Jacobs, Clemson
CB Dijon Lee, Alabama
WR Donovan Olugbode, Missouri
QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, California
WR Travis Smith Jr., Tennessee
DE Jahkeem Stewart, USC
WR Dallas Wilson, Florida

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You can put David Pollack in the Oklahoma Sooners fan club. Pollack is high on what OU could accomplish this season, claiming to be “all-in” on them. He cites the work head coach Brent Venables and others in Norman did this offseason via the NCAA transfer portal.

“I’m all in on Oklahoma,” Pollack said. “I like the additions, I like (Ben) Arbuckle, I like you going into the portal. Look, Oklahoma is not Texas. Oklahoma does not have the resources that other schools have but I think they did a good job identifying a few things they had to have.”

More than anything, Oklahoma needed a quarterback after having little to no stability at the position in 2024. Jackson Arnold entered the year with high expectations but was benched in favor of Michael Hawkins early on. Eventually, Arnold took back over and closed out the season. However, he entered the portal himself, now playing for the Auburn Tigers.

Needing to find someone, John Mateer was their guy from the get-go. Oklahoma had plenty going in its favor, including the hiring of Mateer’s offensive coordinator at Washington State, Arbuckle. Having the Little Elm (TX) product get a little closer to home certainly helped as well.

Now, Pollack believes the Sooners are going to have a completely different-looking offense moving forward. Even if some high expectations from Mateer are met, as long as results are not a complete disaster, Oklahoma should be better in Pollack’s eyes.

“Can I say this and feel very confident?” Pollack said. “Oklahoma’s offense will be the biggest turnaround in all of college football… If they’re average, they are so much better than they were a year ago, it’s ridiculous. Like, if they’re average.”

While average would certainly be an improvement, there is still a desire for something more in Norman. College football analyst Josh Pate recently ranked Mateer as the No. 2 quarterback in all of college football, only sitting behind Florida‘s DJ Lagway.

Another improvement made through the portal was snagging running back Jadyn Ott. Georgia was hot on his trail too but Ott chose to play for the Sooners moving forward.

Oklahoma will get an early test for its offense Week 2 against Michigan. From there, a grueling SEC schedule will come their way. Sept. 20 is when it all kicks off, pitting Mateer up against the guy he is replacing, Arnold, and Auburn.