2025 College Football Preseason All-True Freshman Team: Top First-Year Players to Watch

Each fall, several true freshmen from across the country take the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision by storm, showing that the learning curve from high school to college ball can be conquered. So RotoWire.com – where you'll find the best college football betting promos & bonus codes – came up with this year's All-True Freshman Team in the top tier of college football.

These soon-to-be household names are dotted across offense, defense and special teams, and we made a familiar addition as head coach – surely the oldest member of any "All-Freshman" team ever.

Offense

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When it comes to true freshman starters in college football this year, few face the burden of expectation that 2025 No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood does in Ann Arbor. The native of Belleville, Michigan, prepares to be QB1 for his home state program, the Michigan Wolverines.

Underwood was a one-man wrecking crew at Belleville High, throwing for 5,726 yards and 72 touchdowns (to eight interceptions) in 25 career starts while adding 745 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground during his three-year varsity career.

It looks like Underwood's path to stardom at UM is there for the taking. College football betting oddsmakers at Bet365 list the Michigan freshman at +4000 to win the Heisman Trophy in 2025, ranking in a tie for 19th nationally, while his Davey O'Brien Award odds are listed at +3000 to start the year, ranking 14th overall.

Lining up alongside Underwood in our hypothetical all-true freshmen lineup are running backs Gideon Davidson of Clemson and Harlem Berry of LSU. Davidson is coming off of a high school career where he racked up 5,057 yards and 86 total touchdowns (80 rushing) in two seasons of varsity play. 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.

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This year's true freshman wideouts to keep an eye on include Dakorien Moore of Oregon, Jayvan Boggs of Florida State and Florida's Dallas Wilson. Moore finished his two seasons at Duncanville High School in Texas with 2,763 yards and 34 touchdowns receiving, making him the top-ranked WR in the class of 2025, per 247 Sports. Boggs was a three-star recruit out of Cocoa (Florida), where he had 234 catches for 4,363 yards and 50 TD catches. Wilson was a four-star recruit out of Tampa Bay Tech, where he was the eighth-ranked WR in the class of 2025; he finished 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.

The lone tight end on our All-True Freshman Team in 2025 is Linkon Cure of the Kansas State Wildcats, out of Goodland (Kansas) High. He had 32 catches for 754 yards and 10 TDs across two varsity seasons, establishing himself as the top-ranked prep tight end in America.

Down in the trenches, our two tackles (David Sanders of Tennessee and Oklahoma's Michael Fasusi) are joined by two guards (Michael Carroll of Alabama and Washington's John Mills) and a center Spike Sowells of North Carolina State.

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.

Defense

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On defense, a few names to keep an eye on in the trenches this season include ends Marco Jones of Texas A&M and USC's Jahkeem Stewart, along with defensive tackles Elijah Griffin of Georgia and Clemson's Amare Adams.

Jones was a four-star recruit out of San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, California, where he was ranked the 19th-best edge rusher in the class of 2025 with 440 tackles, 14.0 sacks, seven forced fumbles and six interceptions in 41 games. Stewart was a four-star recruit out of New Orleans Edna Karr, where he was ranked the 13th-best rusher.

Griffin was a five-star recruit out of Savannah (Georgia) Christian Prep, where he secured a rare 100 grade from 247 Sports after finishing his four-year varsity career with 301 tackles, 96.0 tackles for loss, 44.0 sacks and an interception in 46 games. Adams was a fellow five-star recruit out of South Florence (South Carolina), where he secured a 98 grade as the second-ranked DL after piling up 86 tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks and two pass deflections across 18 games.

The three linebackers we picked were Sidney Stewart of Maryland, Ohio State's Riley Pettijohn and Charles Ross II of LSU. Stewart enters College Park as a three-star recruit out of Concordia Prep in Towson, Maryland while Ross is a four-star prospect out of Houston North Shore and Pettijohn is also a four-star recruit from McKinney (Texas) High.

The defensive backfield of our All-True Freshman Team in 2025 includes cornerbacks Devin Sanchez of Ohio State and Syracuse's Demetres Samuel Jr., while safeties Tae Harris of Georgia Tech and Jonah Williams of Texas round out the quartet.

Sanchez and Williams enter the NCAA ranks as five-star prospects and they're two more Texas products. Sanchez was the top-ranked CB in the class coming out of Houston North Shore High. Williams was the top-ranked safety out of Galveston Ball High School. Harris and Samuel were four-star prospects; 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.

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

Special teams play is often overlooked in football, but those specializing in kicking, punting and returning are worth recognition too.

Scott Starzyk of Arkansas is the 10th ranked kicker in this year's class. 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.

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.

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Head Coach

It's rare that a 73-year-old coach with six Lombardi Trophies is called a first-timer. But that's exactly what we're doing here for Bill Belichick, who 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. He'll look to turn the page when he makes his Tar Heels debut on Monday night against Virginia Tech.

UNC is a CFP betting longshot in 2025, with +1000 odds of making the 12-team field at bet365 Sportsbook (to -2200 odds they miss out), but we're intrigued by Year 1 of the Belichick era in Chapel Hill.