Ranking the 25 best freshmen from the college football season - ESPN

Most of the 2025 college football season is in the books and first-year players were a big part of it.

BYU QB Bear Bachmeier led the Cougars to the Big 12 championship game. North Texas running back Caleb Hawkins led college football in rushing touchdowns. True freshmen such as Miami receiver Malachi Toney and Oregon DB Brandon Finney Jr. are playing big roles in the College Football Playoff.

But who is the best? We've ranked the top 25 freshmen for the 2025 season.

Toney is young enough to still be a high school senior. Instead, after reclassifying into Miami's freshman class, he has become one of the defining stars of Miami's resurgence, including hauling in the Hurricanes' game-winning touchdown against Texas A&M in the first round of the College Football Playoff. At 5-foot-11 and 188 pounds, Toney has vastly outperformed his three-star ranking out of high school, winning ACC Rookie of the Year honors.

He became Carson Beck's most reliable target and one of the nation's most productive receivers, ranking fourth in catches (94) while tallying 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns. He broke Miami's single-season reception record against Texas A&M and already owns the program's freshman receiving yardage mark. In their heyday, the Hurricanes cultivated a steady pipeline of star receivers including Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne and Andre Johnson. With secure hands, quickness after the catch and fearlessness in traffic, Toney looks like Miami's next great playmaker and has solidified his status as one of the sport's brightest young stars as the Hurricanes return to national prominence.

Finney's performance in Oregon's quarterfinal win over Texas Tech corroborated what quarterbacks who faced the Ducks this year already knew: