DALLAS (FWAA) – Two true freshman starters from Miami who will play in Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game, an Ohio State backfield duo and seven other players who were members of this year’s playoff field highlight the 32-man roster of the 2025 Freshman All-America Team presented by Chris Doering Mortgage and awarded by the Football Writers Association of America.
The FWAA Freshman All-America Team, named since 2001, is an annual postseason list of the top players competing in their first seasons with their programs as true freshmen or redshirt freshmen. The FWAA will name its Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Freshman Players of the Year tomorrow along with the winner of its Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award to a head coach in his first season with his new program.
Miami receiver Malachi Toney, a true freshman from Liberty City, Fla., had a record-setting debut regular season and has helped catapult the Hurricanes, the No. 10 seed, through three playoff wins and into the national title game. Toney had 84 receptions for 970 yards and seven touchdowns during the regular season, leading all FBS freshmen in receptions and averaging 80.8 receiving yards per game. The 970 receiving yards established a new Miami freshman single-season record. Most recently, Toney caught five passes for 81 yards and an acrobatic touchdown catch-and-run in the Hurricanes' 31-27 win over Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl national semifinal.
Toney’s next catch will be his 100th on the full season. He has 1,089 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 15 games and the ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year is one of the three finalists for the Offensive Freshman Player of the Year along with the Ohio State backfield tandem of Julian Sayin and Bo Jackson.
Sayin, a redshirt freshman from Carlsbad, Calif., and Jackson, a true freshman from Cleveland, Ohio, are the first Buckeyes on the FWAA’s Freshman All-America Team since 2021. Sayin surged to become a Heisman Trophy finalist by finishing with the nation’s highest passer rating and leading the country in completion percentage. He was second in the Big Ten and tied for second nationally in passing touchdowns, while also finishing second in the conference in passing yards.
Sayin led the nation in the regular season in completion percentage and passing efficiency. His 77.0 completion percentage at the close of OSU’s season just missed the all-time NCAA record of 77.4 percent by Oregon’s Bo Nix in 2023. The Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year had five games with at least 300 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, and was in the top 10 nationally in multiple categories. Jackson was on the All-Big Ten second team.
Georgia redshirt freshman Ellis Robinson IV is at the lead of the Bulldogs’ team-high three players (along with Tennessee) on the roster and is one of three finalists for Defensive Freshman Player of the Year. Robinson notched his team-best fourth interception in the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech, which tied him for the SEC lead and are almost half of UGA’s nine on the season. Georgia offensive lineman Dontrell Glover moved into the starting lineup in late September and the Bulldogs went undefeated in their next 10 games and into the CFP. Defensive lineman Elijah Griffin helped Georgia’s line rotation finish fourth nationally rushing defense at 79.2 yards per game and 11th in scoring defense. Georgia had three Freshman All-America members for the second time in three seasons.
LSU defensive back DJ Pickett and Oregon’s Brandon Finney are the other two Defensive Player of the Year finalists. Pickett appeared in all 12 regular-season games, starting twice, and tallied 30 tackles, two sacks and tied for team-high honors with three interceptions. Working within an LSU defense that led the SEC in pass efficiency, in 262 pass coverage snaps Pickett allowed only 15 receptions and just one touchdown, allowing only 188 total yards and just one first down on those catches. Finney started all 14 games for Oregon, becoming the first true freshman to start a season-opener for Oregon since 2019. Though judged in large part on his regular-season performances, Finney’s banner game came in the Orange Bowl quarterfinal, where he had two interceptions in Oregon’s 23-0 win over Texas Tech. Finney is Oregon’s first member on the Freshman All-America team since 2020.
Miami’s second player also comes in the secondary. Defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald recorded the game-sealing interception in the back of the end zone – his second pick of the day – to clinch Miami’s victory over Texas A&M in the CFP’s first round, only the fourth multi-interception performance in the history of the CFP. Fitzgerald is tied with Indiana’s Louis Moore for the Power-4 lead with six picks, second in the FBS.
Of note is while the Big Ten led all conferences with 10 players from nine different schools, CFP No. 1 seed and national title qualifier Indiana is not among them.
Bowling Green’s return specialist, Cameron Pettaway, sparks the four finalists for Special Teams Player of the Year. Pettaway, a redshirt freshman from Farmington Hills, Mich., led the nation in kick return average at 33.0 yards per return, a BGSU single-season record. The Mid-American Conference's Freshman of the Year is Bowling Green’s first Freshman All-American since 2004 and its second all-time honoree. Wake Forest kicker Connor Calvert, also a finalist, helped make the Deacs the best team in the nation at converting field goals, connecting on 209-of-255 field goal attempts in the CFP era (2014-present; 82.0 pct.) WFU won the SMU game on Calvert’s career-long 50-yarder as time expired, and he made 18 of 22 attempts in the regular season. Colorado return specialist Quentin Gibson was Colorado’s only true freshman to start the season-opener and finished second in the Big 12 in kickoff return yards and in yards per return. Gibson, also a receiver, had 15 receptions for 71 yards this season.
Tennessee had a trio of players to tie Georgia for the team lead with its first member since 2018 and the first time to have three in a single season. Wide receiver Braylon Staley, the SEC Freshman of the Year, joins offensive lineman David Sanders Jr. and linebacker Edwin Spillman representing the Volunteers. Staley, a redshirt freshman, had a breakout season during his second year with the program, finishing sixth in the SEC in receiving yards (806) and receiving yards per game (67.2) and led all SEC freshmen in both of those categories. Like Ohio State, North Texas had a pair of players in the offensive backfield with quarterback Drew Mestemaker and running back Caleb Hawkins. They are North Texas’ first Freshman All-Americans since 2004 and only UNT’s second and third all-time selections.
Despite missing one game and the better part of two others, Hawkins rolled up 1,236 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns in the regular season and was an all-purpose threat with 29 receptions for 345 yards and three touchdowns. He led the nation in both rushing scores and total touchdowns (26) among players with at least 200 carries. Mestemaker led the country in passing yards (3,835), was tied for fourth in passing touchdowns (29) and was fourth in total offense during the regular season, also leading all freshmen quarterbacks.
California linebacker Luke Ferrelli started all 12 games and tied for eighth overall in the ACC in total tackles (87) and tied for ninth in tackles per game (7.3). The ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year was second among all ACC freshmen in tackles-for-loss (5.0).
Florida led the list of hometown states where the All-Americans hailed from with four honorees, followed by California and Texas with three each. Together, players from those three states (10) compose just under one-third of the 31-man team. Georgia, Louisiana and Maryland, with two each, also had multiple honorees’ hometowns.
Following is the complete 2025 FWAA Freshman All-America Team:
OFFENSE (14)
QB Drew Mestemaker, North Texas (6-4, 211, R-Fr., Austin, Texas)
QB Julian Sayin, Ohio State (6-1, 208, R-Fr., Carlsbad, Calif.)
RB Caleb Hawkins, North Texas (6-2, 200, Fr., Shawnee, Okla.)
RB Bo Jackson, Ohio State (6-0, 217, Fr., Cleveland, Ohio)
WR Andrew Marsh, Michigan (6-0, 190, Fr., Katy, Texas)
WR Braylon Staley, Tennessee (6-0, 190, R-Fr., Aiken, S.C.)
WR Malachi Toney, Miami (5-11, 188, Fr., Liberty City, Fla.)
TE DJ Vonnahme, Iowa (6-4, 240, R-Fr., Breda, Iowa)
OL Michael Carroll, Alabama (6-6, 321, Fr., Doylestown, Pa.)
OL Dontrell Glover, Georgia (6-3, 320, Fr., Fairburn, Ga.)
OL John Mills, Washington (6-6, 325, Fr., San Francisco, Calif.)
OL Jacob Ponton, Texas Tech (6-8, 305, R-Fr., Dripping Springs, Texas)
OL Nathan Roy, Minnesota (6-5, 305, R-Fr., Mukwonago, Wis.)
OL David Sanders Jr., Tennessee (6-6, 305, Fr., Charlotte, N.C.)
DEFENSE (14)
DL Mandrell Desir, Florida State (6-4, 262, Fr., Miami, Fla.)
DL Elijah Griffin, Georgia (6-4, 310, Fr., Pooler, Ga.)
DL Jahkeem Stewart, USC, 6-5 (290, Fr., Reserve, La.)
DL Sidney Stewart, Maryland (6-2, 255, Fr., Joppa, Md.)
LB Antoine Deslauriers, Syracuse (6-1, 235, Fr., Montreal, Quebec)
LB Luke Ferrelli, California (6-3, 230, R-Fr., San Diego, Calif.)
LB Mason Posa, Wisconsin (6-3, 231, Fr., Albuquerque, N.M.)
LB Edwin Spillman, Tennessee (6-1, 230, R-Fr., Nashville, Tenn.)
DB Brandon Finney, Oregon (6-2, 203, Fr., Owings Mills, Md.)
DB Bryce Fitzgerald, Miami (6-1, 185, Fr., Miami, Fla.)
DB Tae Johnson, Notre Dame (6-2, 192, R-Fr., Fort Wayne, Ind.)
DB Jessiah McGrew, FIU (6-2, 185, Fr., Tallahassee, Fla.)
DB DJ Pickett, LSU (6-5, 195, Fr., Zephyrhills, La.)
DB Ellis Robinson, Georgia (6-0, 180, R-Fr., New Haven, Conn.)
SPECIALISTS (4)
K Connor Calvert, Wake Forest (6-3, 203, R-Fr., Bend, Ore.)
P Billy Gowers, Hawaii (6-1, 205, Fr., Melbourne, Australia)
RS Quentin Gibson, Colorado (5-9, 155, Fr., Fort Worth, Texas)
AP Cameron Pettaway, Bowling Green (5-10, 175, R-Fr., Farmington Hills, Mich.)
By conference: Big Ten 10, SEC 8, ACC 6, American 2, Big 12 2, Conference USA 1, Independents 1, Mid-American 1, Mountain West 1.
Chris Doering Mortgage, based in Gainesville, Fla., was established in April 2007 as a residential lending company providing mortgage products including conventional, FHA, USDA, and VA loans. The branch is a division of MortgageAdvisors.com – 3940 NW 16th Blvd., Suite A, Gainesville, FL 32605 – NMLS 70168/1937321. FHA Lender ID 2631500094. For more information, visit ChrisDoeringMortgage.com. College football analyst Chris Doering, a former wide receiver for Coach Spurrier both in college and the NFL, serves as the branch manager.
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of journalists, broadcasters, publicists, photographers and key executives in all areas of college football. The FWAA works to govern media access and gameday operations while presenting awards and honors, including an annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Executive Director Steve Richardson at (214) 870-6516 or tiger@fwaa.com.