Every college football season, there is a collection of freshmen who impact their teams in ways few expected.Cal’s Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele, Miami’s Malachi Toney and Duke’s Nate Sheppard are examples of players who took different paths to rookie stardom in 2025.Keawe-Sagapolutele, the No. 7 quarterback in the 2025 cycle, signed with Oregon, transferred to Cal and beat out Ohio State transfer Devin Brown in camp to win the job heading into Week 1. Toney reclassified into the 2025 cycle, beat out veteran Ray Ray Joseph and led the ACC with 109 receptions and 1,211 receiving yards. Sheppard received limited reps the first three games, broke into the starting lineup for the first time in his fifth game and ran for 1,132 yards and 11 touchdowns to help the Blue Devils win their first league championship since 1989.These three ACC standouts were among the 151 true freshmen who started games at the Power 4 level last season.The list below is a best guess — very early in preseason camp — of which freshmen will impact college football in 2026.Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite.1. Kodi Greene, OT, Washington, 5-star, No. 26 overallJedd Fisch has not been shy about starting true freshmen on his offensive line. He’s done it four times in his five seasons as coach, and he’s been referring to Greene — a 6-foot-6, 325-pound Southern California native — as his starting left tackle since convincing him to back off a pledge to Oregon and commit to the Huskies in April 2025. Greene, ranked No. 3 at his position in the 2026 cycle, is expected to start next to John Mills, who started 11 games at left guard last season as a freshman.2. Jared Curtis, QB, Vanderbilt, 5-star, No. 4Clark Lea has let the competition for the starting job bleed into fall camp, but it’s hard to imagine a world where Curtis — the No. 2 quarterback in the 2026 cycle — doesn’t eventually beat out veteran Blaze Berlowitz as the starter in the post-Diego Pavia era. The Nashville native didn’t flip from Georgia to sit the bench for long. The highest-rated recruit in program history, Curtis is 6-3, 230 pounds and has an NFL arm. He’s also being handsomely paid.3. Jackson Cantwell, OT, Miami, 5-star, No. 2Veterans Matthew McCoy, Ryan Rodriguez and Samson Okunlola are emerging as the three anchors of an offensive line that must replace four starters. Cantwell, a 6-8, 330-pound Missouri native, hasn’t secured the starting left tackle job yet. In fact, he’s been taking snaps at guard in preseason camp as Miami cross-trains many of its linemen. But there isn’t a scenario in which he isn’t running with the first unit at some point early in the season.College QB Tiers: Which quarterback has the highest ceiling?Antonio Morales and Sam Khan Jr.4. Deuce Geralds, DT, LSU, 4-star, No. 56Lane Kiffin mentioned at SEC media days that he expected his freshman defensive linemen to make an immediate impact — and he wasn’t just talking about Lamar Brown, the No. 3 overall player and top recruit in LSU’s 2026 signing class. Brown (6-4, 295) is out on the edge. Geralds and Richard Anderson (No. 17 overall) have been running with the first team inside since the start of camp, pushing veterans Dominick McKinley, Malik Blocton and Stephiylan Green for snaps.5. Mark Bowman, TE, USC, 5-star, No. 30Brock Bowers, Pat Freiermuth, Michael Mayer, Mason Taylor and Brevin Jordan are recent examples of tight ends who made an impact as true freshmen. Bowman, the No. 2 prospect at his position, reclassified into the 2026 cycle and has been on campus since January working with quarterback Jayden Maiava. Bowman came into camp at 6-4, 245 pounds — 10 pounds heavier than Bowers was as a freshman at Georgia.