High school and college football teams across the country are full go, and our 247Sports national scouting team will be consuming as much of the action as we can over the next few days. In this week’s Scouting Roundtable, we’ll be setting expectations for the four projected true freshman starting quarterbacks, highlighting more class of 2025 players with chances to break out on the national scene in their first college football seasons and finishing up with nearly 2,000 words high school games to keep tabs on and underclassmen who will become prized recruits in the near future.
The opening Scouting Roundtable of the season last week highlighted key Iowa State contributors Marcus Neal Jr., Dominic Overby and Brett Eskildsen before their breakout performances in an underdog win in Ireland against Kansas State.
Get the latest football and recruiting scoop on your favorite college team today.
247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins and national analysts Greg Biggins, Gabe Brooks and Hudson Standish break it all down.
Set some expectations for the true freshman quarterbacks at the Power Four level making, or expected to make, their first start this weekend.
247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins: It wasn’t too long ago where the “can’t miss” quarterback prospects were expected to play as true freshmen, but the global pandemic and extra years of eligibility changed things as College Football Playoff hopefuls gravitated more and more towards one and two-year veteran rentals.
When Michigan kicks off against New Mexico on Saturday, all eyes will be on Bryce Underwood — and for good reason, given the fact that he finished as our No. 1-ranked prospect.
Is he going to sink or swim? I’m going to go with the latter, and it’s not just because he’s facing inferior competition.
From what I have gathered while talking with some program insiders in Ann Arbor over the past few months, Underwood is who we thought he was — a freak athlete with an imposing frame that can make big-league throws.
I’m not sure if Sherrone Moore and the Wolverines are going to put a restrictor plate on Underwood with a Week 2 matchup at Oklahoma looming, but I think he’s going to make some dynamic plays with his legs because that’s what we saw from him as a senior.
Can Underwood replicate what DJ Lagway did last year in his first career start at Florida when he threw for 456 yards in a rout of Furman? Given Michigan’s passing struggles last season and how the roster has been constructed, I would wager that type of number is not likely, but don’t be surprised if the 18-year-old dazzles and gives everyone a taste of what he can be for the Wolverines.
247Sports national scouting analyst Hudson Standish: At publishing time, there was still no official word on who would start the season at quarterback for Maryland, with all eyes fixated on 2025 No. 54 overall player and No. 5 signal-caller Malik Washington. Setting expectations for Washington is a tough exercise as the 6-foot-4 1/2, 230-pounder has the physical tools that you dream of at the position, paired with a nearly flawless high school resume highlighted by three straight MIAA state championships.
The long-term upside for Washington is evident, but uncertainty surrounds the Terrapins ahead of the 2025 season and the roster talent surrounding Washington is less than ideal or similarly young. Maryland’s win total for the season is 4.5 with most sportsbooks juicing the over to plus-money odds.
While the roster around Washington isn’t ideal and an expected poor group on the offensive line could make things worse, the Maryland native does have the athletic traits and physical stature to create for himself and survive a daunting Big Ten slate.
Washington, at one point of his high school career, considered playing both basketball and football at the next level and even won a local slam dunk contest after his junior football season.
Expectations should probably be tempered for Washington as we approach the 2025 season, it’s rare to see true freshmen elevate a roster like Lagway, the former No. 1 quarterback, did for Florida last year and it is even more uncommon for a team that isn’t projected to make a bowl game.
However, with all of that being said don’t be surprised if the ballyhooed signal-caller eventually settles in to the speed of the college game and shows enough moments of magic to save Mike Locksley‘s job.
247Sports national scouting analyst Greg Biggins: It’s been a whirlwind ride for quarterback Bear Bachmeier and, if someone had told you a year ago that he would be the opening day starter for BYU, you would have wondered what they were smoking and how much and for good reason.
Bachmeier went through spring ball in Palo Alto and reportedly had a strong camp but decided to enter the transfer portal in the wake of Stanford firing former head coach Troy Taylor. Shortly after Bachmeier hit the transfer portal, his brother, Tiger Bachmeier, also did and the two ended up a package deal to BYU. It’s always rare for a true freshman quarterback to earn a starting job at a major college program, and even more rare to do so after going into the portal and missing all of spring practice at his new program.
Bachmeier does have 30 high school starts to his name but missed over half of his senior year with a knee injury that was initially feared to be ACL-related. He finished off his senior season strong and picked up a late scholarship offer from Georgia before signing with Stanford. At 6-foot-2 and a rock-solid 225 pounds, Bachmeier is built like a tank and is a true dual-threat who can make plays with his arm and his legs. He has plenty of arm talent and runs like a fullback when he gets out in the open field.
Ironically, the guy we liked as a player comp for Bachmeier in high school was Taysom Hill, who also signed out of high school with Stanford but later transferred in to BYU and has made a nice career for himself in the NFL. Bachmeier is a better pure thrower than Hill at the same stage in their development and has similar toughness and physicality. He will be the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener for BYU and should have no problems against Portland State this weekend.
The Cougars will host Stanford in two weeks and then have a bye, so the schedule is favorable. There will be some obvious growing pains like there are for all freshman quarterbacks but Bachmeier is mature beyond his years and has the kind of natural leadership skill and toughness needed to navigate through the rough patches. He fits the scheme extremely well and the Cougs have an experienced game ready back-up in McCae Hillstead so there really is no downside in going with a young but talented signal caller with a lot of upside.
247Sports national scouting analyst Gabe Brooks: Cal opens the season Saturday night at Oregon State with Top247 four-star Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele at the helm. JKS initially enrolled at Oregon but transferred in the spring to Cal, where he has since beaten out Ohio State transfer Devin Brown, a former decorated recruit in his own right from the 2022 recruiting cycle.
What does Sagapolutele bring to the table? Velocity, velocity, velocity. He generates a ton of juice from his stout, 6-foot-2, 220-pound stature, firing from an angle-altering southpaw delivery proven effective to multiple levels of the field.
Sagapolutele operates best from a clean pocket, which clearly is not unusual for a young quarterback, but particularly important considering that he’s not the type of quarterback who’s going to light up defenses with his running ability. Sagapolutele is mobile enough to evade a rusher and extend a play to find an open target, but his success, especially early, could rely significantly on Cal’s ability to keep him clean.
One thing that should help Sagapolutele acclimate to the college level is an experienced, quality backfield. Transfers Brandon High Jr. (UTSA), LJ Johnson Jr. (Texas A&M/SMU), and Kendrick Raphael (NC State) enter 2025 with a cumulative 2,225 career rushing yards, including more than 1,200 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2024.
Outside of the true freshmen starting at quarterback, who are some additional prospects from the 2025 recruiting cycle worth keeping close tabs on as Week 1 kicks off?
Biggins: Alabama defensive back Dijon Lee was a five-star prospect in the ’25 class, and it sounds like he’s not only lived up to the hype but exceeded expectations. Lee was somewhat of a unicorn in terms of his size and skill set, and there was much debate about how high to rank a 6-foot-4 cornerback.
A five-star designation means a potential first-round NFL Draft pick, and there has never been a 6-foot-4 corner taken that high in the modern era. There was some thought of moving Lee to safety, but we decided to bet on Lee staying at corner and loved his ability to essentially be a positionless player who can move around and do so many things well.
Lee enrolled early and made an immediate impact. From talking to some close to the program, Lee was not just one of the offseason standouts among a strong freshman group but among the best players in the program, regardless of class. He’s competing with a couple of other former Cali five-star corners in Zabien Brown and Domani Jackson and is more than holding his own. He’s expected to play at least half the snaps this weekend and it won’t shock anyone if he ends up a full-time starter by midseason.
Brooks: We have seen some ultra-talented freshman five-star receivers — Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams, most notably — shine in recent years. I would not be surprised if Oregon’s Dakorien Moore made a first-year splash. A Top247 five-star prospect, Moore was our No. 1 receiver in the country in the 2025 class and a top 10 overall recruit, regardless of position.
Moore caught 200-plus passes for more than 4,100 yards and nearly 50 touchdowns across the past four seasons at Duncanville (Texas) High, where he played in three Class 6A Division I state championship games, helping win two. The past three seasons saw Moore catching passes from five-star quarterback Keelon Russell, an Alabama freshman and fellow top-10 overall prospect.
Moore’s monstrous production derived from his exceptional athleticism and knack for playmaking. He’s a decorated track and field athlete with scorching 100-meter speed, a 24-foot long jump personal record and ample reps on one of the nation’s fastest 4×100 relays across multiple springs.
A dangerous run-after-catch weapon, Moore can operate at all levels. He combines sudden acceleration and redirecting quickness with terrific body control and aerial ability that maximize his frame. Oregon will need Moore and the rest of the Ducks’ receivers to pick up the slack created by the offseason injury to Evan Stewart, another former Top247 five-star WR1 and TXHSFB product.
Standish: The Georgia Bulldogs have two five-star freshmen who could feasibly emerge as stars by the end of the season in defensive lineman Elijah Griffin and offensive lineman Juan Gaston. Griffin, who finished No. 3 overall and was the top defensive prospect in the 2025 cycle, is probably the most obvious choice for this exercise as the justified hype surrounding him is bordering on Jalen Carter levels.
However I want to highlight Gaston, a verified 6-foot-7, 350-pound behemoth with guard/tackle flexibility who appears to have the inside track at Georgia’s left guard spot with a source telling Dawgs247, “The line is at its best when No. 73 is out there.” Gaston was a tricky evaluation early in his prep career, as the tape and traits didn’t always match, but the verified size paired with verified athletic markers from the Under Armour camp series along with above-the-rim basketball clips from his sophomore season kept him squarely in the Top247 rankings.
Then Gaston put together his best tape to date as a senior and followed up the senior campaign with an eye-opening showcase at the Under Armour All-America Game. Our conviction in Gaston skyrocketed with those two data points, and the truly gargantuan offensive lineman finished with the No. 18 overall ranking next to his name.
The true freshman has reshaped his body and added plenty of muscle since arriving in Athens this January, but make no mistake, the Atlanta native is one of the biggest physical freaks getting ready to make his debut this weekend and should help elevate Georgia’s run game after some uncharacteristic struggles in the 2024 season.
Ivins: I’m a company man, so I will draw attention to Penn State’s opener against Nevada, which you will be able to find on Paramount+ and CBS. James Franklin told Lions247 and other reporters earlier this week that two former four-star recruits have been given the “green light” to burn their redshirts in cornerback Daryus Dixson and pass rusher Chaz Coleman.
Penn State should cruise on Saturday, but I want to see what both Dixon and Coleman look like in the second half because I think there’s a good chance that the Nittany Lions could end up playing 15, 16 or possibly 17 games this season. Depth is going to be everything.
Dixson finished as the No. 11-ranked cornerback and the No. 88 overall recruit in the Top247. A snippet from my final internal scouting report on Dixson: “Tough and physical, which suggests that he’s probably destined for a boundary role. Transitions relatively well given the longer limbs. Rather polished like most of the corners coming out of Mater Dei these days and might not need a developmental year before he’s able to provide valuable snaps.”
Coleman started off his senior season as a three-star prospect but shot up the board right before Signing Day. The “Chazmanian Devil” was actually viewed by some schools as a tight end after moonlighting as a run-first quarterback throughout much of his prep career. I thought he was likely going to need some time before he was ready to go, but the potential jumped off the screen: “Type of jumbo athlete you want to bet on just given the tape. Flashes elite athleticism. Still pretty green when it comes to the technical aspects of getting to the quarterback, but winning with effort right now, which is encouraging.”
What game from your scouting territory on the high school side are you looking forward to the most this weekend?
Ivins: I’m hoping the thunderstorms hold off Friday night so I can make it out to see Englewood (Co.) Cherry Creek takes on Sarasota (Fla.) Cardinal Mooney. It’s a matchup of Colorado’s defending 5A champions and Florida’s 2A runner-up. The Sunshine State took it on the chin last week against out-of-state competition and a loss here for Cardinal Mooney would not be deflating.
Cherry Creek is led by Washington defensive line commit Tufanua Ionatana Umu-Cais, who is set to cap off his prep career at the Navy All-American Bowl. I also have a scouting crush on BYU tight end Ty Goettsche and think that his profile screams future NFL Draft pick. Kansas State wide receiver commit Maxwell Lovett, Michigan State linebacker commit Braylon Hodge, Kansas State offensive tackle commit Oliver Miller, UConn running back commit Jayden Fox and Louisiana Tech quarterback commit Brady Vodicka round out the senior headliners for the Bruins.
Cardinal Mooney is home to Notre Dame commit and Top247 defensive lineman Elijah Golden. He’s off to a heck of a start to his 12th-grade campaign as he racked up a pair of sacks last week against True North Classic after totaling two more in a preseason meeting with St. Thomas Aquinas. Purdue looks to have an absolute steal committed in Kymistrii Young. Over the past two weeks the three-star wide receiver has caught seven passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. That’s an absurd 34.8 yards per catch.
Biggins: There will be double-digit commitments including four headed to USC when nationally ranked Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon travels to take on Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian. Sierra Canyon is currently rated No. 18 nationally and No. 5 in the state via Maxpreps while the Lions are ranked No. 19 in the state.
Trailblazer edge rusher Richard Wesley is the highest-ranked player in the game and checks in at No. 36 in the 2026 Top247. The Texas commit reclassified from the 2027 class over the summer and has been a dominant edge rusher since he was just a freshman. Defensive back and LSU commit Havon Finney is another player who reclassified up from the 2027 class and is a true lockdown corner with length and speed.
Sierra Canyon also has a trio of players staying local who will play their college ball at USC. Defensive backs Brandon Lockhart, who transferred in from Loyola and Madden Riordan along with receiver Ja’Myron Baker, who transferred in from Los Alamitos, were the first three players in the ’26 class to commit to the Trojans.
The Trailblazers are loaded with underclass talent as well led by 2027 four-star defensive tackle Kasi Currie, four-star safety Myles Baker and talented running back Jaxsen Stokes. Offensive tackle Lance Ciechanowski is a top 100 player in the class of 2028.
The Lions’ top player is three-phase playmaker Davon Benjamin. The Oregon commit, rated No. 50 in the Top247, is a hybrid safety/corner who makes a ton of plays in the secondary and also a big-play receiver and a talented return man. He was nursing a shoulder injury all offseason and missed the Lions opener a week ago but is hopeful of being back in action this weekend.
USC running back commit Deshonne Redeaux is a top-100 player nationally and one of the most explosive athletes in the country. Tulane tight end commit Colby Simpson has strong hands and can run and defensive tackle Joseph Peko is one of the top uncommitted players out West and looks like a Colorado lean where his father Domata Peko is the Buffs’ DL coach.
The Lions’ defensive front is a strength and juniors Alifeleti Tuihalamaka and Zayne Reed will both play at the college level. Tuihalamaka is rated the No. 235 player nationally in the 2027 Top247 and Reed holds scholarship offers from schools like Arizona, BYU, Colorado, San Jose State and Washington. Oaks also has one of the top quarterbacks in the West Coast 2028 class in Treyvone Towns Jr. and promising sophomore receiver Christian Butler.
Standish: The best game of the week already happened as national top 25 programs Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic and East St. Louis (Ill.) High met in Ocean City, New Jersey, at the annual “Battle at the Beach” jamboree. Bergen Catholic’s decision to go for two points and the win late paid off as it prevailed over ESL 22-21 in an instant classic.
While both teams are loaded with future college football contributors, the performances from class of 2028 No. 21 player Jackson Vaughn and class of 2027 No. 25 overall prospect Myson Johnson-Cook stood out among the rest. Vaughn is a highly instinctive edge rusher who followed up a breakout state title game as a freshman with another multi-sack effort to get things going as a sophomore. While Johnson-Cook, a former DeSoto (Texas) High standout, put on display the truly freaky athleticism he possesses with a nearly 50 yard touchdown run at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds. Bergen Catholic 2027 wideout Bryan Porter, the younger brother of Ohio State five-star signee Quincy Porter, and ESL 2027 defensive back Raheem Floyd were two other major standouts in the game.
If you’re looking for another game between prospect factories to keep a close eye on, the Battle at the Beach hosts another of the best games across the country as La Salle College Prep and Malvern Prep square off. La Salle’s headliner is Notre Dame five-star safety commit Joey O’Brien who gets it done on both sides of the ball for the Explorers, while Malvern Prep is home to Penn State edge rusher commit Jackson Ford who stacks up at No. 208 in the 2026 Top247 rankings.
Brooks: Keep an eye on the Cibolo Steele at Liberty Hill matchup in the Lone Star State for this head-to-head: Steele’s run game fueled by Texas A&M Top247 four-star pledge Jonathan Hatton against a Liberty Hill defensive front that features Michigan Top247 four-star D-line commit Alister Vallejo.
On the other side of the equation, Steele will ask Arizona State high three-star edge commit Julian Hugo to lead his defensive front against Liberty Hill’s vaunted, run-heavy Slot-T offense. Steele’s defense also features 2027 Top247 four-star safety Eli Johnson, who has reported more than 20 offers to date.
Houston metro and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex garner much of the statewide attention, for good reason. But this matchup of Central Texas (Liberty Hill) versus San Antonio metro (Steele) features some high-caliber prospects suiting up for each team.
Some states have already kicked off their high school football seasons, while others are just getting underway this weekend. While the majority of college football and recruiting fans are focused on the present, who are some names from the 2027 class to track closely as they put together their ever-important junior seasons?
