ESPN highlights the most-exciting college football newcomers

The fine folks over at ESPN recently took a look at the college football offseason and pinpointed a series of newcomers at various spots that they’re most intrigued to see. Whether that’s a single player or an entire recruiting class, here were six teams with newcomers that piqued ESPN’s interest as we barrel closer towards the start of fall camp.

Take a look:

New-look Colorado

Deion Sanders hit the recruiting trail and transfer portal with guns ablaze this offseason, and the folks in Las Vegas aren’t confident with what the former Florida State star brought in in his first year as a Division I head coach. Either that or his coaching ability, since the Buffaloes are projected to win just three games despite playing in the weakest power conference.

However, they do have elite talent coming in, with the top recruit of the 2022 class, Travis Hunter, along with Sanders’ own son and stud QB, Sheduer Sanders, leading the way. ESPN’s David Hale said he also liked the upside of wide receiver additions Jimmy Horn Jr. and Tar’Varish Dawson Jr as well, giving Sanders and his son a dynamic group of offensive weapons to work with.

Alabama youth movement

Chris Low hand picked three guys he believes could have a considerable impact the minute they step foot on the Alabama campus:

“Let’s start on offense with massive true freshman Kadyn Proctor. At 6-foot-7, 354 pounds, he will be hard to miss (literally) and was impressive enough in the spring that he could be Alabama’s starting left tackle by the opener, or at the very least, a few games into the season. Junior college receiver Malik Benson will provide an immediate boost to the receiving corps with his explosive playmaking ability, and freshman safety Caleb Downs might have been the best of the bunch in the spring.”

Then, Alex Scarborough added that he’s high on some new additions in the Crimson Tide backfield, mentioning that fans should “keep an eye on Alabama’s two freshman running backs: Richard Young and Justice Haynes.” Haynes ranks No. 2 and Young ranks No. 4 among running backs in the 2023 On3 Industry Rankings and could both demand playing time from the jump.

Clemson DL Peter Woods

“Much has been made of Woods’ exceptional play as an early enrollee this spring, which has everybody in the Clemson fan base excited to see what happens when the season opens,” writes Andrea Adelson. And the Tigers will desperately need younger guys like him to step up in a big way after they lost a whole era of defensive line play this offseason. Lots up pressure on the underclassmen up front this season after so many starters from the 2022 team are now on NFL rosters.

UCLA QB Dante Moore

“Five-star quarterback Moore’s decision to flip from Oregon to UCLA in the days before the December signing period was one of the biggest takeaways and a boon for Chip Kelly in the post-Dorian Thompson-Robinson era,” says Blake Baumgartner. After starting mostly one player under center for the last half-decade, the Bruins find themselves needing a brand new option at QB for the first time in quite a while. Moore may not snag the gig right away, but he very well may be the long-term answer to DTR’s departure.

Oklahoma S Peyton Bowen

On3’s No. 15 overall player, No. 2 safety and No. 3 prospect from Texas for the 2023 class is a Sooner safety. Per Adam Rittenberg, his journey to Norman was quite an interesting ride. “(Peyton) Bowen’s recruitment became one of the wilder stories heading into the December signing period. The five-star safety from Texas initially committed to Notre Dame for a year before flipping to Oregon and then Oklahoma during a furious 24 hours.”

Now, he’ll try to help turnaround the Sooner defense in year two under defensive-minded head coach Brent Venables.

Oregon State QB DJ Uiagalelei

Former Clemson starter DJ Uiagalelei found about as far away a home away from Death Valley as possible by scampering from the Eastern Seaboard out to the Pacific Northwest to play for an Oregon State program that had a tremendous campaign last fall. He may not have cut it at a top tier program like Clemson, but make no mistake, the former blue-chip recruit can still sling the rock. 4,700 yards and 31 touchdowns over the last two years is all the evidence you need.

Oregon DL Matayo Uiagalelei

Meanwhile, DJ’s little brother Matayo is about to start at Oregon and was the No. 40 overall player and No. 5 DL in the On3 Industry Rankings.

Paolo Uggetti writes on him: “Matayo, in particular, will be a fun one to watch in Dan Lanning’s defense. While it remains unclear how big of a role the freshman will have in next year’s team, there’s an expectation he’ll get plenty of snaps due to his athleticism and size already at such a young age.”