The Oregon Ducks entered the 2025 college football season with high expectations, and a group of true freshmen made sure those expectations were met. Chief among them was cornerback Brandon Finney Jr., whose debut campaign turned heads across the sport and signaled that head coach Dan Lanning’s program is building something worth watching.
Finney is only getting started.
Brandon Finney Jr. cornerback
By almost any measure, Finney’s freshman year was exceptional. The cornerback finished the 2025 season with 21 total tackles, one sack, two forced fumbles and three interceptions a stat line that most upperclassmen would be proud to claim. For a first-year player still adjusting to the speed and complexity of college football, it was nothing short of remarkable.
What separates Finney from other talented freshmen, though, is not just what he did on the field. It is how he approaches the work off of it. He is known for arriving at the facility before his teammates and investing significant time in film study, a habit that many players do not develop until much later in their careers. Lanning has taken notice, pointing to those extra hours as a direct reason for his early success.
Finney himself has made no secret of his ambitions. He wants to be recognized as the best cornerback in the country. That is a lofty goal, but given what he showed as a true freshman, it does not sound like wishful thinking.
Dierre Hill Jr. running back
Finney was not the only freshman making noise for Oregon in 2025. Running back Dierre Hill Jr. also carved out a meaningful role in the Ducks’ offense during his first season, showing the kind of instincts and physical maturity that tend to take players years to develop.
Hill’s contributions helped round out an offense that leaned on its veteran leadership but clearly benefited from injecting young energy into the backfield. With a full year of college experience now behind him, expectations for his sophomore campaign are already building.
Lanning has been consistent in his message to every young player on the roster: the freshman version of yourself is not the finished product. That philosophy applies directly to Hill, whose ceiling appears to sit well above what he showed in year one.
Dakorien Moore, wide receiver
Wide receiver Dakorien Moore rounds out the trio of freshmen who made the strongest impressions during the 2025 season. Moore brought speed and playmaking ability to the Ducks passing game, giving the offense a weapon that opposing defenses had to account for even when he was not the primary target.
His development heading into 2026 will be one of the more interesting storylines to follow in Eugene. The jump from freshman to sophomore is often where receivers make their biggest leaps, and Moore has the tools to make that jump a significant one.
What 2026 could look like for Oregon
The 2026 season has not yet arrived, but the foundation the Ducks laid with this freshman class is already generating genuine optimism. Lanning has built a culture centered on relentless improvement, and the early returns suggest that Finney, Hill and Moore have fully bought into that standard.
College football is littered with players who had strong debut seasons and faded. What makes this group feel different is the work ethic and self-awareness each of them has demonstrated. They are not coasting on early success. They are using it as a baseline.
If all three continue on the trajectories they established in 2025, the Oregon Ducks could enter next season with one of the most talented second-year groups in the country and a genuine case for competing at the highest level of the sport.
