Former 4-Star Prospect Ranked No. 1 Freshman Running Back in College Football

For most of the 2025 college football season, the conversation around the Oregon Ducks football centered on playoff positioning, quarterback development, and whether Dan Lanning’s program could finally break through to win a national championship.

The Ducks won 13 games, reached the College Football Playoff semifinals, and solidified themselves as a perennial contender, but their 56–22 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers in the Peach Bowl left lingering questions about what was still missing when the stakes were highest.

Now, a new evaluation is reframing how that season is viewed.

According to Pro Football Focus, true freshman running back Dierre Hill Jr. earned a 90.8 overall grade for 2025, the highest mark among all freshman running backs in college football.

In a year defined by Oregon’s playoff push and eventual semifinal disappointment, Hill quietly delivered one of the most efficient freshman seasons in the country.

Highest Graded Freshman RBs from the 2025 Season🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZUZxZStQpD
— PFF College (@PFF_College) February 18, 2026

Hill was a consensus four-star recruit out of Althoff Catholic High School in Centralia, Illinois, rated the No. 8 running back and a top-150 national prospect by 247Sports and On3.

As a senior, he rushed for 2,588 yards and 40 touchdowns, adding scores as both a receiver and kick returner while leading his team to an IHSA Class 1A state championship and earning Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year honors.

After receiving more than a dozen scholarship offers, Hill committed to Oregon in December 2024, choosing the Ducks over programs such as Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, and Indiana.

Oregon running back Dierre Hill Jr. carries the ball as the Oregon Ducks face the Indiana Hoosiers in the Peach Bowl | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In 2025, Hill’s first season with the Ducks, he carried the ball just 75 times but produced 656 rushing yards and five touchdowns, averaging a blistering 8.7 yards per carry. He added 16 receptions for 137 yards and another score, flashing the versatility that made him a coveted four-star recruit.

The efficiency metrics tell the deeper story. Hill forced missed tackles at a high rate, consistently generated explosive plays, and graded positively in pass protection, a rare trait for a true freshman.

In Oregon’s CFP first-round win over James Madison, he posted a 90.7 single-game grade, the best mark of any running back that weekend.

All of this has come while sharing the backfield with veteran Noah Whittington and fellow freshman Jordon Davison, both of whom logged more touches on the season, but neither matched Hill’s explosiveness.

Oregon’s 2025 offense leaned heavily on quarterback Dante Moore, who orchestrated one of the most productive passing attacks in the Big Ten. But Hill’s emergence adds a new dimension to what the Ducks can become moving forward.

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