I was listening to a podcast and they brought up Brock Bowers and proposed an interesting question: when is the last time, if ever, someone was the best player at their position in the country the moment they started playing college football. You can make a real argument that Brock was the best tight end in the nation from day one.
Adrian Peterson comes to mind, Herschel Walker as well. Derek Stingley was elite but I don't think he was the best corner in the nation as a true freshman. Jameis Winston comes to mind but he was a redshirt freshman