Rico Bond and Christopher Bennett Jr. of the Lindenwood football team has been named a 2025 FCS Football Central Freshman All-American, as announced on Monday.

Bond had an outstanding redshirt freshman campaign, hauling in a team-high 61 catches for 701 yards and six touchdowns. The St. Louis, Mo. native had two games with 100+ receiving yards during the year. As a result, he earned first team all-conference honors.

The 6-1 wideout was named OVC-Big South Freshman of the Week three times during the year and averaged 11.5 yards per catch. His 701 yards ranks fourth while the 61 catches rank second in the conference. Bond was named a finalist for the 2025 Jerry Rice Award, which honors the national freshman player of the year in college football's Division I FCS subdivision.

Bennett made a big impact on special teams during the season, being named Freshman of the Week after his performance at Tennessee State where he totaled 114 all-purpose yards (69 KO, 45 PR). On the year, Bennett averaged 22.9 yards per kick return, which ranked fourth in the conference, and 10.7 yards per punt return which ranked second.

This team recognizes the best freshman players from across the subdivision. 62 players from 46 programs are recognized on this year's Freshman All-American team.