Every year there are rookies that break out in a big way that were drafted in the later rounds or in some cases- go undrafted. They can slip through the cracks of the draft process for x or y reason and in today’s video – we are going to be discussing some of the biggest draft steals from the 2024 NFL draft so far. And just because a player isn’t selected on night one or even night two of the NFL Draft – does not mean they are destined to be a career backup and that any chance of having a successful NFL career is out the window. Not even close. They just may have to work a little harder to get an opportunity in training camp and ultimately the preseason. But the players in today’s video are looking like they will be a starter for the team that drafted them for the next few years and are already paying massive dividends to the franchise that selected them. And if a draft steal from your favorite team is not in todays video – that doesn’t mean they weren’t a great pick and we will even go over a few at the end. In fact – there are a few dozen players that could qualify for today’s video. This is also not a ranking of the biggest draft steals by any means, and with that preface out of the way – let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video with Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving. Bucky was a 4th round pick from the University of Oregon and is having a very good rookie season all things considered. He is already over 1,000 total yards of offense and is currently on pace for 961 rushing yards and 8 rushing touchdowns along with an additional 36 receptions out of the backfield. The 2024 Bucs season has been anything but normal as their top two receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin each missed time and unfortunately Chris Godwin is done for the year. Somebody in the Bucs offense had to step up and what you may not know – or realize – is the Bucs are 5th in the NFL in scoring. They have scored 30 or more points in 6 of their 13 games in 2024 and Bucky Irving has played a big part in this as he has 6 rushing touchdowns on the year and is leading the 2024 draft class in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. Now while Mike Evans and Chris Godwin were out – it wasn’t just Bucky stepping up as I don’t want to disrespect the highly underrated Cade Otton – but the point is – somebody had to step up and Bucky has.
And I think Tampa has a quality player in Bucky Irving for the next couple of years. The Baker Mayfield redemption in Tampa was fun in 2023 and I don’t want to take anything away from that – but it was painful at times watching the 2023 Buccaneers offense because of how one dimensional they were. This also goes back to 2022 as well and for two consecutive years – Tampa was dead last in rushing offensively which is a huge contrast to where they are in 2024. They are 4th in the NFL in yards per carry as a team as they are averaging 5.1 yards per attempt in 2024 – compared to averaging just 3.4 yards per attempt in 2023. Football can be a very complicated game and sometimes there’s complicated sounding play calls like “Gun East Rt Slot 82 Titan Potter” but sometimes football is as simple as we are going to run the ball right at you – try and stop us.
And if I were a building a team in today’s era – I would absolutely hammer the trenches because that’s where games are won and lost. And Tampa has done that over the past couple of years by selecting Cody Mauch in the second round of the 2023 draft, and Graham Barton in the first round of the 2024 draft. Oh and having Tristan Wirfs certainly helps too. But when the Buccaneers made this selection – I don’t think anybody thought Bucky would be on pace for a 1,300 total yard rookie season with close to double digit touchdowns. And per PFF – he’s also forced 38 missed tackles which is 12th in the NFL and is ahead of guys like Aaron Jones, JK Dobbins, Joe Mixon, and Breece Hall – all of whom have more carries than him. We are in the middle of December and one thing is clear – Bucky is a beast.
But he’s not the only steal from the 2024 Bucs draft class. Tykee Smith has played phenomenal when he’s been on the field for Tampa and I know we haven’t seen the duo as much as we would like in 2024 because both players have missed time due to injury – but the future of Tykee Smith and Antoine Winfield in the same defense is something no team wants to play. Tykee was really good at Georgia and to be completely honest – I don’t think the Bucs get enough credit around the NFL for how solid of a team they’ve built. You get a few comments here and there about Baker, or about Mr 1,000 in Mike Evans – but this is a really really good football team. And it’s due in large part to how Jason Licht has constructed this roster and by drafting guys in the middle rounds like Tykee Smith and Bucky Irving.
The San Francisco 49ers have had a very tough year for countless reasons, but they absolutely nailed the 2024 NFL Draft. I do think Ricky Pearsall will be a good player, but that’s obviously an extreme situation from the start of his NFL career- but they had one of the biggest steals in the 2024 draft in 3rd round guard Dominick Puni. The 49ers have been one of the most successful organizations over the past several years and there’s several reasons as to why they’ve been successful – but the big one that far outweighs the others is continuously drafting good young talent.
To be a good team in the NFL you obviously have to good players – but the underlying factor within this is you have to draft good young talent that outproduces their salary while they are on the rookie contract. Brock Purdy is of course the shining example for the 49ers – but Dominick Puni is another and he is already one of the better guards in the league. Not just the NFC west, not the NFC – but the entire league. With any offensive lineman it’s hard to put into numbers how good they’ve been – but for reference – Puni is the 3rd highest graded run blocking guard in the NFL who have logged at least 220 run blocking snaps. He is only behind Chris Lindstrom of the Falcons who is a back to back all pro, and Kevin Zeitler of the Lions who made the pro bowl last year for the Ravens and is now having a great year for the Lions. San Francisco has had a couple of running backs this year in Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Mason, and rookie Isaac Guerendo – who also plays a part in the biggest steals for the 49ers by the way – but they are top 10 in every major rushing category.
Rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and of course – yards per carry. It wouldn’t be fair to attribute the 2024 49ers rushing success exclusively to Domnick Puni – especially when they’ve had repeated success under Kyle Shanahan – but he certainly plays a part and is a very very good player for the 49ers. Now to the point of the 49ers drafting good young talent – Malik Mustapha is another great example and he was a player a lot of analysts liked in the pre draft process. I’ll be honest – I thought Malik would be good – but I didn’t think he would be this good this early in his career. I didn’t think he would play much in his rookie year, but he’s played a lot and has over 60 tackles, an interceptions, ac couple of passes deflected, and even has a couple of tackles for a loss.
The Mustapha selection already panning out is huge because like we said the 49ers can’t pay everyone – and Brock Purdy’s contract is going to take priority over somebody like Talanoa Hufanga. I know Talanoa Hufanga is a tremendous player when healthy but unfortunately this is a guy who’s only played in 13 games since the start of the 2023 season. Not every situation is fair in the NFL and certainly not every player’s health situation – but I have a very hard time believing this franchise commits a long term contract to Hunfanga at this point in time.
Especially when they can get 75 or even 80% of the production from Malik Mustapha for about 10% of the cost. Mustafa’s cap hit in 2025 will only be $1.1 million dollars where as Hufanga would want significantly more money – and I get it. You usually only get paid once as an NFL player – twice if you’re lucky and you have to do what’s in your best interest for you and your family. Isaac Guerendo only has 57 carries on the year at this point in time, but he has played well when called upon. With the way the NFL is trending with split backfields – I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him have a much larger role in 2025 and to continue building on what’s been a good 2024 draft class. Also shoutout 2nd round pick Renardo Green as he has been good for the 49ers too.
Some other big draft steals include the Chargers corner duo of Cam Hart, and Tarheeb Still, as well as Giants Running Back Tyrone Tracy. We break down everyone discussed in today’s article and plenty more in the video below. I hope you enjoyed reading and I recommend checking out the video below titled “The Biggest Steals From The 2024 NFL Draft (So Far)”
