The NFL is a what have you done for me lately league and this especially applies to NFL rookies. They’ll get their chances and this very much applies to highly drafted rookies because the franchise that selected them invested a premium pick in them. But if they don’t produce within a reasonable amount of time – or show that they belong in the national football league – well guess what? It is a cut throat business and they will be out the door and the next guy will be in to replace them. And as unfortunate as that can be for players – that’s not going to be discussed in today’s video because the players we are going to discuss – are already proving their teams right. They’ve already shown what they can do at the NFL level and it very much looks like they are here to stay. The 2024 draft class was regarded as one of the better classes over the past few years and for good reason. We’re already seeing the selections pay off for several teams. And the rookies that are proving their teams right are not limited to just the players in todays video. We’re going to break down 4 rookies in particular that are already proving their teams right – and we’ll get over a couple at the end too. Now let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video with Rams pass rusher Jared Verse. Verse was the 19th overall pick in the 2024 draft and he was a player I liked a lot coming out of Florida State for a few reasons. He had a very high floor as a prospect and we’ve already seen that through his first handful of games. Verse is leading the 2024 draft class in pressures through 7 weeks with 27 and funny enough – the second leading player in pressures from the 2024 class is his teammate – interior Braden Fiske. And if you followed the 2024 draft then you know these guys were teammates at Florida State too. Now Verse hasn’t been getting a lot of love nationally – at least not as much as you would think for a guy who has a real chance to win the defensive rookie of the year award. The one big thing with Verse is despite having 27 pressures – he only has 1 sack and what’s particularly unfortunate about that is he had a good against the Cardinals back in week 2 and had a few chances at a multi sack game. Unfortunately for Jared – he was playing against Kyler Murray and Kyler is one of the more difficult quarterbacks to bring down because the play is truly never over when going against him. But Verse has had at least 3 pressures in every game and he has been a constant force for the Rams in 2024 and I am a firm believer that the sacks for him – will come.
Verse is tied for 15th in the NFL in pressures and he’s actualized tied with Myles Garrett despite Myles logging nearly 30 more pass rushing snaps. Now I’m not saying a rookie Jared Verse is better than Myles of course – but that is a stat to show how often Verse has been in the backfield relative to the amount of pass rushing snaps he’s taken through the first month and some change. And for what it’s worth – 2023 number 3 overall pick Will Anderson is technically 8th in the NFL in pressures and he only has 2 more than Jared with 29. And i think that’s worth noting because Will won the defensive rookie of the year award in 2023 and through his first 6 games – he had 24 pressures and like Verse – he only had one sack. Ironically – both players had a sack in their NFL debut and then went at least 5 games without recording their 2nd career sack. We know now that Will Anderson is regarded as one of the better up and coming pass rushers in the NFL and he is expected to be a Texan for a long long time. And I would expect the same with Jared Verse. He had such a high floor as a prospect due in large part to his power. Recently I’ve watched several offensive line clinic video and clips from former offensive lineman discussing how hard it is to defend a pass rusher that has great power – because they know it’s coming and they know what a guy can do off of an initial speed to power rush.
And to play in the NFL – you have to a lot of power and Verse clearly does and he has very heavy hands as a pass rusher. For a team like the Rams to not use a first round pick since all the way back in 2016 with Jared Goff – I am confident they hit on Verse just a couple of games into his career. One other part of Verse’s game that goes unnoticed more than it should – is his ability to defend the run. He is at minimum – a very solid player and I was ecstatic for the Rams when this selection was made because he’s a guy who will help defend the run at a high level – while also being able to get after the quarterback. The sacks will come, and I think Jared Verse will win the defensive rookie of the year award. And he is already proving the Los Angeles Rams right.
The Jags selected Brian Thomas Jr with the 23rd pick in the draft and I know the Jags have went through their ups and downs to start the 2024 season – but this was a draft process I loved from the start. And honestly it goes back to losing Calvin Ridley in free agency. The Jags – and you can say everyone – knew that entering the year with Christian Kirk and Gabe Davis as the teams top two receivers was never going to cut it. And all throughout the 2024 draft process I had mocked them Brian Thomas Jr and at times – even had them trading up to go get Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze. So for Jacksonville to trade back with the Vikings and pick up a 3rd and 4th rounder in 2025 was a great job by General Manager Trent Baalke. And they still got the player they wanted all along in Brian Thomas Jr. Through 7 games Thomas has over 500 yards and 4 touchdowns and is currently top 6 in the NFL in receiving yards. One of the best things we’ve seen so far from Thomas is he has a high floor and I still don’t think we’ve tapped into the player that he can become – and this is for a guy who again – is in the top 10 in the NFL in receiving yards just 7 games into his career. He has 4 games above 85 yards including a career high 122 against the Colts back in week 5 – but he has no games where he has 10 targets. He hasn’t been a target monster by any means.
He is 26th in the NFL in targets and obviously Brian’s college teammate is having a great rookie season too in Malik Nabers and we’ll get to Malik – but Nabers has 15 more targets than Thomas and nearly has 100 less receiving yards. That isn’t to dismiss Malik Nabers of course as much as it is to say – the Jags found their receiver of the future in Brian Thomas and he is more than here to stay. We’ve made videos in the past about the Jags not helping out their young quarterback once upon a time in Trevor Lawrence and how in some ways they set him up to fail – but Trevor is only 25 years old. Sure he may not live up to the expectations he once had which would have been very difficult for him to live up to to begin with, but after what was undoubtedly the lowest point in the Jags season – which was an embarrassing week 3 loss to the Bills on Monday night – Trevor has played a lot better since then. And in the 4 games since – he has 7 passing touchdowns to just 2 interceptions and even had the big 370+ yard performance against the Colts in week 5. Not surprisingly, Brian Thomas has also picked it up since then and has 324 yards and 3 touchdowns in the last 4 games. If he were to keep that pace for an entire 17 game season – he would have an 81 reception, 1,377 yard, and 13 touchdown season as a 22 year old rookie. We’ve seen them connect on the deep ball a couple of times already, but Brian is a lot more than a height weight speed rookie. He is winning in numerous ways and I thought Malik Nabers would lead the rookies in receiving yards this year – and he still can – but it may actually be Brian Thomas.
His career high in receptions at the moment is 6 and again this is something I expect to change – and soon. The Jags are under a lot of scrutiny due to them underachieving as a team, but good things happen when Brian Thomas gets the football. And if he stays healthy – given he already has 500 yards – I would be shocked if he didn’t have a 1,000 yard rookie season. And with Trevor only being 25 years old – along with him signing a big contract to stay in Jacksonville for the next couple of years – this should be one of the better duos for the next couple of seasons. Brian Thomas can get into the top 4 of Jags all time leading receivers with 2,900 career receiving yards – and I would be surprised if he’s not there by the end of his third season. The Jags have their wide receiver one of the future.
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Malik Nabers all have certainly proven their teams right through the first month and a half too. We discuss all 3 of those players, plus Jared Verse & Brian Thomas Jr in the video below! I hope you enjoy!
4 NFL Rookies ALREADY Proving Their Teams Right
