2022 Rookie EOY Evaluation

[onejayhawk]

Let's look back.

Be sure to give the team name for clarity.

Chiefs

Pick 21 Trent McDuffie CB - Washington Day #1 starter and already grading out above average at the position.
Pick 30 George Karlaftis EDGE - Purdue Day #1 starter and had 6 sacks during the season and another in playoffs.
Pick 54 Skyy Moore WR - Western Michigan Currently WR4. Was passed by Kadarius Toney. Mixed results but improving. Looks like a future star.
Pick 62 Bryan Cook SAF - Cincinnati Firmly entrenched as third safety and plays all the ST. Had a key pass deflection in the AFC Championship.
Pick 103 Leo Chenal LB - Wisconsin Clearly the 3rd LB but his PT is growing.  
Pick 135 Joshua Williams CB - Fayetteville State University Currently CB4. Played extensively in AFC Championship and picked off Cook's deflection.
Pick 145 Darian Kinnard OL - Kentucky Clearly seen as OG. Has little PT behind Smith, Thuney, and Allegretti. 
Pick 243 Jaylen Watson CB - Washington State Currently CB3. Played 100% of defensive snaps in AFC Championship with a PD and an Int.  
Pick 251 Isiah Pacheco RB - Rutgers Leads team in yards rushing and is the primary KR. Improving as a pass receiver.
Pick 259 Nazeeh Johnson CB Marshall Started season on PS. Now on the 53. Exclusively ST but looks like a potential ST Ace.

It's a good and very deep class. So far it has not had the impact of last year's smaller class. Bolton, Humphrey, and Smith will make any draft class look good.

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by onejayhawk

[MOSteelers56]

1st- Kenny Pickett QB - He's been the starter for most of the year. Got off to a rocky start by throwing picks a plenty. Has really settled in since our bye week. He's got great accuracy and zip on intermediate throws. Is starting to throw guys open. I think the arrow is definitely pointing up for him. His stats aren't crazy, but he makes winning plays. I definitely think he's a playoff winning QB during his career. Can we build up enough infrastructure to get him there is the question.
2nd- George Pickens WR - Has been a contested catch wizard. He makes about 2 outlandish catches a game. He still isn't great at getting open, which is fine as long as he's making contested catches. I'd still like to see him work on his route running. He and Pickett are building a better rapport and should continue with more work together. If he can become a better route runner, paired with his great hands and body control, he could be a real good WR. 
3rd- Demarvin Leal DL - Kind of a weird guy. He's been thrown into the fire maybe a bit more than they wanted. He's played a lot of jumbo EDGE, especially when Watt was out. He's athletic and strong, but doesn't make a lot of plays. I'm intrigued to see how his career pans out.  
4th- Calvin Austin WR - Got injured in the pre-season and hasn't played at all. Briefly looked like he might come back after he healed up but he was never activated from the IL. I hope he shows something next year as he is the archetype of WR we need. Speed to burn and a pretty nuanced route runner, but that was in college. 
6th- Connor Heyward TE - Pretty interesting guy. He's been our #3 TE all year. He had some hiccups in the run blocking department earlier in the year, but that's not really his calling card. He plays a lot of wingback for us. He's pretty athletic and has a few of our longest plays of the year(not saying much). 
7th- Mark Robinson ILB - Been inactive most of the year. He's just now starting to get some run on defense. He's a thumper. I think he actually started last week against the Ravens and didn't spike himself, so that's something. He's still extremely new to defense as he was a converted RB until his last year of college. 
7th- Chris Oladokun QB - Didn't make the team and was an obvious wasted pick. I'm not even sure he threw a pass in the off-season with the team. He was immediately buried as the #4 QB on a team that needed to see the top 3 guys. 

[Forge]

Pretty hard to say for the 49ers as a lot of their rookies didn't play a ton: 

Drake Jackson - Only a rotational guy, only played 50% of the snaps in 2 games. 3 sacks, all of which came in the first 6 weeks. Not super productive as a pass rusher, to be honest. I assume that it will get better in the years that come as you can see some real talent flashing. One thing that he has done very well this year is make plays on the ball. He has 8 passes defensed / bat downs plus an INT (not something he had a lot to do with - it was batted into the air by Kerry Hyder and Jackson just caught it). 

Tyrion Davis Price - In the most predictable turn of events ever, the pick that everyone hated turned out to be a not great pick. The guy that everyone joked would get beat out by a UDFA running back...did in fact get beat out by a UDFA running back. When everyone is healthy, he's going to be inactive. The team clearly prefers Jordan Mason to him, Mitchell is a pretty good (if injury prone) running back and of course CMC is CMC. It's nice to have him as some depth, but lets be real, should have used this pick on someone else and taken a running back much later or added another UDFA running back along with Mason. 

Danny Gray - He's basically redshirting this year after the injury to Trey Lance. Jimmy G famously never throws down the field and outside the numbers, and while Purdy is more willing to do that, Gray is kind of stuck behind 4 other wide receivers, so there's not much he's going to do. He has one catch this year which came in mop up duty with Josh Johnson at QB and last week got his first carry. I don't know that this is a wasted pick or anything, I liked Gray as a prospect, but he may have to wait until year 3 when Jennings perhaps leaves and Ray Ray is gone. 

Spencer Burford - Starting RG from jump. He's not great. When Brunskill got healthy, they basically just started splitting reps every game. He's not a good run blocker right now, but he's an adequate pass protector. Not great, but he's fine. His biggest problem has been mental lapses. He has blown some blocking assignments and made some easy to fix penalties. But he's only given up one sack in over 350 pass block snaps. He's from a small school and I think that a year or two spent on an NFL strength / conditioning path and he'll get better in some regards particularly the run blocking. When grading on a curve of a 4th round rookie starting, he's doing well. But I think he needs to get better to be a reliable starting NFL guard. 

Samuel Womack - Hasn't been great when he has played in the regular season and he hasn't played a lot. But he's often around the ball and I think he's going to be a playmaker. Just going to take him some time. His comp is very much DJ Reed, another former mid round SF corner selection, and it took Reed about 3-4 years to really get going and become what he is. May take Womack a similar amount of time. He's not strong against the run and he's overly aggressive on the ball, which means he can bite hard some play action and the like, but he's going to be pretty good in coverage, I Think, just not this year. In the meantime he's been an excellent special teams player on the punt team.

Nick Zakelj - Redshirt year. Made the team, but the team apparently really likes him as a Center so he's doing the whole position change thing and whatnot. He's been active for 4 games, but has only 1 offensive snap this year. I wasn't a big fan just based on some cursory glances at the senior bowl and then preseason, but we will see what a year bulking on an NFL S&C regimen and position switch will do. 

Kalia Davis - Redshirt year. Tore his ACL last year in college, wasn't ready to play this year. They did open his practice window a couple of weeks ago, but I'm not sure if he'll ever be activated. 

Tariq Castro Fields - I liked this pick, but he couldn't earn a job. Was cut in preseason and picked up by Washington. Have no idea what he has done since then. 

Brock Purdy - He's already done enough to make this pick a success probably lol. He looks good. There's definitely a ceiling, but getting even a good backup QB for this team with the last pick in the draft is a good selection with the last pick in the draft. He'll get to compete with Trey Lance for the starting gig next off season, I have no doubt. 

[THE DUKE]

16 hours ago, Forge said:

Brock Purdy - He's already done enough to make this pick a success probably lol. He looks good. There's definitely a ceiling, but getting even a good backup QB for this team with the last pick in the draft is a good selection with the last pick in the draft. He'll get to compete with Trey Lance for the starting gig next off season, I have no doubt. 

A quality backup QB at pick 255 is a home run pick imo.

[THE DUKE]

Bengals:

31. Dax Hill, S, Michigan - Has been ok, played all over the secondary, likely taking over at FS for Jessie Bates next year because they won't be able to pay everyone.  Still feels like a solid pick.

60. Cam Taylor-Britt, CB, Nebraska - Had some early struggles but has really turned it on in recent weeks when pushed into starting service with injuries and has progressed rapidly.  Potential CB1, great pick.

95. Zach Carter, DL, Florida - Has been ok rotational depth, has flashed a little more in recent weeks.  Not much stats, but he's done what's needed.

136. Cordell Volson, OL, North Dakota St - Has been a starter since game 1, and has got better and better throughout the year.  Signing vets Alex Kappa and Ted Karras to solidify the inside along with Volson emerging has been a boon for the Bengals.  Most drafts this would be the HR pick of the draft, but that's Taylor-Britt in this draft.  Having two of them is very nice.

166. Tycen Anderson, S, Toledo - Has spent the year on IR, but the Bengals are excited by his speed and what they saw before he went down.  Even if he isn't a defensive starter, he looks like he'll be a special teams ace IF he can stay healthy.

252. Jeff Gunter, DE, NC State - Has had a few injury issues, but has suited up in several games.  Has had some snaps with the Bengals injuries at DE, but hasn't shown much.  Will likely still be on the roster next year unless they land someone they don't expect to be there in the draft.

All in all a lot to be happy about in this draft for the Bengals.  Cam Taylor-Britt got pressed into a starting spot and likely isn't ever going to give it up.  Getting a second instant starter in Volson is a boon as well and he has progressed nicely throughout this season.  Still have some high upside talent with Dax Hill who will be asked to do more next year, and what looks like good depth with Carter and Anderson.  Good draft, B+.

[Daniel]

Titans: Overall, a pretty good class, with the makings of a great one.  Three players that look like they'll be excellent, two that are solid contributors right away, one that looks like he'll be a solid contributor going forward, and one big question mark that's leaning on the side of not working out.  B+/A-

18. Treylon Burks, WR, Arkansas: Stud WR in the making?  Missed a lot of games with injury, which is a concern, but par for the course with the Titans.  Looked like a true No. 1 when he was at 100 percent and the Titans actually threw to him, but his production was inconsistent, so we'll see if he plays more next year.  The injury thing is a big problem with a largely incompetent Titans staff, and probably not much to do with Burks himself.

35. Roger McCreary, CB, Auburn: His athletic limitations have shown up, but he's also been effective sometimes and has the mechanics of the position down pretty well.  Probably going to be a solid No. 2 corner, but I still think this was a questionable pick with his seemingly pretty low ceiling.  Still, an OK starter right off the bat isn't a bad pickup at 35 by any stretch, so I'm not mad at it.

69. Nicholas Petit-Frere, OT, Ohio St: Started out questionably, then got better and better as the season progressed, then got worse and worse and is now injured.  An alright pick, but a much, much, much better player was the next tackle selected, which hurts.  Should be an OK RT going forward, especially when we get a better OL coach.

86. Malik Willis, QB, Liberty: Still scratching my head with what the Titans are doing here.  Great preseason, awful, awful stinker of a game against the Broncos, great first half against KC, then mixed bags against the Texans, and benched for Dobbs at the season's end.  Still a big question mark, as he's shown both his potential and why he wasn't ready at all, but it's not looking like the Titans know what to do to actually make use of the lottery ticket type player that he is, so he'll probably end up not doing much.

131. Hassan Haskins, RB, Michigan: Haskins has been aight, but I still question taking an aight RB this early.  He's been a very good returner, and was OK as the featured RB against the Cowboys, but not much better than OK, and RBs are a dime a dozen.  He can be a good piece of a rushing offense going forward, but he's made superflous by Derrick Henry.

143. Chig Okonkwo, TE, Maryland: By far the best pick of the Titans' draft, Okonkwo has emerged as one of, if not the, best rookie TE in his class.  Now I don't know that he keeps that status, but over 400 receiving yards from a rookie TE (in barely more than half a season no less) is way more than you expect, even from early picks.  He's possibly the best weapon on the Titans receiving corps right now, even including Burks.  Of course, that says almost as much about the state of the Titans WRs and TEs as it does about Chig himself.

163. Kyle Philips, WR, UCLA: Our annual "WR that gets hype in training camp before doing nothing in the season" player.  To be fair to him, he's been injured almost all year, but he's also done little to stand out in a bad WR group when he was healthy.  Still, probably will contribute in the slot next season, and that's a good return for such a late pick.

204. Theo Jackson, S, Tennessee: Didn't make the team, now with the Vikings, where he has seven total tackles.

219. Chance Campbell, LB, Ole Miss: Been on IR pretty much the whole season.

UDFA. Ryan Stonehouse, P, Colorado St: The real punt god.  Stonehouse has quickly turned into one of the best punters in the NFL with his enormous leg.  Too bad it's not a position of more value.  Great find.

UDFA. Tre Avery, CB, Rutgers: Actually our best rookie cornerback, Avery has 9 PDs in 5 games, and looks like he'll be a big part of our DB group going forward.  Fantastic find in undrafted free agency.

[jebrick]

6 minutes ago, Daniel said:

86. Malik Willis, QB, Liberty: Still scratching my head with what the Titans are doing here.  Great preseason, awful, awful stinker of a game against the Broncos, great first half against KC, then mixed bags against the Texans, and benched for Dobbs at the season's end.  Still a big question mark, as he's shown both his potential and why he wasn't ready at all, but it's not looking like the Titans know what to do to actually make use of the lottery ticket type player that he is, so he'll probably end up not doing much

I would just say that he performed like I thought he would.  This offseason is the key for him.  He must fix his mechanics and show more accuracy on crossing routes.  He is defiantly a project

[Daniel]

11 minutes ago, jebrick said:

I would just say that he performed like I thought he would.  This offseason is the key for him.  He must fix his mechanics and show more accuracy on crossing routes.  He is defiantly a project

Pretty much.  I'm just not sure why he's not starting now.  Reps are valuable for project type players, especially in meaningless games (like against the Cowboys).  But yeah, the biggest problem the Titans have right now (and they have a lot) is Todd Downing.  If they bring in someone else who will actually scheme to Malik's strengths, he might turn into something.  But right now, it doesn't look like the Titans have the capability or willingness to do that, and since projects usually don't pan out, the situation just stacks the deck even more in that direction.

Loved the pick at the time, thought it was a great risk/reward selection, but it looks like it's just not gonna work out.  Still early, but even getting rid of Downing, the philosophical problems and inflexibility of the Titans under Vrabel don't pair well with a player like Malik, and if I had to bet on it, I'd bet on him not doing much more than flashes of great play going forward.

If they're gonna just punt on him, it'd be nice if they'd scheme up a game for him to run a lot, at least, and show that off.  Dude is a top 2-3 running QB in the NFL, and if you just scheme that up in one meaningless game, you at least get a team to throw a flier in your direction to get the draft capital you spent on him back.  I imagine at least some teams look at his running and think they can make him a Taysom Hill, at the very least.

[tyler735]

Saints class so far is looking like another quality draft class.

 

#11 Chris Olave- He’s stepped right in and has made an immediate impact for the Saints.  I had some concerns about him being able to handle more physical DB’s given his size, but he has quickly erased any concerns with that. His route running for a rookie is exceptional. He’s always getting a ton of separation on his routes. I think there’s a lot of untapped potential for Olave going forward if we can get a better deep ball throwing QB as he has shown a great ability to get open deep, but hasn’t had a QB that has been able to cash in on those chances much this year. Should be a top 10 caliber WR for years to come.

 

#19 Trevor Penning He injured his foot in training camp and has only recently been able to get some reps. Hard to gauge him at this point with such a small sample size. One thing that has been evident in the few reps he has gotten is that he can be an absolute mauler in the run game (used mostly in jumbo sets). He’s erased some defenders run blocking. Not sure where he’s at yet in terms of his pass blocking. He should be our starter next year at LT.

 

#49 Alontae Taylor This was a pick that left a lot of Saints fans scratching their heads on draft day as he was projected to go a bit later on many draft sites. However, it’s hard to argue with the results so far in his rookie season. He’s a bit grabby at times and has been flagged a few times for it, but other than that he’s been very good in coverage. He’s also shown he’s not afraid to get physical in the run game and some “pop” to him when he tackles ball carriers. Will be competing for our #2 CB spot next year.

 

#161 D’Marco Jackson He unfortunately was placed on IR after an injury in training camp, so he didn’t really get a chance to show what he can do during his rookie season.

 

#194 Jordan Jackson Waived before the season started.

 

UDFA Rashid Shaheed It seems our front office really has a knack for finding these diamond in the rough players. Rashid got a chance to play about halfway through the season. His first 2 touches in the NFL were 40+ yard touchdowns. As the season has gone on he has gone from an explosive deep threat that might get worked in for a couple reps per game to our #2 WR. He has probably been the biggest surprise to our season. To my knowledge he hasn’t had a drop yet and despite having an average of 18.2 yards per catch, he has an excellent catch percentage of 83.3%. He’s averaged about 70 receiving yards per game over his past 5 games. He has really shown some flashes as of late to be a quality WR. Assuming he can keep this up our WR room could look pretty solid for next year with Chris Olave, Michael Thomas, Rashid Shaheed, and Jarvis Landry.

Edited January 4, 2023 by tyler735

[jebrick]

35 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Pretty much.  I'm just not sure why he's not starting now.  Reps are valuable for project type players, especially in meaningless games (like against the Cowboys).  But yeah, the biggest problem the Titans have right now (and they have a lot) is Todd Downing.  If they bring in someone else who will actually scheme to Malik's strengths, he might turn into something.  But right now, it doesn't look like the Titans have the capability or willingness to do that, and since projects usually don't pan out, the situation just stacks the deck even more in that direction.

The Titans need to win and do not trust his abilities over a vet who has not had a snap in 2 years.  He is a perfect example of a QB that needs the off season or more practice ( that the CBA has banned).  If he can fix his mechanics so he is more accurate.  They have to hope he will buckle down and work all off season, every day, on improving.

[Daniel]

2 minutes ago, jebrick said:

The Titans need to win and do not trust his abilities over a vet who has not had a snap in 2 years.  He is a perfect example of a QB that needs the off season or more practice ( that the CBA has banned).  If he can fix his mechanics so he is more accurate.  They have to hope he will buckle down and work all off season, every day, on improving.

Yeah, and that’s one of the philosophical problems. A win just means getting bounced by 30 in the first round of the playoffs while getting a draft pick 12 spots lower. Meaningless victory.

But I get that, and I mostly meant the Cowboys game, which was 100 percent meaningless.

[Jeezla]

How was Ikem Ekwonu for CAR? I was so confident he would be good.

[Scoundrel]

1 hour ago, Jeezla said:

How was Ikem Ekwonu for CAR? I was so confident he would be good.

3 sacks in his first two games then went on a 10 game streak of allowing no sacks and then has allowed 3 in his last four games. He has some development he still needs to do and penalties (13) were his biggest issue. The potential is there just needs to clean things up. 25 pressures on 531 pass blocking snaps. Only one of those that was not the 6 sacks was a hit on the QB.

[Jeezla]

42 minutes ago, Scoundrel said:

3 sacks in his first two games then went on a 10 game streak of allowing no sacks and then has allowed 3 in his last four games. He has some development he still needs to do and penalties (13) were his biggest issue. The potential is there just needs to clean things up. 25 pressures on 531 pass blocking snaps. Only one of those that was not the 6 sacks was a hit on the QB.

Was he good at run blocking?

[Scoundrel]

Just now, Jeezla said:

Was he good at run blocking?

Actually not that great compared to how he was in college