End of Season Rookie Report

[onejayhawk]

This is a tad early but a holiday weekend is a good time to reassess.

Chiefs 

• #31 Felix Anudike-Uzomah Edge, KSTATE - Coming along slowly but there are good reports from the coaches. Still a possible elite Edge.
• #55 Rashee Rice WR, SMU - By far the biggest impact. Holds the franchise rookie records for receptions and TDs with two games still to play.
• #92 Wanya Morris OT, OU - One start and some fill-in work. Looking like a possible longtime starter.
• #119 Chamarri Conner S, VaTech - Impact ST player and now getting regular snaps due to injuries. 
• #166 BJ Thompson Edge, SFA - Injured
• #194 Keondre Coburn DL, UT - PS The player he was drafted to push has stepped up
• #250 Nic Jones CB, Ball ST - Another ST player. Doing well for a 7th-round pick but he's no Jaylen Watson. 

Overall a solid draft with no busts and four likely starters. It lacks the impact of last year's obnoxiously good draft but this is the sort of draft quality franchises are built upon. 

Update: Morris gets his second start in week #17 vs LV Raiders. It's not pretty. 

 

 Quote

Edited December 28, 2023 by onejayhawk

[TitanSlim]

For the Titans

1)Peter Skoronski-Has been solid for most of the year. Has had some struggles recently. The problem is he’s between the worst LT situation in the league and an undersized center who constantly needs help pass blocking. Overall you’d probably want a little better play from a guard if you’re picking him 11th but I don’t have too big an issue with him: B-

2)Will Levis-Started once Tannehill got hurt. Has had highs and lows but overall more highs than low. Been more impressed with him than I expected entering the year and has clearly shown to be the QB for 2024 and hopefully beyond: B+

3)Tyjae Spears-The star of this draft class. Has been heaven sent for our offense. Dynamic with the ball in his hands and honestly has been better than Derrick Henry this season. Hopefully will get the starting/bigger role next season: A

5)Josh Whyle-Has shown some flashes but has battled injuries throughout the year. Overall a “meh” pick but I think he’ll be a decent weapon down the road: C

6)Jaelyn Duncan-So remember I said our LT situation is the worst in the league, yeah…Because of injuries and incompetence at the position Duncan has been thrust into the starting spot recently. It’s been a struggle. May turn out to be a decent swing tackle down the road but right now doesn’t look like a starter, at least at LT anyway. He’s a 6th rounder though, so I don’t know how good he was expected to be anyway in his first year: D

7)Colton Dowell-Has been mostly a special teamer this year and is actually pretty good there. With injuries at WR, should get a chance to show something there these last few games of the year. Overall not much more you could ask for a 7th rounder this early: B

Overall grade: (B-)-Levis alone could turn this into a A+ draft if he becomes our franchise QB. Early on, it’s a nice starting point for this draft class and has potential to really set the tone for the next era of Titans football.

[NYRaider]

Raiders

1 (7) - Tyree Wilson: Has been super disappointing this year due to a lack of burst/bend and basically zero pass rush moves. He has shown some signs of progress after we moved him inside to DT, which may be his best spot long term, but taking him over Carter was a huge mistake. Grade: D

2 (35) - Michael Mayer: He hasn't had a great year statistically but the flashes have been there and he has gotten better as the season has gone on. He looks like he has the potential to be one of the better TE's in the league if he can continue to develop. Grade: B

3 (70) - Byron Young: I'm not even sure if he's currently on the team because he has made literally zero impact all season. The learning curve can be steep for young defensive linemen but most good ones will at least show flashes. He has been invisble all year and was a reach when we took him. Grade: F- 

3 (100) - Tre Tucker: The speed is obviously there and he made some big time plays last week against the Chargers but overall he hasn't made much of an impact. It was a reach on draft day and it has looked that way this year as he has been buried on the depth chart all year. Grade: C-

4 (104) - Jakorian Bennett: Began the season as a starter opposite of Marcus Peters but his role has gotten smaller and smaller as the year has gone on even with the departure of Peters. He looks the part but he is super grabby in coverage and got beat quite a bit which led to his benching, might be a depth piece going forward. Grade: C-

4 (135) - Aidan O'Connell - Has been up and down since he took over as the starter but that's to be expected from a mid-round rookie. I don't think he has the tools to be a full time starter and he's already hella old but he looks like a guy that will be a high end backup / spot starter for a while. Grade: B

Our other three picks Chris Smith, Nesta Jade Silveria, and Amari Burley have made zero impact and I'm not even sure if any of them are on the team at this point so three more Fs. 

I'll give the class overall a D grade.

[cp0k2]

Detroit Lions

#12 - Jahmyr Gibbs - Started slow much to the chagrin of the fantasy football community but has proven to be the big-play weapon Brad Holmes said he was. Grade: A

#18 - Jack Campbell - Has played a lot of Special Teams and has been worked into the defense slowly. His physical traits haven't translated to pro production as of yet. Grade: D+

#34 - Sam LaPorta - 71 rec 758 yards 9 TDs through 14 games. Is a better blocker than advertised as well. Grade: A+

#45 - Brian Branch - Started his career off with a bang and has been a difference maker when he's on the field. Missed two games and parts of two more with injury. Grade: A

#68 - Hendon Hooker - Elevated to the active roster this week after spending the season rehabbing a torn ACL. He was drafted for the future. Grade: Incomplete

#96 - Brodric Martin - Has been inactive for all but three games. The interior Defensive line needs help so it's concerning he has been a healthy scratch so much. Grade: F

#152 - Colby Sorsdal - Has started three games due to injuries and performed well against Las Vegas, was serviceable against Chicago, and was terrible against Green Bay on Thanksgiving leading to him being benched. Grade: C-

#219 - Antoine Green - Has only been targeted twice on Offense this season. Has played a higher percentage of snaps on Special Teams. About what you'd expect out of 7th rounder. Grade: C

[onejayhawk]

Please post the team.

It's not hard to figure out based on the picks but we should not need to at all.

Edited January 1 by onejayhawk

[Louis Friend]

On 12/23/2023 at 8:14 PM, cp0k2 said:

Detroit Lions

#12 - Jahmyr Gibbs - Started slow much to the chagrin of the fantasy football community but has proven to be the big-play weapon Brad Holmes said he was. Grade: A

#18 - Jack Campbell - Has played a lot of Special Teams and has been worked into the defense slowly. His physical traits haven't translated to pro production as of yet. Grade: D+

#34 - Sam LaPorta - 71 rec 758 yards 9 TDs through 14 games. Is a better blocker than advertised as well. Grade: A+

#45 - Brian Branch - Started his career off with a bang and has been a difference maker when he's on the field. Missed two games and parts of two more with injury. Grade: A

#68 - Hendon Hooker - Elevated to the active roster this week after spending the season rehabbing a torn ACL. He was drafted for the future. Grade: Incomplete

#96 - Brodric Martin - Has been inactive for all but three games. The interior Defensive line needs help so it's concerning he has been a healthy scratch so much. Grade: F

#152 - Colby Sorsdal - Has started three games due to injuries and performed well against Las Vegas, was serviceable against Chicago, and was terrible against Green Bay on Thanksgiving leading to him being benched. Grade: C-

#219 - Antoine Green - Has only been targeted twice on Offense this season. Has played a higher percentage of snaps on Special Teams. About what you'd expect out of 7th rounder. Grade: C

D+ for Campbell seems very harsh. He’s not stuffing the stat sheet but he’s played well while not outstanding. 75 tackles 1 sack 4 TFL 1 PD, played much better when playing MLb with Anzalone out. B-/C+ seems much more suitable. 

[cp0k2]

2 hours ago, Louis Friend said:

D+ for Campbell seems very harsh. He’s not stuffing the stat sheet but he’s played well while not outstanding. 75 tackles 1 sack 4 TFL 1 PD, played much better when playing MLb with Anzalone out. B-/C+ seems much more suitable. 

I don't think he's a bad player, but he was the 18th overall pick at a spot Detroit needs better play from. I think he'll get better and his grade will be higher when everyone looks back in a few years, but as of right now an average first rounder would get a C and I feel he's performed below that thus far. 

[General Tso]

3 hours ago, Louis Friend said:

D+ for Campbell seems very harsh. He’s not stuffing the stat sheet but he’s played well while not outstanding. 75 tackles 1 sack 4 TFL 1 PD, played much better when playing MLb with Anzalone out. B-/C+ seems much more suitable. 

 

1 hour ago, cp0k2 said:

I don't think he's a bad player, but he was the 18th overall pick at a spot Detroit needs better play from. I think he'll get better and his grade will be higher when everyone looks back in a few years, but as of right now an average first rounder would get a C and I feel he's performed below that thus far. 

in JC's defense, none of the defensive players drafted behind him have lit the world on fire either.

[jebrick]

Broderick Jones - Starting at RT.  Immediately became the best OT on the line.  Still needs to work on technique but very good at a position that he did not play in college.  i expect him to be starting LT next year. Grade: A

Joey Porter Jr. - Has been one of the best rookie CBs this year.  A lockdown CB.  I think he allows only 39% completion.  Still much better at press man than zone but we are hopeful. Grade A+

Keeanu Benton - Starting at NT.  Very good playing a 3 tech style.  Not much of a run stuffer. Grade B+

Darnell Washington - #2 TE.  Very good run blocker.  Needs work on his patterns but solid.  If nothing else, he will be a fine RT. Grade B

Nick Herbig - Subs for Highsmith at times.  Explosive edge rusher. Grade B

Cory Trice Jr - injured in training camp.  was looking good so we have high hopes.  Grade INC

Spencer Anderson - Has worked at OG, Center and OT.  Given time I think he can be a good utility Olineman.  Grade C

 

One of the best draft classes we have had in a long time.

 

[Sugashane]

RT Darnell Wright: A

Wright has been a mauler in the pass game and rock solid after a rough start. He had some signature games against some of the best EDGE in the league.

 

DT Gervon Dexter, Florida: B+

I always say DTs need 2 seasons to acclimate usually because they're no longer the genetic freaks they're use to being  Dexter was played sparingly early on for whatever reason but has a passrush win rate that rivals Carter. 

 

CB Tyrique Stevenson: B+

Stevens on is aggressive and gets burned sometimes but that was what you saw in college too. Guy has improved a lot through the season and is way better vs the run than I saw in college.   Still a lot of room to improve but I could see him across from Johnson and Gordon for years.

 

DT Zacch Pickens, South Carolina: B-  

Same as Dexter he needs time to adjust and to get reps. He has flashed some recently.

 

RB Roschon Johnson, Texas: A

Bears essentially replaced Monty with another Monty. Hes the best passblocking RB and runs tough as hell. Doesnt have a ton of breakaway speed but hes a solid option.

 

WR Tyler Scott, Cincinnati: C

Scott has made little impact, i kind of wish he was used as a scatback on 3rd and long but he hasnt been able to getvreps when theres Moore as the clear one but only Mooney at the 2. WR3 is wide open and he has no competition but still cant claim it.

 

LB Noah Sewell, Oregon: B-

He has Edmunds, Edwards and Sanborn ahead of him. He won't see the field without injuries  But a solid depth piece in case Edwards wouldn't have been kept. 

 

CB Terell Smith, Minnesota: A

A guy picked this late has been making plays and looking competent out there. Way more physical than I thought he would be. I'd be damn happy if the Bears cut EJax and moved him to FS.

 

 

This is higher than I had guessed I'd have rated them initially. It looks like a really good draft so far and has been Poles' best easily.

[Daniel]

Titans:

1. Peter Skoronski: he’s been a mediocre guard, which in my opinion, is not a good return on investment at pick 11. Could have taken Broderick Jones or Anton Harrison here and gotten better play at a more valuable position or traded down a whole round to take one of the other guards and pick up a ton of draft capital. Does look like he’s gonna be a good guard down the road though. C-

2. Will Levis: I was very wrong about him. He’s not proven to be a franchise QB yet, but he’s looked good in a lot of moments, and for a second rounder, it’s looking good. A-

3. Tyjae Spears: Fantastic, but his use has been limited by Derrick Henry still being around. A

5. Josh Whyle: Had some moments. About what you expect from a rookie 5th round TE. C+

6. Jaelyn Duncan: Becamethe starting left tackle for a minute because everyone else was terrible. Was also terrible, but not really worse than the others. C+

7. Colton Dowell: He made the team and did get some playing time. C

[Superduperman]

#12 - Jahmyr Gibbs - Over 1000 yds from scrimmage already, very good shot at 1000+ rushing yards. Most runs of 20+ yards in the league. I didn't even realize he has 51 catches. Grade: A+

#18 - Jack Campbell - Not an instant star but has been a solid part of the roster all season, has made a reasonable number of plays if not a lot of impact. To answer what's been said here, if you really look at what the true average is of what first-round rookies do in their first years, including all the busts, Campbell is above that, though maybe not far above. Grade: B-

#34 - Sam LaPorta - Already a top-5 TE in the league, best one out of the '23 draft, and also the best Lions TE draft pick in 50 years. Grade: A+

#45 - Brian Branch - Knack for big plays. As the season has gone on, he's given up a few things here and there, but he obviously has mad game. Grade: A-

#68 - Hendon Hooker - Grade: Incomplete

#96 - Brodric Martin - Hasn't done anything of note yet. Recent development of guys like Derrick Barnes and Melifonwu give me justified optimism that he'll show up in some future season. Grade: D

#152 - Colby Sorsdal - A fifth-round pick from East B******* State who starts three games at positions he wasn't drafted to play and plays OK deserves better than a C. Grade: C+

#219 - Antoine Green - Hasn't done enough to really earn a grade. I suspect he may never do much with the team. Grade: C-

Edited December 29, 2023 by Superduperman

[lavar703]

Round 1:Emmanuel Forbes- Might genuinely be the worst football player I've ever seen. They didn't play him but 6 plays last week and he still managed to get a penalty and give up a TD. It's honestly unbelievable how bad he is to the point that I think our staff is the problem. F

Round 2: Jaquan Martin- Barely played this year. They kept him on the bench for some reason and then when he got on the field he didn't do much. D

Round 3: Ricky Stromberg- Played a few snaps halfway into the season and got hurt. I have no clue how he got hurt? Incomplete

Round 4: Braeden Daniels- Was so bad in preseason that instead of cutting him they found an injury and put him on season long IR F

Round 5: KJ Henry- Well they somehow got this one right. He's explosive and is often in the other teams backfield. Might actually replace Chase Young effectively B+

Round 6: Chris Rodriquez- Pretty good back. Not great but he's sort of a poor mans James Conner. C

Round 7: Andre Jones- Was tasked him helping to replace Sweat and Young. Was a healthy scratch last week and is already 25-years old. A classic Rivera senior citizen draft choice D

Rivera has had some bad draft classes since taking over and probably every single one of his drafts have been piss poor but this one takes the cake. It is genuinely awful made worse by the fact Forbes might not be an NFL player. 

Edited December 29, 2023 by lavar703

[Forge]

49ers: 

#87  Ji'Ayir Brown: He's got some promising ball skills. 2 Ints in limited starts after Hufanga went down. Good instincts in that regard make up for him not being the best athlete ever. That said, he's not a great tackler. Can take some bad angles and in space, one on one, he's had some rough moments trying to bring people down. But I think there's a future starter there. 

#99 Jake Moody: It doesn't matter how he's doing. Don't take a kicker with the 99th pick. It's stupid. But he seems fine. He's missed three kicks this year, 2 of which were in the same game in less than optimal conditions (Hopkins also missed one in that game). He missed that game winner from in close which really sucks, but he's perfect on Xps and he's hit from as far as 57, so at least they seem to have taken a good kicker at the pick. 

#101 Cameron Latu: A pick that was possibly hated more than Moody. I mean, at least the Moody pick I understand. Needed a kicker, they took the guy most people thought was the best in class. Still stupid, but I get it. Latu was like a late day 3 prospect that I think a lot of people had rated lower than the TE they took in the 7th round. Unsurprisingly, he sucked all camp and off season. Like really bad. Couldn't catch a damn thing. Eventually they just IR'd him for the season, probably because he wasn't one of the 5 best tight end on the roster or one of the top 53 players and they knew they couldn't just waive him. This is the Joe Williams career path. He'll have one more shot next year to make the team, but if he's not very good, I'm not going to be surprised if he's kicked to the curb. We've seen them jettison third round picks a year later with Trey Sermon and TDP, and Joe Williams met the same fate after going the IR route (wow, stop drafting running backs). 

#155 Darrell Luter: He was on Pup for most of the year and just came back a few weeks ago. Hasn't really gotten in to play besides some mop up duty in the Arizona and Seattle games. 

#173 Robert Beal: Spent most of the year on Pup, I think he just got his first action in mop up duty like 2 weeks ago. 

#216 Dee Winters: Made the roster out of camp, spent early season inactive. Has gotten some minor mop up duty here and there, only played about 40 snaps. His speed will play in coverage at this level provided he has the aptitude for it. 

#247 Brayden Willis: I think a lot of people liked him more than Latu. Slightly more versatile as I could see him taking an H back role as well. He made the roster out of camp, but he was largely the 4th TE. Hasn't played much. 

#253 Ronnie Bell: he's gotten pretty consistent run as being active on gameday, but has only played 135 offensive snaps. Just 5 catches, but 2 Td. He's going to be the next 49er niche, quality role player receiver. First it was Kendrick Bourne, then Jennings. Don't be surprised in 2025 when Bell is catching 25-30 passes but 19 of them on third down for 18 first downs. You've been warned. He's gotten some run as a returner, but that's not his bag. Just doesn't look good at all. But he'll throw some blocks and is competent underneath as a receiver. 

#255 Jalen Graham: He made the team out of camp, but has largely been inactive. He's only been active for 3 games and has yet to play a defensive snap. In the preseason he made several impressive plays, but he appears to be a strictly downhill linebacker. 

[kingseanjohn]

Chiefs

31. Felix Anudike-Uzomah -- I give him a D. Maybe he can put something together in year 2 or 3 but he barely even makes it into the rotation. In the past two months, he's had a combined 2 QB hits and 1 tackle assist.

55. Rashee Rice -- I give him an A. As a rookie in a Reid offense, it isn't a surprise that he started off slow. But he's really come on late and has a legit shot at 1,000yds. I doubt he hits it though. He should continue to develop and get better.

92. Wanya Morris -- I'll give him a B. He's started 3 games now and played in another. He did pretty good against the first 3 teams and struggled against the Raiders. Considering he's a 3rd round rookie, I'd call it a success so far. If he can develop we may have a pretty good LT.

119. Chamarri Conner -- I'll give him a B mostly for ST contributions. But outside of ST he hasn't played a ton. He's been decent enough when called upon though.

166. BJ Thompson -- He gets an F so far. He hasn't played a single snap but he's on the active roster. Maybe he can develop into something, but he hasn't shown it on game days.

194. Keondre Coburn -- He gets a D-. He's been on our practice squad twice now and he's also got claimed twice. Apparently teams see something but he hasn't done anything for anyone. Pretty sure he's a Titan now.

250. Nic Jones -- I'll give him a D. He had some hype in training camp but got hurt. He's been active for 8 games and has only managed 1 tackle. Our CB depth is decent enough though that he could be good but just be buried on the chart.