The Offense
Quarterbacks
| QBs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Deshaun Watson | Mitch Trubisky | Patrick Mahomes |
| HOU | CHI | KC |
| 1st Round | 1st Round | 1st Round |
Despite only playing less than half a season, Deshaun Watson showed Houston they have a QB of the future. 2 of Watson’s most impressive performances came in Week 4 against against the Titans, where he completed 73.5% of his passes and scored 5 total TDs during a 57-14 routing, and in Week 7 against the vaunted Seahawks defense, where he threw for 402 yards and 3 TDs while adding 67 yards on the ground. Watson finished the season with the 3rd best passer rating for QBs with at least 5 starts. Trubisky showed some flashes that he could be a good QB in this league, but Chicago will need to see a lot more of him in his sophomore season. His best performance came in a week 13 win against the Bengals where he completed 78% of his passes for 271 yards and a touchdown, adding a second TD on the ground. Mahomes rounds out the group for his potential, as the Chiefs deal Alex Smith to the Redskins and prepare to give him his shot in 2018.
Running Backs
| RBs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kareem Hunt | Alvin Kamara | Leonard Fournette |
| KC | NO | JAX |
| 3rd Round | 3rd Round | 1st Round |
| Christian McCaffrey | Dalvin Cook | |
| CAR | MIN | |
| 1st Round | 2nd Round |
Hunt and Kamara make up the 1a & 1b of this running back group. Hunt came out the gates on fire last year, putting up his best game of the season in week 1 against the Patriots. Hunt had 246 yards from scrimmage and 3 TDs in the Chiefs win. He went on to have over 100 yards from scrimmage in each of his first 7 games. Things slowed down for him in the middle of the season, but he picked it up again in week 13 to go on to lead the league in rushing with 1,327 yards. Kamara, on the other hand, started out slow, but really finished strong as the Saints figured out how to use Kamara and veteran Mark Ingram together. Kamara’s most productive game came in a week 11 loss to the Panthers where he rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown and received for 101 yards and a touchdown. Kamara finished 3rd among all rookies in receiving yards. Fournette finished with just over a 1000 rushing yards for the Jaguars in the 13 games he played. His best performance came in a week 5 beat down of the Steelers where he rushed for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns. McCaffrey showed some success in the passing game for the Panthers, but will need to progress his run game in 2018. His best performance came in week 14 against the Packers where he had 136 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. We finish the group with Dalvin Cook. Cook started off the season with a 127 yard performance against the Saints. He looked impressive until going out with an ACL injury in week 4. We’ll have to see how he can bounce back from that injury.
Wide Receivers
| WRs | ||
|---|---|---|
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | Cooper Kupp | Keelan Cole |
| PIT | LAR | JAX |
| 2nd Round | 3rd Round | UDFA |
| Kenny Golladay | Ryan Switzer | |
| DET | DAL | |
| 3rd Round | 4th Round |
JuJu Smith-Schuster pulled in an impressive 58 catches for 917 and 7 TDs for the Pittsburgh Steelers. More impressively, according to Pro Football Focus, his quarterback had a passer rating of 134.0 when targeting Smith-Schuster. This was best among WRs for 2017 and best by a rookie ever. His best performances were in week 8 against the Lions where he caught 7 passes for 193 yards and a TD, and in week 17 against the Browns where JuJu caught 9 balls for 143 yards and a TD, and added another TD on a kick return. Next is an FCU alum, from Eastern Washington, Cooper Kupp. Kupp was a consistent presence for the Rams, catching 62 passes for 869 yards and 5 TDs. His best performance came in a week 14 loss to the Eagles, where Kupp caught 5 passes for 118 yards and a TD. Next we come to our first UDFA of the roster, and only UDFA of the non-specialsts, the Jaguars’ Keelan Cole. Cole didn’t have much of a presence early in the season, but exploded in the last few weeks. He finished 2nd in the league for yards/receptions (min. 20 rec.) His best performance came in week 15 against the Texans where he caught 7 passes for 186 yards and a TD. We round the WRs out with Kenny Golladay. Golladay was the big play threat for the Lions. His best performance of the season came in the first game of the season against the Cardinals where he caught 4 balls for 69 yards and 2 TDs. Lastly we have our kick returner of the roster, Ryan Switzer. Switzer led all rookies in kick return yardage, and yardage/return (min 12 rts).
Tight Ends
| TEs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Evan Engram | OJ Howard | George Kittle |
| NYG | TB | SF |
| 1st Round | 1st Round | 5th Round |
Evan Engram finished top 5 for all tight ends in receiving yards in 2017 with 722. His best performance came in a week 13 loss to Oakland where he caught 7 of 8 targets for 99 yards and a touchdown. Engram looks to be a big part of the Giants offense going forward. Next is the Buccaneers’ OJ Howard. Howard tied Engram for most touchdowns by a rookie tight end this season with 6, as well as having the best yards per reception average in the league for tight ends (min 25 rec.). His best performance came in a narrow loss to the Bills in week 7. Howard caught 6 of 6 targets for 98 yards and 2 TDs. We round out the tight ends with the 49ers George Kittle. Kittle was the biggest surprise of the bunch, being a 5th round pick and finishing with the second most yards for rookie tight ends with 515. His best performance of the season came with Brian Hoyer under center in a week 5 loss to the Colts where Kittle had 7 receptions for 83 yards and a TD. But it should also be noted that, in the final game of the season with new QB Jimmy Garappolo under center, Kittle caught 4 passes for 100 yards. We’ll see if that relationship continues to develop going into next season.
Offensive Line
| OL | ||
|---|---|---|
| T Ryan Ramczyk | T Cam Robinson | G Dan Feeney |
| NO | JAX | LAC |
| 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round |
| G Wes Schweitzer | C Pat Elfein | T Dion Dawkins |
| ATL | MIN | BUF |
| 6th Round | 3rd Round | 2nd Round |
| T Garett Bolles | G Ethan Pocic | C Chase Roullier |
| DEN | SEA | WAS |
| 1st Round | 2nd Round | 6th Round |
We’ll start the offensive line off on the outside with the Saints’ Ryan Ramczyk. Ramczyk came in right away and proved himself to be a solid right tackle for New Oreleans. Drew Brees was sacked the 2nd least amount of times (20) for QBs that played all 16 games. Starting opposite him in this Best 53 roster is the Jaguars’ Cam Robinson. Robinson was considered by some to be the best tackle in the draft, but he fell to the early second round to Jacksonville. They plugged him in at left tackle and he helped Jacksonville all the way to the AFC Championship game. QB Blake Bortles was only sacked 24 times, a drop from 34 the year prior, with only 2 of those sacks being given up by Robinson. Next is the Bills’ Dion Dawkins. Dawkins is the lowest draft pick out of the tackles on this list. He started 11 games for the Bills as LT Cordy Glenn battled injuries. Dawkins received the 2nd highest grade for rookie tackles by Pro Football Focus. Last is the Broncos Garrett Bolles. Bolles was the first offensive lineman selected in the draft and started all 16 games for Denver at left tackle. We now move inside to the guards and start things off with the Chargers Dan Feeney. Feeney made his first start in week 8, coming in for the injured Matt Slauson. The Chargers rushing attacked improved from 79.1 yards/game to 115.7 yards/game with Feeney in the mix. Next is the Falcons’ Wes Schweitzer. Schweitzer was a 6th round pick by Atlanta, and earned the starting right guard spot where he started all 16 games. He struggled early in the season, but settled into a groove as the season went along. The Falcons now have a guard spot set for the next 5-10 years and they got him in the 6th round. Next is the Seahawks’ Ethan Pocic. Pocic was a solid contributor on a Seattle oline that had really stuggled in the year prior. He started 11 games for the Seahawks and looks to be a solid starter for them going forward. Lastly we move to the anchor of the offensive line, the center. Our starting center for this roster is the Vikings’ Pat Elfein. Elfein was a 3rd round pick for Minnesota and started 14 games. He helped the Vikings to a top 10 rushing attack and an offensive line that only allow 27 sacks on the season. Our last offensive lineman of this roster is also our lowest draft pick of the bunch, the Redskins’ 6th round pick, Chase Roullier. I was high on Roullier out of Wyoming, and if you want to see his impact there, just look at Josh Allen from 2016 to 2017. Roullier earned the backup center position for the Redskins during training camp, and ended up seeing significant playing time after the Redskins offensive line was decimated with injuries. While he struggle some at first, Roullier showed he can be a solid, starting-caliber center for years to come.
The Defense
Defensive Line
| DL | ||
|---|---|---|
| Myles Garrett | Derek Barnett | Dalvin Tomlinson |
| CLE | PHI | NYG |
| 1st Round | 1st Round | 2nd Round |
| Davon Godchaux | Tak McKinley | Solomon Thomas |
| MIA | ATL | SF |
| 5th Round | 1st Round | 1st Round |
| Eddie Vanderoes | Deatrich Wise | |
| OAK | NE | |
| 3rd Round | 4th Round |
We start the defensive line out with the number 1 overall pick, Myles Garrett. Garrett dealt with injuries during the season, but made 9 starts for the Browns, amassing 7 sacks, the most among rookie defensive lineman. When he is healthy and on the field, you can tell Garrett is going to be a dominating presence for Cleveland for years to come. He showed that in his first appearance with the Browns, where he had 2 sacks against the Jets. Next is the Eagles Derek Barnett. While Barnett did not start a game for Philadelphia, he was a solid contributor, collecting 5 sacks and a forced fumble. He will be a solid role player for the Eagles. Next is another player that didn’t make any starts for their team but was also a solid contributor, the Falcons’ Tak McKinley. McKinley had the second most sacks among rookie d-lineman with 6, and added 2 forced fumbles. He also added a sack in each of the Falcons’ playoff games. Next is the 49ers’ Solomon Thomas. Thomas didn’t quite have the season you would hope for from the 3rd overall pick, but he did contribute 3 sacks starting in 12 games for San Francisco. Rounding out the defensive ends is the Patriots Deatrich Wise. Wise had 5 sacks playing in all 16 games for the Patriots. His best performance though came in the divisional round of the playoffs against the Titans where he sacked Marcus Mariota twice. We then move inside to the defensive tackle position with the Giants’ Dalvin Tomlinson. Tomlinson was a solid contributor for New York, starting in all 16 games. His best performance came in the final game of the season where the Giants’ held the Redskins to 197 total yards, with only 61 yards coming on the ground. The final 2 defensive lineman were both solid contributors for their teams, the Dolphins’ Davon Godchaux and the Raiders’ Eddie Vanderdoes.
Linebackers
| LBs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Reuben Foster | Zach Cunningham | TJ Watt |
| SF | HOU | PIT |
| 1st Round | 2nd Round | 1st Round |
| Carl Lawson | Jarrad Davis | Haason Reddick |
| CIN | DET | ARI |
| 4th Round | 1st Round | 1st Round |
| Kendell Beckwith | Ben Gedeon | |
| TB | MIN | |
| 3rd Round | 4th Round |
We’ll start the linebackers off on the outside with the Steelers’ TJ Watt. Watt started 15 games for Pittsburgh at OLB, recording 7 sacks and an interception. His best performance came in his first game where he recorded 5 tackles, 2 sacks, and an interception against the Browns. Next is the Bengals’ Carl Lawson. While most have Lawson listed as a defensive end, the Bengals officially have him listed as an OLB, say I have him here. Regardless, he proved himself to be the best pass rusher out of the bunch. Lawson led all rookies with 8.5 sacks on the season. 2.5 of those sacks came against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in week 3. Next is the Cardinals’ Haason Reddick. Reddick finished out the season with 2.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Injuries prevented the Cardinals from really seeing where Reddick fit into the defense, but we are interested to see what new head coach Steve Wilks has in store. Our next OLB is the Vikings’ Ben Gedeon. Gedeon started 9 games at will backer for Minnesota, recording 37 tackles. Next we have the Buccaneers’ Kendell Beckwith. Beckwith started 11 games for the Bucs at the sam backer position. He totaled 73 tackles, 1 sack, 2 pass deflections, and a forced fumble. We now move to the inside backers and start off with the 49ers’ Reuben Foster. Foster amassed 72 tackles starting in 10 games for San francisco. His best performance coming in a week 9 loss to the Cardinals where he made 13 tackles. Injuries and off the field issues are the only thing keeping Foster from becomind a perennial Pro Bowler. Next is the Texans’ Zach Cunningham. Cunningham started 13 games for Houston, collecting 82 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 6 pass deflections, and a forced fumble. The Texans moved on from veteran ILB Brian Cushing, showing they are ready to move forward with Cunningham on the inside. Rounding out the linebackers we have the Lions’ Jarrad Davis. Davis started 14 games for Detriot and totaled 96 tackles, 2 sack, and interception, and a forced fumble. Davis looks to be a vital part in new head coach Matt Patricia’s defense.
Cornerbacks
| CBs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Marshon Lattirmore | Tre'Davious White | Adoree' Jackson |
| NO | BUF | TEN |
| 1st Round | 1st Round | 1st Round |
| Jamal Agnew | ||
| DET | ||
| 5th Round |
The corners might just be the most impressive group of the bunch. We start off with the Defensive Rookie of the Year, Marshon Lattimore. Lattimore started 13 games for the Saints, earning Pro Bowl honors. He also led all rookies with 5 interceptions, taking one back for a touchdown. Opposite him is the Bills Tre’Davious White. White was the highest graded rookie corner and 2nd highest graded corner overall by Pro Football Focus. He started all 16 games for Buffalo, collecting 69 tackles, 4 interceptions, 18 pass deflections, 1 forced fumble, and 2 fumble recoveries, one going for a touchdown. Next is fellow 1st-round pick Adoree’ Jackson. Jackson started all 16 games for the Titans, where he broke up 17 passes and forced 3 fumbles, and served as the teams primary punt and secondary kick returner. We round out the corners with this rosters starting punt returner, Jamal Agnew. Agnew earned 1st-team All-Pro honors leading the NFL in punt return yards, average, and touchdowns.
Safeties
| Ss | ||
|---|---|---|
| Jamal Adams | Marcus Williams | Budda Baker |
| NYJ | NO | ARI |
| 1st Round | 2nd Round | 2nd Round |
| Eddie Jackson | John Johnson | |
| CHI | LAR | |
| 4th Round | 3rd Round |
We start the safeties out with the Jets’ Jamal Adams. The high draft pick started all 16 games for New York, recording 81 tackles, 2 sacks, 6 pass deflection, and a forced fumble. He looks to become a perennial Pro Bowler for the Jets. Next is the Saints’ Marcus Williams. The 2nd-round pick started 15 games for New Orleans, where he amassed 71 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 7 pass deflections. His great rookie season has been overshadowed though by his missed tackle on Stefon Diggs in the playoffs in what has been dubbed the “Minnesota Miracle.” Next is the Cardinals’ Budda Baker. Baker earned both Pro Bowl and All Pro honors this year as the special teams contributor. Outside of Baker’s special teams contributions, where he had the most special teams tackles in the league, he also started 7 games at SS. Next is the Bears’ Eddie Jackson. The 4th-round pick stepped in and started all 16 games for Chicago. He totaled 70 tackles, 2 interceptions, 6 pass deflections, and a forced fumble on the season. His best performance of the season came in a week 7 win against the Panthers where Jackson took a fumble recovery back 75 yards for a touchdown, then followed it up with an interception of Cam Newton that he returned back 76 yards for a touchdown. He became the first player in NFL history to record 2 defensive touchdowns of at least 75 yards in a game. We round out the defense with the most generic name of the roster, John Johnson. The Rams’ 3rd-round pick started 11 games at safety where he recorded 71 tackles, 11 pass deflections, and an interception.
Specialists and Head Coach
| ST | ||
|---|---|---|
| K Harrison Butker | P Rigoberto Sanchez | LS Thomas Hennessy |
| KC | IND | NYJ |
| 7th Round | UDFA | UDFA |
| Head Coach | Sean McVay | LAR |
Our starting kicker of this all-rookie roster is the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker. Butker posted a 90.5% field goal percentage, including going 4/5 from 50+, and converted all 28 of his extra point attempts. It is also worth noting the Eagles’ rookie kicker, Jake Elliott. Elliott struggled with accuracy at times (which is why Butker edges him out for the kicker spot on this roster), but his clutch 61 yard, game-winning field goal against the rival Giants is worth mentioning here. Our starting punter for this group is the Colts’ Rigoberto Sanchez. Sanchez had the 4th best net yards/punt average (42.6) in the league. We round out the specialists with our long snapper, the Jets’ Thomas Hennessy. It is tough to judge what makes the best long snapper, but Hennessy was the only rookie long snapper to play in all 16 games for his team, so he gets the nod here.
The leader of this all-rookie roster is of course the one who won Coach of the Year in his first season, Sean McVay. The young, and I mean young, the guy just turned 32, coach showed that his offensive genius was not to be understated. He helped turn Jared Goff from what looked to be a certain bust, to a young QB with potential. It will be interesting to see how he builds on year 2.
The Starting 22
| Offense | |
|---|---|
| QB | Deshaun Watson |
| RB | Kareem Hunt |
| RB | Alvin Kamara |
| Z | JuJu Smith-Schuster |
| X | Cooper Kupp |
| TE | Evan Engram |
| LT | Cam Robinson |
| LG | Dan Feeney |
| C | Pat Elfein |
| RG | Wes Schweitzer |
| RT | Ryan Ramczyk |
| Defense | |
|---|---|
| DE | Myles Garrett |
| NT | Dalvin Tomlinson |
| DE | Derek Barnett |
| Sam | Carl Lawson |
| Mike | Reuben Foster |
| Will | Zach Cunningham |
| Jack | TJ Watt |
| CB | Marshon Lattimore |
| CB | Tre'Davious White |
| SS | Jamal Adams |
| FS | Marcus Williams |