NFL insider Jason La Canfora’s five rookies to follow in the early stages of the NFL season
Key points
- La Canfora: “Several evaluators told me they felt like Stowers was right there with Oregon TE Kenyon Shadiq, who went in the middle of the first round.”
- One personnel exec called it “the perfect offense,” for Brenen Thompson. Mike McDaniel is going to change the complexion of what had been a plodding attack.
- On Jadarian Price: “I don’t think he dropped a pass at Notre Dame,” one personnel exec told La Canfora. “He will be better as a pro than in college.”
*Jadarian Price runs the ball for Notre Dame; he’s expected to enjoy a breakout year for reigning Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
For all of the pomp and circumstance around the NFL draft, the reality is even most of the players selected in the first-round of the draft will have a fairly pedestrian rookie season.
The jump to becoming a full-time professional is difficult, many players will have to wait things out behind a veteran or try to adjust to a different position or learn a different role. Some are having to fight for a job for the first time, or work their way up the depth chart on special teams. Some are drafted by overwhelmed coaching staff who don’t know what they’re doing or lack the acumen to properly break the rookie in the right way.
Variables abound when it comes to projecting which of these players is going to make the biggest impact in the shortest period of time. But there are some situations that appear to NFL executives to be hand in glove. There are some situations where a quality team has an immediate need this prospect can fill, and these are organizations that have a history of putting young players in position to succeed.
So, sure, everyone will be eagerly awaiting whenever first-overall pick Fernando Mendoza starts his first game at quarterback for the Raiders (it won’t be Week 1!) and it could very well be that one of those receivers selected in the top 20 picks turns out to be an impact player from his first day on the job. But personnel executives are also intrigued by some of these other pairings that could produce fairly profound results and alter the course of their team’s season. If you are looking for potential sleeper fantasy football draft picks, some of these rookies have you covered:
Eli Stowers, TE, Eagles
He isn’t the first pass catcher that the Eagles selected, that would be receiver Makai Lemon, but I can tell you when Stowers got past the Ravens (big need at tight end) with the 45th pick, the Eagles were doing cartwheels. “I don’t know why they didn’t take him, but we were happy as (heck) they didn’t, “ one Eagles source said. Philly pounced in the second round. Stowers won’t be asked to block, just win downfield out of the slot. With veteran deep threat receiver AJ Brown likely to be dealt before training camp, Stowers has a chance to shine. Several evaluators told me they felt like Stowers was right there with Oregon TE Kenyon Shadiq, who went in the middle of the first round. “I’d rather have Stowers where (Eagles general manager) Howie (Roseman) got him than Sadiq where he went,” one longtime personnel exec told me. QB Jalen Hurts is under pressure to push the ball down field more and take more chances, in the final year of guaranteed money in his deal, and he made a change for the better offensive play caller as well.
Brenen Thompson, WR, Chargers
Speed kills, or so they say. In the NFL, it is a game changer and a difference-maker. And world-class speed, with the right set of hands attached to it in the right scheme, with the right play caller dialing things up and with a big-armed and accurate quarterback unleashing the ball, is a recipe for racking up points. Receivers can have a difficult time adapting to the pro game, particularly blocking and picking up a massively expanded play book, but this kid runs a 4.26 40-yard dash and Mike McDaniel is calling his plays. McDaniel understands how to unleash speed and create matchups for these types of players in the air and on the ground (minor free-agent signing RB Keaton Mitchell will be a regular big-play guy in a limited role, watch). McDaniel pounded the table for the Chargers to draft this kid, who is so much more explosive and nimble than the other targets in this offense. One personnel exec called it “the perfect offense,” for Thompson. McDaniel is going to change the complexion of what had been a plodding attack.
Vega Ioane, G, Ravens
There was a massive run on offensive linemen in the first round, and none of them selected between pick 9 and 28. Of all of them, this is the most plug-and-play. Sure, it’s hard to get that excited about a guard, but in many other instances the offensive lineman selected has to adjust to scheme or is being asked to play an unfamiliar position, moving from tackle to guard or guard to center. Ioane is a mountain of a man who fits everything the Ravens do and believe in, he will start from day one and he will make a difference. “He’s an All Pro in the making,” one general manager said. “He will make their offensive line better.” Another personnel exec said he believes Ioane, on pure impact alone regardless of position, merited being a top five pick. The Ravens still need a starting center, but won’t force Ioane into that role.
Justin Joly, TE, Broncos
So Denver didn’t have a full compliment of picks, parting with them to land top receiver Jaylen Waddle from Miami, and this kid wasn’t selected in the top 150. Who cares? Head coach Sean Payton is still designing the offense and this team nearly went to the Super Bowl with a back-up QB last year and Joly will have a role right away. Evan Engram did not work out there last year as a move TE and I suspect he’s not on their roster by the start of training camp. They have two speedsters who can open up the middle of the field for Joly in Waddle and Courtland Sutton, a quarterback who is not afraid to throw people open in Bo Nix, and Payton is uber-aggressive in everything offensively. Whichever TE the Broncos took within the inevitable run on them that was coming in the draft was going to be in position to succeed. And this prospect has sure hands and excels with yards after the catch.
Jadarian Price, Seattle, RB
The last pick in the first round will undoubtedly have more to offer right away than many of the skill players taken ahead of him. He is a perfect comp for Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, who departed in free agency, and while some evaluators wonder about Price holding up as a three-down back in the NFL, in Seattle he will split time with Zach Charbonnet. He is fresh from not having to be the feature back at Notre Dame – top five pick Jeremiyah Love carried that weight – and should thrive in an offense that chucks the ball deep downfield with aggression, forcing defenses not to stack the box too much at the line of scrimmage. “I don’t think he dropped a pass at Notre Dame,” one personnel exec told me. “He will be better as a pro than in college.”