With the conclusion of the NFL regular season, and the beginning of a new draft season, it’s time to look back on how the new crop of NFL talent fared in their initial seasons. Today we take a look at the offensive players who most impacted the league in their rookie campaigns.
QB: E.J. Manuel, Bills, Rd 1 Pk 16
It was an up and down season for the former Seminole, who scored 13 times and turned the ball over 12 times. Manuel flashed potential to be a starter in the NFL, but his health is imperative to maintaining consistency.
QB: Geno Smith, Jets, Rd 2 Pk 39
Smith also experienced a rocky season, though largely due to his performance rather than injury. While he was at one point benched, he put together back-to-back good performances in the final weeks of the season.
QB: Mike Glennon, Buccaneers, Rd 3 Pk 73
While Glennon arguably had the best rookie campaign of all the rookie signal-callers, he wasn’t exactly a world beater. Glennon could become a Flacco-esque game manager, but his future is dependent on the level of trust that team management has in him.
RB: Gio Bernard, Bengals, Rd 2 Pk 37
Barnard split carries with BJGE with no surprise and certainly was a valuable receiving threat out of the backfield. He struggled running the ball in the final three contests of the regular season but should see his role expanded next season.
RB: Le’Veon Bell, Steelers, Rd 2 Pk 48
It took a while for Bell to enter the lineup due to injury, but all things considered he had a solid rookie season. To his credit, all eight of the Steelers victories came when he was suited up for action.
RB: Eddie Lacy, Packers, Rd 2 Pk 61
Lacy had a good season across the board, proving not to be the plodder some had pegged him as. He will certainly get some votes for rookie of the year, and will continue to give a power element to a team that has lacked it in the past.
RB: Zac Stacy, Rams, Rd 5 Pk 160
A short, broad RB, Stacy emerged as the feature back to replace Steven Jackson in Week 5. Stacy has the tenacity to be long term contributor but his size could be an issue if he doesn’t protect himself from big hits.
RB: Andre Ellington, Cardinals, Rd 6 Pk 187
Despite being a smaller scat back, Ellington found success in the Cardinals power running style. A steady producer in a limited role as runner and receiver, the most impressive aspect of his game was that he did not lose a fumble.
WR: Tavon Austin, Rams, Rd 1 Pk 8
Though he didn’t post the type of gaudy all-around numbers some would have hoped for and expected, Austin had a fine rookie season. While the results weren’t consistent on a weekly basis, showed off his big play ability at the end of the season.
WR: DeAndre Hopkins, Texans, Rd 1 Pk 27
Despite erratic QB play and the fact that he plays alongside a perennial Pro Bowler, Hopkins put together a good season. Although he only caught two TDs, one of them was a game winner in overtime, Houston’s last of the season.
WR: Cordarelle Patterson, Vikings, Rd 1 Pk 29
While he didn’t make the big plays from the receiver position that was expected for a player with his size-speed combo, Patterson proved to be an excellent kickoff returner. Consistent QB play would certainly help his offensive game.
WR: Keenan Allen, Chargers, Rd 3 Pk 76
My pick for Offensive Rookie of the Year, Allen’s first-round talent managed to belie his third round selection. Allen hauled in 71 receptions for 1,046 yards and eight TDs, pacing all rookies in each category.
WR: Marlon Brown, Ravens, Undrafted
One of the bigger rookie surprises this season, Brown managed to make the Ravens roster and provide a solid receiving outlet for a team which was missing its number two and three receiving options from its Super Bowl team for most of the year.
TE: Tyler Eifert, Bengals, Rd 1 Pk 21
Eifert did not have the immediate impact I had expected from him, having arguably his best performance in Week One and never really building off of it. Like his teammate Bernard, Eifert is playing in the shadow of veteran Jermaine Gresham.
OL: Eric Fisher, Luke Joeckyl, Chance Warmack, Travis Frederick, and Larry Warford all had very good rookie campaigns, while Jonathan Cooper, David Bakhtiari, Menelik Watson, Brennan Williams, and Dallas Thomas failed to have quite the performance that was expected of them out of the gate.
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Main Photo Credit: Jeffrey Beall, Wiki Commons, CC,
