NFL Rookie Rankings: Best and Worst 1st-Year Player Performers at Quarter Mark

Bleacher Report's 2024 rookie watch continues as we round the quarter mark of the NFL season.

Over the previous three weeks, B/R looked players who have performed well through their cumulative effort.

This week, an addition will be made based on those who have disappointed to a degree.

To be clear, early-season "disappointments" are relative.

Each individual named with a positive or negative connotation still has 13 regular-season contests to determine their place among this year's rookie class.

Some will drastically improve.

Others may fall off after a strong start.

The here and now is what's being discussed, though.

Submissions don't include players who were placed in a position with an expressed plan to sit and learn, i.e.

the Atlanta Flacons' Michael Penix Jr., or suffered injuries that may have already derailed their campaign.

Instead, these individuals are based on their performance or lack thereof.

Five have been named on both sides of the ledger, with a quarterback in the nation's capital charging up the rankings with lightning speed.

Rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton may or may not agree with the NFL's officiating, but the number of penalties he and other Cowboys have already committed is "alarming," Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said .

According to Natalie Miller of USA Today 's Draft Wire, Guyton has been called for a penalty a league-high seven times.

The blindside protector has also surrendered four sacks, which ranks among the league's worst.

Early struggles aren't entirely unexpected.

Guyton is transitioning from right to left tackle while also filling the shoes of future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith.

"I just told him, keep your head in the game," left guard Tyler Smith said .

"I remember, it's crazy because he's in a very similar walk of life I was a couple years ago.

He's a first-year starting left tackle, hardest position on the offensive line to me personally, people know that, [are] going game plan against him.

Some calls are going to go our way, some calls are not, but I just told him play his game, stay locked in." As the season progresses, the penalties and sacks should come fewer and further in-between.

If not, the Cowboys may have a real problem at a premium position.

Aside from a few poor snaps, including Sunday's mistimed exchange on what could have been a game-winning drive, Pittsburgh Steelers center Zach Frazier has quietly turned into the NFL's best rookie blocker.

"I got the tap and snapped the ball," Frazier told reporters .

"I was in the middle of making a call when I got the tap.

I just got the call out.

I don't know exactly what happened, but it's unfortunate." Let's not dwell on any negatives.

It needed to be acknowledged.

At the same time, Frazier has been really good, particularly in the run game, where he's a consistent tone-setter for a unit that's gone through significant turmoil due to injuries.

As the rookie mentioned, he's making the calls and setting protections.

That's difficult enough for any first-year player.

Then, add in the fact that injuries occurred to both of his veteran guards.

Frazier has quickly gone from newb status to an expected leader.

All the while, he's yet to allow a sack , provides a physical presence along the interior and regularly serves as one of the best pass protectors among this year's rookie class.

The logic seemed sound: The Denver Broncos paired their new franchise quarterback, Bo Nix, with his favorite collegiate target, Troy Franklin.

They should hit it off, right? Well, the previous rapport hasn't translated so far.

Franklin has four receptions for nine yards through his first four games, including a minus-two-yard effort on two catches this past weekend against the New York Jets.

Sunday's rain obviously affected the Broncos offense.

But it doesn't excuse Franklin's inability to create an impact overall.

Franklin's usage has increased each week, which is a sign of progress.

Still, expectations were much higher after Nix and Franklin connected last season for 81 catches, 1,383 yards and 14 touchdowns.

The Broncos even traded up to select the wide receiver in the fourth round.

"Here's what I seeI see great speed," head coach Sean Payton said at the end of August.

"Probably as good run after the catch.

Even in his college days.

This past week, we saw him again.

He's playing 'Z.' I like where he's at relative to his progress.

I like the selection, especially where we were able to draft him." None of it has translated to the field yet.

Franklin needs more time.

Consistency can be the most difficult aspect for a rookie to achieve at the professional level.

Very few are consistent from the day they walk into the NFL.

Enter Los Angeles Rams defensive end Jared Verse.

Verse immediately stepped into the Rams lineup and provided a significant presence off the edge, as both a run defender and pass-rusher.

This past weekend, the 19th overall draft pick posted a staggering 50 percent pass-rush win rate against the Chicago Bears, according to Pro Football Focus .

The performance tied for the best this season.

Some will argue that one sack isn't enough production.

Those numbers will increase over time with similar effort.

"It's play fast, react fast," Verse said .

"So I'm gonna go as hard as I can, go after it as fast as I can, I'm not gonna slow down, but that split second before I make contact with the person, I have to slow down, I have to level my feet out, get my two feet in the ground, slow myself down a little bit and be like, 'OK, what levels do I have on him? Do I have his back hip? Let me aim for his back hip.' Like, what do I have?" The Kansas City Chiefs looked like they may have had something in rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia.

They still might, but not at the moment.

Suamataia, whom the Chiefs chose with this year's 63rd overall pick, won the starting left tackle job coming out of preseason.

The outcome wasn't all that surprising, considering that the BYU product is a physically gifted athlete with immense potential.

But his technique remains a work-in-progress.

The latter began to be exposed in his first two starts, to the point where the Chiefs coaching staff benched the rookie in favor of second-year blocker Wanya Morris.

"He's obviously got things he needs to work on and get worked out," head coach Andy Reid said of Suamataia.

"I felt we needed to take a step back to take a step forward, and I still think that was the right thing to do there.

If he's out this week, then it'll be the right thing to do with that.

"We haven't lost confidence in him.

He was going against a good player and he's got to learn from it." Keep in mind, Suamataia is only 21.

He'll get another chance to start down the road.

The 2024 wide receiver class looked to be special, and it is turning out to be, with the top two selectionsMarvin Harrison Jr.

and Malik Nabersleading the way.

Nabers has put up tremendous numbers.

More on him in a bit.

Meanwhile, Harrison has shown he can heat up quickly in the desert for the Arizona Cardinals.

After a sluggish first game, Harrison has lit up defenses quickly.

His four touchdown receptionswhich are tied for first alongside the Minnesota Vikings' Justin Jeffersonhave all occurred in the first quarter of play.

From that point, quarterback Kyler Murray seemingly forgets to target this year's fourth overall draft pick for long stretches.

A full-game effort could place Harrison at the same level as Nabers.

But we've yet to see that.

Eventually, the Cardinals will figure it out, and opponents should then be worried.

Sticky is a term often used for cornerbacks who play tight coverage.

It can be a positive and a negative.

In the case of the Detroit Lions' Terrion Arnold, he clearly has the makings of an excellent cover corner.

He's fluid, aggressive and physical.

This year's 24th overall pick just needs to trust his technique a little more.

Entering Monday, his four pass interferences and 96 penalty yards led the league in both categories, per The Football Database .

Detroit's defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend isn't overly worried, though.

"That's the thing in the league: If you're a DB and you've played, you've had at least one PI called on you," Townsend told the Detroit Football Network's Justin Rogers (h/t Jeff Risdon of the Lions Wire).

"That's just the nature of the business.

He just has to keep playing.

That's the one thing that we have to continue to do is not worry about the penalties and just go play." A season ago, the Lions finished among the bottom six in pass defense.

They drafted Arnold to help.

He obviously can.

At the same time, the rookie just needs to stay calm and clean up some things when the ball is in the air.

Opponents are receiving doses of the New York Giants' Malik Nabers in bulk.

After four weeks of play, Nabers ranks first in receptions (35), targets (52) and explosive plays (seven), second in yards (386) and touchdowns (four) and third in first-down catches (19).

In almost every way, this year's sixth overall pick epitomizes what it means to be an elite rookie, except in one area.

He's tied for second with three drops, with two coming late in the game at key moments.

To be fair, Nabers is basically carrying the Giants offense, and receivers with this target rate tend to drop more passes because they are allotted more opportunities.

Unfortunately, on the play of the last perceived drop, Nabers had to leave the game and was put in the concussion protocol.

He'll remain there until he's cleared and may miss time as a result.

Otherwise, he's been spectacular.

"I think in matchup situations where he's one-on-one with a guy, he's won and made explosive plays for us time and time again," quarterback Daniel Jones told reporters last week.

"He's done a good job and been a big help to us so far." Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot described the second-round selection of defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro as follows: "Starting with Ruke.

A big, powerful, athletic man.

Excellent skillset.

Versatile up front.

Plays the run, plays the pass.

Excellent motor.

Top-notch makeup.

...

"Excited about the outcome today.

Came out with two players that we really like, that are really going to help out our front seven." The Falcons haven't gotten anything out of their Day 2 draft picks.

Third-rounder Bralen Trice has an excuse, because he suffered a torn ACL in his first preseason contest.

The same can't be said about Orhorhoro, who's been inactive every game, even after the Falcons traded up to grab him with this year's 35th overall pick.

"My job is to consistently stay in a constant of growth," Orhorhoro told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution 's D.

Orlando Ledbetter .

"Make sure I'm constantly getting better every day.

Every time I go out there against the ones, I practice.

I try to give the best look.

Try my hardest and work on my craft." The Falcons do have a veteran defensive front with Grady Jarrett, David Onyemata and Eddie Goldman.

Also, Orhorhoro needed development.

Still, no contributions whatsoever to a defense that ranks among the bottom eight in run defense is concerning.

Eventually, the Falcons need to see what they have in this year's high second-round addition.

"I don't want to put a time on it, but the young guys, we're going to need them somewhere along the season, and we're going to need their energy," assistant head coach Jerry Gray said .

"Because that's what's going to help us get to where we've got to go.

The young guys really don't know what's going on yet in the football season." Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels didn't make B/R's top 10 rookie rankings in either of the first two weeks of the season.

But he's jumped all the way to the top of the list based on how those initial performances laid the groundwork for what's turned into an exceptional stretch of play.

Initially, Daniels played efficient football with what was being asked of him.

His depth of target tended to be around the line of scrimmage, though.

Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury wanted to get the ball out quickly, play in rhythm and build the rookie's confidence.

In the last two weeks, the Commanders have been asking Daniels to do more.

He's clearly grown into a comfort level with the system and his teammates.

All the while, he's been the most accurate quarterback in the league's history during any four-game stretch.

His 82.1 completion percentage at the start of his career is better than Tom Brady or Peyton Manning accomplished even during MVP seasons, according to CBS Sports .

[Insert eyeballs emoji] As the Washington Post 's Nicki Jhabvala noted , Daniels has led the Commanders on more scoring drives this season (23) than he's throw incompletions (19).

Oh, this year's second overall pick is also a dual-threat quarterback with 218 rushing yards and four touchdown scampers already under his belt.

Daniels isn't just building an early NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year resume; he also has his team atop the NFC East standings and as an early postseason contender.

"The kid is special," veteran tight end Zach Ertz told reporters ..

This article has been shared from the original article on bleacherreport, here is the link to the original article:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10137380-nfl-rookie-rankings-best-and-worst-1st-year-player-performers-at-quarter-mark