NFL Rookie Rankings: Top Performers After 2024 Preseason Week 2

The 2024 quarterback class is already living up to expectations.

Granted, it's only preseason, but this year's signal-callers have been a blast to watch through two weeks of action. They're doing what they're supposed to do when facing simplified or backup defenses. As such, it'll come as no surprise that three of those individuals made this week's rookie rankings, with a fourth just missing the cut.

To recap, Bleacher Report will be taking weekly stock of rookies and rank them based on their cumulative performance to determine who are the league's top first-year performers. The current set of rankings are specifically geared toward the preseason. They'll reset at the start of the regular season.

Considering it's only the second week of exhibition play, plenty of turnover occurred between this and last week. But the quarterbacks continue to lead the way. Expectations are forming based on how they're performing during these initial appearances.

Off the List

RB Carson Steele, Kansas City Chiefs: Steele impressed with his punishing running style during his professional debut. He averaged one yard per touch during the Chiefs' second contest.

Edge Laiatu Latu, Indianapolis Colts: Latu was a consistently disruptive edge defender in Week 1. The Colts coaching staff chose not to play starters during the second preseason game, thus Latu wasn't on the field.

Edge Austin Booker, Chicago Bears: After piling up pressures and looking explosive through two preseason contests, the Cincinnati Bengals, specifically backup left tackle Jaxson Kirkland, kept the edge-rusher in check.

TE Ben Sinnott, Washington Commanders: Sinnott looked like a legitimate offensive weapon his first preseason appearance. He primarily played in-line during the second.

CB Nate Wiggins, Baltimore Ravens: Wiggins played as well as anyone during his debut. Unfortunately, he suffered a shoulder injury that will likely keep him out for the rest of the preseason.

Names to Watch

QB Drake Maye, New England Patriots: After a shaky first appearance, Maye looked like a natural playmaker during his second. So much so, the rookie may find himself in the lineup sooner than expected.

RB Sione Vaki, Detroit: The collegiate safety continues to be impressive as he transitions to running back while contributing in multiple phases of the game.

LB Omar Speights, Los Angeles Rams: The undrafted rookie was all over the field against the Los Angeles Chargers, with a team-leading eight total tackles and two tackles for loss.

Edge Xavier Thomas. Arizona Cardinals: Thomas is providing the Cardinals defense with some juice to help what could be an anemic pass rush. He registered a sack, two quarterback hits and multiple pressures against the Indianapolis Colts' backups.

Edge Jonah Elliss, Denver Broncos: Elliss has found himself on this list during back-to-back weeks. The rankings are offense-heavy this week, but Elliss could very well crack the lineup before the preseason is complete.

Nose tackle isn't a glamorous position. Those interior defenders are asked to do the dirty work while everyone around them makes plays.

Taki Taimani didn't hear his name called during the NFL draft. Lane-cloggers are still necessary in today's game, though their value has drastically decreased with the proliferation of potent passing attacks.

Taimani turns 25 in October and provides little-to-nothing in regards to sack production. But he's a grown man when asked to defend the run, hold the point of attack and eat double-teams. As such, he's been a handful throughout the preseason.

Plus, Taimani has showed some ability to collapse the pocket. He's not a strong interior pass-rusher by any means, but he can walk some blockers back to muddy the pocket.

None of what this rookie does is pretty. But it's necessary to set the line of scrimmage, and opponents are having an extremely difficult time moving him off his spot.

Last Week: N/R

Somehow, the rest of the NFL allowed the fastest man in NFL combine history go to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Xavier Worthy working with Patrick Mahomes could be downright unfair. It's already starting to look that way. During Kansas City's initial drive against the Detroit Lions, Worthy ran a simple corner route with a defensive back trailing and a safety over the top. It didn't matter. He easily separated and Mahomes found him for a 39-yard connection.

Two series later, backup quarterback Carson Wentz connected with Worthy on a 22-yard score. Again, Worthy was running free with no member of the Lions secondary within a few yards.

Kansas City proved it doesn't need Tyreek Hill to remain a championship team. But field-tilting speed, as Worthy provides, makes the Chiefs offense even more dangerous.

Last Week: N/R

When the Dallas Cowboys are at their best, their offensive line leads the way—whether we're discussing the Super Bowl-winning squads from the 1990s or the latest iteration of the Great Wall of Dallas that featured the likes of Tyron Smith and Zack Martin.

Martin is still in place. However, the likes of Smith, Travis Frederick and Tyler Biadasz are all gone. Dallas reloaded this offseason, starting with the first-round selection of Tyler Guyton.

Guyton has looked the part making the transition from collegiate right tackle to NFL left tackle.

"I mean, his ability to kick and slide and redirect is impressive," offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer told reporters prior to Guyton's second preseason performance. "He's an amazing athlete. There's some things we need to clean up with his hands and his punch and things like that."

Technique and footwork will be an ongoing process for Guyton as he gets comfortable. But he is already showing the movement skills and physicality to excel while working on Dallas' blind side.

Last Week: N/R

The highlights from Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden aren't quite as spectacular as what's already been seen from other first-year quarterbacks. Nonetheless, the efficiency with how he's operated within his team's scheme has been impressive.

Through two preseason games, this year's second overall draft pick completed 12-of-15 passes, with all three drives ending in scoring opportunities.

"I thought he had another really good outing, honestly," Commanders head coach Dan Quinn told reporters after Saturday's meeting with the Miami Dolphins. "I don't know passing-wise what it was, but the accuracy, decision-making of where to go, he really is a unique competitor."

Maybe Daniels' worst decision was not sliding after a 13-yard gain on a designed run. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner will not be able to run away from NFL defenders like he did at the collegiate level. Still, he's a weapon as a runner that the Commanders don't need to fully unveil until the regular season.

Daniels is in command of the Washington offense, and the franchise can't ask for anything more.

Last Week: N/R

Let's take a snippet from Bleacher Report's scouting report of safety prospect Dadrion Taylor-Demerson and then see how it translates to the field.

"As a defender in coverage, Taylor-Demerson's football smarts and instincts stand out the most," B/R scout Cory Giddings wrote. "He has the instincts to read and react to the quarterback. With the desired top-end speed, he does a very good job of getting a break on the ball and covering a lot of ground."

Four months later, the fourth-round draft pick is playing with the same level of confidence along the back line for the Arizona Cardinals defense.

Taylor-Demerson also defended another pass. The opportunistic side came out a week after the safety debuted with three stops and allowed only six yards into his coverage, per Pro Football Focus.

This year's 104th overall selection has the straight-line speed and ball tracking to play either safety spot, as well as single-high or split safety. Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson form a good pair of starting safeties, but Taylor-Demerson could and should be used in multiple big nickel looks.

Last Week: N/R

Graham Barton dipped a little this week simply because he wasn't as dominant at the point of attack during his second professional appearance compared to his first. Still, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round center has positioned himself well, to the point he earned the starting job, according to JC Allen of Bucs Gameday.

The move isn't unexpected. The Bucs chose Barton in the first round for multiple reasons. At the same time, the transition from left tackle, where he started the last three seasons, back to center wasn't automatic. Plus, Robert Hainsey remains on the roster after starting every regular-season contest over the last two years.

"Y'know, he hadn't played center in a while," head coach Todd Bowles told reporters. "So, just getting in and playing center, understanding the scheme and understanding what he has to do, then competing every day. You see the game slowing down for him. You can see the guy who was in college that we drafted. He's getting better and better."

Last Week: 4

Inconsistency is often the most difficult thing to handle for teams when relying heavily on a rookie.

Dominick Puni, whom the San Francisco 49ers drafted in this year's third round, has impressed because of his day-to-day consistency.

"He's played well," Niners offensive line coach Chris Foerster told reporters last week. "He's kind of been consistent throughout, the way he started camp and has continued to work every week. He's been a pretty consistent performer. Everything we saw him do in practice, he did in the game."

All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner has taken notice, too.

"You know who can move kind of good is the rookie No. 77, Puni," Warner said. "He can move good, bro. They ran a toss over that way and I'm trying to run and he was hanging with me. I had to punch to get off him. He's got good size to him; he can move. Obviously he's young so he's only going to get stronger."

Through two preseason efforts, Puni looks like a solid bet to be a starting right guard.

Last Week: 6

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford may not have enough pass attempts to go around to take full advantage of the talented weapons at his disposal.

Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua will get theirs, which is a given as long as they are healthy.

Sixth-round rookie Jordan Whittington continues to make plays during the preseason. In two contests, Whittington caught 11 passes for 126 yards.

"Yeah, man, he competes," Kupp said during an in-game interview during Saturday's contest against the Los Angeles Chargers. "You saw him come out to OTAs and heard so many good things as soon as we drafted him.

"The number of people that reached out and were just like, 'Man, Jordan Whittington, I know him from so and so, he's an awesome guy you're going to love him.' Seeing him just grow and show up to training camp ready to go. His growth in a very short amount of time has been extremely impressive."

Demarcus Robinson better be wary of Whittington taking his spot as the Rams' third wide receiver.

Last Week: 7

Highlights can be deceiving. No one is going to deny that Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams made some spectacular plays during his second preseason appearance.

But everyone needs to take the good with the bad.

Williams started poorly, spraying footballs and struggling to get the Bears offense moving. In fact, the Bears opened Saturday's contest with three straight three-and-outs. Williams completed two of six passes during those drives.

Chicago's fifth possession is when Williams finally started to cook. He led an eight-play, 90-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown. Two of the final four plays included the following:

Williams' feel for the pocket, natural arm talent and creativity are off the charts. He also threw a beautiful dart to Rome Odunze in the corner of the end zone while running full speed to his right. But the rookie target lost track of where he was and caught the pass just outside the back of the end zone.

Clearly, the Bears have something special at quarterback. The highlights everyone sees have them frothing to see this year's No. 1 overall pick play in a game that counts. At the same time, some of his poor play shouldn't be completely overlooked.

Last Week: 1

The Chicago Bears' Caleb Williams and Washington Commanders' Jayden Daniels have already been named starting quarterbacks after being the first and second overall draft picks. Bo Nix was the sixth and last quarterback chosen in the first round. He should be the next to get a starting nod.

"I expect the Broncos to name Bo Nix their starting quarterback in the next few days," The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported. "It's apparent when speaking with the team's coaching staff and players—or even while observing from the sidelines—that Nix has been a training-camp star, beating out Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson for the starting job."

Nix has truly been a standout. He's not as flashy as Williams and doesn't present the same natural upside as Daniels. But his record-setting starting experience from college, accuracy and precision have the Broncos offense looking like it'll hit the ground running for the start of the regular season.

Nix was nearly perfect during Sunday's performance against the Green Bay Packers. This year's 12th overall pick completed eight of nine passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.

To be fair, the Packers didn't have their starting cornerbacks on the field. Even so, Nix did what he was supposed to do against backups: He torched them.

Last Week: 3