NFL Rookie Rankings: Jayden Daniels, Top Performers After Week 5

Five weeks into the NFL regular season, the game is starting to slow down for some rookies.

Development isn't about what an individual does on day one. It's how that person responds to adversity and performs as the season progresses.

For example, quarterback Jayden Daniels, whom the Washington Commanders drafted No. 2 overall, played in an offensive scheme initially set up for everything to be relatively safe, with easy completions built into its framework. As each week has progressed, Daniels has built confidence and only gotten better to the point where he's the runaway top rookie.

Conversely, this year's No. 1 overall pick, Caleb Williams, started slowly. However, he's starting to see the field much better in the last couple of weeks, hence why he'll make his initial appearance in B/R's rookie rankings.

Keep in mind, these rankings are cumulative. One bad performance isn't going to tank an entire season, nor will a standout effort skyrocket an individual beyond everyone else on the list.

This week, quarterbacks sandwich the rest of the NFL's top rookie performances.

Off the List

OT JC Latham, Tennessee Titans: Prior to the Titans' bye week, Latham did not perform well against the Miami Dolphins. As such, his previous upward trajectory came to a screeching halt.

OT Joe Alt, Los Angeles Chargers: Alt played quite well in his first two appearances and then struggled when facing the Pittsburgh Steelers and T.J. Watt (understandably so). Alt has been dealing with an MCL injury that cost him a start against the Kansas City Chiefs before the Chargers entered their bye week.

OT Taliese Fuaga, New Orleans Saints: Yet another young offensive tackle, who's overall performance has dipped as the season progresses. Fuaga started strongly, but it's reached the point where he's been exposed to a degree as a left tackle who needs plenty of help on the edge instead of playing on an island.

Names to Watch

RB Tyrone Tracy Jr., New York Giants: The Giants may have found a new feature back if Tracy's performance against the Seattle Seahawks is any indication. The fifth-round draft pick carried the ball 18 times for 129 yards—which is slightly more than any singular effort from Saquon Barkley last season.

WR Jordan Whittington, Los Angeles Rams: The Rams appear to have found another excellent wide receiver after minimal investment. Sean McVay used Whittington, whom the Rams drafted in the sixth round, to serve in the Cooper Kupp/Puka Nacua role and the rookie responded with seven receptions for 89 yards against the Green Bay Packers.

WR Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers: While Adam Thielen continues to deal with a hamstring injury, opportunities arise for the young receivers on the Panthers roster. Coker answered the ball against the Chicago Bears with a team-leading four receptions for 68 yards. Not much went right for Carolina in the Windy City, but they may have found a diamond in the rough.

C Tanor Bortolini, Indianapolis Colts: Stalwart center Ryan Kelly continues to deal with a neck injury. Bortolini started the last two games and didn't look out of place. According to the 33rd Team, the rookie pivot didn't allow a single pressure against the Jacksonville Jaguars. His athleticism and second-level block can be an asset if Kelly misses significant time.

S Evan Williams, Green Bay Packers: The Packers know they have multiple young defensive backs who are talented and need to be on the field, especially Williams, who led the team Sunday with 10 total tackles and two pass breakups.

"That was kind of the plan going in to put [Keisean Nixon] outside and put [Javon Bullard] down in the nickel position, which opened up the door for Evan Williams," head coach Matt LaFleur said. "That's a luxury—he's another guy that's very smart, instinctive, and has a knack for the football."

This year's No. 1 overall draft pick, Caleb Williams, has entered the chat.

The Chicago Bears struggled to get anything going offensively to start the season. The offensive line played poorly, plus Williams wasn't seeing the field well. The combination led to some bad football.

Those initial issues should have been viewed as growing pains. Williams has been more efficient over the last two weeks, including a much-needed dismantling of the woeful Carolina Panthers defense.

The 22-year-old threw for 304 yards and two scores during Sunday's contest.

"Just us getting comfortable, us seeing what we can do," Williams said when discussing the offense's growing chemistry. "... Just building confidence and trust between each other and trusting this offense between everybody. Offensive line, running backs, protection, the routes and what depth to run it at and how many steps, things like that. Going through the reads and a bunch more."

Tennessee Titans nose tackle T'Vondre Sweat has been more than a handful, even two handfuls, for opponents this season.

While the Titans enjoyed their bye this past weekend, Sweat is coming off one of the more impressive outings from any rookie during Tennessee's Monday Night Football matchup against the Miami Dolphins.

According to Pro Football Focus, Sweat was the highest-graded interior defender across the league in Week 4.

"[He's getting] better every week," head coach Brian Callahan told reporters. "Really impressive performance by him. Dominant performance. That was a matchup on their interior line versus our interior line that we felt like was to our advantage, even with [Jeffery Simmons] out.

"... But Sweat was a force. When you got a guy like that, can get pressure on the quarterback at his size, can stop the run and make plays laterally along the line of scrimmage...he was really disruptive in that game."

It's important to note Simmons' absence due to injury. Sweat isn't feeding off an elite interior defender; he's becoming one himself.

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell won't back down from any assignment or anyone, including future Hall of Fame wide receiver.

The last time the rookie cornerback took the field—the Philadelphia Eagles had their bye this past weekend—Mitchell faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Mike Evans on a handful of occasions.

The Bucs targeted Evans on four of those matchups. Mitchell battled, allowed two receptions for 19 yards and even broke up a pass, per Philly Pod's Victor Williams. The rookie made sure to let Evans know, too.

"Again, the moment is never too big for him," Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters after the rookie's debut. "He's just very calm and very confident. Which you need to be as a corner.

"You need to have short memories; you need to be confident in yourself because you're on an island out there the entire game."

Those comments continue to ring true. Mitchell has been the best in coverage among rookie defensive backs for those who have played as much as he has.

Marvin Harrison Jr. is a playmaker for the Arizona Cardinals. Yet he and quarterback Kyler Murray haven't quite figured out how to operate together.

Harrison has gone long stretches during which he's been a non-factor.

As an example, the rookie target had only one catch late into Sunday's fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers, until a desperation heave on 4th-and-5 landed in his awaiting arms with 2:49 left to play.

At the time, the Cardinals trailed by two points. They ultimately won by one after kicking a field goal during that exact drive.

It's flummoxing to know the Cardinals aren't scheming ways to get this year's fourth overall pick the ball at every turn. Even when he is targeted, they're difficult catches. According to Fantasy Life's Ian Hartitz, Harrison has the highest percentage of contested catches this season (38 percent).

Offenses can design route combinations to make life easier on their rookies. Arizona needs to make this a priority in the coming weeks to take full advantage of Harrison's skill set.

The book was out on Brian Thomas Jr. during the 2024 NFL draft cycle. The LSU product proved to be college football's best vertical threat and served nicely in that role opposite Malik Nabers.

Thomas led the FBS last season with 17 touchdown receptions and averaged 17.3 yards per catch. He clearly brings the same dynamic and speed to the Jacksonville Jaguars offense.

"There's not that many guys like it," quarterback Trevor Lawrence told reporters. "Obviously, you see a few around the league that are fast and can break away. If they get in the open field, there's nobody that's going to catch them on the other side of the ball. He's definitely one of those guys. So the more we can find opportunities to get him the ball in those situations, we're going to score a lot of points with him."

The 21-year-old rookie isn't just a straight-line speed merchant, though. This year's 23rd overall pick is emerging as a legitimate WR1, with 11 receptions for 208 yards and two scores during the Jaguars' last two contests.

The Las Vegas' Raiders' Brock Bowers isn't just a good rookie tight end; he's the NFL's best receiving tight end right now.

Currently, Bowers ranks first among all tight ends in receptions (28), targets (36), yards (313), receptions of 20 or more yards (five) and first-down receptions (15). He caught his first touchdown pass Sunday against the rival Denver Broncos—a 57-yard variety, where the tight end caught a 50-50 ball over the defensive back and then rumbled to the end zone.

The 21-year-old is the leading receiver on a team that also features wide receivers Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers.

According to Footballguys' Jeff Bell, the NFL has seen 25 performances of a rookie tight end catching at least eight balls and producing 97 or more yards. Bowers already has two. No one has three.

Imagine if the Raiders featured good quarterback play. Seriously, Las Vegas is currently playing musical chairs with its quarterbacks. More consistency from the game's most important position could make Bowers deadly, more so than he already is.

The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line doesn't look like how it was supposed to when training camp began. But the group has found some pieces, specifically center Zach Frazier.

The Steel City has a long and proud history of great centers. The tradition started with Ray Mansfield and moved to Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson, Jeff Hartings and Maurkice Pouncey. But those at the position weren't playing at the same standard over the last three seasons after Pouncey's retirement.

Frazier looks like the next part of that legacy, though.

This year's 51st overall draft pick excels in the run game, with the ability to uproot and displace defenders. His ability to do so shouldn't be unexpected since he won four consecutive state championships as a high school wrestler.

The pass protection could have been an issue, though, especially for a rookie pivot being asked to make line calls. Against the Dallas Cowboys, Frazier didn't allow a single pressure, per The 33rd Team. He's yet to surrender a sack this season.

Pittsburgh still has plenty of issues along its offensive line. Center is no longer counted among them.

Week in and week out, the Los Angeles Rams' Jared Verse may be the most consistent performer among this year's rookie class.

Some may wonder how that can be considering the first-year defensive end has 22 total tackles and only one sack through five games. Those numbers don't come close to encapsulating Verse's overall performance.

As an example, Verse's pressure led to the Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love throwing an ill-advised pass from his own end zone into the awaiting arms of Rams defensive back Jaylen McCollough for an easy pick-six.

Some may scoff and state that Verse needs to finish. He admits it.

"I missed a lot of plays, I missed a lot of tackles. I missed a lot of opportunities to make my team better, to improve us as a whole," Verse admitted last week. "So now thinking about it, it's like once all those plays start getting made and everything like that, OK, it's going to be a lot more than that."

However, he has to be in position to make those plays in the first place, which he has. If he continues to do so, better things will happen.

New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers didn't play this past weekend while dealing with a concussion. Missing a game won't knock him in this instance because he had already established himself as a top-shelf receiver.

Despite not playing, Nabers still leads the NFL with 35 receptions. He remains top seven in receiving yards, touchdown receptions, catches of 20 or more yards and first-down receptions. Those numbers indicate the amount of work he put in to start this season.

The wide receiver's return date is not yet known. If he remains in the concussion protocol and misses multiple contests, his status among the rookie rankings will be impacted.

Nabers has looked like a legitimate WR1 and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate. The Giants did win this past weekend, with Darius Slayton picking up the slack. But Slayton is always good for one big game per season. Had he been more consistent throughout his career, the Nabers selection wouldn't have been necessary.

Quarterback Daniel Jones and the G-Men's offense will be far better off once Nabers returns to the lineup.

Sunday's performance may have been the best encapsulation of what the Washington Commanders' Jayden Daniels can be as a long-term starter.

The Cleveland Browns defense is aggressive. It creates pressure. The cornerbacks stick on an island and force an offense to beat them. Turnovers happen. They did for Daniels, and he rebounded.

During the Commanders' second offensive possession after going three-and-out by losing nine yards, Washington drove the ball to the 5-yard line, where the rookie quarterback tried to fit the ball into a tight window, only for a diving Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to snag an interception.

Washington scored on four of its next five offensive possessions before halftime.

Daniels' performance wasn't pristine, as it had been. In fact, his 11 incompletions nearly surpassed the total over the previous three outings. Yet the first-year quarterback continued to make plays, either key throws or with his legs. Daniels led his squad with 82 rushing yards.

With the effort, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner became the first player in NFL history with 1,000-plus passing yards and 250-plus rushing yards in his first five career games, per NFL Research's Tony Holzman-Escareno. The Commanders also became the first team in league history to score 150-plus points in their first five games with a rookie quarterback leading the way, according to Dante Koplowitz-Fleming.