This has been an all-hands-on-deck kind of season. Teams that are winning consistently are doing so with help from all corners of their roster. Teams that are just surviving are also drawing on contributions from players who we may not yet consider to be the face-of-the-league types. Rookie power has much to do with this. And while the NFL always ebbs and flows from a trend perspective, we are at the tail end of two Super Bowl-winning teams—the Rams and the Buccaneers—who opted for more immediate success, and the beginning of a handful of teams—the Jets, Giants, Texans, Seahawks, Dolphins, etc.—who accumulated draft picks en masse to try and build something more whole and sustainable.
From that font of draft equity, we have some pretty amazing first-year players, including some rookies who are transforming their team’s present and future. We also have some pretty solid role players, too. And we have some players who are responsible for some of the little things we might not associate with consistently winning games, but are ultimately so vital.
Here’s our crack at the top rookies of 2022, which was initially a top 10 but we couldn’t stand the idea of leaving anyone out.
