NFL Rookie Rankings: Keon Coleman, Top Performers After 2024 Week 8

This year's race for Rookie of the Year honors heated up this past weekend when the No. 1 and 2 overall picks from April's draft met on the field for the first time.

Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders had a stranglehold over the top spot prior to Week 8 action, but the Chicago Bears' Caleb Williams had been surging as of late.

However, the No. 2 pick provided some historic fireworks by heaving one of the greatest Hail Marys of all time for the Commanders, while the No. 1 pick floundered through most of the contest.

Since neither provided the overall caliber of play expected of them in recent weeks, the door creaked open for others to close the gap like a horror-film stalker ready to strike.

Jared Verse of the Los Angeles Rams continued to show why he's the NFL's best first-year defender by slicing through the Minnesota Vikings offense. Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell's coverage haunts opposing targets. And wide receiver Keon Coleman has settled into the Buffalo Bills' offense like a house-occupying apparition.

B/R's rankings are updated weekly and are based on cumulative performances. With the 2024 NFL season's halfway point coming this weekend, the following 10 individuals have treated everyone, especially their team, with thrilling performances as standout rookies.

Off the List

C Zach Frazier, Pittsburgh Steelers: When healthy, Frazier is the league's best rookie blocker. But he hasn't been 100 percent for a few weeks. The center continues to deal with an ankle injury, which has cost him the last two games. He's not expected back until after Pittsburgh's Week 9 bye, either.

S Evan Williams, Green Bay Packers: Williams has been really good when he's on the field. His constant flirtation with the rookie rankings is more about deployment than anything. His latest lack of full-time usage came down to injury. The safety left Sunday's contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars because of a hamstring issue.

Names to Watch

WR Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers: McConkey has emerged as the Chargers' leading receiver, with 30 receptions for 376 yards and four touchdowns. During Sunday's contest against the Saints, he posted new career highs with 111 yards and two scores. This year's 34th overall pick currently ranks second in yards per route run against man coverage, per Underdog Fantasy's Hayden Winks.

QB Bo Nix, Denver Broncos: The Broncos have quietly won five of their last six games, with Nix improving along the way. This year's 12th overall draft pick played his best game against the Carolina Panthers' woeful defense. He threw for a career-high 284 yards and three touchdowns. He has an eight-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio over the last four contests.

WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals: When Harrison flashed earlier this season, his play was as good as any rookie in this year's class. But his disappearing acts through multiple games didn't allow him to stay among our rookie rankings. However, he showed up in the Cardinals' win over the Miami Dolphins by snagging difficult catches and leading the way with 111 yards.

LB Edgerrin Cooper, Green Bay Packers: In three of Cooper's last four games, he's played extremely well. But he stuffed the stat sheet Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The linebacker led the Packers with nine tackles and added a sack, forced fumble and pass deflection. With Quay Walker in the concussion protocol, Cooper's presence should grow.

CB Renardo Green, San Francisco 49ers: Green has settled in nicely among the 49ers' secondary over the last three contests. The final pick of this year's second round graded better than anyone else Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, according to Pro Football Focus.

Too often, rookies aren't allotted patience, particularly high draft picks. Some simply need time to adjust and get comfortable. Case in point, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman is coming into his own about halfway through his first professional campaign.

Over the last two weeks, the 33rd overall pick caught nine passes for 195 yards, including an impressive one-handed, high-point touchdown grab against the Seattle Seahawks.

"Just growth, one week at a time, growth, development," head coach Sean McDermott said of Coleman's rapid improvement. "[Wide receivers coach Adam Henry's] doing a really good job with him. Having Amari [Cooper], I think, helps too because he's another veteran in the room and, to me, a big-time established veteran that's done great things in this league for a while. So that helps with the guys that are already in that room.

"We've got good guys in that room that help young players develop and teach them the right way, teaching them the right habits, the right routines, Monday through Saturday. That's what leads to what you saw today."

With Coleman working outside the numbers, Cooper's recent arrival and Khalil Shakir being a security blanket for quarterback Josh Allen, the Bills' passing game is clicking again.

The Los Angeles Chargers got their weapon and an offensive lineman in this year's draft, without those two being one and the same.

Yes, head coach Jim Harbaugh made the argument that he views offensive linemen as weapons after the Chargers passed on wide receiver to select Joe Alt with this year's fifth overall pick.

Alt has been stellar when healthy, while the Chargers landed the previously mentioned Ladd McConkey in the second round and he's currently the team's leading receiver.

As NFL Next Gen Stats noted, Alt didn't allow a single pressure during his 38 pass-blocking snaps against the New Orleans Saints, which are the most without a pressure by a rookie since the start of the 2022 campaign.

The Notre Dame product reached the level of performance he previously showed until suffering an MCL injury during a Week 3 contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He missed the next game before returning after the bye and being a little shaky against the rival Denver Broncos.

Alt has since posted strong back-to-back efforts to regain his place among the league's best first-year performances.

The Washington Commanders had Caleb Williams' number, barely.

He played horribly throughout most of Sunday's contest. In fact, this year's No. 1 overall pick completed only three-of-eight passes during the first half of the game.

Washington made life difficult by consistently applying pressure. According to NFL Next Gen Stats (h/t Fox Sports' Carmen Vitali), the Commanders pressured Williams on 51.6 percent of his dropbacks, with a 2.47-second time-to-pressure average.

The rookie struggled against that level of disruption. Yet, he still had his squad in position to win late in the contest by going five-of-eight passing for 95 yards during the Bears' final two offensive drives.

Everyone knows by now how that game ended. Despite everything, Williams had a chance to be the hero, but another rookie rose to the occasion.

The USC product had been humming, with a nine-to-three touchdown-to-interception ratio during the previous four contests. Chicago won three of those games.

While Sunday's outcome will sting for some time, how the Commanders' approach provided a glimpse into the type of pressures Williams can expect and adjustment he must make.

The first season is always a learning curve. For the Bears, they have their guy and he's adjusting relatively well.

New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers is rounding back into the player he was prior to suffering a concussion against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4.

Up to that point, this year's sixth overall pick had 35 receptions through his first four appearances. He then missed two games. Upon returning to the lineup last week, he grabbed only four passes for 41.

During Monday Night Football, Nabers led the Giants with seven receptions and 13 targets. He finished the contest with 71 yards.

"Every time I'm on the field, it's personal," Nabers said during a pregame interview with ESPN's Marcus Spears. "What I went through in my life led me to led me here to today. Every time I'm on this field, it's a blessing. I'm out there and showing people what I got."

Despite the missed time, Nabers still ranks eighth overall with 46 receptions and second with 73 targets. New York's passing attack flows through him.

As the season progresses, the Giants will need him to remain a focal point and put up big numbers. At 2-6, Big Blue is counted among the league's worst squads and needs someone to step up in hopes of snapping the team's current three-game losing streak.

Now three full games into his professional career, Cooper DeJean is proving himself as an elite cover option, a strong run defender and a reliable returner.

Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio told reporters:

"He's very coachable, got a good demeanor to play. I think that's a strength of his that will only get better. I think the more he plays and the more experience that comes—you try to expose them to as much stuff as you can in practice, but obviously with the low reps at practice, you don't get that done always. But I do think he'll learn. He won't be a repeat offender. If he makes a mistake on something new, it will be in his memory bank and it won't happen again."

To Fangio's point, DeJean is learning quickly as he's being exposed to different looks and plays from opposing offenses. All the while, he's proved to be up to the task.

DeJean is thriving as the Eagles' nickel back. His pairing with fellow rookie Quinyon Mitchell should only make each other better as they grow together. Currently, Philadelphia owns a top-10 pass defense.

Brian Thomas Jr.'s status on these rankings has experienced a yo-yo effect. His usage and target shares have vacillated mainly due to the Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive inconsistencies.

Over the last two weeks, he had strong outings against the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers, with eight receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns during that stretch.

Unfortunately, Thomas suffered an upper body injury during Sunday's contest. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the rookie receiver could miss two-to-four weeks depending on how he recovers.

Availability is an ability. As we've already seen with others on this list, injuries ultimately factor into the evaluation. One or two missed weeks may not be enough to push an individual out of the rankings, but multiple game absences certainly factor into them.

Thomas currently averages a higher yards per route run average than the New York Giants' Malik Nabers and Arizona Cardinals' Marvin Harrison Jr.—both of whom were top-six overall draft selections.

The Jaguar leads all rookies and is tied for sixth overall with 573 receiving yards. His five touchdown grabs are found among the league's top four.

Jacksonville has a special talent in this year's 23rd overall pick. It will miss Thomas during his absence.

Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell has played nearly as many or more snaps than any other defensive rookie. He's doing so at a premium position for the Philadelphia Eagles while thriving in coverage comparatively.

The No. 22 overall pick allowed only two receptions for 12 yards Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, per NFL Next Gen Stats (h/t Pro Football Network's Anthony DiBona). He has yet to surrender a touchdown on the 18 receptions he's given up.

The biggest improvement Mitchell still needs to make is turning his ability to jump routes into interceptions. Despite being known for outstanding ball skills at the collegiate level, the Toledo product has yet to snag his first for the Eagles.

"I do know he wants to get off the schneid and get an NFL interception," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "... He's played a lot. When I say he's played a lot, he's basically been our first-team right corner since early on in camp. So I think he's passed the point of hanging on, and now he's being an NFL starting corner."

Fangio's comments are important, because they intimate that Mitchell is already reliable. That's the most difficult stage for most first-year players to reach. Whereas, the Eagles already know they have their CB1 of the future.

The Los Angeles Rams were forced to replace all-world defensive tackle Aaron Donald this offseason. No single person could adequately do so. But they still had to invest in their defensive front to fill the void in some manner.

Ultimately, the organization chose defensive end Jared Verse with this year's 19th overall pick.

"He's a man, and he's a bully on the field, and he gets going. He likes to talk s--t. He likes to have fun. He likes to compete. He plays with a style of play that I very much am in alignment with," Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters.

"We won't want to do it in the right way, but I love what this guy brings to our team. He brings an edge. He brings an energy and a toughness. He's got some s--t to him that I really like. That's been big for our defense. I think guys feed off that and it's a good thing. You need some guys like that. Aaron [Donald] had that to him too. ... Sometimes those best defensive players, they have some stuff to them that you're like oh man, we need that. You need that edge, that energy, that swagger and Jared Verse definitely has that."

Verse leads all rookies in pressures, according to Pro Football Focus (h/t J.B. Long of the Rams' official site). He also quieted doubters on Thursday with 1.5 sacks, a tackle for loss and three more quarterback hits against the Minnesota Vikings.

All Brock Bowers had to do was look across the field on Sunday to see what the standard at tight end looks like.

The Las Vegas Raiders' rookie has taken the league by storm and quickly became an elite target among tight ends. But Travis Kelce remains one of, if not the best to ever do it.

While these two players don't go head-to-head, Kelce got the better of this matchup both statistically and with the final score. The Chiefs escaped the Black Hole with a 27-20 victory, and the 35-year-old provided 10 receptions for 90 yards and touchdown.

Bowers wasn't a slouch and still led his team with 58 receiving yards. The Raiders simply failed to muster as much as an offensive unit.

"Happy as hell for you," Kelce told Bowers after the game. "Keep doing your thing. I'm gonna shoot my jersey to your locker."

Bowers still leads the NFL with 52 receptions. He's tops among all tight ends with 535 receiving yards. He's doing everything he can for a team and offense that has struggled almost everywhere else. One day, he might even have an elite quarterback to throw to him, as Kelce does.

On National Tight Ends Day, the present and future of the position were on display. It's in very good hands.

Two seconds remained. Jayden Daniels dropped back to pass. Time expired. The play continued. The Washington Commanders still trailed by three points.

Daniels rolled to his right, but two Chicago Bears defenders followed. The rookie quarterback rolled to his left. The 23-year-old, who played through a rib injury, began his throwing motion at his own 35-yard line.

The ball descended upon a throng of humanity made up of Washington receivers and Chicago defenders at the 2-yard line. The tipped pass fell gently into the awaiting hands of Noah Brown to secure an unbelievable and timeless victory for the Commanders.

Euphoria ensued.

The moment will be remembered forever in NFL history. It'll be replayed ad nauseam and serve as the punctuation of what appears to be an Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign for this year's No. 2 pick.

That one play shouldn't completely overlook what happened during the rest of the game, though. Ultimately, Daniels threw for 326 yards. However, his 55.3 completion percentage was his worst effort so far this season and the Commanders offense struggled in the red zone, with an 0-for-3 afternoon when trying to score a touchdown inside the 20-yard line.

In showbusiness, it's how you leave 'em. Everyone will remember Daniels' final heave. He should still be the league's No. 1 rookie. But recent trends have him playing not quite as well as of late.