NFC rookies picked after Round 1 of the NFL Draft who could earn key roles in 2025: Cowboys RB among sleepers

These players have the skill set and natural talent to shine as rookies

Last season, Cooper DeJean, Edgerrin Cooper, Andru Phillips, and Bucky Irving were instantaneous key figures on their respective NFC teams. 

In 2023, the Rams got monster contributions from two Day 3 selections, Kobie Turner and Puka Nacua. Sam LaPorta broke rookie tight end records with the Lions, and Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks were instant successes with the Packers after going well outside of Round 1. 

In 2022, Seahawks cornerback Tariq Woolen was widely viewed as a super-athletic project-y outside corner. Fast forward to his rookie season -- the former UTSA star led the NFL in interceptions with six and defended 16 more passes. Seattle certainly fast-tracked his developmental process. 

The year before that, Amon-Ra St. Brown was an easy-to-miss, unsuspecting rookie picked after the first round, waiting for his chance in the Lions offense. Now, his reach is far wider than the greater Detroit area after an 88-catch eruption in Year 1 as a professional. He's an All-Pro.

In 2020, Antoine Winfield Jr., Jeremy Chinn and Antonio Gibson were NFC rookies not selected on Day 1 of the draft who sure as heck played like Day 1 selections as rookies. 

And you, NFL fan starved for football, know all about your favorite team's first-round pick in the 2025 draft. It's time to really get acclimated with the non-Round 1 selections who have the talent -- and situation -- to flourish in their debut season in the NFL. 

Let's zero in on the NFC rookies picked after the first round with the best chances to earn key roles as rookies. 

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys: RB Jaydon Blue

• Drafted: Round 5 (No. 149 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: Ran 4.38 at 192 pounds at the combine

In 2023, Blue only received 65 carries but made the most of them, averaging a hefty 6.1 yards per attempt with three rushing scores. At more than double the workload in 2024, the speedy ball-carrier remained efficient, averaging 5.4 yards per tote with eight more touchdowns on the ground. 

Last season, 13 of Blue's 135 carries went for over 10 yards, and his 365 yards receiving make him an asset in space in the screen game. Without a bonafide bellcow in Dallas, look for Blue to be a splash-play specialist in Year 1. 

Philadelphia Eagles: DL Ty Robinson

• Drafted: Round 4 (No. 111 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: Broad jump of 119 inches placed in 98th percentile among interior defensive line prospects in officially recorded combine history

Robinson has an NFL-caliber frame and muscle, and at Nebraska he emerged as a disruptive force in his final season in Lincoln. Robinson had seven sacks, 13 tackles for loss and four pass deflections at the line. We know the Eagles want to rush the quarterback in waves, and they lost Milton Williams in free agency. Robinson has the giddy up and brute strength to be part of a platoon that replaces Williams' productivity in Philadelphia in 2025. 

Washington Commanders: WR Jaylin Lane

• Drafted: Round 4 (No. 128 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: Forced a missed tackle on 26.6% of his career receptions in college

Lane is the ideal possession slot receiver the Commanders needed on this new-look offense, and while he's not the tackle-breaker Deebo Samuel is, he can provide more of a downfield threat given his 4.34 speed and 40-inch vertical. He only dropped 12 passes on 294 targets at Middle Tennessee State and Virginia Tech. Lane has the advanced skill and Day 1 athleticism to sneak into a useful, tertiary role in Jayden Daniels' offense as a rookie.  

New York Giants: DL Darius Alexander

• Drafted: Round 3 (No. 65 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: 22 tackles for loss and 13 pass breakups in his final four seasons at Toledo

Alexander was ubiquitous on the Toledo defense during his time with the Rockets. Rushing off the edge, aligning at linebacker, sinking into coverage, playing nose tackle. Name a front-seven duty, and he executed it over the past four seasons in the MAC. 

Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, and rookie Abdul Carter have distinct roles on the Giants defensive front. Alexander will be an amoeba for New York in 2025 and beyond. Plus, he's a high-caliber athlete who had a 40-yard dash, vertical, and broad jump all above the 75th percentile at the interior defensive line position. 

NFC East burning questions for 2025 season: Cowboys' Dak Prescott washed up? Commanders to take step back?

Jeff Kerr

NFC North

Green Bay Packers: DL Warren Brinson

• Drafted: Round 6 (No. 198 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: Broad jump of 115 inches placed in 94th percentile among interior defensive line prospects in officially recorded combine history

Brinson accumulated a career pressure rate of nearly 9% at Georgia, which is spectacular given how much two-gapping head coach Kirby Smart asks of his defensive tackles. With the explosiveness that's indicated by his broad jump, Brinson is the every-down defender who will stack and shed blocks against the run on first down then creep into the backfield more regularly than anyone will expect in obvious passing situations. 

Minnesota Vikings: WR Tai Felton

• Drafted: Round 3 (No. 102 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: Ran 4.37 at 183 pounds at the combine and forced a missed tackle on 28.4% of his career catches in college

Felton is fast and sudden -- the desired combination at the receiver position today. At Maryland, he forced 44 missed tackles on his final 144 receptions with the Terrapins, and he spent time as a big-play threat (in 2023 when he averaged 15.3 yards per snag) and a volume producer (in 2024 when he caught 96 passes). 

Yes, Justin Jefferson is the man. In my view, the best receiver in the NFL. Jordan Addison is no slouch at WR2. The Vikings needed a long-term answer at WR3, and they got it with Felton. 

Detroit Lions: OG Miles Frazier

• Drafted: Round 5 (No. 171 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: 13 pressures allowed on 579 pass-blocking snaps at LSU in 2024

Frazier is the classic SEC mauler at guard bound for a starting gig sooner than later. And sooner than later we'll be wondering why he was a fifth-round selection. At nearly 6-foot-6 and 317 pounds, he has room to grow into his already powerful frame, and is a balanced pass-protector right now. 

The Lions will be able to sustain their standing as one of the most devastating offensive lines in football given Frazier's selection despite losing some interior pieces from the blocking unit the past two offseasons. 

Chicago Bears: DL Shemar Turner

• Drafted: Round 2 (No. 62 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: 10% pressure rate in his final two seasons at Texas A&M

Of the Shemars on Texas A&M's roster in 2024 (Turner and Stewart, the latter a first-round pick), the player the Bears selected in the second round was the better football player in college. 

Hitting that 10% threshold for pressure rate at defensive tackle was a sign of Turner's diversity as a rusher on the inside. At 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds with a wingspan over 81 inches (70th percentile), he has the ideal frame to get skinny between gaps and disrupt on a regular basis, which is precisely what he did on a regular basis in the SEC. No Bears defensive tackle hit 40 pressures a season ago. Turner was drafted for a very specific reason. 

NFC North burning questions for 2025 NFL season: Can Bears unlock Caleb Williams? Will Lions survive changes?

Cody Benjamin

NFC South

Atlanta Falcons: S Xavier Watts

• Drafted: Round 3 (No. 96 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: 13 interceptions in his final 29 games at Notre Dame

Watts is a former receiver-turned-safety, and the ball skills needed to start a collegiate career on offense certainly transferred to the other side of the ball. Watts counters his less-than-stellar speed and suddenness with impeccable football smarts and keen instincts. 

The Falcons had 12 interceptions in 2024, and Jessie Bates III had four of them. Watts can carve a niche in Atlanta's defense because of his natural playmaking skill. 

Carolina Panthers: EDGE Princely Umanmielen

• Drafted: Round 3 (No. 77 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: Pressure rate over 18% in each of his final two seasons in the SEC (Florida and Ole Miss)

To me, Umanmielen was more of an early Day 2 talent as opposed to where he was selected by the Panthers. Two straight seasons of high-level production in the SEC doesn't happen by accident. His surprisingly low weight at the combine (244 pounds) at nearly 6-foot-5 is likely what sunk his draft stock. 

Frankly, I don't care much about how much Umanmielen weighs, because on the field, his speed-to-power conversion was an asset in what was a diverse pass-rushing toolbox at Florida and Ole Miss. The Panthers tied for the third-fewest sacks (32) in 2024, so Umanmielen's capabilities will be utilized in Charlotte right away. 

New Orleans Saints: DL Vernon Broughton 

• Drafted: Round 3 (No. 71 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: Arm length in the 95th percentile at his position

Broughton looked somewhat small next to the behemoth Alfred Collins at Texas the past two seasons. Broughton is not small. He's about as long as they come at the interior defensive line position, and he employs his hands like the best of them, with an array of block-demolishing moves on a regular basis. 

The Saints need upgrades at essentially every position, and Broughton's legitimate three-down skill set will be a welcome addition to a defense that had to get more athletic on its interior this offseason with former first-round pick Bryan Bresee yet to materialize into a serious player yet.  

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: DB Benjamin Morrison

• Drafted: Round 2 (No. 53 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: Nine interceptions in his first 25 games at Notre Dame

Morrison was one of the first prospects I finalized a grade on in early January, and it was distinctly in the first round. He was as smooth of a sticky man-to-man cornerback as I ultimately watched in the 2025 draft. His hip injury just curtailed any momentum he could've had created during the pre-draft process, which is how and why the Bucs got him in the second round. 

Zyon McCollum was a freaky tester, and he flashed in his third season in 2024, but Morrison has the refined man-coverage skills to battle the incumbent for the starting gig opposite Jamel Dean. 

NFC South 2025 burning questions: Can Falcons leapfrog Buccaneers? How bad could Saints QB situation get?

Garrett Podell

NFC West

San Francisco 49ers: DL CJ West

• Drafted: Round 4 (No. 113 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: 4.95 in the 40-yard dash at 6-foot-1 and 315 pounds

West was as advanced of a run-stuffer as there was at defensive tackle in the 2025 class. He's ready to go in that area of the game, and based on the 49ers' other selections, improving the run defense was the club's core philosophy in the 2025 draft. The former Indiana star is an ascending pass-rusher, too, because along with the heavy hands he deploys to toss blockers ahead to halt the run, he has twitch when attacking upfield. 

The 49ers don't have a primary interior rusher who can stay on the field for three downs and routinely win. Well, they didn't. They do now with West, whom they stole in the fourth round. 

Seattle Seahawks: WR Tory Horton

• Drafted: Round 5 (No. 166 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: Averaged 5.1 receptions and 71 yards per game in 51 contests in college

Receivers as polished, productive and athletic as Horton typically don't last until the fifth round. Must've been the senior year injury that led to his "fall," although he was healthy enough to go through a workout in Indianapolis, and running 4.41 with a 37.5-inch vertical hinted at his explosiveness in a larger, lanky frame. 

The Seahawks receiver room is now quite top heavy with slot specialists Cooper Kupp and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Horton played 74.3% of his snaps on the outside at Colorado State in 2024. The inside-outside distinction is more blurred now than ever with bunch formations and motion in the NFL, but size and beating press are vital for quick acclimations at the position in today's NFL. Horton has both. 

Arizona Cardinals: S Kitan Crawford

• Drafted: Round 7 (No. 225 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: 4.41 in the 40-yard dash and 41.5-inch vertical at 205 pounds at the combine

Crawford's workout was more impressive than his film at Nevada, but he didn't feel like a seventh-round selection. There's an uphill climb ahead of the former Nevada star to seeing the field at safety. He has the athletic gifts to make noise early in camp.  

Los Angeles Rams: RB Jarquez Hunter 

• Drafted: Round 4 (No. 117 overall)
• Impressive stat to know: Averaged over 6.3 yards per carry in three of his four seasons in college

After thoroughly examining Hunter's film, advanced statistics at Auburn and combine workout, I felt I had no other choice but to compare him to... Kyren Williams. Now he's Williams' teammate in Los Angeles, and after a disappointing rookie season from Blake Corum, Hunter isn't that far from earning touches in Year 1. 

A compact, elusive runner who starred in all four seasons in the SEC, Hunter is the exact type of slasher head coach Sean McVay has traditionally loved in his zone-based scheme. 

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Jared Dubin