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It's been a weird year for NFL rookies.
The best quarterback to come out of the 2025 NFL Draft so far, arguably, is 26 years old and spent seven years playing college ball. An offensive position that often needs years of seasoning before seeing big time results produced four different tight ends who emerged as a 100-yard threat any given week. Two of the leagues best young pass rushers play for the Atlanta Falcons.
That made selecting this year's NFL All-Rookie team tricky. I get a vote as a member of the Pro Football Writers of America, who roll out their awards over the course of a week starting January 19. That means I chose 27 debutantes who shined -- some at positions loaded with talent and others where rookies barely even played this season.
I wrote up my PFWA awards and All-Pro ballot here. Let's talk about the first-year players who shined as well. I'll go deep where I had the most trouble debating between honorees.
Quarterback: Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints
Shough earned my top rookie quarterback spot despite making only nine starts this fall. That's a testament to his in-season and in-game growth. The 25-year-old rookie frequently came alive in the second half to make a depleted New Orleans team watchable. That was enough to lift him over rookies with similarly rough supporting casts like Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart.
Running Back: TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots and Kyle Monangai, Chicago Bears
It was a debate over who'd join Henderson here. Quinshon Judkins was my initial choice. Ashton Jeanty led all rookies in total yards. But Monangai's hard-charging style helped spur Chicago's turnaround.
The Bears were 6-1 when he had at least 48 total yards. Though buttressed by better players than Judkins or Jeanty, his role in his team's success gave him the nod in a good-not-great crop of runners.
Wide Receiver: Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers and Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tight End: Harold Fannin, Cleveland Browns
2025 dissolved a trend of rookie tight ends needing time to make a big NFL impact. Fannin was merely the most consistent presence in a group that includes Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland and Oronde Gadsden II.
Center: Jonah Monheim, Jacksonville Jaguars
Guard: Grey Zabel, Seattle Seahawks and Tyler Booker, Dallas Cowboys
Offensive Tackle: Will Campbell, New England Patriots and Kelvin Banks, New Orleans Saints
Campbell vs. New York Jet Armand Membou was the toughest call along the offensive front. If this were strictly one left tackle and one right tackle, Membou gets the pick. But Campbell's development despite missing four games -- especially after a shaky start in which his veteran bookend Morgan Moses was a disaster -- cleared the runway for Drake Maye to put up an MVP-caliber season.
Defensive Lineman: Jalon Walker, Atlanta Falcons, Abdul Carter, New York Giants, Deone Walker, Buffalo Bills and Mason Graham, Cleveland Browns
I split the Falcons' rookies up and put Jalon Walker on the line even though both are edge rushers who operate primarily from the second level. Walker's got 47 snaps aligned inside, so close enough.
Walker played a big role in Atlanta's defense returning to respectability. Carter led all rookies (and ranked seven in the NFL) with 72 pressures, even if that only resulted in four sacks (Brian Burns feasted instead). Graham's 43 run stops were a top 20 mark among linemen. Walker was a run-stuffer on a defense that struggled to stop tailbacks behind him, ranking second in the NFL when it came to running plays stopped for zero or negative yards.
Linebacker: James Pearce, Atlanta Falcons, Carson Schwesinger, Cleveland Browns and Demetrius Knight, Cincinnati Bengals
Knight was a tough choice from a limited linebacker corps. Jihaad Campbell had the spot, but fell out of Philly's starting lineup. Knight displayed a useful all-around game in the middle of an awful defense. He added value as an occasional blitzer and made more than 100 tackles. He also missed a bunch of stops, got picked on in coverage (but managed two interceptions and seven passes defensed) and occasionally let the Bengals' crappiness wash over him.
It wasn't a great year for rookie off-ball linebackers behind Schwesinger.
Cornerback: Denzel Burke, Arizona Cardinals and Nohl Williams, Kansas City Chiefs
2025 was also light on impact first-year cornerbacks. Burke allowed a 70.8 passer rating in coverage. Williams started as many games as his toughest competition for the second spot, New Orleans Saints' Quincy Riley. He gave up a lower completion rate to make up for Riley's better passes defensed number (10 to seven).
That effectively made it a coin flip. I went with the guy who came on strong to finish the season because recency bias is a [expletive].
Safety: Nick Emmanwori, Seattle Seahawks and Xavier Watts, Atlanta Falcons
Placekicker: Andres Borregales, New England Patriots
Punter: Austin McNamara, New York Jets
He actually punted less than Broncos' rookie Jeremy Crawshaw. He still had a better net yards per punt, a higher percentage of kicks downed inside the 20 and a lower touchback rate.
Kickoff Returner: Jaylin Noel, Houston Texans
Punt Returner: Chimere Dike, Tennessee Titans
Special Teamer: Carson Bruener, Pittsburgh Steelers
This article originally appeared on For The Win: My NFL all-rookie ballot, from Tyler Shough to Nick Emmanwori
Continue reading...
The best quarterback to come out of the 2025 NFL Draft so far, arguably, is 26 years old and spent seven years playing college ball. An offensive position that often needs years of seasoning before seeing big time results produced four different tight ends who emerged as a 100-yard threat any given week. Two of the leagues best young pass rushers play for the Atlanta Falcons.
That made selecting this year's NFL All-Rookie team tricky. I get a vote as a member of the Pro Football Writers of America, who roll out their awards over the course of a week starting January 19. That means I chose 27 debutantes who shined -- some at positions loaded with talent and others where rookies barely even played this season.
I wrote up my PFWA awards and All-Pro ballot here. Let's talk about the first-year players who shined as well. I'll go deep where I had the most trouble debating between honorees.
2025 NFL All-Rookie Offense
Quarterback: Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints
You must be registered for see images attach
Shough earned my top rookie quarterback spot despite making only nine starts this fall. That's a testament to his in-season and in-game growth. The 25-year-old rookie frequently came alive in the second half to make a depleted New Orleans team watchable. That was enough to lift him over rookies with similarly rough supporting casts like Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart.
Running Back: TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots and Kyle Monangai, Chicago Bears
It was a debate over who'd join Henderson here. Quinshon Judkins was my initial choice. Ashton Jeanty led all rookies in total yards. But Monangai's hard-charging style helped spur Chicago's turnaround.
The Bears were 6-1 when he had at least 48 total yards. Though buttressed by better players than Judkins or Jeanty, his role in his team's success gave him the nod in a good-not-great crop of runners.
Wide Receiver: Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers and Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tight End: Harold Fannin, Cleveland Browns
2025 dissolved a trend of rookie tight ends needing time to make a big NFL impact. Fannin was merely the most consistent presence in a group that includes Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland and Oronde Gadsden II.
Center: Jonah Monheim, Jacksonville Jaguars
Guard: Grey Zabel, Seattle Seahawks and Tyler Booker, Dallas Cowboys
Offensive Tackle: Will Campbell, New England Patriots and Kelvin Banks, New Orleans Saints
Campbell vs. New York Jet Armand Membou was the toughest call along the offensive front. If this were strictly one left tackle and one right tackle, Membou gets the pick. But Campbell's development despite missing four games -- especially after a shaky start in which his veteran bookend Morgan Moses was a disaster -- cleared the runway for Drake Maye to put up an MVP-caliber season.
2025 NFL All-Rookie Defense
Defensive Lineman: Jalon Walker, Atlanta Falcons, Abdul Carter, New York Giants, Deone Walker, Buffalo Bills and Mason Graham, Cleveland Browns
You must be registered for see images attach
I split the Falcons' rookies up and put Jalon Walker on the line even though both are edge rushers who operate primarily from the second level. Walker's got 47 snaps aligned inside, so close enough.
Walker played a big role in Atlanta's defense returning to respectability. Carter led all rookies (and ranked seven in the NFL) with 72 pressures, even if that only resulted in four sacks (Brian Burns feasted instead). Graham's 43 run stops were a top 20 mark among linemen. Walker was a run-stuffer on a defense that struggled to stop tailbacks behind him, ranking second in the NFL when it came to running plays stopped for zero or negative yards.
Linebacker: James Pearce, Atlanta Falcons, Carson Schwesinger, Cleveland Browns and Demetrius Knight, Cincinnati Bengals
Knight was a tough choice from a limited linebacker corps. Jihaad Campbell had the spot, but fell out of Philly's starting lineup. Knight displayed a useful all-around game in the middle of an awful defense. He added value as an occasional blitzer and made more than 100 tackles. He also missed a bunch of stops, got picked on in coverage (but managed two interceptions and seven passes defensed) and occasionally let the Bengals' crappiness wash over him.
It wasn't a great year for rookie off-ball linebackers behind Schwesinger.
Cornerback: Denzel Burke, Arizona Cardinals and Nohl Williams, Kansas City Chiefs
2025 was also light on impact first-year cornerbacks. Burke allowed a 70.8 passer rating in coverage. Williams started as many games as his toughest competition for the second spot, New Orleans Saints' Quincy Riley. He gave up a lower completion rate to make up for Riley's better passes defensed number (10 to seven).
That effectively made it a coin flip. I went with the guy who came on strong to finish the season because recency bias is a [expletive].
Safety: Nick Emmanwori, Seattle Seahawks and Xavier Watts, Atlanta Falcons
2025 NFL All-Rookie Special Teams
Placekicker: Andres Borregales, New England Patriots
Punter: Austin McNamara, New York Jets
He actually punted less than Broncos' rookie Jeremy Crawshaw. He still had a better net yards per punt, a higher percentage of kicks downed inside the 20 and a lower touchback rate.
Kickoff Returner: Jaylin Noel, Houston Texans
Punt Returner: Chimere Dike, Tennessee Titans
Special Teamer: Carson Bruener, Pittsburgh Steelers
This article originally appeared on For The Win: My NFL all-rookie ballot, from Tyler Shough to Nick Emmanwori
Continue reading...
