Last year, Ladd McConkey, Ray Davis and Tarheeb Still were a few of the AFC rookies picked after Day 1 who were key players on their respective teams right away.
In 2023, it was Tank Dell of the Texans, Keeanu Benton of the Steelers, and Colts receiver Josh Downs.
In 2022, Breece Hall and Dameon Pierce were AFC Day 2 picks who played like first-rounders in Year 1 in the NFL. The season before that, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith went from somewhat obscure non-Day 1 picks to integral pieces of the Chiefs offensive line as rookies.
In 2020, Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, Steelers receiver Chase Claypool and Patriots guard Michael Onwenu were AFC rookies who weren’t selected on Day 1 of the draft but sure as heck played like Day 1 selections during their debut season.
And you, NFL fan starved for football, know all about your favorite team’s first-round pick in the 2025 draft. Now it’s time to really get acclimated with the non-Round 1 selection who has the talent — and situation — to flourish as a rookie.
Earlier this week I ran through who these players can be this season for each NFC team. Below is the AFC edition.
AFC East
Buffalo Bills
Sanders is exactly the interior rusher that’s been missing next to Ed Oliver during the majority of the Sean McDermott era. In this day and age, teams need two disruptive forces on the interior. The Bills had utilized journeymen next to Oliver for years. Now they have an athletic, advanced defensive tackle the opposition will have to involve in the game plan right away.
At South Carolina, Sanders was routinely in the backfield — for years — thanks to first-step quicks, leverage, and aggressive hand work. He wins on first, second, and third down. I expect Sanders to be an integral part of Buffalo’s defensive line rotation in 2025 and beyond.
Miami Dolphins
Savaiinaea embodies the Dolphins’ change of team-building philosophy that was woefully needed after the speed-finesse route yielded an abundance of stats but zero playoff victories to date in the Mike McDaniel era.
At 6-4 and 324 pounds, this is a monstrous human who can play tackle (his collegiate position) or guard at the next level. He’s a masher in the run game but is a deceptively balanced and under-control pass protector too. As an early second-round pick, it’ll come as no surprise when Savaiinaea emerges as a key cog to the Dolphins’ offensive line reconstruction in 2025 and into the future.
New York Jets
The Jets have established receiving options in budding superstar Garrett Wilson and longtime vertical rebounder Mike Williams. Now they have a rugged yards-after-the-catch pinball in Corley to act as an extension of the run game and provide Aaron Rodgers with an easy outlet that can turn passes across the line of scrimmage into 5-plus-yard gains with reasonable regularity.
At 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds, Corley is almost identically sized to young rocket of a back Breece Hall — 5-11 and 217 pounds at his combine. While the aerial portion of the offense will run through Wilson, Corley has the unique skills to contribute right away. He doesn’t need to master a multitude of routes to get open. Most of his targets will be of the schemed-open variety.
New England Patriots
After his true freshman season, Henderson was never the true, undisputed feature back at Ohio State, and it was somewhat of a mystery why that was never the case. While he’s not uber-elusive laterally, he’s a big play ready to erupt through the second level, both on interior runs and when he can turn the corner.
The Patriots have Rhamondre Stevenson, a holdover from the previous regime, and not much else in the running back room. Henderson will bring a spark-plug vibe to Year 2 of the Drake Maye era, which is desperately needed in New England.
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Cody Benjamin
AFC North
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals are going to have one of the more fun, youthful backfield tandems in the NFL, and it’ll be the most cost-effective, with Chase Brown and Brooks, both former sixth-round selections. Brooks’ build lends itself to yards after contact. He has short, thick legs, and surprisingly juice in them when changing directions.
Cincinnati clearly doesn’t care about draft position with its running backs (and it shouldn’t matter for any team). Brown and Brooks political campaign T-shirts will be trendy in Cincinnati in 2025.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Johnson is about as NFL-ready as a feature-back can get. And he feels very Steelers-y. Big, bruising runner to complement Jaylen Warren. Essentially Najee Harris-like without the wear and tear on his legs. After a freshman season that saw him average over 5.0 yards per tote — then a sophomore year prematurely ending with injury — Johnson proved he can handle a full, classic Big Ten-back workload in 2024. He toted the rock 240 times for old-school aficionado Kirk Ferentz, and averaged 6.4 yards per carry with a seismic 21 touchdowns. This is the sweet spot to draft running backs in today’s NFL. Johnson should be the bell cow in Pittsburgh right away.
Cleveland Browns
Fannin Jr. runs weird. Like he’s trying to get open while injured. Except he wasn’t injured in 2024. And all he did at Bowling Green was catch 117 passes, for — ready? — 1,555 yards with 10 touchdowns. Now, do I think Fannin Jr. will torch linebackers and safeties with explosiveness and movement subtleties? No, probably not.
His athleticism meets NFL prerequisites for the tight end position. That’s good. His specialty? YAC. Fannin Jr. is an enraged bull with the ball in his hands. And I don’t know who’s going to be throwing him the ball in Cleveland in his rookie season. Whoever it is, I’m assuming they’ll be looking for a security-blanket tight end reasonably often. Fannin Jr. will learn from David Njoku and start to materialize into a consistent big-play threat a few months into his professional career.
Baltimore Ravens
In two years, we will all be flabbergasted when we’re reminded Buchanan was selected in the fourth round. And he couldn’t have landed in a finer situation, in Baltimore, on a Ravens team in need for athleticism at off-ball linebacker. By the way, the Ravens have a long history of defensive stoutness, stemming particularly from that spot on the field.
Buchanan was a magnet to the football at California in 2024, with 114 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, five sacks, with four pass breakups after a spectacularly productive career at UC-Davis. Trust me, Buchanan is going to rock in Baltimore.
AFC South
Jacksonville Jaguars
Yes, Tuten had a fumbling problem at Virginia Tech. Nine of them in his two years with the Hokies. I don’t really care. Fumbles are kinda-sorta like drops for a receiver. They happen. They’re rarely predictive of future fumbles. Everything else about Tuten’s game screams future franchise runner.
He’s clearly ridiculously fast. And Tuten was a side-to-side wonder eluding defenders at the ACC the past two campaigns. He forced 60-plus tackles in consecutive seasons, quite the feat for any ball-carrier. He made the jump from North Carolina A&T look effortless. And Tuten has the game to not only register as a blip on the radar in Jacksonville … but push Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby for the lion’s share of the carries in Liam Coen’s offense.
Indianapolis Colts
While Wohler’s final season wasn’t as productive in 2023 at Wisconsin, but it’s not as if the 2023 campaign should be completely discounted just because it wasn’t his final year before entering the NFL.
This is a hefty but athletic safety at 6-2 and 213 pounds with a 37-inch vertical. I loved his tackling reliability in the Big Ten too. For the Colts, safety is a weakness — although I’m excited about Nick Cross in a contract year. Wohler has the linebacker build, plus instincts, and coverage chops to make noise in that room for Shane Steichen’s team.
Houston Texans
I’m not sure what to make of the Texans’ offensive line right now. I don’t think they know the starting five right now. But I applaud the club’s move away from the sunk-cost fallacy. The Texans completely revamped the unit after its downright abysmal effort for the majority of C.J. Stroud’s second season.
Ersery has the girth, power, and movement skills to play right tackle in Houston in 2025. Oh, and maybe most importantly, he’s super calm as a blocker. Not flailing all over the place when he’s out of position. Ersery simply carries out his assignments with what feels like minimal stress.
Tennessee Titans
Winston was tracking toward the first round after two spectacular seasons in the Nittany Lions program before an early-season torn ACL in 2024 sunk his stock to the third round.
This is a long, high-caliber athlete, who plays with maximum effort on every play and has impeccable range as a tackler and in coverage. In that safety room in Tennessee, it’s super-steady veteran Amani Hooker and …? Yeah, Winston Jr. should be a starter in Year 1, and because he should be fully recovered from that ACL tear, he’ll make noise right away.
AFC West
Kansas City Chiefs
Norman-Lott is a splash-play specialist against the run. At times he can get washed out of the play. As a pass rusher, he’s an uber-talented, upfield rusher with an array of hand work to dazzle offensive linemen at the point of attack.
In short, he’s precisely the type of interior defender the Chiefs now clearly need next to Chris Jones at this stage of his career. And Kansas City has been quite the accomplished franchise without a true running mate for Jones inside. If Norman-Lott hits, he can be that player for the Chiefs’ defensive front.
Las Vegas Raiders
I had a first-round grade on Bech. Did everything in college I want out of a modern-day wide receiver. Ok, so he’s not a Malik Nabers-esque separator. Besides that, Bech checked all the boxes. He’s hyper-reliable catching the football anywhere in his zip code. He’s a moose after the catch.
I love that he won’t asked to be “the guy” immediately in Las Vegas given the presence of Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers. And those two will draw plenty attention away from Bech, who will eat over the middle sooner rather than later. We’ll wonder why he wasn’t picked sooner in due time.
Denver Broncos
I do not care the Broncos just signed J.K. Dobbins. Good player. Coming off a career year. Harvey is the future at the running back position and is precisely the type of back Sean Payton has always gravitated toward and accentuated in his offenses during his lengthy tenure as an NFL play caller.
Despite being 5-8, Harvey carried the ball plenty — and thrived — between the tackles. But make no mistake about it, he’s an in-space specialist who can hit home runs, particularly in the outside run game and on screens. Music to the ears of Payton.
Los Angeles Chargers
Ladd McConkey is on the verge of superstardom in Los Angeles. I genuinely believe that. Even with their 1,000-yard receiver returning for Year 2, the Chargers have 167 available targets from their 2024 club. Sure, second-round pick Tre Harris will garner some of those looks.
I don’t know if Harris is that much better of a prospect than Lambert-Smith, particularly in terms of route-running polish. Lambert-Smith can really go too — as evidenced by his 4.37 time in the 40-yard dash. Justin Herbert has an elite-level arm. Use it! Throw long balls to Lambert-Smith. Often.
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