A year ago, the story was that CJ Stroud was playing well beyond his years and that no one had seen a season like his from a rookie quarterback. NFL fans didn’t have to wait long for another rookie quarterback to make his own mark on the league. Jayden Daniels, like Stroud, is turning an overlooked franchise into a legitimate threat when the roster around him suggests it shouldn’t be.
Daniels isn’t the only rookie making plays, however. Here are the top 10 rookies from Week 4 of the NFL season:
1. QB Jayden Daniels (Commanders)
Daniels is setting records left and right early in his NFL career. On Sunday, he became the first quarterback in NFL history with an 85% completion percentage in back-to-back games. He has the highest completion percentage in a four-game stretch (82.1%) — of any player, let alone rookies — in a season since 1970.
Washington punter Tress Way only once in the last three weeks. Meanwhile, Daniels led more scoring drives (23) than incompletions thrown (19).
Daniels is putting together a special season one year after he saw something similar from CJ Stroud.
It’s not uncommon for teams to force the football on a player, but that player doesn’t always deserve it. Nabers is the exception. He can break off a return route or fumble his feet to break down a defender — only to accelerate for a downfield goal. The LSU product also showed the ability to score jump balls. There’s nothing he can’t do, and defenders have to respect him at all three levels. In the clip below, Andrew Booth Jr. bites hard on the underneath route and Nabers continues up for an easy completion.
Through four games, he has 35 receptions on 52 targets for 386 yards and 3 touchdowns; all are league main characters. Puka Nacua set a rookie record with 160 goals in 2023. Through four games, Nacua had 52 goals as well, but that rate slowed after Cooper Kupp returned and the season progressed.
Mustapha is one of the most fun players to watch. He has excellent top speed and accelerates downfield quickly to make big plays. The rookie nearly had an interception against the Patriots, but he had a stunning block on Fred Warner’s interception return.
Houston’s Calen Bullock is another safety who had a good season. His effort on a tackle led to a goal-line stand and resulted in his team keeping a Jacksonville win-less. His teammate, cornerback Renardo Green, did a good job in his extended opportunity as well.
Verso is a really impressive speedster. He bends his waist on the high side of his rush and flattens his way to the quarterback. The rookie does a really good job of setting up his pass rush moves, but he needs to do a better job of finishing plays. There were a few occasions where he had Caleb Williams dead and couldn’t get him on the ground.
The circumstances behind Rosengarten not seeing more action than he has this season are unknown, but his performance Sunday was impressive. He did a really good job playing with balance and fishing blocks in the run game to free up Derrick Henry. Baltimore had a quiet confidence in its offensive line coming into the season, and those pieces may finally come together with guard Andrew Vorhees and Rosengarten.
Irving runs through arm tackles, but there is a quality to his game that is reminiscent of an NBA guard The best NBA penetrators can give the defender a bit of a shoulder shimmy to move them in one direction before breaking the opposite way. Irving does the same as a rusher. He shows great burst and glides across the field effortlessly.
Frazier is a rock in the middle of that Pittsburgh offensive line just looking for a reason to roll down on a defender. He does a great job of moving his feet and fishing for blocks to create rushing lanes on a Steelers offensive line that has been decimated by injuries this year.
There were really only two plays that Mims did a poor job on. He reversed once and Jadeveon Clowney cut in for a close sack on Joe Burrow. For a franchise that hasn’t been able to find answers along the offensive line, Mims can finally provide stability on the right side.
Wiggins should have recorded his first interception of the season, but fumbled the ball slightly. He played away a lot but rallied to the football. Wiggins showed good stop-start speed to stay in phase against Buffalo’s receivers. Wiggins has always been one of the most talented cornerbacks eligible for the 2024 draft NFL Draftbut he needed some refinement. Ravens fans may see this play out in real time.
Puni showed good foot speed to get to the front of the blocking scheme and seal curl lanes. There were occasions when he was beaten in pass protection, but he rallied and ran the runner past the pocket. The rookie has active eyes and did a good job of picking up stunts.
Additionally, Commanders offensive tackle Brandon Coleman and Titans offensive tackle JC Latham have been putting together promising performances of late. The offensive tackle may have been stronger than even the most optimistic imagined.
require.config({“baseUrl”:”https://sportsfly.cbsistatic.com/fly-0789/bundles/sportsmediajs/js-build”,”config”:{“version”:{“fly/components/accordion”:”1.0″,”fly/components/alert”:”1.0″,”fly/components/base”:”1.0″,”fly/components/carousel”:”1.0″,”fly/components/dropdown”:”1.0″,”fly/components/fixate”:”1.0″,”fly/components/form-validate”:”1.0″,”fly/components/image-gallery”:”1.0″,”fly/components/iframe-messenger”:”1.0″,”fly/components/load-more”:”1.0″,”fly/components/load-more-article”:”1.0″,”fly/components/load-more-scroll”:”1.0″,”fly/components/loading”:”1.0″,”fly/components/modal”:”1.0″,”fly/components/modal-iframe”:”1.0″,”fly/components/network-bar”:”1.0″,”fly/components/poll”:”1.0″,”fly/components/search-player”:”1.0″,”fly/components/social-button”:”1.0″,”fly/components/social-counts”:”1.0″,”fly/components/social-links”:”1.0″,”fly/components/tabs”:”1.0″,”fly/components/video”:”1.0″,”fly/libs/easy-xdm”:”2.4.17.1″,”fly/libs/jquery.cookie”:”1.2″,”fly/libs/jquery.throttle-debounce”:”1.1″,”fly/libs/jquery.widget”:”1.9.2″,”fly/libs/omniture.s-code”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/jquery-mobile-init”:”1.0″,”fly/libs/jquery.mobile”:”1.3.2″,”fly/libs/backbone”:”1.0.0″,”fly/libs/underscore”:”1.5.1″,”fly/libs/jquery.easing”:”1.3″,”fly/managers/ad”:”2.0″,”fly/managers/components”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/cookie”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/debug”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/geo”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/gpt”:”4.3″,”fly/managers/history”:”2.0″,”fly/managers/madison”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/social-authentication”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/data-prefix”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/data-selector”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/function-natives”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/guid”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/log”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/object-helper”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/string-helper”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/string-vars”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/url-helper”:”1.0″,”libs/jshashtable”:”2.1″,”libs/select2″:”3.5.1″,”libs/jsonp”:”2.4.0″,”libs/jquery/mobile”:”1.4.5″,”libs/modernizr.custom”:”2.6.2″,”libs/velocity”:”1.2.2″,”libs/dataTables”:”1.10.6″,”libs/dataTables.fixedColumns”:”3.0.4″,”libs/dataTables.fixedHeader”:”2.1.2″,”libs/dateformat”:”1.0.3″,”libs/waypoints/infinite”:”3.1.1″,”libs/waypoints/inview”:”3.1.1″,”libs/waypoints/jquery.waypoints”:”3.1.1″,”libs/waypoints/sticky”:”3.1.1″,”libs/jquery/dotdotdot”:”1.6.1″,”libs/jquery/flexslider”:”2.1″,”libs/jquery/lazyload”:”1.9.3″,”libs/jquery/maskedinput”:”1.3.1″,”libs/jquery/marquee”:”1.3.1″,”libs/jquery/numberformatter”:”1.2.3″,”libs/jquery/placeholder”:”0.2.4″,”libs/jquery/scrollbar”:”0.1.6″,”libs/jquery/tablesorter”:”2.0.5″,”libs/jquery/touchswipe”:”1.6.18″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.core”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.draggable”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.mouse”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.position”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.slider”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.sortable”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.touch-punch”:”0.2.3″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.autocomplete”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.accordion”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tabs”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.menu”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.dialog”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.resizable”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.button”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tooltip”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.effects”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.datepicker”:”1.11.4″}},”shim”:{“liveconnection/managers/connection”:{“deps”:[“liveconnection/libs/sockjs-0.3.4″]},”liveconnection/libs/sockjs-0.3.4”:{“exports”:”SockJS”},”libs/setValueFromArray”:{“exports”:”set”},”libs/getValueFromArray”:{“exports”:”get”},”fly/libs/jquery.mobile-1.3.2″:[“version!fly/utils/jquery-mobile-init”],”libs/backbone.marionette”:{“deps”:[“jquery”,”version!fly/libs/underscore”,”version!fly/libs/backbone”],”exports”:”Marionette”},”fly/libs/underscore-1.5.1″:{“exports”:”_”},”fly/libs/backbone-1.0.0″:{“deps”:[“version!fly/libs/underscore”,”jquery”],”exports”:”Backbone”},”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tabs-1.11.4″:[“jquery”,”version!libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.core”,”version!fly/libs/jquery.widget”],”libs/jquery/flexslider-2.1″:[“jquery”],”libs/dataTables.fixedColumns-3.0.4″:[“jquery”,”version!libs/dataTables”],”libs/dataTables.fixedHeader-2.1.2″:[“jquery”,”version!libs/dataTables”],”https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/app/VideoPlayer/AdobePass-min.js”:[“https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/util/Utils-min.js”]},”map”:{“*”:{“adobe-pass”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/app/VideoPlayer/AdobePass-min.js”,”facebook”:”https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js”,”facebook-debug”:”https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all/debug.js”,”google”:”https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js”,”google-csa”:”https://www.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js”,”google-javascript-api”:”https://www.google.com/jsapi”,”google-client-api”:”https://accounts.google.com/gsi/client”,”gpt”:”https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js”,”hlsjs”:”https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/hls.js/1.0.7/hls.js”,”recaptcha”:”https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js?onload=loadRecaptcha&render=explicit”,”recaptcha_ajax”:”https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/js/recaptcha_ajax.js”,”supreme-golf”:”https://sgapps-staging.supremegolf.com/search/assets/js/bundle.js”,”taboola”:”https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/cbsinteractive-cbssports/loader.js”,”twitter”:”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”,”video-avia”:”https://vidtech.cbsinteractive.com/avia-js/2.12.0/player/avia.min.js”,”video-avia-ui”:”https://vidtech.cbsinteractive.com/avia-js/2.12.0/plugins/ui/avia.ui.min.js”,”video-avia-gam”:”https://vidtech.cbsinteractive.com/avia-js/2.12.0/plugins/gam/avia.gam.min.js”,”video-avia-hls”:”https://vidtech.cbsinteractive.com/avia-js/2.12.0/plugins/hls/avia.hls.min.js”,”video-avia-playlist”:”https://vidtech.cbsinteractive.com/avia-js/2.12.0/plugins/playlist/avia.playlist.min.js”,”video-ima3″:”https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3.js”,”video-ima3-dai”:”https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3_dai.js”,”video-utils”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/util/Utils-min.js”,”video-vast-tracking”:”https://vidtech.cbsinteractive.com/sb55/vast-js/vtg-vast-client.js”}},”waitSeconds”:300});
