NFL rookie rankings at midpoint of 2023 season: Jordan Addison skyrockets into top five
With the 2023 NFL regular season at the halfway mark, former NFL executive and scout Marc Ross reviews the performances of first-year players to rank the top 25 rookies in the league today.
C.J. Stroud maintains a firm hold on this No. 1 spot after quite simply putting on a master class of quarterback play through the first half of his rookie season. He managed to ascend to another level in Week 9, orchestrating an impressive eight-play, 75-yard game-winning drive to cap a performance for the record books. When looking at the NFL QB landscape, there aren’t many signal-callers I’d take over the rookie right now. He’s completely blown away the expectations even the most optimistic Stroud backers had coming into the season, leading the NFL in TD-to-INT ratio (14:1) and ranking third in pass yards per game (283.8) and fourth in passer rating (102.9).
DRAFTED: Round 1, No. 9 overall
Through the first four weeks of the NFL season, Jalen Carter played in 48 percent of the Eagles’ defensive snaps. I thought that number would increase — it hasn’t. Carter remains at that snap count, but his impact remains the same. He is the highest-graded rookie interior defender (90.6) in the Pro Football Focus era through his first eight games, surpassing Aaron Donald’s 2014 season (90.0). He’s a constant factor up front.
DRAFTED: Round 1, No. 5 overall
Pete Carroll is trusting the rookie cornerback more and more with each passing week, using him in a multitude of ways. Devon Witherspoon has taken a majority of his snaps out wide, but he’s also lined up in the slot, at free safety and in the box. According to Next Gen Stats, Witherspoon is one of 16 players to be targeted at least 50 times as the nearest defender in coverage, and he has the lowest yards-per-target-allowed mark (5.4) among them.
DRAFTED: Round 5, No. 177 overall
It was only natural that Puka Nacua’s production dipped with Cooper Kupp’s return and Matthew Stafford’s injury. That said, the rookie has still had 25 receptions and 326 receiving yards since Kupp’s return to the field in Week 5 (Kupp has had 23 catches and 364 yards). Nacua is still setting records — most recently for the most receptions (64) in a player’s first nine career games — because he is routinely open, thanks to his innate feel for space and shifty route-running, and because he has great hands.
DRAFTED: Round 1, No. 23 overall
Jordan Addison was given a huge opportunity when Justin Jefferson went on IR with a hamstring injury after Week 5, and he’s convincingly shown he can be a complete No. 1 wide receiver in this league. During the Vikings’ four-game win streak, Addison has hauled in four touchdowns, including a game-altering 60-yard score in his coming out party, a huge prime-time win over the 49ers. Some players are just natural receivers no matter what the counting stats say, and Minnesota has two such pass-catchers.
DRAFTED: Round 2, No. 34 overall
Sam LaPorta has grown into a focal point of the Lions’ passing attack and is now on a historic pace, having become the first tight end to log at least 40 receptions, 400 receiving yards and four receiving TDs in his first eight career games, per NFL Research. His athletic ability and ball skills have made him a go-to target for Jared Goff, especially in the red zone.
DRAFTED: Round 3, No. 77 overall
Byron Young is one of the players stepping up for Sean McVay’s young squad. Having played 86.5 percent of the team’s defensive snaps through nine weeks, the third-round selection leads all rookies with five sacks and 37 QB pressures, and he’s forced two fumbles over the last four weeks. He plays with a lot of energy and explosiveness, and his great feel for his role off the edge has turned him into a bright spot on a middle-of-the-road Rams defense.
DRAFTED: Round 3, No. 69 overall
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Tank Dell has been a big-time playmaker for C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans — and no play has been bigger than the game-winning TD catch in last week’s late win over Tampa. Pegged as a speed guy coming into the draft, the 5-foot-10, 165-pounder has proven to be much more than that, demonstrating phenomenal ball skills, toughness and great route-running ability. Entering Week 10, Dell is averaging 64.9 receiving yards per game (second among rookies, behind Puka Nacua) and 16.2 yards per catch (most among rookies, min. 15 receptions). In addition, he is the only rookie to have multiple games with 100-plus receiving yards and at least one touchdown this season.
