We’re breaking down five first-year players who will undoubtedly play large early roles for their teams – and could be the difference between a big year and a down one.
When teams draft players, they’re typically looking for someone who can either fill an immediate need or develop into a franchise cornerstone.
Sometimes, teams end up with a player who does both.
Looking at the 2025 NFL Draft class, it would be easy to claim players like Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward or Jacksonville Jaguars receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter as some of the most important rookies for this year. And they are!
But the draft is more than just the first two picks. Teams can find contributors throughout the later rounds to give their team a boost heading into the 2025 season.
As in most seasons, there will be a lot of rookies making an impact this year.
Rather than get into exhaustive predictions, we’re breaking down five first-year players who will undoubtedly play large early roles for their respective teams – and could be the difference between a big year and a down one.
RB Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders
Yes, we just said we wouldn’t name obvious players as the most important rookies. But Jeanty is an exception because of the team he landed with in Vegas.
The Raiders ranked last (by far) in rushing yards (1,357), rushing yards per game (79.8) and rushing yards per attempt (3.6) in 2024. The last team to average fewer than 80 rushing yards per game was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022, when Tom Brady led the NFL in passing attempts.
Las Vegas also finished 31st in rush success rate at 30.5%.
Not only is Jeanty a good enough prospect to boost the Raiders attack, but head coach Pete Carroll is known to lean into the ground game. His Seattle Seahawks teams averaged 4.3 yards per game between 2016 and 2023, which ranked 12th among all NFL teams over that span.
New offensive coordinator Chip Kelly hasn’t coached an NFL team since 2016, but his Ohio State squad rushed the ball 49% of the time and averaged 5.45 yards per play — which ranked 18th and 14th, respectively, among the 66 Power Five conference teams.
Jeanty, meanwhile, proved why he was worthy of the sixth overall pick when he led the FBS with 2,601 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns on 374 carries. He wasn’t just productive, he was also effective on a per-carry basis as well as against run disruptions.
running back college comparison
LB Carson Schwesinger, Cleveland Browns
The Browns got a bit weaker defensively following the news that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah will miss the 2025 season while he recovers from a neck injury. He ranked No. 1 in run disruption rate and 33rd in pressure rate among 84 linebackers with at least 100 snaps in 2024.
In comes Schwesinger, who is a quality replacement for Owusu-Koramoah in the middle of the defense. The second-rounder out of UCLA finished with the fourth-highest pressure rate among 169 draft-eligible FBS linebackers with at least 200 snaps in 2024 and the highest among the 17 drafted linebackers (38.4%).
His 10.0% run disruption rate ranked 23rd among the FBS linebackers and fourth among those 17.
rookie LB comparison
The hope for Schwesinger is that he can seamlessly slide in alongside Jordan Hicks, Devin Bush and Mohamoud Diabate for Jim Schwartz’s defense in 2025.
Schwesinger’s 24.4% burn rate allowed leaves a bit to be desired (it ranked seventh-highest among the drafted linebackers), but he was a tackle machine in 2024. Schwesinger led the FBS with 90 solo tackles, and his 95% tackle rate ranked third among those linebackers and 14th among FBS linebackers with at least 200 snaps this past season.
WR Kyle Williams, New England Patriots
If there’s one thing the Patriots needed from the 2025 NFL Draft, it was another offensive weapon for second-year quarterback Drake Maye. New England took four consecutive offensive players in the first three rounds, but Williams will be the most integral to Maye’s development this season.
While the Patriots also added veterans Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins to play alongside Kendrick Bourne, none of those four bring the youthful exuberance Williams can offer. And yes, we’re not counting second-year receivers Ja’lynn Polk and Javon Baker in that assessment.
The Washington State product coule be a key playmaker for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Williams proved in 2024 that he can run past defenders and get open for his quarterback. He ranked fifth in burn rate among the 30 drafted receivers and third in open rate.
rookie WR comparison
For a team that ranked 32nd in total receiving yards this past season, Williams will be a breath of fresh air. Diggs will be 32 this season and is coming off a torn ACL in 2024, while Hollins and Kendrick Bourne have just one season with at least 500 receiving yards each.
CB Will Johnson, Arizona Cardinals
Johnson endured perhaps the biggest fall of any defensive player in the draft when he was taken by the Cardinals in the second round. The Michigan cornerback missed time in 2024 with a toe injury, and concerns about a lingering knee issue likely contributed to his fall on draft weekend.
But when he was healthy, he was among the best in the nation.
Over the past two seasons, Johnson’s 46.2% open-allowed rate ranked 11th among 79 drafted cornerbacks. That’s better than Terrion Arnold, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean and 2025 first-rounders Travis Hunter and Jahdae Barron. Johnson’s 8.4 burn yards allowed per target ranked 24th among that group, ahead of all those players again, except Mitchell and Barron.
He’ll be tasked with elevating one a secondary that was one of the worst in the NFL last season. The Cardinals allowed the third-highest pass success rate at 44.5%, behind only the Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers. Arizona also allowed the fourth-worst open rate at 80.7%.
The Cardinals needed a lockdown corner, and Johnson is poised to be their deliverance.
C Tate Ratledge, Detroit Lions
This one is simple: The Lions lost center Frank Ragnow to retirement and plan to use Ratledge as their starter in 2025. And for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, Detroit will need him.
Ratledge has been a solid interior offensive lineman over the past two seasons at Georgia. Of the eight drafted linemen in 2025 who primarily played guard or center over the past two seasons, Ratledge ranks fifth in pressure rate allowed, third in run disruption rate allowed and tied for third in adjusted sack rate allowed.
How will that translate to center for one of the most run-heavy teams in the NFL? That remains to be seen. But he has big shoes to fill after Ragnow allowed the third-lowest run disruption rate in the league among centers with at least 250 snaps.
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