The NFL season is so close. So close that J.J. McCarthy would miss it on a quick slant. Oh! Although there hasn’t been as much hype as usual around this year’s class, we have another batch of wet-behind-the-ears rookies looking to make an impression in the big league with more online sports betting opportunities to throw your dollars at. Here are five rookies I think will see their value increase over the course of the season.
Jonah Coleman
Over a four-year college career, Jonah Coleman racked up nearly 4,000 scrimmage yards and scored 37 TDs across his time on Arizona and Washington. Coleman’s profile is defined by contact creation rather than explosive plays. He is not a home run hitter, but a grinder who has an ability to generate yardage after contact. Coleman has also been a fairly consistent part of the passing game, recording over 350 yards on 31 receptions in his final college season.
I must admit I was a little disappointed that the Broncos drafted Jonah Coleman in the fourth round. Sean Payton running back roulette is not a game that I’m particularly fond of. The Broncos’ RB room is like a mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how they got it, and danged if I know who to draft.
Still, JK Dobbins, the incumbent, has a history of injuries; he has never played in every game in a season. RJ Harvey had an incredibly inefficient rookie season but made the most of his touches in the passing game. Coleman could earn touches on merit, even without injuries. Though if someone does go down, Coleman is going to assume a lead role.
Jadarian Price
With the last pick of the first round, the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks picked Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price. After missing his first college season with a ruptured Achilles, Price took up a rotational role in Year Two alongside Jeremiyah Love and behind Audric Estime. Price was used primarily as a change-of-pace back to Jeremiyah Love: a Robin to Love’s Batman, if you will. Price recorded a modest 1,692 rushing yards and 15 rushing TDs in his college career.
Price was a plus on special teams, recording close to 800 yards and three TDs in his college career, averaging 36.1 yards per return. Price struggled in the pass game, ranking in the bottom 30th percentile in YPRR and bottom 10% in TPRR.
For me, Price’s biggest fault in college was that he wasn’t as good as Jeremiyah Love, but I don’t think that we should hold that against him. With Zach Charbonnet recovering from an ACL tear, 450 touches are available in this Seahawks backfield. Even if Price splits some time with George Holani initially or Zach Charbonnet eventually, Price looks set to have a big workload on one of the best offenses from last season.
KC Concepcion
As a freshman, Concepcion made an immediate impact on NC State, logging an impressive 839 yards and 10 TDs. After a down sophomore season due to general offensive struggles, Concepcion bounced back in his third season with 900+ yards and nine TDs at Texas A&M.
Concepcion has shown his value on the ground and on special teams. Throughout his three-year college career, Concepcion recorded over 400 rushing yards in addition to logging two punt return TDs – he also averaged 18.2 YPC on special teams.
Despite Concepcion being sentenced to a fate worse than death. Thankfully, passes are the only thing he will catch from Deshaun Watson this season, and it won’t be that way forever in Cleveland. Outside of Harold Fannin, I simply refuse to acknowledge Jerry Jeudy; there are a lot of targets up for grabs on a team that is likely to be trailing on a week-to-week basis.
Caleb Douglas
Caleb Douglas had an up-and-down collegiate career, though he flashed plenty of potential as a big-bodied outside receiver. Douglas transferred from Florida to Texas Tech and carved out a solid role, logging 800+ rec yards and seven TDs in back-to-back seasons.
When the Dolphins drafted Douglas, the pick was met with derision. But Caleb Douglas has generated more buzz than a bumblebee stuck inside your house this off-season. In his preseason debut, Douglas made a spectacular one-handed grab. SportsCenter highlights aside, the important thing to note was that Douglas played every snap with Malik Willis. This suggests that Douglas has a path to legitimate playing time immediately.
The Dolphins led the league in vacated targets with a huge 48% of last season’s targets gone the way of Mike McDaniel’s head-coaching tenure. Douglas looks set to be one of the top targets on a team that is likely losing every week.
De’Zhaun Stribling
Although the 49ers’ brass may have reached so far for De’Zhaun Stribling that they pulled their back, Stribling has impressed throughout training camp and pre-season. He appears set to feature. Stribling possesses the size and speed to make him tricky to bring down that should be particularly valuable after the catch.
After Ricky Pearsall was ruled out for the season, the 49ers have the fourth-most vacated targets in the NFL with a whopping 217 up for grabs. The 49ers added veterans Deebo Samuel and Mike Evans. Still, this team hasn’t been a picture of health [insert Electrical Substitution joke here] over the last few seasons. They have also gotten off to a pretty inauspicious start injury-wise.
It is easy to conceive of a world where Stribling is one of the lead pass catchers on this offense.
Hey, you made it to the end! Good job by you. Thanks for taking the time to read my article – you can hit me up on X to talk ball any time @StartSitEmFF.
