Who will be the best NFL rookies this season? We projected the top five performers in eight stat areas

• Fantasy football, NFL analyst for ESPN.com
• Member of Pro Football Writers of America
• Founding director of Pro Football Focus Fantasy
• 2013 FSTA award winner for most accurate preseason rankings

It has been nearly a month since the 2023 NFL draft, and we now have a much better grasp of what each team’s roster core will look like this season. That means we can start to project expectations for this year’s batch of rookies. First-year players tend to experience a learning curve, but we will see plenty of standouts right out of the gate. Which newly drafted players will lead the pack in major statistical categories? How many yards should we expect to see from first-round QBs Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson? What are reasonable expectations for Bijan Robinson? And who will pace all rookies in tackles and sacks?

Let’s take a look at the top-five projected leaders among rookies in a variety of categories for the 2023 season. These team and player projections are my own, compiled through a process that is both quantitative (league, team, coaching and player trends) and qualitative (projected depth chart placement and role). And for full statistical outlooks, you can head over to our projections page to sort and filter through the entire league. I update them often leading up to the start of the season.

Passing yards and touchdowns

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