• There's an opportunity for Steelers WR Roman Wilson: The Steelers traded wideout Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers this offseason, leaving their depth chart thin on proven production at the position. George Pickens is now expected to pair up with the rookie Wilson to jumpstart a new-look Pittsburgh offense.
• A starting job is there for the taking for Bo Nix: Training camp is the time for Nix to show he belongs at the helm of this offense. No FBS quarterback posted a lower turnover-worthy play rate (1.0%) or a higher adjusted completion rate (85.4%) than Nix in 2023.
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Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
Playing time, praise and depth chart positions are up for grabs in NFL training camp. Some have more to gain than others, and we highlight those rookies here, starting with the AFC.
*Undrafted free agents were not considered for this exercise, although many will make final rosters based on training camp and preseason performances.
JUMP TO A TEAM:
BLT | BUF | CIN | CLE | DEN | HOU | IND | JAX
KC | LVR | LAC | MIA | NE | NYJ | PIT | TEN
BALTIMORE RAVENS: T Roger Rosengarten
By trading Morgan Moses to the New York Jets this offseason, the Ravens opted to forgo certainty at right tackle in exchange for salary cap breathing room. Daniel Faalele, a behemoth at 6-foot-8 and 380 pounds, is the favorite to man that spot, although his 48.3 PFF overall grade across two seasons leaves much to be desired.
Second-round pick Roger Rosengarten will test Faalele for the starting role after not allowing a single sack across 1,235 career pass-blocking snaps at Washington. Of the 32 quarterback pressures charged to him, only five were hits on his signal-caller. Rosengarten brings untapped potential to a pivotal positional battle in Baltimore.
BUFFALO BILLS: WR Keon Coleman
Quarterback Josh Allen will turn to a new top target in 2024, and as much as it’s fun to believe in Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, Chase Claypool, KJ Hamler or Marquez Valdes-Scantling as a WR1, rookie Keon Coleman is already the X-factor of the Bills’ wide receiver room.
Coleman, the first pick of the second round, isn’t an elite space-generator, placing in just the 47th percentile in separation rate against single coverage last year, but brings a 6-foot-3 frame and 80th-percentile broad and vertical jump scores to the table. Coleman can establish himself as an important cog in the Bills’ offensive machine, and Allen should be able to find him downfield with ease.
CINCINNATI BENGALS: CB Josh Newton
A 24-year-old Cam Taylor-Britt and a 23-year-old DJ Turner headline the Bengals’ cornerback room, and a 23-year-old Dax Hill is set to join them after moving from his safety role. Simply put, Cincinnati is young in the secondary. And the team doesn't plan to add a veteran at the position, per director of player personnel Duke Tobin.
While the aforementioned trio doesn’t lack the talent to hold up, Josh Newton could play a significant role in Year 1 as another 23-year-old with proven college production under his belt. No FBS cornerback who faced 100 or more targets over the past two years allowed a lower completion rate than Newton (40.8%) — not even 2024 first-round picks Quinyon Mitchell, Terrion Arnold and Nate Wiggins.
CLEVELAND BROWNS: WR Jamari Thrash
The Browns added wide receiver Jerry Jeudy via trade this offseason to round out a corps headlined by Amari Cooper, Cedric Tillman and Elijah Moore. Snaps will be up for grabs at that WR3 role, though, and fifth-rounder Jamari Thrash is in a great spot to win the right to them.
Thrash developed a poor habit of dropping passes in college, 16 of them from 2021 to 2023, but displayed sticky hands in rookie minicamp.
may we interest you with an insane Jamari Thrash snag? 😳 pic.twitter.com/I5GikGr1CG
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) May 10, 2024
The rest of his profile screams “NFL starter.” Thrash ranked in the 75th percentile or better in all five stable receiving metrics highlighted in PFF’s 2024 NFL Draft Guide, including the 99th percentile in receiving grade against single coverage in 2023.
DENVER BRONCOS: QB Bo Nix
All Bo Nix could gain from a strong training camp is the right to be the Broncos’ franchise signal-caller. The first-round pick has Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson alongside him in the quarterback room, and the expectation is that he’ll start for this team sooner rather than later, regardless of whether he wins the offseason quarterback battle.
Still, training camp is the time for Nix to show he belongs at the helm of this offense. No FBS quarterback posted a lower turnover-worthy play rate (1.0%) or a higher adjusted completion rate (85.4%) than Nix in 2023. There may be no better endorsement than head coach Sean Payton choosing Nix as his first-round draft pick to right the ship of despair in Denver.
HOUSTON TEXANS: CB Kamari Lassiter
Houston’s CB2 role is a wide-open battle, likely between Jeff Okudah, CJ Henderson and Lassiter, as pointed out in PFF’s “Eight key NFL training camp battles” article. A strong training camp for the rookie Lassiter could pay out in the form of an immediate starting spot.
The Georgia product, a second-round pick, allowed two touchdowns across more than 1,000 career coverage snaps. He lacked ball production, with nine pass breakups and only one interception across three seasons, but was one of just 18 FBS cornerbacks in 2023 to surrender a sub-40.0% completion rate in coverage.
1️⃣4️⃣ making moves pic.twitter.com/sERVVj6b7m
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) June 5, 2024
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: IOL Tanor Bortolini
Center Ryan Kelly’s four-year, $49.65 million deal is set to expire after the 2024 season, and Bortolini is waiting in the wings. If all goes according to plan, the Colts will likely let their Pro Bowl center walk and insert Bortolini into the starting lineup for 2025.
But before that can play out, Bortolini has to prove he belongs. Less-than-ideal run blocking dropped his PFF grade in his final three seasons at Wisconsin, but he was a consistently stout pass-blocker. The fourth-round pick never allowed more than one sack in a season. His lack of length, with arms that rank in the 30th percentile, was the primary pre-draft concern among scouts.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: CB Jarrian Jones
The last time the Jaguars dipped their toes into the Florida State talent pool, they came away with three-time All-Pro Jalen Ramsey. Jarrian Jones is a second swing at a Seminoles cornerback, and he has great potential to emerge amid a lacking position group, currently led by Ronald Darby and Tyson Campbell.
Count Jones among the six FBS cornerbacks to earn an elite 90.0-plus PFF overall grade in 2023. He surrendered a low 25.3 passer rating into his coverage, ranking fourth among cornerbacks who faced at least 30 targets.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: T Kingsley Suamataia
Then-rookie Wanya Morris showed some promise at left tackle in 2023, but it wasn’t convincing enough to stop the Chiefs from drafting Suamataia. The second-rounder is still the underdog in this training camp battle and will likely be auditioning for spot-start duties and a future first-team role.
The raw Suamataia played on the left and right sides at BYU and brings impressive measurables to the offensive line. He ranked above the 75th percentile in three of four stable pass-blocking metrics in 2023, but he placed below the 5th percentile in all three stable run-blocking metrics. It will be important for the Chiefs to develop him before inserting him as a starter.
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: RB Dylan Laube
Several rookies are expected to step up for the Raiders in 2024, but perhaps no one has more to gain based on current depth chart positions than Laube. While the New Hampshire product finds himself fourth in Las Vegas’ running back pecking order, he has a clear path to significant snaps after the Raiders let star Josh Jacobs walk in free agency.
Zamir White, Alexander Mattison and Ameer Abdullah are all capable backs, but Laube is a Swiss Army knife. Whatever the Raiders need of him, he can provide — blocking, rushing or receiving. He posted a 90th-percentile PFF receiving grade and an 89th-percentile yards-per-route-run figure in 2023. Special teams could be the sixth-rounder’s calling early in his NFL career.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS: LB Junior Colson
Michigan man Junior Colson pairs back up with head coach Jim Harbaugh in Los Angeles after earning a career-high 81.7 PFF overall grade in 2023. Harbaugh helped make him a third-round pick, and there isn’t much in the way of linebacker competition on the Chargers’ depth chart.
It could be argued that Colson has little to gain in training camp, that he already has a starting linebacker job locked up. However, rookies are always uncertainties, and added to the equation is that Colson is on the non-football injury list to open camp. How he performs over the next month and through the preseason will say a lot about his NFL future.
MIAMI DOLPHINS: T Patrick Paul
Once considered a fringe first-round pick, Paul was drafted with the 55th overall selection. He enters the 2024 NFL season without a clear path to playing time, as his usual left tackle spot is manned by stalwart Terron Armstead, but he needs time to develop regardless.
His 89.8 PFF pass-blocking grade on true pass sets — a stable metric from college to the NFL highlighted in PFF’s 2024 NFL Draft Guide — ranked in the 100th percentile. He allowed only five sacks across more than 1,800 pass-blocking snaps in five years at Houston. His first training camp is an opportunity to mold his game against Miami’s stable of proven pass-rushers.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: QB Joe Milton III
In a similar vein to Will Levis’ situation in Tennessee last year, Joe Milton III has a chance to climb the Patriots’ quarterback depth chart with a strong training camp. No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye will get first dibs on usurping veteran Jacoby Brissett, but Milton’s skill set is intriguing to the point where he could put himself on the coaching staff’s radar should Maye and Brissett not pan out.
Milton’s best asset is a strong arm, one that tossed 20 touchdowns in 2023. Ten of those throws were 20-plus yards downfield, the third most in the SEC. Milton was a sixth-round pick for a reason, but he has nothing to lose as an unproven rookie quarterback looking to turn heads.
NEW YORK JETS: CB Qwan'tez Stiggers
Stiggers is the rare case of a rookie who didn’t play college football. He was a CFL star in 2023, earning the fourth-best coverage grade among cornerbacks (84.7) and being named the league’s Most Outstanding Rookie. He joins a crowded Jets cornerback room headed by All-Pro Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed.
Rookie cornerbacks often struggle — Gardner’s 2022 campaign notwithstanding — but Stiggers already has pro experience. Will that translate seamlessly to the NFL? Training camp is a great time to find out. It’s hard to argue with ball production, and the fifth-round draft pick brought in five interceptions and forced eight incompletions in coverage in 2023 with the Toronto Argonauts.
Qwan’Tez Stiggers just picked off QB Andrew Peasley in 7 on 7. Nice play by the rookie. #Jets
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) July 24, 2024
PITTSBURGH STEELERS: WR Roman Wilson
The Steelers traded wideout Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers this offseason, leaving their depth chart thin on proven production at the position. George Pickens is now expected to pair up with the rookie Wilson to jumpstart a new-look Pittsburgh offense. The third-round pick could very quickly become a star.
Wilson operated primarily from the slot at Michigan, where his speed shined brightest. He crushed the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine with 91st-percentile marks in the 40-yard dash (4.39 seconds) and 10-yard split (1.51 seconds). His new teammate Calvin Austin III ran a 4.31-second 40-yard dash in 2022, so Steelers training camp may be a track meet as Wilson looks to cement his spot as a worthy starter.
TENNESSEE TITANS: LB Cedric Gray
Any of Tennessee’s first-year offensive linemen, drafted or undrafted, have plenty to gain amid the team’s shaky front-five, but the linebacking corps is in a similar state of uncertainty.
Second-year linebacker Jack Gibbens was excellent for the Titans in 2023 on his way to ranking in the top half at the position in PFF overall grade (71.2). Tennessee signed former first-rounder Kenneth Murray Jr. to be his sidekick in 2024, although Murray has never earned a PFF grade above 55.0 and has been torched in coverage for a 113.4 passer rating since 2020 — the fifth-worst mark among 77 qualifying linebackers.
Gray, meanwhile, was one of only 40 FBS linebackers to earn a 78.0 PFF coverage grade in 2023, out of 450 qualifiers. He finished his college career with five interceptions, eight pass breakups and only five touchdowns allowed in coverage. He could come for Murray’s job if the veteran doesn't quickly turn around his career in Tennessee.
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