The 2025 NFL rookie class largely felt ... solid. I mean, I'm going off vibes here rather than stats, but I don't remember many draft classes over the last decade or so where I felt largely positive about as many first-round picks as I did about this one.
With that said, there were some players who weren't able to make much of an impact in year one. Will those players be late bloomers who figure it out as sophomores, or were their 2025 struggles indicative of something more deeply wrong with their game?
Here are three disappointing rookies who deserve the time to turn things around, as well as three rookies whose struggles out of the gate are likely signs that they aren't long for the NFL.
Rookies who deserve a second chance
Shemar Stewart, EDGE, Cincinnati Bengals
It was a rough first season for Bengals edge rusher Shemar Stewart, who appeared in eight games and recorded very few statistics: one pass defensed, one sack and just five solo tackles.
Obviously, Stewart's offseason holdout, coupled with his poor performance once he suited up, looks bad, and I'm not going to get mad at anyone who calls him a bust. However, it was pretty clear when he was drafted that Stewart was a project for Cincy. His chances of actually reaching his potential feel lower at this point than they did before his rookie year, but the talent is still there. Don't write him off yet, especially now that he'll have a full offseason to reset.
Pat Bryant, WR, Denver Broncos
After getting off to a very slow start, Broncos wide receiver Pat Bryant started to show some stuff down the stretch, catching three or more passes in each of the final five games he played (though they weren't consecutive, as he missed Week 15 and Week 17).
Yes, it took a bit for Bryant to really separate from the rest of the non-Courtland Sutton receivers on this roster, but he heads into the postseason having played at least 60 percent of Denver's offensive snaps in three of his past four games. Sean Payton's confidence in Bryant should be enough for us to look past his early struggles and view him as someone who can be a strong secondary option for this team.
Terrance Ferguson, TE, Los Angeles Rams
We saw a few very good rookie seasons from the tight end position this year, something that isn't usually the norm in the NFL. That's probably made people lower on Terrance Ferguson than they should be, as they compare him to breakouts like Cleveland's Harold Fannin Jr. and the Chargers' Oronde Gadsden II.
But the second-round pick out of Oregon came on strong near the end of the season, scoring touchdowns in consecutive games before a hamstring injury kept him out of Week 18. This is, like, the normal development curve for a tight end, right? Ferguson is going to be fine moving forward, especially in a Sean McVay offense.
Rookies who are on the path to failure
Dillon Gabriel, QB, Cleveland Browns
The Browns drafting Dillon Gabriel wasn't bad in and of itself, but the Browns later taking Shedeur Sanders in the same draft made it a bad pick in retrospect.
That became even truer when Gabriel suffered a concussion and was replaced in the starting lineup by Sanders. Once Gabriel was cleared to return, Cleveland stuck with Sanders as the starting quarterback despite the fact that the latter was an interception machine.
Not going back to their third-round pick at that point is telling. Gabriel started six games and appeared in four others, completing 59.5 percent of his passes. He only threw two picks, but his inability to drive the ball down the field was arguably just as big of a liability as Sanders' turnovers.
Jack Bech, WR, Las Vegas Raiders
Not every second-round receiver comes out of the gate strong, but Jack Bech's struggles feel especially glaring because of the context of the team around him. On a roster where the leading receiver was a tight end who missed five games, Bech still finished seventh among Vegas pass-catchers in receptions.
There was some improvement later in the year, but I want to stress the word some here. Bech's best game came in early December, when he had six catches for 50 yards against the Broncos. But in the three games after that, he totaled four receptions.
Kaleb Johnson, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Kaleb Johnson muffed a kickoff against Seattle back in September and was never heard from again.
Okay, he was heard from, but he essentialy did nothing all season. Johnson, a third-round pick out of Iowa, ended his first NFL season with 28 carries for 69 yards. Very decidedly not nice.
And it's not like he was being blocked from playing time by stars. Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell are solid backs, but neither is going to stand in the way of a rookie if that rookie is good. Johnson simply didn't have the stuff in his first season, and it's hard to really see a future for him in Pittsburgh at this point.