Some NFL players show up in Week 1 of their rookie seasons ready to make waves, like Emeka Egbuka, whose NFL debut saw him catch a pair of touchdowns. That's not always the case, though.
Sometimes, it takes a guy a bit to really figure out the NFL, for one reason or another. Maybe adjusting to a system that's much different than his college one is a little too hard. Maybe he's not ready for the step up in competition. Maybe he's a little banged-up and needs time to get healthy. Here are five late-blooming rookies who are playing their best football at the end of the 2025 season, putting them in good shape moving ahead to their first NFL offseason.
QB Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints
Tyler Shough losing a preseason quarterback battle to Spencer Rattler seemed like an immediate sign that his NFL career was going nowhere. When you draft a 25-year-old quarterback, you expect him to be on the field immediately, because he's already at an age where some guys have played multiple NFL seasons.
So when the New Orleans Saints finally turned to Shough, it seemed like it would just be perfunctory. See what the rookie can do before inevitably replacing him at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Instead, Shough has shown enough to ward off a replacement for at least another season. He's led New Orleans to three consecutive wins, including a dominant 29-6 victory over the New York Jets that saw him throw for a career-high 308 yards. Shough's play has taken the Saints out of the 2026 rookie quarterback discussion in two ways: the team has now won too many games to have a shot at drafting Fernando Mendoza, and Shough has shown enough that there's no reason to draft someone like Ty Simpson.
RB Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers
After missing seven games with a fractured ankle, Chargers rookie running back Omarion Hampton returned this month and has made a quick impact, rushing for over 50 yards in each game since returning. He had his best showing since the injury this past week, rushing for 85 yards and a touchdown in a win against the Cowboys.
There's definitely a bit of "what could have been" about Hampton's rookie season. If he doesn't hurt his ankle, are we sitting here in late December talking about him as the best rookie running back? Probably!
EDGE Abdul Carter, New York Giants
For much of his rookie season, Giants edge rusher Abdul Carter looked like a potential bust. In fact, it was just under two weeks ago that I wrote about that possibility, but Carter has turned the jets on in the two games since.
On Dec. 14 against the Commanders, Carter forced the first fumble of his NFL career, then went on to force the second fumble of his career as well. He recorded a career-high seven combined tackles and five solo tackles in that game, and he now has three sacks in the past three games, after having just 0.5 sacks over the first 12 games of his NFL career.
It took a bit for Carter to find his footing, but the Giants have been giving him full-time snaps over the past two games and he's responded with the best football he's played all season. The fact that New York can head into this offseason knowing that Carter is actually capable of making high-level plays is huge when it comes to planning out draft and free agency moves.
EDGE Mike Green, Baltimore Ravens
It's been a tale of two halves for Ravens second-round pick Mike Green. Over the first eight games of the season, Green recorded 1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss and four quarterback hits. Over the past seven, he's only at two sacks and four tackles for loss, but he's done a much better job getting to the passer, recording nine quarterback hits.
It still feels like Baltimore is trying to figure out how exactly to best use Green, but his play here at the end of the year is encouraging, especially with Kyle Van Noy and David Ojabo both set to hit free agency this offseason. The Ravens should be able to move Green into a full-time starting role next season.
EDGE Elijah Ponder, New England Patriots
An undrafted free agent out of Cal Poly, Elijah Ponder opened the season playing mostly special teams. He played under 10 percent of defensive snaps in three of the team's first four games, and didn't top 20 snaps until Nov. 23.
But he's come on stronger and stronger as the season has gone along. Over his first seven games, Ponder had five solo tackles and no sacks, tackles for loss or quarterback hits. Over the last six games, he's got three sacks, tackles for loss and quarterback hits, displaying an ability to rush the passer that has helped this Patriots defense play even better football.