There have been a few surprises in the offseason thus far. Some of them have come in the form of a handful of rookies already making their mark early on. PFF recently released the highest-graded offensive rookies thus far, and it is clear that a few young guns are already making waves even before playing in their first official NFL game.
Raiders’ Aidan O’Connell Reigns Supreme in Rookie Rankings
Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell has jumped out of the pack early on. PFF gave him an offensive rating of 93.1, which is the highest any offensive rookie got on the list:
Highest graded rookies on offense this Preseason👏 pic.twitter.com/igAYhIHyJM
— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 23, 2023
O’Connell, who the Raiders scooped up in the fourth round of the draft, is expected to be Las Vegas’ third-string QB in 2023 behind Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer. However, what cannot be denied is that this young man has a bright future ahead of him.
So much so, that NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero previously told Colin Cowherd on the latter’s podcast that he sees shades of the GOAT in O’Connell:
“He’s got a good-enough arm, he’s good in terms of accuracy, he has a good feel for the passing game and he’s got good feet too,” Pelissero said (h/t Austin Boyd of heavy). “The only thing he really couldn’t do was move … he’s a classic NFL pocket passer.
“Well, who does that sound like the profile on? Another guy who went later in the draft – Tom Brady.”
Bears, Packers Rookies Ranked Highly in Offensive Grading
Tyson Bagent of the Chicago Bears (91.5) and Emmanuel Wilson of the Green Bay Packers (90.5) were the only other rookies who surpassed the 90-point mark in PFF’s rankings. They come in at second and third on the list, respectively.
Bagent is no Justin Fields, but he could emerge as a revelation for the Bears in the years to come. Chicago picked him up in the seventh round of the draft and while it’s still too early to tell what kind of career he will have, his performances in the preseason have been promising, to say the least.
Rounding out the Top 3 is the Packers’ undrafted running back, Emmanuel Wilson. The Fort Valley State University standout has turned heads in the preseason but at this point, he will need to fight hard for a spot in coach Matt LaFleur’s rotation. It won’t be easy, but his eye-opening preseason run is certainly a step in the right direction.
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