Special to Sports News Highlights

(SNH) — The 2024 NFL Draft has come and gone and offseason activities are starting to ramp up more.

In the draft, teams look to fill holes on their roster, whether for the long term or the immediate future. This can sometimes be too much for a rookie to handle, as they’re immediately thrown into the fire.

But over the years, we’ve seen a number of rookies emerge as big-time, high-impact players and never look back. Following, we identify rookie offensive players who expect to immediately have an impact on the NFL in 2024.

Quarterback: Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

This is a rather obvious selection, but Williams is not only in a position to lead the Bears to the playoffs in his rookie season with weapons like Keenan Allen, D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet, and D’Andre Swift, but the bar to become the best quarterback in Bears history is quite low.

The single-season in passing yards in Bears history is 3,838 yards, and the record for single-season passing touchdowns is just 29. So, if Williams has 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns as a rookie, he’ll break both records.

Honorable mention: Bo Nix, Denver Broncos

Running Back: Kimani Vidal, Los Angeles Chargers

This is a bit of a wild card selection, but looking at the running backs, Vidal, a sixth-round pick, is in an excellent position to impact the Chargers immediately.

Ahead of him on the running back depth chart are J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, two running backs with major injury histories.

As for Temple alum Vidal, he played four seasons for the team, including 48 games, for 4,010 rushing yards on 781 carries and 33 touchdowns. He also caught 92 passes for 700 yards and a score.

Vidal is a proven runner at five feet eight inches and 215 pounds, and he could see touches right away, taking the stress off the two previously injured running backs.

Honorable mention: Jonathon Brooks, Carolina Panthers

Wide Receiver: Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills

Coleman was drafted in the second round, but he’s entering a situation where he’ll be considered the No. 1 wide receiver for a Super Bowl-contending team.

The Bills lost Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis this offseason, and Josh Allen is throwing the ball. Coleman caught 50 passes for 658 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior at Florida State.

At six-foot-three and over 210 pounds, Coleman possesses an explosiveness that’ll immediately garner the attention of Allen’s passes.

Honorable mention: Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers

Tight End: Cade Stover, Houston Texans

Going into this, I wanted to avoid picking Brock Bowers, the most obvious immediate impact tight end, so I decided to go with Stover to avoid being too “chalky.”

Drafted by the Texans, Stover lands with his old Ohio State signal caller, C.J. Stroud.

Stover caught 36 passes for 406 yards and five touchdowns in 2022 with Stroud and added another 41 catches for 576 yards and five touchdowns in 2023. He also has experience as a blocker in both the passing and running game.

The Texans have Dalton Schultz at tight end on the roster now, but Stover’s rapport with Stroud and his experience and ability to be a high-level blocker will earn him snaps to help the backfield with Joe Mixon.

Honorable mention: Ben Sinnott, Washington Commanders

Offensive Tackle: JC Latham, Tennessee Titans

Latham was the second offensive tackle off the board, but he’ll be immediately thrust into the most high-level position: The starting left tackle for the Titans.

He’ll be tasked with blocking for second-year quarterback Will Levis to help him develop. Latham is six-foot-six and 335 pounds, and according to Pro Football Focus, he allowed just two sacks in 2023 and none in 2022. He played over 500 pass-blocking snaps in 2022 and another 443 in 2023.

He’ll step into his role as a high-level SEC starter in college.

Honorable mention: Troy Fautanu, Pittsburgh Steelers

Offensive Guard: Jackson Powers-Johnson, Las Vegas Raiders

Playing center at Oregon, Powers-Johnson profiles as the starting left guard, with Andre James at center.

Thankfully, Powers-Johnson is a high-level athlete, and we were introduced to that at the Senior Bowl before the draft. His style of play will work well with Antonio Pierce’s smash-mouth style of football, and the running game with Zamir White and Alexander Mattison looks to be productive.

In pass-blocking as a center, Powers-Johnson didn’t allow a single sack at Oregon and allowed just one pressure in 2023.

Honorable mention: Jordan Morgan, Green Bay Packers (his Week 1 position is unknown)

Center: Zach Frazier, Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers added offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who immediately signaled that the team wanted to return to running the ball at a high level.

One of those players who will make it happen is Frazier at the center.

He has a lot of experience coming in from West Virginia with 3,212 total snaps, including 1,729 in pass-blocking and 1,438 as a run-blocker.

Frazier didn’t allow a sack in 2023, and Frazier posted a run-blocking grade of 74.8 or higher (out of 100) in PFF’s system.

He and Troy Fautanu will help make this Steelers offensive line that much better.

Honorable mention: Graham Barton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Follow Sports News Highlights on Facebook and X platform to get our headlines in your social feeds.

Copyright 2024 Sports News Highlights. All rights reserved.