• Tyler Shough outshines Cam Ward in rookie duel: Shough completed 23-of-28 passes for 347 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also added three big-time throws.

• Luther Burden III impresses for the Chicago Bears: He caught eight of his nine targets for 138 yards and a touchdown in addition to earning a career-best 86.5 run-blocking grade.

• Get PFF+ for 30% off: Use promo code HOLIDAY30 to unlock the PFF Player Prop Tool, Premium Stats, fantasy dashboards, the PFF Mock Draft Simulator, industry-leading fantasy rankings and much more — everything you need to win your season.

Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

We’ve hit the holiday season, and with the playoffs right around the corner, we’ve seen a lot of rookies make key contributions to their teams’ runs. With Week 17 being so critical for many playoff hopes, we’re going to look at which rookies made the biggest impacts.

A reminder that in order to qualify for this list, a player must have played at least 10 snaps.

Shough continues to be one of the hottest rookies in the league, as he’s achieved a 70.0-plus PFF grade in four of his last five games. In fact, since Week 8, Shough only had three games with a sub-70.0 PFF grade, and two of those games didn’t miss by much. In the win over the Tennessee Titans, Shough outdueled fellow rookie Cam Ward by completing 23-of-28 passes for 347 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also added three big-time throws but did have a turnover-worthy play, a sack where poor ball security caused him to lose the football. 

Running Back: Raheim Sanders, Cleveland Browns – 70.5

With injuries to fellow rookies Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson, the undrafted rookie out of South Carolina needed to step up, and Sanders did just that. He carried the ball nine times for 33 yards, and all but one of those yards came after contact. He also caught a pass for 10 yards.

Burden had one of his biggest games in the NFL on Sunday night, catching eight of his nine targets for 138 yards and a touchdown. Not only was Burden stuffing the stat sheet due to his receiving prowess, but he also made a difference outside of the box score, as he posted a career-best 86.5 run-blocking grade.

In a crowded Texans receiving room, Noel has, at times, struggled to play consistent snaps, but he has shown flashes of brilliance, as he did on Saturday against the Los Angeles Chargers. After not recording a reception in either of the previous two weeks, Noel caught three of his four targets for 54 yards and a score.

Wide Receiver: Theo Wease Jr., Miami Dolphins – 79.4

Burden’s partner in crime at Missouri, Wease didn’t make his NFL debut until last week against the Cincinnati Bengals. While he only caught one pass in the Dolphins’ upset win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it was as explosive as they come, as he scored a 63-yard touchdown on the play, 41 of which came after the catch.

Tight End: Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns – 82.0

Fannin only played 12 snaps due to a groin injury, but the injury was sustained while hauling in a 28-yard touchdown pass. Fannin’s status for Sunday’s season finale against the Bengals will likely be up in the air, but if this is the end of Fannin’s rookie season, it was one for the record books. He set a Browns rookie record for receiving touchdowns with six while catching 76 passes for 764 yards and earning a 76.4 receiving grade.

Offensive Tackle: Kelvin Banks Jr., New Orleans Saints – 76.2

The Saints have quietly been one of the most improved teams as the season has gone along, and a great example of that has been the steadiness of their ninth overall selection, Kelvin Banks Jr., who has recorded a 70.0-plus PFF grade in three of his last four games and seven of his last 10. Against the Titans, Banks was at his best as a run blocker, particularly on outside zone and pull lead runs, where he recorded four positively graded blocks on seven of those combined runs.

Offensive Tackle: Jalen Travis, Indianapolis Colts – 74.4

The former fourth-rounder out of Iowa State hardly saw any playing time until week 14, but since then, he’s been very reliable as the Colts’ right tackle. Travis’ PFF grade has hovered around 70 in each of the last four games, not allowing a single sack during that stretch.

The Bengals’ offensive line has been much-maligned through the entirety of the Joe Burrow era, but they may have found a gem with third-rounder Dylan Fairchild. In their blowout win over the Arizona Cardinals, Fairchild only allowed one pressure on 43 pass-blocking snaps, though it was converted into a sack, the first he’s allowed since Week 5. He was much better as a run blocker, though, recording a career high 81.5 grade that included seven positively-graded blocks.

Booker played a whopping 92 snaps in the Cowboys’ Christmas win over the Washington Commanders, and it worked out nicely for the Cowboys, as he turned in one of his best performances of the year. Booker allowed just two pressures on 49 pass-blocking snaps, though one was converted into a sack, just the third he’s allowed all season. As a run blocker, Booker absolutely dominated on inside zone runs, carrying an 80.1 grade on 21 such runs, including six of his nine positively-graded run blocks.

While the Lions had a disappointing showing on Christmas in their season-ending loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Ratledge continued to show great improvement. He allowed just one pressure on 34 pass blocking snaps for a 75.6 grade. Ratledge hasn’t allowed a sack since week 5.

Despite it being a lost season, the Chiefs still fought hard in their Christmas loss to the top-seeded Denver Broncos, narrowly losing 20-13. One of the players who stepped up in the losing effort was the undrafted rookie out of TCU, Cooper McDonald. After playing a total of 10 defensive snaps prior to Week 17, McDonald saw the field for 21 snaps and opened some eyes for Chiefs fans. McDonald was used as a chess piece on defense, lining up in a variety of positions and was particularly good as a run defender, posting a 69.5 grade.

While the Panthers suffered a tough loss at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks that set up a do-or-die matchup with the Buccaneers next week, Scourton did his part to keep them in the game. Scourton posted a career-high 81.7 pass-rush grade, recording a 23.5% pass-rush win rate while registering his seventh sack on the season.

Defensive Interior: Jamaree Caldwell, Los Angeles Chargers – 77.7

Despite the loss to the Houston Texans, Caldwell was a force as a run defender for the Chargers. He narrowly missed eclipsing his career high 77.6 run-defense grade by posting a 77.3 figure. Caldwell earned that grade by forcing two stops and recording a positive grade on 20.8% of his run defense snaps.

Defensive Interior: Kenneth Grant, Miami Dolphins – 76.0

It’s been a tough rookie year for Miami’s top draft pick, but the former Michigan Wolverine looked every bit like what the Dolphins hoped he’d be when they took him 13th overall. After consistently hovering around a 60.0 PFF grade in each of the last 10 weeks (his grade never dipped below 55.3 or went above 64.3 during this stretch), Grant smashed his career-high with a 76.0 figure against the Buccaneers. This included four pressures and a 16% pass-rush win rate while also recording a stop in the run game, where 40% of his snaps received positive grades.

Sunday’s win over the Titans was an unusual game for Stutsman. Normally, when he plays well, it’s because he was dominant in the run game, but this time it was his coverage skills that most contributed to his high game grade. Coming into Sunday’s bout in Tennessee, Stutsman never earned a coverage grade higher than 60.9, which he achieved twice. That changed with an 82.9 grade against the Titans. Stutsman allowed just two receptions into his coverage for 16 yards and a stop.

Linebacker: Demetrius Knight Jr., Cincinnati Bengals – 80.7

It’s been trial by fire for Cincinnati’s two rookie linebackers, which also includes Barrett Carter (who narrowly missed out on making this list by finishing third amongst rookie linebackers with a 72.9 grade), but Knight had his best performance against the Cardinals. Coming into the Week 17 showdown, Knight never had a PFF game grade higher than 62.6, but he shattered that against Arizona, including another career-best 78.9 coverage grade. While Knight allowed three of the four balls that targeted him to be caught, none of them did much damage as he allowed just 16 yards and no first downs.

The former 84th overall pick continues to look like one of the steals of the draft as Parrish put up another strong performance against the Miami Dolphins. The Kansas State Wildcat recorded grades over 80.0 both in run defense (81.4) and coverage (80.9). On 20 coverage snaps, Parrish allowed just one reception for four yards while also not having a single negatively-graded play in run defense, making three consecutive games where he accomplished that feat.

Williams was taken immediately after Parrish in this past draft and has arguably been just as productive. While Williams allowed all four of his targets to be caught, none of them really hurt him, as he allowed just 21 yards into his coverage. He also added two stops in run defense, though, he did miss his first tackle of the season as well. As a pass-rusher, he only blitzed twice but got home each time, recording a pressure on both attempts for a 100% win rate. 

Porter has seen a significant boost in playing time these last four weeks, playing at least 63 snaps in each with mixed results. Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants was easily his best showing during that stretch, as he tied his career-high with a 76.0 coverage grade. Porter was only targeted once in coverage, and he managed to knock that ball away in the back of the end zone.

The top safety selected in the draft, Starks, has been hit or miss this season, but he has had a solid stretch of five straight games with a 60.0-plus PFF grade. Saturday’s huge win over the Green Bay Packers was another strong outing, as while he allowed both of his targets to be caught, they resulted in just three total yards allowed, recording a stop each time.

Trader has been one of the more underrated finds on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft, making this list on multiple occasions. Another rookie contributor from the Dolphins’ win over the Buccaneers, Trader allowed just one reception on 19 coverage snaps for a measly two yards.