All NFL players share one thing in common: They all have their so-called “Welcome to the NFL, rookie” moments.
Whether it’s on the wrong side of a crushing hit, an ankle-breaking juke, or a crafty maneuver that leaves ‘em with their pants down, every NFL player has at least one painful or humiliating moment to recount. One that warned them that this is no longer the college ranks.
The 2024 NFL Draft Class has not been short of said moments, either. With that, let’s dive into the 10 biggest “Welcome to the NFL, rookie” moments for 2024 thus far.
Find out which “WELCOME TO THE NFL” rookie moments made our top 10 list.
Azeez Al-Shaair Says “Hello!” To Caleb Williams
What better way to start a “Welcome to the NFL, rookie” video than the first overall pick of this year’s class?
The Chicago Bears obtained the 2024 No. 1 selection from the Carolina Panthers thanks to the lopsided Bryce Young trade. With that selection, the Bears made the easy call to select the USC signal-caller first overall.
The generous NFL schedule makers wasted little time showcasing Williams in prime-time, too. His Bears were assigned a Week 2 “Sunday Night Football” game against the Houston Texans, led by 2023 second-overall pick and superstar QB CJ Stroud.
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And let’s just say that Texans veteran linebacker didn’t want to waste any time in sending a message to Williams when the latter scrambled out of bounds for a short run. Al-Shaair’s bone-crunching hit on Williams led to a brouhaha between the two teams, culminating with Houston’s linebacker punching Bears running back Roschon Johnson.
Al-Shaair probably felt good about sending a painful lesson to Williams, but his punch on Johnson led to a $11,000 fine by the league. So chalk this one up as an expensive “Welcome to the NFL, rookie” message.
Malik Mustapha Meets Patrick Mahomes In The Worst Way
Love or hate Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, you can’t deny that he’s USUALLY gracious in both victory and defeat. You rarely see him trash-talking or ruthlessly taunting his opponents the way Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, or Deion Sanders would.
But even the nicest and classiest folks have the odd moment where they have to throw the “Disrespect” cap on. And Mr. Mahomes did just that in the Chiefs’ Week 7 road contest against the San Francisco 49ers — a can’t-miss rematch of Super Bowl 58.
And unfortunately for 49ers rookie Malik Mustapha, his “Welcome to the NFL” rookie moment will be shown on highlight reels for years to come. Such is life when Mahomes, of all guys, totally disrespects you in the game’s defining play.
The Chiefs faced a 4th-and-goal situation in the fourth quarter, up by two points. Andy Reid ordered Kansas City to go for it, and that’s where Mahomes put the 49ers’ rookie right in his place. It’s one thing to let Mahomes run in for six. But the who bull-dozing thing and staredown? Man, nobody would have blamed Mustapha if he retired right then and there.
Welcome to where the big boys play, Malik.
Caelen Carson Gets Stiff Armed Into Space By Derrick Henry
We hope that one day, NFL Films will do a documentary on how painful it was for opposing defenders to tackle Derrick Henry. I mean, just how on earth do you prepare yourself for a tackle attempt on a 6-foot-3, 247-pound beast who’s built like a tank but runs as fast as a train?
The rest of the league must be kicking themselves for letting Henry sign with the Baltimore Ravens in free agency. You just knew that King Henry and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson would be a lethal rushing duo this year.
Nobody can relate to that more than Dallas Cowboys rookie Caelen Carson, who had the misfortune of trying to stop the Henry train during the team’s Week 3 home contest against Baltimore.
Carson was a fifth-round pick of the Cowboys at No. 174 overall this year. It’s been a rough go as a rotational cornerback in Mike Zimmer’s defense, and one simple clip sums up Carson’s growing pains as a rookie.
As previously mentioned, Henry’s disrespectful stiff-arm made Carson the first person to launch into space without the help of a rocket ship. By the way, Henry finished that game with 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns. So, hopefully, Carson wasn’t too hard on himself because the entire Dallas defense got torched by King Henry.
Trey Hendrickson Gets Kingsley Suamataia Benched
You know you had a brutal “Welcome to the NFL, rookie” moment when it immediately led to your benching. Such was life for Kansas City Chiefs rookie offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia, who actually got benched following a horrid Week 2 performance against the Cincinnati Bengals.
You gotta feel for Suamataia, who had the pressure-packed job of protecting Mahomes’ blind side against a fierce Bengals’ pass-rush. Sure enough, Suamataia wasn’t up for the challenge whatsoever.
The Chiefs were trailing by six points late in the second quarter, looking to add some points before the half. Kansas City, though, made the mistake of trusting Suamataia to block Trey Hendrickson on this play.
Hence, Suamataia was greeted with a “Welcome to the NFL” moment that he won’t forget. As previously mentioned, Suamataia’s struggles in Week 2 led to Coach Reid benching him. The Chiefs went on to win on a last-second field goal anyway, so we assume Suamataia was forgiven by his teammates for letting Mahomes get dropped on that play…
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Tyler Guyton, Meet Kyle Van Noy
Remember what we said about Derrick Henry introducing Cowboys rookie Caelen Carson to the NFL with a vicious stiff arm? Well, Henry wasn’t the only Ravens star to humiliate a Dallas rookie at Jerry World in Week 3.
Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy isn’t to be mixed up with the league’s best pass-rushers, but Dallas’ rookie offensive line sure made him look like TJ Watt and Myles Garrett in this one.
Van Noy racked up two sacks in the Ravens’ 28-25 victory. One of those takedowns on Dak Prescott was courtesy of making Dallas offensive tackle Tyler Guyton look like, well, a rookie who wasn’t ready for the NFL.
Yeesh, Kyle, that man has a family! Did you really have to do that?
Nothing has gone right for Jerry Jones’ Cowboys this season. When he said he was going “all-in” this offseason, he certainly didn’t mean a plethora of his rookies getting rude wake-up calls to the NFL!
Tyler Lockett Torches Renardo Green For 6
The San Francisco 49ers certainly struck gold when they drafted Florida State cornerback Renardo Green in round two with the No. 64 pick. Green has been a shining star in their defense, which was ravaged by injuries in the first half of the year.
But like we said, every NFL player has to learn through a painful “Welcome to the NFL, rookie” moment. In Green’s case, Seattle Seahawks star wideout Tyler Lockett had to put the rookie in his place during the Week 6 “Thursday Night Football” clash at Lumen Field.
Green actually had one of his best performances of the first half of his rookie year against Seattle. But the veteran got the better of the rookie during one pivotal moment in the fourth quarter…
Facing a 4th-and-goal situation in the fourth quarter, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith saw the favorable matchup and threw a strike to Lockett for six. And boy, did he light up the rookie like a Christmas tree.
The 49ers wound up winning 36-24 anyway, and Green has mostly held his own against opposing receivers this year. But sometimes, the best guys like Lockett just know how to put a rookie in his place.
Chase Young Bulldozes Ja’Tavion Sanders
Nothing has gone right for either the New Orleans Saints or the Carolina Panthers this season. Both teams have endured plenty of ugly losses and more ups than downs, to say the very least.
But at least offseason pickup Chase Young got to deliver a good ol’ “Welcome to the NFL, rookie” moment in his Saints debut. The victim here was Panthers tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders, who was drafted in round four at No. 101 overall.
Sanders made his NFL debut when the Panthers visited New Orleans at the Caesas Superdome in Week 1. And when Sanders was asked to block Young on a running play, the 2020 second-overall pick completely bulldozed him. Sanders was gracious in the rude awakening from Sanders, however. He had quite the soundbite in his post-game interview with reporters.
Young inexplicably hasn’t been the same since his epic rookie 2020 season that helped Washington to a surprise division crown. Hey, at least he gave Sanders a humbling experience in his NFL debut.
TJ Watt Greets Joe Alt
The son of former Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl offensive tackle John Alt has been one of the top rookies of 2024. There’s a long way to go, but Joe Alt certainly looks like he’ll live up to the hype as an All-Pro offensive lineman in this league.
So it’s unfair to harp too much on Alt for being put in his place by arguably the league’s best defensive player in TJ Watt. We don’t have an official count, but it’s not a stretch to guess that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ star leads all active players in providing “Welcome to the league, rookie” moments.
Jim Harbaugh and his Chargers learned the hard way that it’s not a good idea to task your rookie with blocking the league’s best pass-rusher. And Watt provided that lesson in the fourth quarter of the Chargers-Steelers Week 3 showdown at Acrisure Stadium.
The next time the Bolts and Chargers meet, it’ll be interesting to see how Alt holds his own against Watt. Will this be a valuable learning experience, or will Watt just have his way on the second-generation star forever?
Stay tuned…
Jordan Poyer’s Costly Lesson To Keon Coleman
There aren’t too many “Welcome to the NFL, rookie” moments that benefit the rookie himself. But there was a rare exception at the end of the Buffalo Bills-Miami Dolphins Week 9 game at Highmark Stadium.
Ex-Bills safety Jordan Poyer made his return to Buffalo in a Miami jersey, looking to get some sweet comeuppance on the team that released him several months earlier. Unfortunately for Poyer, his old team — and rookie wideout Keon Coleman, for that matter — got the last laugh.
The game was tied 27 apiece in the final minute, with the Bills facing a 3rd-and-9 situation. Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw a deep pass to his rookie wide receiver that fell incomplete, but Poyer was penalized for unnecessary roughness on the play.
It was a vicious and cringeworthy hit to watch, sure. Coleman suffered a wrist injury on the play, and his teammates were sure to make Poyer pay. The penalty kept Buffalo’s drive alive and set up Tyler Bass’ game-winning field goal.
A brutal hit to welcome Coleman to the pros, but one that directly led to a Bills W. Like we said, this was a costly lesson for Poyer to teach.
Jayden Daniels Gets Popped In The Ribs
Washington Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels is in the midst of one of the greatest rookie seasons we’ve ever seen. The second-overall pick and 2023 Heisman Trophy winner has been everything the Commanders could have asked for and then some.
Daniels has instantly turned this long-struggling franchise around with new GM Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn. If there were any skeptics about Daniels being the real deal, they were silenced with his game-winning Hail Mary in Week 8 against the Chicago Bears.
But as Daniels will tell you, even the best NFL rookies have to be rudely introduced to the NFL one way or another. In his case, the two-way superstar was given his “welcome to the league” by a fellow rookie in New York Giants rookie corner Dru Phillips.
Phillips’ crushing hit on Daniels briefly forced the Washington QB to leave the game. Fortunately, Daniels returned and led the Commanders to a 21-18 triumph, marking his first NFL victory.
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