While some 2023 NFL rookies like CJ Stroud, Zay Flowers, Jalen Carter and Devon Witherspoon have made excellent first impressions with their respective teams, several other big-named first year players have looked like, well, rookies.
For various reasons, some of the most highly-touted first-year players have failed to put it together, and it’s clear that they have a long way to go in becoming the stars that so many people envisioned.
Before we start this list, we just want to clarify that this isn’t to say these players’ careers are doomed and that they’ll go down as big-time busts. We’re strictly talking about what we’ve seen from these players thus far in 2023.
With that all said, let’s dive into 10 NFL rookies who already look like busts.
Bryce Young
The Carolina Panthers gave up a king’s ransom to the Chicago Bears so that they could move up into the No. 1 spot and take Alabama signal-caller Bryce Young.
Though his skill set was never in question, Young’s smaller 5-foot-10 frame left many scouts and analysts concerned. And so far, those concerns look real valid.
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Young is taking a lot of hits, struggling to read defenses and making too many, ahem, rookie mistakes with the football. He had just five touchdowns and four interceptions over his first four NFL starts, throwing for 204 yards or less in three of them.
Yes, Young has very little help outside of Adam Thielen on offense. But CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson have looked like seasoned veterans with limited support around them as well, so Young’s lackluster set of weapons doesn’t fully excuse him here.
Not every NFL rookie QB can go off like Dak Prescott, Ben Roethlisberger or Russell Wilson. All-time greats like Peyton Manning and John Elway even had horrific rookie years, and they turned out just fine.
But it’s clear that Young has a long way to go in becoming the franchise QB the Panthers have envisioned. He needs to put on more muscle, improve at reading defenses and learn to take the easier completions instead of forcing low-percentage throws.
2023 doesn’t look like it’ll be a year where Panthers fans can celebrate the arrival of their new franchise savior, because we have no idea yet if Young can actually become that guy.
Jahmyr Gibbs
It never made sense to us when the Detroit Lions used the No. 12 pick on Jahmyr Gibbs. Nobody expected him to go that high, and the Lions didn’t need Gibbs after signing ex-Chicago Bears’ star David Montgomery in free agency.
Sure enough, the Gibbs selection still doesn’t make sense a month into his career. Montgomery has been an absolute beast for the Lions’ prolific offense, while Gibbs mostly just watches from the sidelines.
Gibbs was supposed to be a bell-cow back in Detroit’s offense, but he’s merely the No. 2 RB on his own team. As long as Montgomery continues to produce, the Lions have every reason to keep feeding him.
That means few touches for Gibbs, who hasn’t exactly ripped off explosive plays with the ball in his hands. It’s not too late to grow into a star, but right now, the Lions should be kicking themselves for taking Gibbs when they simply didn’t need him.
But again, the coaching staff bears some responsibility for not giving Gibbs much usage, either.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
The Ohio State product was widely viewed as the most complete, all-around pass-catcher in a deep wide receiver class.
Fast forward a month into his career, and we can only use one word to sum it up: “Underwhelming.” Smith-Njigba’s yardage total over his first four games: 5, 10, 34 and 13. No touchdowns. Is it just us, or is that awfully disappointing?
We get it. He’s a rookie. And he has to share the ball with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett — one of football’s best receiving duos — and star running back Kenneth Walker III.
But Seattle is in win-now mode and hoped to have three potential 1,000-yard wideouts this year. Smith-Njigba isn’t drawing separation or getting open, which is problematic when you consider that opposing defenses have to put more attention on Seattle’s main weapons.
As long as Metcalf and Lockett are producing, will Smith-Njigba ever find his game in the Pacific Northwest? It’s a fair question to ask, considering how much of a non-factor he’s been to open his career.
Emmanuel Forbes
Despite having several other pressing needs, the Washington Commanders curiously used the No. 16 selection on Mississippi State corner Emmanuel Forbes.
Now, cornerbacks almost always struggle as rookies as they try to find their footing in the pros. But the early returns on Forbes are especially concerning on a Washington team that suddenly boasts one of the game’s worst units.
Forbes’ struggles were especially evident in Week 5 against the Chicago Bears, when he was lit up like a Christmas tree by DJ Moore. Per Pro Football Focus, Forbes had a defensive grade of 33.6 for that game and was benched after allowing 76 yards on just three catches.
Forbes has at least been a good play-maker on the ball, with five pass defenses through his first five games. But the Commanders drafted him to be a pure shutdown corner, but he has instead been a major liability and a fun target for opposing QBs.
Forbes isn’t a bust…yet. But he’s gotta work on his film study and techniques if he’s to be a star in this league.
Mazi Smith
The Dallas Cowboys are loaded with playmakers in the front seven, but Jerry Jones and company couldn’t help but reach for the Michigan defensive tackle at No. 26 overall.
Dallas, a team in win-now mode, probably should have selected a player that they expected to contribute right away. They’ve instead used Smith in a limited rotational role thus far, and we kinda see why!…Because he hasn’t made any positive impacts when on the field at all.
Pro Football Focus graded him at a woeful 43.8 through the club’s first five contests. Fortunately for Smith, his shortcomings are easy to overlook since Micah Parsons, Dorance Armstrong Jr., Osa Odighizuwa and DeMarcus Lawrence are dominating in the trenches anyway.
Michael Mayer
Many viewed Mayer as the top tight end in the 2023 NFL draft class. He was actually the third tight end selected, behind Dalton Kincaid of the Buffalo Bills and the surprising Sam LaPorta of the Lions.
Finally, Mayer went 35th overall to the Las Vegas Raiders, who needed a new starting tight end after trading Pro Bowler Darren Waller to the New York Giants.
Entering 2023, the potential of this Vegas offense looked limitless: Mayer, Jimmy Garoppolo, Josh Jacobs, Davante Adams, Hunter Renfrow and Jakobi Meyers. But the unit hasn’t lived up to expectations, and Mayer’s ineffectiveness certainly stands out as one of the bigger disappointments in Sin City.
Mayer didn’t even have a single target in the Raiders’ Weeks 1, 3 or 4 games. Zero. Nada. He was pretty much invisible.
The Notre Dame product hasn’t even been able to get open in the end zone, where he’s supposed to do most of his damage, even though opposing defenders are mostly focused on Jacobs and Adams there.
You’d think an offense-first head coach like Josh McDaniels, who worked with Rob Gronkowski and Hunter Henry, would find a way to get Mayer highly involved in his offense. So far, no cigar.
Paris Johnson Jr.
Arizona could have taken a plug-and-play guy like Will Anderson Jr., Jalen Carter, Devon Witherspoon or Christian Gonzalez with the No. 3 pick.
Instead, they played a game of musical chairs on draft night and traded that selection to the Houston Texans. Arizona then traded up via the Detroit Lions to select Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. with the No. 6 pick.
The Cardinals wanted Johnson Jr. because he was supposed to excel as both a pass protector and run-blocker in this Kyler Murray-led offense. But Johnson Jr. has struggled across the board and committed a whopping five penalties in his first 315 offensive snaps, per PFF.
Yes, Johnson Jr. and that leaky Arizona o-line would look a lot better if they had Murray extending plays and dancing his way around would-be-tacklers. But the Cardinals took Johnson Jr. sixth overall with the expectation that he could help right away — and it simply hasn’t come together thus far.
Lukas Van Ness
This wasn’t a knock against Van Ness, but we were left scratching our heads on the Green Bay Packers’ decision to use the No. 13 pick on the Iowa edge rusher.
The Packers had more than enough linebacker and pass rushing depth on their defense. They didn’t, however, have enough receiving help nor depth on the offensive line to seriously compete in the NFC.
Van Ness has only seen about a third of the Packers’ defensive snaps, and he simply hasn’t made an impact whatsoever. Pass-rushing is supposed to be his best attribute, yet he’s not even pressuring the quarterback.
He had a tremendous Week 1 debut against the Chicago Bears, recording one sack and three QB pressures. Aside from a couple of tackles, however, his stat sheet has been mostly filled with zeroes ever since.
The Packers already had De’Vondre Campbell, Rashan Gary, Preston Smith and Quay Walker to front their pass rush. Van Ness wasn’t needed at all, and yet they took him anyway and haven’t been able to fully unlock his potential yet — let alone make him a semi-impactful player on D.
With the Packers’ D in shambles thus far, the pressure is growing on Van Ness to start making an impact. Maybe he’ll see more action in the second half if the Packers’ veterans continue to underperform….
Tyree Wilson
We had no problem with the Las Vegas Raiders using the NO. 7 pick on Tyree Wilson. They desperately needed another playmaker on defense to complement Maxx Crosby, and Wilson was a consensus top-10 prospect.
But we shouldn’t have gotten so excited with this pick. We should have remembered that aside from Crosby, the Raiders have continuously failed to draft + develop quality young defensive players. That’s just how it is with this organization.
Even after the Raiders’ thrilling Week 5 home win against the Packers, PFF had Wilson graded as their worst rookie edge defender. Not ideal for someone who’s supposed to be a game-wrecker as both a pass-rusher and run-stopper.
Wilson has seen his fair share of snaps on Vegas’ defense, but the impact plays just haven’t come. Having a player like Crosby should actually help open up opportunities for Wilson, but the former again is having to carry this unit all on his own.
Of course there’s time for Wilson to figure this out and one day emerge as the star the Raiders and so many of us have envisioned. But considering that the Raiders expected to be competitive this year, it’s safe to wonder if they’re already questioning the decision to take Wilson.
Quentin Johnston
The Los Angeles Chargers used the No. 21 selection on TCU Horned Frogs’ wideout Quentin Johnston, and there was plenty of reason to be excited about this pick.
Johnston was joining a high-powered Bolts’ offense led by superstar quarterback Justin Herbert, do-it-all running back Austin Ekeler and wideouts Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. With Allen nearing the end of his prime, however, it felt like Johnston was already in good position to succeed immediately.
But it simply hasn’t come together for Johnston. Like the aforementioned Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Johnston just can’t get open even when guys like Williams and Allen were drawing more attention from the opposing defenses.
Williams sadly suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 3 against the Minnesota Vikings. Ekeler missed Weeks 2, 3 and 4 with an ankle injury, and yet Johnston still couldn’t get himself involved more in the offense.
We know hindsight is 20/20 for a list like this. But seeing how well Allen has produced in his age-31 season, it just feels like the Bolts never really needed Johnston anyway.
We still wanna trust a guy like Herbert to figure it out with Johnston. This just might be one of football’s premier QB-receiving duos in the not-so-distant future. But Johnston’s complete ineffectiveness up to this point has been very disappointing in La La Land, especially with Ekeler and Williams all missing ample time.
Not ideal for a team that’s trying to compete for a Super Bowl in a loaded AFC.
What other NFL rookies already look like busts?
