The Rookie Class of 2024 and how they did

[burgold]

I thought it might be fun to just have a thread to talk about the rookies. I'll post some stats below to jump start the conversation. One of the really interesting things is that besides Hampton, every single rookie contributed.

Jordan Magee

Jayden Daniels (passing stats only)

Luke McCaffrey (18 is actually better than I thought)

Ben Sinnott

Mike Sainristil

Jer'zhan Newton

Jean-Baptiste

 

[HOF28]

All things considered it was an excellent draft because they nailed the QB spot. Peter’s really had to hit on a lot of picks since the previous regime was terrible at drafting. My quick thoughts. Always like looking back to see what everyone else thinks.

Daniels - Easy homerun. Possibly one of the best draft picks in franchise history

Newton - Didn’t like the pick at the time, like it less in hindsight too many better players taken after him, including better D lineman.

Sainristil - Good pick probably our best corner.

Sinnott - Liked the pick and position of need, really worried about lack of production not sure if that’s due to a great FA signing in Ertz or what we needed pass catchers and he never emerged or got a chance. Not sure about this.

Coleman - Though he did ok as a rookie LT, Daniels really helped mask Oline issues however. He might develop

McCaffery - WR project might pan out

Magee - Injured a lot so not much to go on

Hampton - did he play at all even ST? Not much here yet

Jean-Baptiste - Good pick for 7th rounder

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I think Newton did better than you think . He missed the entire training camp and was very good pass rushing from the DT spot.

 

[HOF28]

You’re probably right. I’m nitpicking a bit there I think. I also have the benefit of hindsight and players that went after and how they did. I wanted Cooper Dejean at the time, didn’t think we’d go DT that early but ultimately he’ll probably be a decent player just worried about his size not sure how he’ll hold up against the run moving forward.

I think Newton did better than you think . He missed the entire training camp and was very good pass rushing from the DT spot.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

You’re probably right. I’m nitpicking a bit there I think. I also have the benefit of hindsight and players that went after and how they did. I wanted Cooper Dejean at the time, didn’t think we’d go DT that early but ultimately he’ll probably be a decent player just worried about his size not sure how he’ll hold up against the run moving forward.

we’ll see how he does. A lot of rookies really improve between year 1 and year 2.

Newton missed most of training camp, and still contributed.

He could take a pretty giant step forward since he is healthy and can participate in the off season program.

 

[burgold]

Yeah, hopefully we see more second year leaps than sophomore slumps

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I was disappointed in Newton, I heard on draft day that he was a steal, and I understand he missed a lot of time, but he made very little impact and I was expecting more. Coleman on the other hand totally surpassed expectations, he did really well at times against the league's best pass rushers. I think we all agree Sanristill is a hit and will improve.

Let's be honest, after the draft we kind of expect every pick to hit. Especially with the reputation of Peters. Even though we know that won't happen we still hang on to hope that McCaffery and Magee will turn into really good players when historicially it's just not realistic to expect every pick to hit. Personally I'm down on McCaffery. I think he will turn into a JAG, he is not nearly explosive enough to return kicks.

 

[burgold]

The guy I was a little disappointed with, and this is totally unfair, was Magee. All training camp, we heard how Magee was blowing the staff away. Come the regular season, he disappeared. Now, he may be a victim like Sinnott of being behind entrenched vets. Are you really going sit Wagner or Luvu for Magee? Injuries also hurt him. But the idea that we found this diamond in the lower rounds that was so good that it negated the bust that was Jamin Davis never really materialized on the field... at least not in any big play way.

He did score some tackles. He did play special teams, but I wanted a little more. Maybe in setting the edge on run defenses. Maybe getting a sack when he was spelling a starter. Just more. In reality, he contributed which is good for a low round rookie, but the hype was so high, my expectations got greedy.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I too was intrigued by Magee. He is one of the few young players we have that has the potential to grow into a good player. Having no decent rookies from Ron's last draft other than Martin killed the pipeline and it will take several drafts to correct this.

 

[Discobob]

I don't see any way to grade Sinnott... he had a HOF TE playing amazing ahead of him (remember when he did the same thing to McBride?)

Also, TE is a position that notoriously requires a couple years of development - something that most people said when he was picked.

Gotta wait until AT LEAST the second half of next year.

 

[Gooseneck]

I thought it might be fun to just have a thread to talk about the rookies. I'll post some stats below to jump start the conversation. One of the really interesting things is that besides Hampton, every single rookie contributed.

Jordan Magee

View attachment 9419

Jayden Daniels (passing stats only)
View attachment 9420

Luke McCaffrey (18 is actually better than I thought)
View attachment 9421

Ben Sinnott
View attachment 9422

Mike Sainristil
View attachment 9423

Jer'zhan Newton
View attachment 9424

Jean-Baptiste
View attachment 9425

Great thread idea-
Daniels - No need to comment

Newton - I think when healthy will give us some real interesting options- can we push him out to end sometimes.

Sainristil - Self evident

Sinnott - I think he will give us some good options, might have picked to high.

Coleman - I really like this pick. If he does not pan out as a LT could very well be great at guard, right tackle or guard as a great back up for the Tackle position.

McCaffery - Jury out, with a year of practice at WR, could be a steal or a meh

Magee - jury out but positive signs

Hampton - Could be a unique player with great upside- jury out

 

[DogofWar1]

Jayden didn't throw for 50 TDs. Boooooooo he's a bum, he's a bust, get im outta here


Newton is, I think, gonna be REALLY important in the coming couple years, because as much as I like Allen and Payne, they are 48.5M of our cap right now, and the production of that unit is not what it needs to be. Newton gives us a ton of flexibility to maybe move on from one of them, which almost certainly would be Allen, who would free up about 16M (6M dead cap). That and I think the jump from year 1 to 2 will be solid.

Sanristil is a baller, I hope he keeps developing.

Sinnott I am going to make some assumptions about, and I might be wrong, but I'm gonna do it anyway. I think Zach had way more in the tank than people thought. I also think Bates is probably a better blocker. Combine those two factors, and it pushes Sinnott out of most game situations. I am hoping he will make the jump year 2 past whatever incarnation of Ertz we have and starts taking more snaps, and also learns from Ertz, bc if you combine youth with Ertz's ability to find the gap in the defense's armor, you have a real dangerous player. Ertz can't be 22 again, but maybe we can make Sinnott into a young Ertz. But then again, maybe not.

Brandon Coleman, he kinda got thrown in the fire, and he did alright. I think like Newton, as he continues to grow he'll become better and better. Maybe LT isn't his permanent home, but I think he'll be a starter somewhere along the line.

The rest I think are rookies and they're gonna need some time to grow, as rookies do. Too early to call.

 

[DWinzit]

Year 2 will be the tell tale on Sinnott, McCaffrey, McGee and Hampton. I think we all have fairly high hopes for at least the first 3. I think Hampton could turn into a sneaky good pick.