Being in the right situation with the right NFL team makes all the difference. Here are five rookies who are best positioned to succeed in their first year:<\/p>\n
5. Makai Lemon, WR, Philadelphia Eagles<\/a><\/p>\n College: USC<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Drafted: No. 20 overall<\/p>\n Let\u2019s assume A.J. Brown<\/a> will be traded soon, which seems reasonable given the Philadelphia Eagles\u2019 offseason moves and Brown\u2019s complaints about the offense. Makai Lemon is joining a loaded offense that underperformed last season for several reasons. The Eagles remain a run-first team, and with opponents selling out to stop Saquon Barkley<\/a>, Lemon should see plenty of opportunities in single coverage. With DeVonta Smith<\/a> moving into the WR1 slot, Lemon will face less pressure.<\/p>\n 4. Jordyn Tyson, WR, New Orleans Saints<\/a><\/p>\n College: Arizona State<\/p>\n Drafted: No. 8 overall<\/p>\n If \u2014 and that\u2019s a big if \u2014 Jordyn Tyson is healthy, he\u2019s landing in a promising situation. The Saints have the makings of a strong 2026 offense. Quarterback Tyler Shough<\/a> finished second in the Offensive Rookie of the Year voting. Chris Olave<\/a> (100 catches, 1163 yards, nine touchdowns) is coming off a career-best season. The Saints also added free-agent running back Travis Etienne Jr.<\/a> from the Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a>. Tyson will be surrounded by other good skill players, which should make it easier for him to fit into Kellen Moore\u2019s offense. His history of injuries<\/a> is the biggest concern.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 3. Sonny Styles<\/a>, LB, Washington Commanders<\/a><\/p>\n College: Ohio State<\/p>\n Drafted: No. 7 overall<\/p>\n On an Ohio State defense that included fellow first-round picks Arvell Reese and Caleb Downs<\/a>, Sonny Styles might be the best of them. A former safety, this linebacker brings versatility and production to a Washington defense that needs an infusion of talent (26.5 points allowed per game, 27th in the league). Commanders coach Dan Quinn has developed star linebackers before, including Bobby Wagner<\/a>, K.J. Wright<\/a>, and Micah Parsons<\/a>. Styles, a do-it-all defender, could be his next success story. Expect Styles to play all over the field.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 2. Jadarian Price, RB, Seattle Seahawks<\/a><\/p>\n College: Notre Dame<\/p>\n Drafted: No. 32 overall<\/p>\n The easiest position for a rookie to make an impact is running back. You don\u2019t have to be a three-down player, and you don\u2019t even need to know the entire playbook. Jadarian Price will likely start for the defending Super Bowl champion and will be surrounded by an excellent cast. He\u2019ll replace Seattle\u2019s top rusher, Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III<\/a>, who left as a free agent for the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>. While Price was a backup to Notre Dame star Jeremiyah Love, he might be more explosive. If he can avoid fumbles<\/a>, he should provide immediate help for the Seahawks.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 1. Rueben Bain Jr., DE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a><\/p>\n College: Miami<\/a><\/p>\n Drafted: No. 15 overall<\/p>\n Rueben Bain Jr. was expected to be a top-10 pick, but character concerns<\/a> and short arms<\/a> might have hurt his stock. However, his draft-day slide might turn out to be the best thing for him. Bain gets to stay in his home state of Florida. He\u2019s also going to play for one of the league\u2019s best defensive minds. Todd Bowles knows how to build an effective defense, and Tampa Bay<\/a> needs more of a pass rush (37 sacks, 19th in the league). Bain should be the type of player who can help the Buccaneers close out games.<\/p>\n The post Which 5 NFL rookies are in the best position to succeed in 2026?<\/a> appeared first on The Comeback: Today\u2019s Top Sports Stories & Reactions<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Being in the right situation with the right NFL team makes all the difference. Here are five rookies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[28656,133474,64,63,15429,133465,20799,27248,1237,147338,314266,1240,20794,157200,5140,1245,1249,593,1260,13672,1254,133467,85,5881,1247,23821,263057,1271,1272],"class_list":["post-649833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-a-j-brown","tag-arvell-reese","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bobby-wagner","tag-caleb-downs","tag-chris-olave","tag-devonta-smith","tag-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-jordyn-tyson","tag-k-j-wright","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-kenneth-walker-iii","tag-makai-lemon","tag-miami","tag-micah-parsons","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-saquon-barkley","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-sonny-styles","tag-sports","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-the-eagles","tag-travis-etienne-jr","tag-tyler-shough","tag-washington-commanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}