After three weeks of the regular season, several rookies are already making their mark in the NFL.
Here’s an evaluation of each NFC North team’s top draft pick, accompanied by a grade based on how they’ve fared:
Chicago Bears: QB Caleb Williams (No. 1 overall)
Williams played the worst of his three games (48.3 completion percentage, 93 yards passing) in his only win, and his best game (63.5 completion percentage, 363 yards passing, two touchdowns) came last week in a loss.
There’s a bit of a learning curve from Lincoln Riley’s offense at USC to Chicago’s offense with Shane Waldron calling plays, so more growing pains are expected. Though his performances have been up and down, Williams has steadily improved from Week 1 to Week 3. Once the Bears’ offensive line figures out how to block, he could start churning out more performances like Week 3 and fewer like Week 1.
Grade: C+
Detroit Lions: CB Terrion Arnold (No. 24 overall)
Arnold has played the second-most coverage snaps of Lions cornerbacks (118) behind Carlton Davis and allowed the second-highest completion percentage against (68.4) and second-most receiving yards (116), per Pro Football Focus.
He does, however, have 11 tackles, two forced incompletions and a pass breakup through three games, and he’s showing signs of starting to pick up the defensive schemes. Is Arnold the shutdown CB the Lions drafted him to be? No, not yet. Has she shown signs that he has the potential to get there? Absolutely.
Grade: C
Green Bay Packers: OT Jordan Morgan (No. 25 overall)
Morgan has only played in two games, and his snaps have come at right guard, which isn’t his natural position (tackle). But of those 48 snaps, Morgan has allowed just one pressure and one QB hit and hasn’t allowed a sack.
Starting RG Sean Rhyan has also played admirably, allowing just three pressures and two hurries on 155 snaps, so it’s unlikely Morgan will crack the starting lineup unless there’s an injury. But in a small sample size, Morgan has looked good.
Grade: B-
Minnesota Vikings: Edge Dallas Turner (No. 17 overall)
Quarterback J.J. McCarthy was Minnesota’s top 2024 draft pick, but he was ruled out for the season in training camp after tearing his meniscus, so for this exercise, we’ll grade Turner.
The 6-foot-3 edge-rusher has played in just two of Minnesota’s three games, contributing five tackles, three pressures, two hurries, a tackle for loss and a sack. He ranks eighth on the Vikings in pass-rush snaps (32) and is fourth in the same category among the team’s edge-rushers. It’s clear Turner isn’t being handed snaps because of his status as a first-round pick, and if he’s going to make more of an impact, he’ll have to battle his way up the depth chart.
Grade: D+