With the NFL preseason officially over and the regular season less than a week away, we are (almost) ready for some meaningful football.
Before we get there, we’ve seen plenty of news on this year’s crop of youngsters, as they prepare to make their impact on the 2026 NFL season. Whether it’s top-end draft picks or diamonds in the rough, let’s take a peek at some of this year’s most promising rookies.
Jadarian Price, RB | Seattle Seahawks
Like most Super Bowl champions, the well-constructed Seahawks were forced to make tough decisions this past offseason with more than a few players due to receive pay bumps. General manager John Schneider handed out over $430 million to Jaxon-Smith Njigba, Devon Witherspoon, Leonard Williams and Derick Hall. In doing that, they also said goodbye to Coby Bryant, Boye Mafe and, perhaps most notably, Kenneth Walker, who was awarded the Super Bowl MVP just a few months ago.
With Walker off to Kansas City — and with running back Zach Charbonnet still on the mend following a torn ACL suffered last season — the Seahawks picked up Price out of Notre Dame with the 32nd pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to bolster their rushing attack. As a member of the Fighting Irish, Price was heralded as an instinctive back with terrific vision, perhaps even more so than his former teammate, now-Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love.
When Seattle raises their latest banner on Sept. 9th against the Patriots, Price will step onto the field without having taken a single preseason snap. With Charbonnet starting the year on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, the Seahawks brass clearly wanted to keep Price as healthy as possible for the season. He might see a timeshare alongside running back George Holani to start the year, but he’ll still get enough carries to warrant lots of early attention.
De’Zhaun Stribling, WR | San Francisco 49ers
One of the biggest surprises of this past offseason came on Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft, when GM John Lynch picked wideout De’Zhaun Stribling with the first pick of the second round out of Ole Miss.
It was a need-filling pick for San Francisco — in 2025, 49ers wide receivers averaged just 127.7 receiving yards per game, good for 21st in the NFL. Not only did Stribling deliver 811 yards and six touchdowns in Mississippi, but he also clocked a 4.36 second 40-yard dash — the eighth-fastest time of all receivers at the combine.
We’ve often heard sayings about talent and opportunity, and Stribling will get plenty of opportunity on an offence hurting for healthy pass catchers. All-Pro tight end George Kittle is coming off a ruptured Achilles, wide receiver Mike Evans is dealing with a groin injury, and fellow wide receiver Ricky Pearsall is done for the year after season-ending knee surgery. Apart from Deebo Samuel Jr., there simply aren’t many candidates aside from Stribling who will be counted on to catch passes from quarterback Brock Purdy. If the 49ers hope to compete in a loaded NFC West, they’re going to need every last bit of Stribling right out of the gate.
Carnell Tate, WR | Tennessee Titans
It’s been a tough few years for the Titans, a team that has seemingly hit the reset button more than a few times since they lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the 2020 AFC title game. Since then, a lot has been in flux down in Music City — they’ve parted ways with two head coaches and three general managers. After a 3-14 season in 2024, last year’s No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward was tasked with revitalizing the passing game as a rookie, but that proved too difficult a task without reliable targets for him to rely on.
Enter Ohio State receiver Carnell Tate, the No. 4 overall pick back in April. Lauded as a polished route-runner with great body control, Tate played all over the field for the Buckeyes, catching 51 passes for 875 yards and nine touchdowns — five of those touchdowns were 40 or more yards, explosive plays that Ward and the Titans offence have desperately been searching for.
It’s true that Tate had a relatively quiet preseason, not recording a catch in two preseason games amidst just 35 snaps with the starting offence. Despite that, come games that matter, if he’s anything close to as advertised in college, the new regime in Nashville will likely be sticking around for some time to come.
Caleb Downs, DB | Dallas Cowboys
Looking back at 2025, it was a rough year on defence for the Cowboys. They allowed 511 points against, which averaged out to 31.3 points per game — worst in the league in both categories. They gave up 109 explosive plays, last in the entire NFL in preventing big moments. Even now, of the 26 players on last year’s initial 53-man roster, 15 of them are not on an NFL team at this moment. In short, it was an unmitigated disaster.
The 2026 version seems to be much improved on paper. Newly-hired defensive coordinator Christian Parker will have more toys to play with, including linebacker Rashan Gary, defensive tackles Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, and now the 11th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Ohio State defensive back Caleb Downs.
Downs is a Swiss Army knife on defence — in college, he played both slot cornerback (or nickel) and at safety, and even got reps as a linebacker at times. With Parker transitioning the Cowboys defence to an aggressive 3-4 scheme, the former two-time All-American will get plenty of chances to prove himself on the field. And the Cowboys are counting on him to be (pun intended) a star.
Jacob Rodriguez, LB | Miami Dolphins
It’s a new dawn in Miami these days. A new coaching staff has been installed, a new general manager is calling the shots and a new quarterback is leading the huddle. The season has yet to begin, and 2026 has already brought about massive change on South Beach.
One of those many changes includes the defence, as the coveted green dot — signifying the player who’s communicating with the defensive play-caller — has been won by rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez. A second-round pick out of Texas Tech, Rodriguez has terrific pre-snap coverage instincts, is quick on his reads of opposing offences, and is disciplined in coverage — all traits teams love in long-time NFL veterans, much less rookies.
A turnover machine in college — he forced seven fumbles to lead all of college football, and notched four interceptions as well — Rodriguez will be asked to do the same for head coach Jeff Hafley, who will also call the plays on defence. Following the release of veteran Tyrel Dodson just a few days ago, Rodriguez is now the undisputed middle linebacker for the Dolphins defence and is already earning early comparisons to long-time fan favourite, Zach Thomas. That’s a high bar to clear, but if the preseason is anything to be believed, Rodriguez has a very good chance to meet the hype.
Klint Kubiak, HC | Las Vegas Raiders
If the last few years of head coach hirings has taught us anything, it’s that teams love to tap offensive gurus to develop their franchise quarterbacks. Between Ben Johnson, Liam Coen and Kellen Moore — just to name a few — most of last year’s new head coaches all received praise thanks to their ability to work with big names under centre.
The same is true in Las Vegas as well. After helping revitalize quarterback Sam Darnold in Seattle en route to a Super Bowl ring, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak got the promotion he was looking for as he nabbed his first head coaching gig with the Raiders. Tasked with overhauling an offence that scored 14.2 points per game in 2025 — last in the NFL — he has a few talented tools at his disposal in running back Ashton Jeanty and tight end Brock Bowers, some of the best at their respective positions across the league.
Of course, as most things do in the modern NFL, it all comes down to the signal caller. While quarterback Kirk Cousins will open the season as the Week 1 starter, No. 1 overall pick and national champion Fernando Mendoza is waiting in the wings, potentially holding the key to future success. The road there is not straightforward — the Silver and Black went 3-14 last year while the other three AFC West teams are all primed for deep playoff runs — but if Kubiak can get Cousins and Mendoza to sling it effectively long-term, the rebuild could be shorter than expected.
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