Top 25 NFL players under 25

The first overall pick in 2014 NFL Draft was injured for most of his rookie season and thus needed 2015 to knock off all the accumulated rust. A fully healthy Clowney (well, almost; he missed Week 12) has since used 2016 to remind everyone he still has the size, speed and smarts to hold down the Houston defense — something he needed to do since J.J. Watt had season-ending shoulder surgery after only three games this season.

At the 2014 NFL Draft, not a single team called Zach Orr’s name. But now, after being signed by the Ravens as an undrafted free agent, Orr is making sure no one will be able to forget him. When it comes to total solo tackles, Orr’s 85 put him only a single tackle out of first place, and his 122 combined are good for a third-place tie with Buffalo’s Zach Brown. Orr is also great whether the ball is in the air or on the ground, as he has three passes defended, one interception, one forced fumble and two recoveries with Baltimore’s No. 1 defense.

It’s difficult to look at Todd Gurley’s underwhelming stats this year and not dismiss it all as a consequence of playing for the Rams. I mean, the guy had 1,294 yards from scrimmage with 10 touchdowns in a 7-9 2015 Rams season in which he played just 13 games. Is it really a surprise that he’s only managed 1,012 yards in the same amount of time with the team currently owning a 4-9 record? Gurley’s sophomore “slump” may draw some attention, but if L.A. shapes up next year, we suspect Todd will be turning heads for a different reason.

You probably won’t see Jack Conklin on too many highlight reels, but that’s typical for anyone playing the oft-forgotten position of right tackle. Make no mistake, though, thanks to Lane Johnson’s PED suspension, Conklin is holding down the run better than anyone else at the position in 2016. To top things off, Conklin is also an excellent pass protector, and his rookie stats are ranked as the best since Matt Kalil’s in 2012.

After a 2015 season that saw Chris Jones become one of the best interior defenders in college football, he has followed it up with a rookie year that established him as one of the NFL’s best pass rushers. Entering Week 14, Jones’ 31 QB pressures ranked him second in the league overall, but he accomplished them in 123 fewer pass-rushing snaps than the leader.

Having a quality QB is a big part of being a good receiver, but even Aaron Rodgers can’t take all the credit for Davante Adams’ breakout 2016 season. Currently sitting at 897 yards, Adams is on track to double his 2015 receiving yardage and has already scored nine touchdowns, which ties him with none other than Odell Beckham Jr. for fourth place among receivers. Highlights so far include a 132-yard, two-touchdown performance in Week 7 that was good enough for NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors and catching a career-long 66-yard bomb from Rodgers in Week 14.

Don’t look now, but Danielle Hunter is quietly putting together quite the impressive year for the Vikings. Still just a 22-year-old role player in Minnesota, Hunter has nevertheless kept pace with some of the bigger names in the NFL in his second year while executing 10.5 sacks (fifth-best in the NFL) and 87 yards lost on sacks (tied for first). Additionally, Hunter has remarkably ranked above average on both rate of pass pressure and run stoppage, while also forcing a fumble and recovering another for a 25-yard touchdown run.

As of right now, nobody has more solo tackles (86) than Kwon Alexander of the Tampa Bay Bucs. If you look at combined tackles, Alexander’s 104 rank him 11th in the league, which is still fantastic for a kid who just turned 22 in August. Kwon also owns three sacks, a fumble recovery and a Week 3 interception that he returned for a 38-yard touchdown.

Vic Beasley may have repeatedly fallen down during a botched touchdown celebration in Week 14, but we’ll forgive him since it immediately followed a strip-sack of Rams QB Jared Goff. All this was actually part of a three-sack day for Beasley, and the 24-year-old’s 13.5 for 2016 have placed him in a tie with his idol, Von Miller, for the most in the NFL. The beastly Beasley also leads the league in yards lost on sacks (87) and forced fumbles (6), and was just handed an NFC Defensive Player of the Week honor.

The Eagles have blown their chance at making the playoffs, but don’t blame 23-year-old QB Carson Wentz. Drafted second overall in the 2016 NFL Draft, Wentz has lived up to the hype by earning a Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week after his first, third and fifth games; an NFC Offensive Player of the Week accolade after his third; and an NFL Offensive Player of the Month award for September. Wentz’s 13 touchdowns against 12 interceptions definitely leave something to be desired, but not all the blame can be placed solely on the young QB.

Melvin Gordon didn’t score a single touchdown for the Chargers in 2015, but he’s made up for it by amassing 12 rushing and receiving TDs in a breakout 2016 season. Although Gordon was just carted off the field after suffering a hip injury against the Panthers, he ended Week 14 with 1,416 yards from scrimmage (third-most yards in the league), 997 rushing yards (seventh in the league), 61 carries for a first down (second in the league) and only two fumbles.

The only safety with more than three interceptions in the NFL right now is Landon Collins of the Giants, and he has quite a comfortable lead. In fact, Collins’ five interceptions put him in a three-way tie for second place among all NFL players in 2016, and this is to say nothing of his three sacks. These aren’t just useless stats either, as Landon always seems to find himself involved in the game’s key and pivotal points, which is probably why he has already earned back-to-back Player of the Week honors in a breakout 2016, as well as NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November.

The Vikings haven’t had a receiver as good as Stefon Diggs since the days of Randy Moss, and Diggs may even pass Moss in some categories. After being thrust into a starter role in 2015 due to injuries, Diggs capitalized with a performance that earned him a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America’s NFL All-Rookie Team. He now routinely racks up 100 yards per game and should reach 1,000 for the season by Week 16, something that hasn’t been done since Brett Favre was the team’s QB in 2009. No wonder Diggs was named the NFL Player of the Week earlier this year.

A Week 14 neck injury could hamper Joey Bosa’s chances of winning Defensive Rookie of the Year, but there’s no doubt that the future is bright for the quick, young defensive end. Selected third in the 2016 NFL Draft, Bosa missed the summer over a contract dispute and all of September with a nagging hamstring injury, but then immediately rewarded the Chargers with an October performance that earned the 21-year-old a Defensive Player of the Month nod. This included four sacks in four games, 16 QB pressures and 13 tackles — six for a loss.

The 4-9 Jets have been absolutely brutal this year, but that doesn’t mean they’re all a bunch of losers. Take Leonard Williams, for example, whose seven sacks, six stuffs, two forced fumbles, two dozen QB hits and a whole lot of hurries rank him as one of the top defensive linemen in the game. It’s no coincidence that after this disaster of a season, Williams is the only player the Jets execs are not open to trading.

After amassing 1,051 yards and setting a Buccaneers franchise record for most receiving touchdowns in a season (12) in his 2014 rookie year, Mike Evans added another 1,206 yards in 2015 and is currently up to 1,100 for 2016 with 10 touchdowns. Still only 23 years old despite having three seasons of NFL experience under his belt, it’s no surprise that Evans has become the favorite target of Bucs QB Jameis Winston, especially after his one-handed, behind-the-back circus catch in Week 9 against the Falcons.

Marcus Peters might not be able to top his NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year-winning accomplishments from last season, but 17 passes defended, five interceptions and three fumble recoveries are nothing to sneeze at, especially since they tie him for second overall (in the first two categories) and third overall (in the last) in the NFL for 2016. Peters is an integral part of the Chiefs’ 10-3 season, especially considering one of the losses came in the only game Peters missed all year.

23-year-old Titans QB Marcus Mariota might not be a star yet, but he’s well on his way. After playing only 12 games last season due to injury, Mariota showed his worth by improving in every important category (wins, completions, yards, yards per attempt, touchdowns and interceptions) in his first 12 games of 2016. He has also moved better on his feet and has quietly become the seventh-best QB in the league in terms of passer rating (99.1). Although Marcus personally stumbled in Week 14 against Denver, he has still left little doubt that the best is yet to come in his young career.

The Carr-to-Cooper tag team has been so electric for the Raiders this season that both players would find themselves on this list if only the former wasn’t already 25. So instead we’re just left with Cooper, who not only became the first Oakland rookie to ever amass 1,000 yards in a season last year, but is now one of only nine players in NFL history to do so in their first two seasons. In 2016, Amari now stands at 1,010 receiving yards, four touchdowns and a whopping 18 receptions of 20 or more yards, good for fourth in the league.

Jameis Winston spent his rookie 2015 season silencing all the doubters and smashing franchise records in passing attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns, while also emerging as a true leader. Already in 2016 he has a better completion rate, a higher passer rating and more touchdowns. In fact, Week 14 was the first time in 56 games that Winston didn’t throw a TD pass.

When Dallas QB Tony Romo was sidelined with a preseason back injury, panicked Cowboys fans didn’t know what to think. Enter 23-year-old Dak Prescott to save the day, and save it he did. Not only has Dak already led the team to 11 wins and secured a playoff spot while rocking the third-highest passer rating in the league (102.7), but he also managed to hold on to the starter role after Romo returned in Week 11. Prescott currently holds the record for most consecutive passes without an interception to start a career after he made his 176th in Week 6.

Le’Veon Bell was already a lock for this list even before having a career game in Buffalo in Week 14. That effort yielded 236 yards on 38 carries while scoring three touchdowns along the way. Bell’s 1,053 yards now rank him third among all running backs, and his 105.3 yards per game place him just behind Ezekiel Elliott of the Cowboys and well ahead of third-place DeMarco Murray, who only averages 87.3. By the way, did we mention Bell did all this in only 10 games due to a suspension for missing a drug test? Because that’s kind of important.

We’d hate to rob David Johnson of a spot on this list just because he’ll turn 25 two days prior to the Cardinals’ Week 15 game, especially since Arizona will likely rob the running back of any MVP consideration by not handing him the ball nearly enough. This puts a guy like Ezekiel Elliott well ahead of Johnson in terms of rushing yards, but David has also caught 69 passes for 745 yards and four touchdowns, more than twice the numbers for Elliott (and well ahead of other RBs) in both categories. And those four receiving TDs are in addition to his 11 rushing scores.

Ezekiel Elliott has placed himself firmly at the front of the pack in Rookie of the Year conversations thanks to his league-leading 1,392 rushing yards, 107.1 yards per game and 11 carries of over 20 yards. Additionally, Zeke’s 12 touchdowns are second to only Patriots RB LeGarrette Blount’s 14. In just the last month, Elliott has tallied TD runs of 85 and 97 yards, while already setting a new record for rushing yards by a Cowboy rookie in a season — way back in Week 11!

Say what you will about Odell Beckham Jr.’s attitude and his on-again-off-again relationship with the Giants’ kicking net, but it’s hard to argue with the guy’s stats and game-changing abilities. Not only did No. 13 constantly smash both team and league records as a rookie, but he’s still setting new high-water marks as the fastest player ever to reach 200 receptions and 3,500 yards. With 1,109 yards and nine touchdowns in 2016, OBJ is currently ranked fourth in the NFL among receivers in both categories.