Top 10 Candidates for Offensive Rookies of the Year Going Into the 2025-2026 NFL Season

Jeanty was snubbed from the Heisman in my opinion. He had an extremely dominant season for Boise State. It doesn't matter that he wasn't playing heavy competition.

He finished with 2,601 yards and 29 TDs, just 28 yards short of breaking the CFB record for most rushing yards in a season. He was drafted by the Raiders, a team that is weak in RB depth, and just a weak team overall on offense except for Brock Bowers. He should be expected to be fed the ball for the whole season. The Raiders believe they got something special because of how explosive he was in college.

The front runner for ROTY and 1st overall pick. He's the best QB to come out of the 2025 draft, and probably the only QB guaranteed to be the starter for his team in Week 1.

He threw for 4,313 passing yards, 2nd in the country, with 39 touchdowns thrown, which was the most thrown in the country. Cam Ward doesn't have the greatest weapons to use, but I think he can get it done with Calvin Ridley, who's coming off a 1,000-yard season with Will Levis as his quarterback, and he has newly added veteran Tyler Lockett.

The 2024 Heisman winner, Travis Hunter is interesting. He is claiming he will play both WR and CB for the Jaguars. He was very good at it in college, but will it translate well to the pro league? I don't know, but Hunter is the only player in the draft that can win both OROY and DROY.

On the offensive side of the ball, Hunter had an impressive 1,258 receiving yards, which was 5th in the country, with a big 15 receiving TDs, which was tied for second in the country. Hunter was drafted into Jacksonville, who has Trevor Lawrence as their QB, who I believe is a pretty solid QB.

The WR room is pretty competitive though, with rising star Brian Thomas Jr and other good WRs like Gabe Davis and Dyami Brown. But if Hunter plays both WR and CB, I don't know how he'll produce good enough numbers for the award. I believe if Hunter wants to win either OROY or DROY, he'll have to commit fully to a position.

McMillan was the best WR going into the 2025 NFL Draft by a longshot. At Arizona, he racked up 1,139 receiving yards, which was 3rd in the country, along with a solid 8 TDs.

I feel like McMillan was put in a solid situation in Carolina. The WR depth in Carolina isn't very strong, with an aging but still solid veteran in Adam Thielen, and a young Xavier Legette, but I think McMillan will be getting the most targets in Carolina. Also with Bryce Young as his QB. Bryce Young played much better in the second half of his sophomore year, so I expect him to improve in this upcoming year along with McMillan.

Golden was selected by the Packers with their first-round pick. He's coming off a solid season for Texas, 987 receiving yards with 9 receiving TDs.

Golden is high on this list for me because I think Golden was drafted into a good situation. Green Bay's WR room is kind of equal in skill including Golden, with Jayden Reed as their #1 receiver. I believe Golden can take that WR1 role. He has a solid QB in Jordan Love, and he was drafted into an overall successful coaching team in Green Bay.

Hampton wasn't getting the hype like Jeanty, but Hampton was still a very good RB. He was the second-best RB going into the 2025 draft behind Jeanty.

For North Carolina, he ended his season with 1,660 rushing yards, 3rd most in the country, along with a very solid 15 rushing TDs. He isn't as flashy as Jeanty, but I believe Hampton was put in a good situation like Jeanty. Drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers, there is some competition in the RB depth with Najee Harris, so Hampton won't be getting the full starting role. He'll most likely share it with Harris unless he really impresses the coaches during the off-season or during the season. The Chargers' offensive line is also pretty solid, which can help him.

Judkins doesn't have the hype like Jeanty, or not even Hampton, but he is still a good RB. He finished the season for Ohio State with 1,060 rushing yards, with 14 rushing TDs.

He was drafted into what I believe is a solid situation in Cleveland. Not much competition in Cleveland's RB room, only Jerome Ford there with Chubb being released. Judkins had some good highlights for Ohio State. Maybe he can surprise people in Cleveland.

Warren was the best tight end out of the 2025 draft. He racked up some solid numbers for Penn State, having 1,233 receiving yards, 2nd among tight ends and 7th in the country, and 8 TDs. He also had an impressive 104 receptions, which was tied for second in the country.

He was drafted to the Colts in a solid situation. The only thing holding him back in Indianapolis is the QB situation, which is just a mess in Indianapolis. It's either Anthony Richardson, who has been struggling there, or Daniel Jones, who is Daniel Jones.

Sanders was a very surprising fall. He was projected to go in the first round but fell all the way to the 5th round, taken by the Cleveland Browns.

Many QBs were taken over him as well, even though it was believed he was the second-best QB from the draft. He threw for 4,134 yards, 4th in the country, and threw 37 TDs, which was second behind only Cam Ward.

With this late fall, Sanders might not get the starting role, but the QB room in Cleveland is very weak with Watson, Flacco, and Gabriel, who was drafted by the Browns too for some reason. Shedeur has some solid weapons to work with like Jeudy, but he needs to focus on being the actual starter.