20 sophomore NFL defenders who could stand out this season

This offseason, I've already reviewed the 2024 draft class at quarterback and wide receiver -- both loaded positions. Remember, the first 14 picks of the draft were all spent on offense, which set a record. Yet despite the defense's predraft reputation as a weaker group, its collective rookie impact was substantial. So now I'm turning my attention there.

Twenty-seven rookies played at least 500 snaps on defense in 2024, a whopping 20 of whom were defensive backs. But it wasn't just that a lot of rookies played; in fact, 29 rookies took at least 500 defensive snaps in 2022. It's that they were great. Postseason runs were defined by Jared Verse, Quinyon Mitchell, Mike Sainristil and Cooper DeJean. Units were fundamentally changed by the success of Tarheeb Still, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Calen Bullock and Chop Robinson. And honestly, a 500-snap threshold doesn't even catch key players who sat out time or are expecting big roles this season. Impact guys such as Edgerrin Cooper, Jalyx Hunt, Evan Williams, Kamren Kinchens and Byron Murphy II all don't clear that bar.

But as it is, regardless of number of rookie snaps, here are the 20 most important rising sophomores on defense -- and what makes each of them so special. We listed them in order of their draft slot.

Murphy was inconsistent last season. An hamstring injury seemed to sap some of his explosiveness, and a back injury affected his play late. He was also asked to play a few different alignments in a deep rotation, so the rookie learning curve was pretty steep. His pass rushes were often poorly timed, and he could get caught thinking on his feet in run defense.

With those caveats in place, the best plays from Murphy last season were really slick. His ability to endure double-teams or strain against down blocks, then explode through a corner and get involved in a tackle detail a future high-impact defensive tackle. Murphy wasn't given many pass-rush chances, but the athleticism implies a productive penetration player if and when that day comes.

Here, watch Murphy (before his injuries) feel the double-team coming, drop to a knee for leverage, yank Quinn Meinerz violently out of position, spring back up to his feet, get his hips square to the line of scrimmage and tackle -- all in the blink of an eye. This is silly stuff.

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— Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) August 6, 2025

Murphy probably will continue filling the nose tackle role on early downs, so I don't expect a big pass-rush leap, as Leonard Williams and Boye Mafe are the featured rushers on this defensive line. But Seattle needs to be better on early downs this season -- the Seahawks were 21st in success rate on early downs last season, and 12th on third down -- to get to those pass-rushing reps. Murphy (along with fellow sophomore LB Tyrice Knight) is a big part of that effort.

I'm not sure I can give Verse any better praise than what he received from recently retired offensive tackle Terron Armstead. When asked about players he was looking forward to never facing again, Armstead said Verse before any other edge rusher: "That young boy Jared Verse? I'm cool. I'm good. ... I'm OK with never seeing that young man again in my life." Bars.

Armstead highlighted Verse's bull rush, which was just preposterously effective in his rookie season. His reliance on cinderblock hands and wicked speed-to-power conversion helps explain why his rookie sack rate was so low (only 4.5 sacks) despite a high pressure rate (16.8%). Verse was more of a pocket-destroyer than he was a sack-getter, and the rest of Los Angeles' line feasted in the aftermath.

As Verse's game grows, he'll need to improve his ability to disengage and finish at the quarterback. But the underappreciated element of Verse's heavy hands is how they appeared in the running game. Verse was fourth among all edge rushers in run stop EPA. His explosive first step and contact balance had him not just disrupting plays in the defensive backfield but also finishing them.

Verse already has a T.J. Watt-esque impact on the Rams' defense. You can't run the ball in his direction and have to find a way to misdirect or avoid him to get your running game going. Should Verse translate his play-finishing ability from the running game to the passing game, he'd vault into the elite echelon of edge rushers in the NFL. On any given week, his name will belong next to Micah Parsons, Myles Garrett and Watt. Simple as that.

In Week 4 last season, Jaelan Phillips went down because of a season-ending knee injury. The Dolphins had their bye in Week 6. In Week 7, they came out with a new defensive strategy: use Robinson, who had largely been a designated pass rusher on late downs, in a full-time role.

Robinson delivered. He ended the season with a 17.2% pressure rate, which was fifth among all edge rushers. The four names above him were Micah Parsons, Danielle Hunter, Trey Hendrickson and Myles Garrett. You couldn't ask for better company.

Robinson's playing style was not conducive to high sack totals -- he was sprinting at the outside shoulder of the quarterback, breaking pocket integrity more than he was clearing the opposing tackle for sack opportunities. He had only six sacks on the season and must develop stronger inside rush moves to round out his profile and get more drive-ending plays. That was always going to be the case early, though -- he was a high-pressure, low-sack guy in college.

But holy smokes, a 17.2% pressure rate as a rookie on 325 pass-rush reps is star-in-the-making stuff. Want another great list of names? The following rookies have had a pressure rate above 15% on at least 250 pass-rush snaps since 2016: Parsons, Josh Hines-Allen, Nick Bosa, Will Anderson Jr., Jared Verse, Brian Burns and Robinson. We're cooking with hot, hot grease.

The numbers on Mitchell are good: He gave up 0.8 yards per coverage snap last season, which was 10th among all outside corners with at least 400 coverage snaps (i.e. starting outside players). Yards per snap is a great catch-all stat because it rolls in how often a player is targeted, how often he gives up catches when targeted and how many yards he gives up when targeted.

When we break it into its commensurate parts, we see why Mitchell was considered a CB1 the moment he walked onto the field. He discouraged targets (only targeted on 13.4% of his coverage snaps, below the league average of 14.4%) as teams quickly figured out he had the goods. In each of his first six starts, he was targeted on at least 10% of his coverage snaps. For the next 10 weeks of the regular season, that happened only four times. He won at the catch point (catch rate 3.4% below expectation, per Next Gen Stats), and when a catch occurred, he limited YAC better than anyone else in football (1.5 yards after the catch per reception). Some of that is structural -- the Vic Fangio defense is meant to encourage underneath throws that lead to quick tackles -- but a lot of that is Mitchell.

All of that brings us to the 0.8 yards per snap. The names above Mitchell? Pat Surtain II, Christian Benford, Cobie Durant, Derek Stingley Jr., Riq Woolen, D.J. Reed, Jaylon Johnson, A.J. Terrell Jr. and Jaycee Horn. That's a pretty comprehensive list of the best corners in football.

Though the numbers on Mitchell are good, the film is better. As the season went on, the Eagles felt more comfortable moving Mitchell onto the line of scrimmage and leaving him in press coverage. But it's his ability in off coverage to read releases and get to his responsibilities fast that make him a playmaker. You can see that here, when the Packers wanted to run him downfield with the vertical route to throw the corner in behind him. This is veteran-level stuff.

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— Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) August 6, 2025

Arnold was tested last season. His 604 coverage snaps are the fourth most of any rookie defensive back, and his 86 targets are sixth most. And remember -- the Lions leave their corners on the most remote of islands, running more man coverage than any defense in the NFL last season. Arnold's 290 snaps of man coverage are the most for any rookie corner in the NFL Next Gen Stats database, which dates to 2016.

Offensive attention doesn't always mean the corner is a mark. In the case of Arnold, he was certainly the easier target than his running mate (Carlton Davis III), and when safety Brian Branch was spun over the slot, quarterbacks didn't want to go that way either. So early in the season, yes, Arnold was the mark. But he didn't stay that way.

Take Week 1 against the Rams, a tough draw for a rookie's first start. The Rams threw it at Arnold 10 times, completing seven passes for 47 yards and a score and drawing two defensive pass interference penalties. The early knock on Arnold was that he was simply too grabby. Over his first four games, he committed seven combined pass interference and holding penalties.

But the national audience needs to update its book on Arnold. It's not uncommon for rookie corners to take some time to acclimate to NFL rules and speed, especially when they play a physical style the way Arnold does. After a Week 5 bye, he was called for only two more coverage penalties. His overall numbers in coverage didn't really improve -- his decreased physicality led to more open receivers -- but this was also when the Lions' defensive injuries meant they could do nothing but play man coverage, blitz and hope for the best. Over the season, Arnold had acceptable production. He gave up 7.1 yards per target and forced tight windows on 28% of his targets; the average rookie corner over the past three seasons has given up 7.2 yards and forced a tight window on 23% of throws.

When you adjust for the difficult ask and the defensive injuries, it's easy to become bullish on Arnold. At the same time, Arnold matched up against WR2s last season, as Davis was the Lions' primary coverage player. This season, he'll be matched up against the top options. And while the steep decrease in penalties is extremely encouraging, physical man coverage corners tend to have volatile production year over year. Arnold had only 10 pass breakups and no picks for all his coverage reps, so more on-ball production is needed in 2025.

Wiggins is the new CB1 in Baltimore after Brandon Stephens left for the Jets in free agency. But Wiggins was functionally that player by the end of the 2024 season anyway, as his play dramatically outstripped Stevens' performance in quality.

Wiggins is a physical, talkative corner who rises to competition. Thinner corners like him (6-foot-1, 182 pounds) can often struggle with strength at the NFL level, but his wiry frame more than held up over the course of the regular season. His movement skills and ball skills alike created high-impact plays.

It was Wiggins -- not Cooper DeJean nor Quinyon Mitchell -- who led all rookie corners in target EPA last season. (To be fair, Wiggins' minus-28.4 beat out DeJean's minus-28.3 by the thinnest of margins, and DeJean was slightly better on a per-target basis. They're both very, very good.)

Despite Wiggins' success in coverage, Baltimore's coaching staff kept him behind Stephens on the depth chart and even rotated him at times, using him in a platoon with veteran Tre'Davious White for much of their playoff loss to the Bills. There are deficiencies in his game, after all. He can get spun around in zone coverage and be picky as a tackler. Eleven penalties didn't help his cause, either.

But elite talent will win out every time. Guys as long as Wiggins don't change direction as fluidly as he does. The way the natural talent oozes off his rookie film reminds me of how I felt watching Sauce Gardner as a rookie. The ceiling is that high.

The Titans like to take risks in the draft, and Sweat was no exception. A 366-pound defensive tackle comes with uncertainty. How will his conditioning hold up over the course of an NFL season? Can he win with penetration and in the pass rush, or will he always be a two-gapper?

There are still some questions here. Sweat played 699 snaps, which was 66% of the possible defensive snaps. It was more than I would have expected and speaks well to his fitness. But he isn't a pass-rush presence yet. On 332 such snaps, he had a 6.9% pressure rate, well below the defensive tackle average of 8.9%. He had only eight quick QB pressures, and his sack conversion rate (his ability to turn those pressures into sacks) was 4.3%, which is about as low as it gets.

Now, enough about what he isn't and more about what he is -- an enormous force. With great natural leverage and explosive hands, Sweat isn't just a double-team eater; he's excellent at shedding blocks to plug up holes and either force bounces outside for the ball carrier or get tackles at the line of scrimmage. Sweat is also far better working laterally than his size might suggest. When teams try to run into the boundary on the Titans, Sweat reacts quickly, delaying climbers and stringing out runs. He has a wider range of influence than just the A-gaps and accordingly delivers more than you'd expect from a nose tackle.

Sweat is the definition of a useful player -- without him, much of the Titans' early-down two-high defensive playbook would not be available. He fixes the math and gives the defensive coaching staff latitude to coach creatively.

At midseason last year, I thought Quinyon Mitchell was the best rookie defensive player. Upon review, it's very close, but I might have to give it to DeJean, Mitchell's teammate in Philadelphia. A nickel corner's world moves fast. Pre-snap motions are constantly changing responsibilities and assignments. From snap to snap, he could be responsible for a shifty slot, a streaking tight end, a climbing guard, a back with the ball in his hands or a WR1 snuck inside by alignment. Nickel defenders, more than any other position on defense, have to be able to do everything.

Second-round rookies are not meant to do everything ... but DeJean can. Undeterred by chaos, he walked onto the field and was immediately in control, making checks and calls, redirecting his teammates and creating big plays by widening his scope outside of his responsibilities. Though some slots are experts at tackling (Devon Witherspoon), sticky man coverage (Marlon Humphrey) or blitzing (Budda Baker), DeJean might already be the best zone coverage nickel defender in football.

On this play against the Ravens, watch DeJean -- who is responsible for the flat -- realize he is not tied down by any route and immediately look across the field for an incoming threat. He sees it and sinks. Lamar Jackson tries to throw it where DeJean isn't, but DeJean speed-turns, flipping his head away from the ball while accelerating and adjusting his angle. He is able to relocate the ball, elevate and affect the catch point. This was his eighth career start.

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— Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) August 6, 2025

DeJean's difficult job means his film is not perfect; he is aggressive in man coverage on smaller players, using his safety-sized body to out-physical shifty receivers, but he can get burned in space. But no nickel will ever be perfect since the job is so tough. DeJean was one of the three best slot defenders last season and one of the top 20 (or maybe top 15) defensive backs in all of football. Another fully healthy season should spell imminent All-Pro consideration at his position.

Lassiter won the starting job opposite Derek Stingley Jr. last season, and in Houston's defense, corners don't really get help. They're shoved up onto the line in press coverage and expected to fend for themselves. Lassiter was regularly challenged by teams hiding their WR1s from Stingley, thinking the rookie would be an easier mark. He was not.

Lassiter gave up an absurd 45.6% completion rate when targeted last season -- 11.5% below expectation for where he was targeted and what separation he allowed (Next Gen Stats). His ability to nudge, jostle, impede and otherwise disrupt opposing receivers as they addressed the football was second to no corner in the game last season -- and he was only penalized four times.

Lassiter fell in the draft for his poor long speed, but he won at the line of scrimmage so consistently that vertical receivers rarely found free releases and space outside the numbers. And his love for physicality was not exclusive to the passing game. A fiend in the short areas who finds no greater joy than blowing up a screen play, Lassiter was 10th among league corners in run stop EPA and fourth in run stop rate. This is a DeMeco Ryans corner through and through.

I remain skeptical that Lassiter can keep up this caliber of play without committing more penalties (receivers were begging refs for help by the end of the season). But if he can, he'll remain one of the league's best CB2s.

One of the best feelings in football is when you see the lightbulb go on for a rookie. It happened for Cooper, who went from a sub-package player to an impactful starter over the last month of the season. Cooper's big leap was in run defense, as the visuals of shifting offensive lines and blocking schemes began to click. Across the last four weeks of the season, no off-ball linebacker had more run stops (tackles that are negative EPA for the offense) than Cooper.

The big leap in run defense is promising news, because Cooper was always going to be a decent pass defender with his length, quickness and long speed. The instincts are still coming around there, but he is an adequate blitzer for now, which will protect him from too much exposure on clear passing downs. For a player as linear and explosive as Cooper, sinking back into zones can be counterintuitive. He's at his best when he can just see it and go.

To that end, Cooper's sideline-to-sideline range from the linebacker spot is immediately among the best at the position. Cooper regularly beats climbing offensive linemen to the point and will pursue running backs far into the sideline, stringing out runs and making life easier on the secondary. He almost makes his defensive linemen right by triggering into blocking schemes quickly and explosively, ruining holes that would have otherwise opened. He has an impact beyond the stat sheet, which is rare for a rookie.

Cooper was one of four rookie defenders to earn an All-Pro vote, despite the early-season rotational role and a hamstring injury that forced him to sit out some time. If that doesn't speak to his splash-play impact, I don't know what does.

Another trip around the sun, another offseason of worry about the Bengals' interior defensive line. Gone are the days of DJ Reader, Larry Ogunjobi, B.J. Hill and a Super Bowl run. The Bengals gave 497 snaps to Jenkins last season and probably will ask even more from him this season with their run defense still in a shambles.

Jenkins was a help on run downs for the Bengals -- they had a 54.4% success rate against designed runs when he was on the field but only 51.3% when he was off the field. The issue: A 54.4% success rate would have made the Bengals the 27th-best defense against the run last season, instead of the 31st. Not exactly a meaningful leap.

A broad space-eater with heavy hands, Jenkins was good at anchoring his spot and protecting his linebackers ... but only that. Among 55 defensive tackles with at least 400 snaps, Jenkins' 10 solo tackles ranked 54th. He got involved in a lot of pile-ups, but his inability to separate from blocks and make plays near the line of scrimmage limited his impact. And that's before we even get to the pass-rush opportunities, where Jenkins was a nonfactor. His 1.8% pressure rate was second worst among all defensive tackles.

The Bengals don't need Jenkins to suddenly become an elite pass rusher overnight, but a jump in impactful run defense plays would go a long way to setting up others for success. The film on Jenkins is actually pretty interesting. He has powerful strikes and good technique, along with enough bend to work his way around difficult angles. He just needs to play faster.

While we're on the topic of rookie outside corners potentially moving into the slot for their second season, let's talk about Sainristil.

Sainristil had one of those strange rookie seasons in which he was clearly good but also was picked on. Forced to play outside as the Commanders scraped together a passable secondary, Sainristil looked quick, physical, ball-oriented and in position. He just lost often in key moments because of his lack of size (5-foot-10, 182 pounds).

The advanced stats look favorably on Sainristil: He gave up a completion percentage 2.7% below expectation, had a 16.1% hawk rate on the back of 14 passes defensed and gave up a respectable 7.8 yards per target despite having to play almost 40% of his snaps in man coverage. But he also gave up six touchdowns. Such is the life of a corner.

Teams with big receivers regularly won jump balls or quick in-breaking routes on Sainristil, who lacked the length to deal with A.J. Brown, Drake London and Mike Evans. But he was in on a lot of those plays, and as the season went on, he took more aggressive jumps to account for his size disadvantage. The film is good even if the numbers aren't.

As he moves inside following the drafting of Trey Amos and signing of Jonathan Jones, I expect his numbers to better reflect his talent in 2025. The fact that he has some versatility might even become handy when the Commanders want to match him on the outside with shiftier receivers against whom he aligns more naturally.

Bishop is one of those rookies without a big snap count (463 last season) but of huge importance. He would have been a candidate for a starting safety job last season, if not for a training camp shoulder injury that dramatically slowed his onboarding. Veterans Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin started, and the Bills' defense suffered for the lack of speed and coverage ability in the defensive backfield. Buffalo ranked 24th in defensive success rate against dropbacks, with a particularly worrisome 43.8% conversion rate given up on third down. Only three defenses were worse.

Bishop got more playing time as the season went on and the starters above him sat out games, but the up-and-down nature of his rookie season didn't exactly foster development. This offseason, Bishop has had an uninterrupted summer as the starter opposite Rapp. Though the film on Bishop was often unforgiving last season, he brings something that the Bills' room lacked in 2024: speed. Rapp is best in the box, and his running mate must offer complementary range in the deep area of the field. Hamlin was not a rangy player; Bishop is.

Bishop's coverage instincts need work if that range is going to show up in big plays, and as the final line of defense, he must become a more consistent tackler. But it's fair to expect both of those things to improve the further he gets from the shoulder injury that robbed him of critical reps and experience.

With Charvarius Ward leaving in free agency for Indianapolis, Green has become the primary outside corner. But it appears long-time slot man Deommodore Lenoir will spend a significant portion of his snaps outside this season, so perhaps Green will remain CB2 functionally. Suffice to say, Green is in for a leap in responsibility, as Ward leaves behind big shoes to fill in San Francisco's defense.

Among the rookie corners last season, Green made the most plays on the ball. His 19.7% hawk rate led the class; his 5.7 yards per target allowed was beaten by only Cam Hart and Cooper DeJean. Forget rookies -- among all corners with at least 200 coverage snaps last season, Green was 15th in yards per target allowed and eighth in hawk rate.

Green made so many plays on the ball because he is preposterously quick. When he clicks, he eats up space with astonishing acceleration, and he regularly condenses windows that quarterbacks thought were inaccessible for a flat-footed zone corner. This nifty little route concept from the Lions gets Green in a bad position in the end zone. Watch him hit the turbo button to explode into the catch point on what Jared Goff thought would be a fairly open window. That's 0-to-60 right there in a big, big way.

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— Good Clips (@MeshSitWheel) August 5, 2025

That explosive closing speed did leave him susceptible to double moves and other deceitful routes. But as his instincts sharpen, he has a good shot of becoming a high-interception coverage man.

Only four rookies earned at least one All-Pro vote last season: Edgerrin Cooper, Cooper DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell and Bullock. But how many national fans know about the rookie third-round pick who served as the center fielder for one of the most aggressive secondaries in the NFL? After this season, many more should.

Bullock's film is unbelievable. He is one of the fastest players on the field at any given time. He hit 21.58 mph on a chase-down tackle on Tank Bigsby, which is about as fast as tacklers get on non-special teams plays (NFL Next Gen Stats). He is not slowed by processing speed or bad angles -- Bullock regularly sees plays develop in front of him quickly. Though he took his rookie lumps, he gets twisted by route concepts far less frequently than you'd expect for a midround pick with so much on his plate. There are somewhere around seven or eight safeties with legitimate sideline-to-sideline range -- the ability to start from center field and affect a throw outside of the numbers -- in the entire NFL. Bullock is one of them.

Just stumbled on this play. Watch the angle of departure for Bullock. Didn't get a great jump on the throw but there's no fat on his transition and close.

Stingley's recovery speed and ball tracking means BTJ never has a chance, but on a perfect throw, Bullock would be there. https://t.co/2wgTWaFWLZ pic.twitter.com/wXZhrXyzq1