NFL veterans that are in danger of losing their spot with 2026 rookie class coming in
From Tyler Allgeier to Kayvon Thibodeaux, established players are feeling the pressure that comes with young talent
When we watch teams sign a player, acquire one in a trade, or select one in the NFL Draft, the focus initially falls on what that individual will do once they get to town. But there's another side to the coin.
Their arrival also means that someone previously on the roster may lose their role, or even their job. After all, teams can only have 11 players on either side of the ball at a given time.
With the 2026 NFL Draft increasingly in our rearview mirror, that's the exact topic we'll be diving into here. What on-field impact will these rookies have on the established veterans on their rosters? Seven players are feeling the heat.
Tyler Allgeier
How do you not feel bad for Tyler Allgeier?
The former fifth-round pick out of BYU was stellar as a rookie, rushing for more than 1,000 yards on a 4.9 yards per carry clip, only to have the Atlanta Falcons use the No. 8 overall pick the following offseason to bring in Bijan Robinson. That sent Allgeier to a backup role, where he continued to perform at a high level, albeit as second fiddle. After playing out his rookie contract, Allgeier hit free agency and inked a two-year, $12.25 million deal with the Arizona Cardinals, where he seemed to have a realistic shot of attaining the lion's share of touches out of the backfield.
Then, the 2026 NFL Draft came, and history repeated itself.
The Cardinals used the No. 3 overall pick to select Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, which effectively puts Allgeier back in the same role he was in with the Falcons. Instead of competing to be the starter, Allgeier finds himself as a complementary piece to a backfield that features a generational talent atop the depth chart.
Kayvon Thibodeaux
The board fell perfectly for the New York Giants. They remarkably saw themselves on the clock at No. 5 overall with Ohio State pass rusher Arvell Reese still available. Naturally, they scooped him up, adding yet another player to a crowded linebacker room. Almost immediately after the pick was made, rumors regarding the future of Kayvon Thibodeaux started to beat even louder than they already were pre-draft, wondering if he'd be the odd man out.
This was the second time in as many drafts that the Giants selected a pass rusher inside the top five, bringing in former Penn State standout Abdul Carter with the No. 3 overall pick in 2025. When you account for Brian Burns, who is playing on a five-year, $141 million extension he signed in 2024, along with Carter and Reese, it begs the question if Thibodeaux has a viable spot within John Harbaugh's defense.
Publicly, both Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen insist that Thibodeaux is not on the trade block, but they could simply be keeping their cards close to the vest. Thibodeaux enters the final year of his contract after New York picked up his fifth-year option last offseason. With no ties to him beyond 2026, and the arrival of Reese to crowd the pass-rushing unit even further, Thibodeaux is not only looking at a possible diminished role, but could be dealt before we even get to Week 1.
Zach Charbonnet
Before we even talk about the arrival of Jadarian Price, Charbonnet faces an uphill climb simply from an injury standpoint. The veteran back suffered a torn ACL during Seattle's divisional round matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on January 19 of this year. Given that the injury happened deep into the Seahawks' Super Bowl run, Charbonnet realistically won't make it back until midseason at best.
If/when he makes it back, he now has Price, Seattle's first-round pick at the 2026 NFL Draft, to deal with for touches. The Notre Dame product is in line to be the bell cow for Seattle in 2026, with Charbonnet sidelined and Kenneth Walker III off in Kansas City after inking a deal with the Chiefs in free agency.
His presence doesn't just impact Charbonnet whenever he returns in 2026, however. The 25-year-old is entering the final year of his rookie deal, and if Price endears himself as a legitimate starting-caliber back, that puts Charbonnet's future with the organization at risk. Had Charbonnet not gone down with this knee injury, Seattle likely wouldn't have even selected Price and simply allowed him to succeed Walker in the backfield, so this is a tough turn of events from a couple of different angles.
Jerry Jeudy
The Browns' wide receiver room was one of the least productive units in recent NFL memory. Cleveland recorded the fewest receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns by wide receivers in 2025. The team's 86.3 receiving yards per game from wideouts is the fewest by any team's receivers since the 2011 Jaguars.
While some of the blame certainly falls on the struggles the Browns have had at quarterback, the receiver depth chart needed a massive upgrade this offseason. Given those deficiencies, it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise to see Cleveland double-dip at the position high atop the NFL Draft, bringing in KC Concepcion with the 24th overall pick and Denzel Boston at No. 39 overall.
Those rookies will immediately command a chunk of targets from whoever first-year coach Todd Monken names his starting quarterback, and that'll eat into the 106 targets (position high) fellow receiver Jerry Jeudy logged last season. Jeudy is coming off a modest 2025 campaign, and while he's still a productive player entering, the priority in Cleveland is to usher in both Concepcion and Boston, which means he'll see less work.
On top of that, the 2026 season is the final year where Jeudy has guaranteed money left on his contract, which runs through 2027. If both Concepcion and Boston pop in Year 1, Jeudy is suddenly expendable after this season, with the Browns being able to release him (with a post-June 1 designation) and clear just under $7 million off their salary cap next offseason.
J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey
The Broncos put forward one of the better rushing attacks in the NFL for the first half of last season when they had J.K. Dobbins in the fold. However, when Dobbins went down for the season with a Week 10 Lisfranc injury, the ground attack cratered. Rookie RJ Havey showed flashes at times, but was unable to pick up the load as the bona fide lead back for Sean Payton's offense. While they re-signed Dobbins this offseason, Denver also brought in Washington running back Jonah Coleman in the fourth round (No. 108 overall) at the 2026 NFL Draft.
Coleman is billed as a bowling-ball-type runner, which essentially makes him an insurance policy for Dobbins, who has been extremely injury-prone throughout his career. When you couple Dobbins' injury history and Harvey not exactly thriving in the lead role in the second half of the year, there's an opportunity for Coleman to carve out a solid chunk of the touches in this backfield. That puts Dobbins' primary role at risk, as well as any thought of Harvey -- a second-round pick in 2025 -- being an every-down-type of player.
Mason Taylor
The numbers don't exactly jump off the page from Taylor's rookie season, but that had more to do with who was under center for the Jets in 2025 than anything else. The tight end was one of New York's most productive pass catchers last season as his 44 receptions led the team, while his 369 receiving yards ranked second. After the Jets signed Geno Smith, a more competent passer than what they had the year prior, there was optimism for a Year 2 breakout for the LSU product.
While that could still be the case for the former second-round pick, he now has competition in the Jets' tight end room following the selection of Oregon's Kenyon Sadiq with the No. 16 overall pick. Taylor could now bump down to the No. 2 tight end in New York's offense in passing situations, giving way to Sadiq. Of course, the Jets could run a lot of 12-personnel, which would have both Taylor and Sadiq on the field at the same time, but his arrival does put a bit of a ceiling on what we may see over his sophomore campaign.
