As always, a plethora of late-round picks and undrafted free agents made their respective team's 53-man rosters out of training camp and the preseason. And this article pinpoints which of those rookies are most intriguing -- the players who I believe can make a positive impact after being mostly overlooked during draft season.
The criteria to make this list is easy: Rookies picked from Round 5 to Round 7 or made the team from the UDFA ranks are eligible.
All Solomon did in the preseason was register five quarterback pressures on 40-pass-rushing opportunities, one of which featured a clean dispatch of Steelers 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones in Buffalo's second exhibition outing.
Against the Bears to begin the preseason, the not-even 6-foot-1, 245-pound edge rusher made two stops near the line of scrimmage on run plays, too. Coming from Division I's sack leader in 2023, any positive play halting the opposition's ground game is a luxury. The fascinating element to Solomon stretches beyond his high-level productivity in 2023 at Troy.
In fact, it was in 2021 when he set the highest pressure-generation rate of his collegiate career at a hefty 17.7%. Also, despite his smaller stature, Solomon boasts 33 7/8-inch arms, which ranks in the 63rd percentile at the edge position among combine participants since 1999. Why's that matter? Being able to engage offensive linemen before they can engage you is vital for defensive linemen, regardless of where they align before the snap, and most edge rushers Solomon's size struggle at the NFL level because they typically have short arms. Solomon is unique.
And Buffalo will roll out Greg Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa as their starting defensive ends Week 1. Veteran Dawuane Smoot had a strong summer. He'll play some, too. And then there's Von Miller. No one's quite sure how much burn he'll get on a weekly basis, which leaves a glimmer of play-time availability for the fifth-round pick to make his mark on Buffalo's new-look defense in 2024. And I think he makes a positive impact in what will be an at first limited then expanded role.
Did you catch Booker in the preseason? Dude looked like a veteran entering his fifth-year option season determined to cash in with a mega, multi-year extension. Super fluid. Dynamic off the ball, pass-rush moves galore.
And all those traits were apparent on film at Kansas. Felt like Booker could've been a Day 2 pick before the combine. Then he worked out in Indianapolis was average at best. He weighed in at a lanky-ish 6-4 and 240 pounds. His 10-foot broad jump placed in the 73rd percentile among edge rushers. The 4.79 in the 40 ranked in the 52nd percentile. The 32.5-inch vertical was only in the 41st percentile in that drill among edge rushers since 1999 at the combine. Not great all around.
Maybe Booker is simply one of those players more athletically free on the field than in a timed environment.
He led the Bears with nine quarterback pressures in three exhibition games and held his own against the run. And Chicago moved a 2025 fourth-round pick to get back into the 2024 draft to snag Booker in Round 5. That scouting department really wanted him as an edge-rushing running mate to Montez Sweat. Booker is still only 21 years old, but if the summer was any indication he's further along in his developmental process than many older prospects from his draft class.
Thrash had no business not being picked in the fifth round. None. There were not 22 receivers better than him in the 2024 class. After four seasons of high-level efficiency at Georgia State, where he averaged 16.6 yards per snag and managed a forced missed tackle rate of 22.8%, Thrash moved to the ACC and was a steady force at Louisville.
His yards-per-grab figure dipped to 13.7, yet he set a career high in the FMT department at 27.4%. Thrash demonstrated sudden stop-start ability, nimble feet before and after the catch and deceptive speed running routes and with the ball in his hands. At the combine, he ran 4.46 at just under 6-foot-0 and 188 pounds.
Then in the preseason with the Browns, Thrash caught 10 passes for 141 yards with a touchdown and very much looked like the elusive, separation creator he was for the Cardinals in 2023 and at Georgia State before that. Amari Cooper and Jerry Jeudy are the top dogs in Cleveland's offense. We all know that. And we've all be waiting for Elijah Moore to break out since his rookie season.
Do not be shocked when Thrash sneaks into a more prominent target-garnering role as the year progresses in Cleveland. He has the modern-day skill set at receiver. Spindly, explosive, gets open, and is a gazelle in the open field.
In May 2023, Taylor was a fixture in way-too-early mocks for the 2024 draft. And that widespread inclusion for the Miami Hurricanes star came because of his tremendous 2022 in which he pressured the quarterback at a nearly 16% clip on 159 opportunities. He felt like a defender ready to explode in what would be his final collegiate season in the ACC.
But that explosion just didn't happen. No launch. While he still flashed as a pass-rusher, Taylor created fewer pressures on nearly 50 more pass-rushing snaps. There were some questions about his work ethic during the pre-draft process. That combination likely led to the former No. 3 defensive line recruit in the country per 247 Sports falling to the land of the undrafteds.
It was there the Jets, a club oozing with defensive-line talent, scooped him, and the young and somewhat raw Taylor played to his talent level in the preseason, registering seven pressures and seven stops (tackle that constitutes as a "loss" for the offense given down and distance) on 87 snaps.
While there may not be a clear path to Taylor getting on the field right now, he is a wide-bodied nose with plus pass-rushing juice and heavy hands, and there's always room for those types on any defense.
I don't know why there's talk of Steele as a fullback. He is not a fullback. Never was. He enters the league as a former UCLA Bruin, but it was in 2022 at Ball State when Steele, now of preseason stiff-arm fame, ran for nearly 1,600 yards at 5.3 yards per pop with14 touchdowns. In that masterpiece of a season, Steele forced 98 missed tackles on 298 attempts. He was a true workhorse that season.
Because of that, there should've been no real shock when he slid through defenses with loose hips and electric cuts for a 6-foot, close to 230-pound runner this August. He finished the preseason with 87 yards on a mere 11 totes with two rushing scores. What's fascinating, too, about Steele's situation...he's not too far away from getting touches in what is bound to be another uber-efficient Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid-led offense in 2024. Heck yeah I'm intrigued by this combine snub and UDFA with the Chiefs. Not too different from what occurred with Pacheco, Steele has earned a cult-like following in Kansas City, and rightfully so.
The Dolphins currently have four -- yes, just four -- receivers on their 53-man roster. Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Braxton Berrios and Washington. They recently signed D'Wayne Eskridge to their practice squad as they're banged up at the position. That in and of itself could earn Washington the nod here on the second-highest scoring team from 2023.
But this selection was about more than just opportunity in an awesome offense. Washington's got game. Serious game. And he's a superb athlete. Mike McDaniel would have it no other way.
After catching over 100 passes for more than 1,200 yards in his final two seasons at Northwestern, Washington transferred to Virginia for the 2023 season and immediately became the heart and soul of the Cavaliers offense with 111 for 1,384 yards with nine receiving scores. While 4.47 in the 40-yard dash is slow by today's Dolphins standards at the skill-positions, his 42.5-inch vertical and 10-6 broad hint at his elite-level explosion. Then, in the preseason, Washington took two gadget plays 62 yards as a runner and caught three passes for 16 yards.
Even if he's "only" going to be the gadget option, isn't being that guy in Miami rather ideal? I'd say so.
Flournoy is going to get looks in Year 1. Well, if there are any targets to go around after CeeDee Lamb is fed each week. Seriously, though, after Lamb there's Brandin Cooks, Jalen Tolbert, Jalen Brooks and KaVontae Turpin in Dallas' receiver room.
And Flournoy's no-nonsense demeanor on the field suggests he could see time on the field as a rookie. At nearly 6-1 and 204 pounds, the Southeast Missouri State product ran 4.44 with a 39-inch vertical, and he plays precisely how you'd expect a sturdy, boundary wideout with plus speed to operate on the field.
In two seasons after transferring into SE Mo State, Flournoy amassed more than 1,800 yards at more than 15 yards per grab with only four drops. He also forced a whopping 24 missed tackles in 2023. There is a noticeable physicality to his game when facing more timid cornerbacks, and Flournoy welcomes and typically shakes off contact near the line of scrimmage. He displayed that ability to win in tight quarters underneath in the preseason and won with two stellar releases on both of his touchdowns from short range. While Flournoy won't turn corners around with quickness, he has serious build-up speed and is a moose in space.
Byron Jones' 147-inch broad jump -- which equates to 12 feet and 3 inches -- felt like an untouchable combine record that no one could even approach. That was the case since Jones jumped that astronomically far in 2015 ... until Owens went 146 inches in April.
The former Texas Tech is a monster of a safety from a size perspective too, at nearly 6-3 and 216 pounds. Oh, and he had a 41-inch vertical as well. Owens is already one of the most imposing and genuinely explosive safeties in the NFL, which makes sense, because he was the No. 3 safety recruit in the country in the high school class of 2019 per 247 Sports. The only two safeties ahead of him that year? Daxton Hill and Kyle Hamilton.
Owens spent five years in college, three at Texas and two at Texas Tech. In Austin, he barely saw the field. With the Red Raiders in 2023, he made 37 tackles and knocked away two passes.
In the preseason with the Commanders, Owens mostly ranged from free safety and made seven tackles while only allowing one reception for four yards in his coverage area on a pair of targets. No, he didn't set the world on fire in his exhibition showings, but Owens is simply too freaky of a specimen to not include here.
Spann-Ford had 42 catches for 497 yards and two scores on a run-heavy Minnesota club in 2022 -- he felt like a pass catcher primed for a huge fifth-year senior season en route to being one of the first tight ends off the board in April. Yet his final campaign with the Gophers was strangely disappointing. After five total drops in his first four seasons in the Big 10, Spann-Ford was credited with nine drops in 2023, which likely led to him slipping all the way out of the draft.
His 4.77 time in the 40-yard dash and a a slow-ish 7.18 in the three-cone didn't help either.
But this is a nearly 6-7, 260-pound mashing blocker with receiving upside, and Spann-Ford played more like himself in Dallas this summer. He caught five passes for 41 yards and neutralized pass rushers when asked to block and moved defenders for the run game. Spann-Ford is another rookie who didn't dominate in the exhibition contests but has potential because of his size and what he demonstrated in college as a receiver. Plus, the Cowboys traded veteran tight end Peyton Hendershot, moving Spann-Ford up the depth chart in Dallas.
