Two weeks remain in the 2022 NFL season, and while the top of the rookie rankings are relatively locked in place, the competition to make the final regular-season rankings has grown contentious. Who will thrive on make the final rankings in two weeks?
As the season is coming to a close, Steelers rookies Kenny Pickett and George Pickens are playing their best football. Pickett is prone to making one or two bad decisions per game, but otherwise looks more comfortable in the pocket. Pickens is making big-time catches on the backside of route combinations.
These rankings are not based on statistical performance but rather overall play. Without further ado, here are the cumulative regular-season rookie rankings following Week 16:
Week 17 Rookie Rankings
| 1 | 
Sauce Gardner
New York Jets CB
|
| Trevor Lawrence threw in Gardner's direction twice. He gave up one completion for 23 yards, according to TruMedia. It was the most yards that he has allowed in a game since giving up 31 yards on Nov. 27. | |
| 2 | 
Garrett Wilson
New York Jets WR
|
| It was really tough to watch the Jets ' quarterback situation. Wilson was going to have to make plays outside of his frame to get anything accomplished against the Jaguars . He did cough up a fumble trying to make a play. | |
| 3 | 
Drake London
Atlanta Falcons WR
|
| London does a nice job of creating leverage at the route stem and it does not require much separation for him to make a play. He made plays outside of his frame all game. However, like Garrett Wilson , he put a ball on the ground. | |
| 4 | 
Chris Olave
New Orleans Saints WR
|
| Olave was unavailable for New Orleans on Saturday in his return to Ohio. | |
| 5 | 
Aidan Hutchinson
Detroit Lions DE
|
| Hutchinson has had at least two pressures in every game except one this season, according to TruMedia. He leads all rookies with 43 combined pressures. | |
| 6 | 
Tyler Linderbaum
Baltimore Ravens C
|
| Linderbaum did well most of the game. He did occasionally allow defenders on his hips, and those were the moments that led to the most pressure. | |
| 7 | 
Tariq Woolen
Seattle Seahawks CB
|
| Woolen has been very productive for the Seahawks , but better route runners will be able to leverage him at the stem. | |
| 8 | 
Braxton Jones
Chicago Bears OT
|
| Jones has shown improvement in his traditional pass sets. His hand placement needs to become more consistent, but he did well against a talented Buffalo front until giving up a sack late. | |
| 9 | 
Kyle Hamilton
Baltimore Ravens SAF
|
| Hamilton has looked better in coverage over the course of the season. He has seen his playing time increase recently due to injuries. There was one play where he had Olamide Zaccheaus dead to rights in the backfield but could not finish the tackle, but it bought his teammates enough time to rally. | |
| 10 | 
Dameon Pierce
Houston Texans RB
|
| Pierce has been inactive for a few weeks, but still ranks among the top 12 in carries and rushing yards. | |
| 11 | 
Tyler Allgeier
Atlanta Falcons RB
|
| Allgeier has slowly progressed into becoming the lead back in Atlanta. He is a nightmare to bring down with one defender. Over the last five games, he is averaging 6.7 yards per carry. | |
| 12 | 
Kayvon Thibodeaux
New York Giants OLB
|
| Thibodeaux made a nice place recognizing that the tight end was going to leak out into a route so he followed him and made a nice tackle in space. He did not record a sack but there was a play where Azeez Ojulari and Thibodeaux ran the same arc, collided in the backfield and Ojulari cleaned up the sack. | |
| 13 | 
Jaquan Brisker
Chicago Bears SS
|
| Brisker is taking ownership of that defense. He is always around the football and has cleaned up his tackling. Over the first five games, the Penn State product missed ten tackles. Over the last seven games, he has missed five tackles. | |
| 14 | 
Tyler Smith
Dallas Cowboys OT
|
| Smith does a good job working angles and absorbing contact, but his hand placement is still inconsistent. I see a player capable of becoming a very good left tackle for Dallas. | |
| 15 | 
Christian Watson
Green Bay Packers WR
|
| Watson is an improved route runner that is sinking his hips into breaks. His relationship with Aaron Rodgers has obviously improved. | |
