After the show that last year's rookie crop put on, the new class of 2007 has a lot to live up to. In case you may have forgotten, last year's rookies included the likes of Reggie Bush, Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Joseph Addai, Devin Hester, Maurice Jones-Drew and Marques Colston, just to name a few. Can this year's rookies live up to those lofty standards?
The quarterbacks taken in the first round of this year's draft, JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn, will likely start the NFL season the same place Young did in Tennessee last year. That would be on the bench. In Oakland, Russell has a cannon for an arm and elusive speed but he'll need some grooming to be ready for NFL-caliber defenses, and he'll be lacking the offensive weaponry he had surrounding him while at LSU. Quinn has the makeup of a great NFL quarterback, but he's got both Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson standing between him and the starting job in Cleveland. Quinn has better receivers than Russell does in Oakland, with Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow Jr. for starters, and if Cleveland struggles as much as they're expected to early on Quinn could find himself thrown into the fire by midseason.
Last year's rookie running backs excelled right out of the gate with Bush flashing his skills in New Orleans, Jones-Drew scoring 14 rushing TDs, and Joseph Addai winning a Super Bowl in only his first season. This year's running-back crop doesn't appear ready to repeat those outstanding feats, but there are two backs that could shine right away. Adrian Peterson is your prototypical NFL power running back. He's strong as an ox and also sports breakaway speed, but has proven to be injury-prone throughout his collegiate career. In Minnesota, Peterson will start the season sharing the carries with Chester Taylor. Taylor had some solid games last season, but seemed to run out of gas in the second half. Look for Peterson to spell Taylor more and more as the season goes on and possibly steal his starting job if he performs. Marshawn Lynch wasn't considered to be the best running back in the draft, but he may end up putting up the best rookie numbers. Lynch has a starting spot open for him in Buffalo and it should be his for the taking. If he does earn the starting role, Lynch could top the rookie stats by default because of his large number of carries.
You would think there was a lack of solid receivers in the league considering how many were drafted in the first couple of rounds. After so many teams lost out on Colston last year, maybe they were scared of getting scooped again. The cream of the draft crop is clearly Calvin Johnson. No other player looks as ready to step in and produce right away as Johnson does. With his speed, size and great hands, Johnson will make up an amazing receiving duo with Roy Williams in Detroit. The Lions may not win many more games this season, but they should boast a lethal passing attack. Other possible receiver standouts include Robert Meachem in pass-happy New Orleans, Dwayne Bowe in Kansas City (where their receiving corps is very weak), and Anthony Gonzalez who looks like a perfect fit as the No. 3 man in Indianapolis. Ted Ginn Jr., Dwayne Jarrett and Craig Davis could also break out.
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