New York Jets: Can the rookies make an impact early in 2018?

The New York Jets are a young team. They have quite a few rookies in camp. There’s one question. Can they make an immediate impact in 2018?

The New York Jets have 16 rookies in training camp now that Sam Darnold is there. All of them won’t make the 53-man roster come cut-down day.

For now, I predict that eight of them will make the team and be in Detroit on Monday Night Football come Week 1 — Darnold, Nathan Shepherd, Foley Fatukasi, Parry Nickerson, Chris Herndon, Trenton Cannon, Dimitri Flowers and Dakoda Shepley. (Those are just educated guesses.) Shepley may even be inactive on many game days, because he’s an offensive lineman.

What kind of impact can we expect from these rookies in the 2018 season? Let’s examine.

Offensive Players

Flowers and Herndon can be impact players, but maybe not as early as the defensive players. Flowers can play multiple positions, and that gives the Jets options. Herndon needs some work, but according to reports, he’s doing well in camp, which is a good sign. As stated earlier, Shepley may not be active, but the Jets will keep him on the roster for depth and Cannon will be discussed later.

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Early on, Darnold’s impact will be more of an intangible one that won’t show up on the stat sheet. The Jets will give him the entire playbook to absorb, but when they install the game plan, it will be basic stuff with a couple of things added for Darnold to use in games. He’ll be efficient early, but have to rely on the running game and defense to carry the team in the first few games. Then, he will go from there.

Defensive Players

From camp to the preseason to the regular season, we all know the narrative: Defense will always be ahead of the offense early. That’s the case because of all that goes into offensive game-planning. So, we can expect Shepherd, Fatukasi and Nickerson to be ahead of the players on offense.

Based on reports from camp, it appears that Nickerson could challenge for the top nickel corner spot. If he wins that job, it’ll be a tough trio to pass against with Morris Claiborne and Trumaine Johnson on the outside. According to Pro Football Focus, he has the tools to be a slot corner, despite primarily being outside in college.

As far as Shepherd and Fatukasi go, they both bring different skill sets to the table. Fatukasi brings good combination of size an athletic ability, and Shepherd bring the power to the inside.

Special Teams

There’s only one player left to talk about, Trenton Cannon. Cannon gives the Jets a good change of pace guy in the backfield, but where the Jets need the most help is on special teams. In his final season at Virginia State, he returned 25 kicks for 821 yards (32.8 yards per return) and two touchdowns. With that potential field position, he could be a Leon Washington-type player for them.

In the end, these rookie have a chance to make a big impact on 2018. They may be young, but their skills seems to match what the Jets are looking for. If they live up to their potential, big things are brewing in New York.