5 NFL rookies that could disappoint fans in 2022 season

Taking a look at five NFL rookies that could end up disappointing fans this season. Which rookies around the league are in tough situations?

It’s not uncommon for NFL fans to heap way too much pressure on incoming rookies. As a matter of fact, it’s pretty common practice. A lot of young players around the league that have seemingly become household names overnight have really spoiled the development process for a lot of guys.

Fans expect every young quarterback picked in the first round to be Justin Herbert and if the rookie struggles right away, not every fan base is willing to afford them time to develop.

The same could be said of any and every position group. Not every rookie receiver is going to dominate like Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson did in their rookie seasons. Not every rookie defensive player is going to fill up the stat sheet like Micah Parsons.

Because fans have super high expectations going into the season, which NFL rookies around the league could end up as disappointments to their respective fan bases? I want to take a look at five names I think should be under consideration here.

NFL rookie that could disappoint in 2022 no. 5: Christian Watson, WR, Packers

One rookie that I think is setting up to be a major disappointment in the eyes of fans early on is Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson, a high second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of North Dakota State. Watson is a good young player. He’s got outstanding size and speed and I think he has a very bright future.

With that being said, he’s got a few things going against him at the moment. First and foremost, fellow rookie receiver Romeo Doubs, a fourth-round pick for the Packers, has been absolutely lighting up training camp. Watson, though? Well, he hasn’t practiced.

The Packers traded up and they paid a pretty hefty price to move up and get Watson. They took him over a player that many Packers fans were hoping the team would go after in the first round: Georgia wide receiver George Pickens. Pickens ended up going later in round two to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he’s been the talk of Steelers training camp thus far.

It’s very early in the careers of these young receivers but there’s no doubt that Packers fans will probably feel validated in their opinions of Pickens if he balls out with the Steelers while Watson works his way back from injury.

NFL rookie that could disappoint no. 4: Jameson Williams, WR, Lions

No team has glown up more at the wide receiver position over the last year than the Detroit Lions have. The Lions’ wide receiver group last year at this time was an absolute embarrassment. There was really nothing to write home about and at that time, Amon-Ra St. Brown hadn’t gotten the chance to show what he could do.

Obviously, since that time, the Lions’ wide receiver room has been substantially upgraded and not just with the emergence of St. Brown. They added DJ Chark, who could be a stud for them in 2022. They added Josh Reynolds, whose presence in the lineup seemed to unlock the efficient version of Jared Goff.

They also added Alabama’s breakout superstar Jameson Williams, trading up from the 32nd overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft to get him.

For whatever reason, the Lions’ own division rivals in Minnesota let them trade up for the speedy Jameson Williams, a move I still don’t understand almost four months later. At any rate, the Lions got their guy and Williams is in the fold. However, if fans are expecting him to go out there and be scoring 80-yard touchdowns immediately, those expectations should be tempered or even reset entirely.

Williams is working his way back from a torn ACL. There were some who felt like this year could be a total redshirt year for him due to the injury. If he gets back on the field at all, it will be a great sight to see. Coming back from ACL injuries is tough for any player, but specifically at wide receiver where you’re constantly cutting, changing direction, and accelerating. Coming back takes time, even when you’re “back” on the field.

If we see Williams in the 2022 NFL season, and I hope we do, we should just hope that he doesn’t suffer any setbacks rather than assuming he’s going to look just like he did at Alabama last year right away.

NFL rookie that could disappoint no. 3: Trevor Penning, OT, Saints

Trevor Penning came into the NFL with some odds already stacked against him. First of all, playing left tackle on a full-time basis in the NFL is not an easy task. Although no position in the NFL is “easy” to play, blocking for a quarterback’s blind side is particularly pressure-packed.

It seems like Penning has the right mentality to play the left tackle position from a physicality standpoint, but he’s coming from Northern Iowa which isn’t exactly a Georgia or Alabama. With all due respect to Northern Iowa, the level of competition Penning faced was certainly a question mark, one he sort of addressed at the Senior Bowl.

You love the athleticism with Penning, you love the physicality, but to what degree? Penning was apparently kicked out of Saints training camp after instigating a fight on three consecutive days of practice. Yikes.

https://twitter.com/CheckBMS/status/1554881605344403457

That’s not just an aggressive, physical mentality. That’s a complete lack of awareness and a total disregard for your teammates. Penning’s aggressiveness and physical style of play can definitely work in his favor, but there are still confines of the game you have to stay inside.

Whether Penning is trying to make an impression by playing through the whistle or whether he’s purposely being malicious is really not important at this point. The point is, you might be able to get away with the dramatic Blind Side type of stuff at Northern Iowa, but that’s not going to fly in the NFL.

You can’t block Shaquil Barrett after a play is over. You can’t get upset at Brian Burns for whooping you on a pass rush and smack him in the mouth. Those 15 yards can cost your team a game.

As the saying goes, old habits die hard. You could also say that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Whatever you want to say, if Trevor Penning doesn’t figure out a way to keep his cool on the field, he’s poised to become one of the most disappointing rookies in the entire NFL in 2022.

NFL rookie that could disappoint no. 2: Boye Mafe, EDGE, Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks don’t exactly have the best duo of edge rushers in the entire NFL. Darrell Taylor and Uchenna Nwosu are the top two edge players currently on the depth chart in Seattle, and former Minnesota star pass rusher Boye Mafe seems firmly in the second unit.

Does that mean he’s never going to play as a rookie? Absolutely not. Does it mean the Seahawks are planning on bringing him along slowly? It very well could.

The Seattle Seahawks acquired the 40th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft — the pick used to select Mafe — from the Denver Broncos in the Russell Wilson trade. Whether or not that context follows Mafe around remains to be seen, but if fans are expecting Mafe to play 80 percent of the snaps in his rookie season just because he was part of the Wilson trade?

They might end up being disappointed.

Mafe will have a role to play. He might do more “flashing” this season than anything else based on what it sounds like is the plan the Seahawks have for him. With that being said, a number of fans might be disappointed because, without Wilson in the fold, the Seahawks’ rookie class is going to be expected to make plenty of instant impact.

Seattle took Charles Cross atop this draft with the 9th overall pick. They took Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker just one pick after Mafe in round two. Those two players are expected to play key roles this season as the Seahawks reload.

Mafe plays a premium position and he has freakish athleticism, but he still has a lot of learning and growing to do. Hopefully, Seahawks fans are okay with the glimpses he shows in the time he’s able to get on the field behind Taylor and Nwosu.

NFL rookie that could disappoint no. 1: Kenny Pickett, QB, Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers took the same approach to the quarterback position in the 2022 NFL Draft as we saw from the New England Patriots in the 2021 NFL Draft.

In 2021, the Patriots simply sat and waited at their pick in the middle of round one for Alabama’s Mac Jones to fall into their laps. As a result of their patience, the Patriots got a great system fit at quarterback and they were able to keep their additional picks for the remainder of the 2021 NFL Draft.

The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ approach with Kenny Pickett can be viewed in a very similar way. On one side, you could argue that the Steelers were okay with not having Pickett because they didn’t move up to get him. On the other hand, the Steelers made Pickett the QB1 of the 2022 NFL Draft and along with that come some pretty high expectations.

Should those expectations be tempered, though?

Are the Steelers actually planning on going into the 2022 NFL season with Mitchell Trubisky as their starting quarterback? Although depth charts at this time of year mean absolutely nothing, Pickett was listed third at QB on the Steelers’ first depth chart. He’ll work his way up to QB2 at the very least by the time the season starts, but how quickly will he be QB1?

How committed to Trubisky are the Steelers?

Even if Pickett is able to get on the field right away, he should be afforded every opportunity to go out and make mistakes just like any other rookie quarterback. Pickett is talented but he is also somewhat of a one-year wonder at the college level. Can he keep progressing after what we saw from him at Pitt last year? Can he just step right into the gauntlet that is the AFC North and help the Steelers have success?

If Steelers fans are expecting Pickett to do what Ben Roethlisberger did as a young QB, they might be extremely disappointed.