Bo Nix can join Jayden Daniels in special group: Rookie QBs in playoffs

Greg Auman

NFL Reporter

The Broncos have stalled out with two straight losses, but at 9-7 still control their playoff destiny and can clinch a wild card with a win Sunday against the Chiefs, who will be resting key starters with the top seed secured.

That sets up rookie quarterback Bo Nix to finish an impressive rookie campaign and join Washington‘s Jayden Daniels as rare starters to lead their teams to the playoffs as rookies. Daniels is in good shape to take home NFL Rookie of the Year honors, but both of them have 25 touchdown passes with a game left, putting them in easy position to finish with the second-most touchdown passes ever for a rookie.

The Chargers‘ Justin Herbert has the record with 31 in 2020, but just two touchdown passes Sunday would put Nix or Daniels at 27, where Baker Mayfield has the second-most ever with the Browns in 2018. Peyton Manning (1998) and Russell Wilson (2012) had 26 as rookies, but those are the only rookie seasons ever with more than 25. What’s more, this year’s rookies have excelled rushing for scores as well — Daniels has six, Nix has four, putting them in good shape to account for 30-plus total touchdowns.

One more rookie record to watch moving forward — the most touchdown passes thrown by any rookie in a single postseason is just four, set by Mark Sanchez in 2009. Six others have had three, including the Texans’ C.J. Stroud last year and the 49ers‘ Brock Purdy in 2022, but that record could be challenged this year, especially if Daniels or Nix could engineer a wild-card upset and get to a second playoff game. For now, Nix just needs to work on getting into the playoffs in the first place.

Bucs’ Bucky Irving, easily best among rookie backs

Best third-day pick of the 2024 NFL Draft? It might be Bucs running back Bucky Irving, a fourth-rounder from Oregon who has easily been the best back in this class, rushing for a rookie-best 1,033 yards and adding another 397 receiving. He’s done that despite starting only two games in what has been a shared role with Rachaad White.

As such, Irving is enjoying one of the best yards-per-carry rookie seasons in NFL history — his average of 5.49 yards-per-carry is the fourth-best all-time for a rookie with as many carries as he has. The three with more are Adrian Peterson (5.63 in 2007), Franco Harris (5.61 in 1972) and Clinton Portis (5.52 in 2002), and Irving could top all of them with a strong game Sunday.

The other emerging rookie for the Bucs is receiver Jalen McMillan, a third-round pick from Washington who has six touchdown catches in the last four games, the most for any player in the NFL in that span. Between Irving and McMillan, the Bucs have 14 touchdowns scored by rookies this season, edging the Giants (13) for the most in the league with one week left.

Four rookies with more than 1,000 receiving yards

This year’s rookie class has seen an unprecedented four players go over 1,000 receiving yards — Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, Giants receiver Malik Nabers, Jaguars receiver Brian Thomas and Chargers receiver Ladd McConkey. But here’s a rookie stat line that ties them all together: 17 catches for 166 yards and no touchdowns.

That’s what Cortez Hankton had in 2003 as a rookie receiver with the Jaguars, getting half of what would be his 34 career catches in a brief NFL career. But Hankton, now 43, has transitioned well to college coaching and directly coached all four of this year’s 1,000-yard rookies — he was passing game coordinator and receivers coach at Georgia from 2019-21, working closely with Bowers and McConkey there, and now is the co-offensive coordinator at LSU, where he worked with Nabers and Thomas.

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Because specialists are rookies, too

They don’t get the headlines that offensive and defensive rookies do, but the league has quietly had a few rookies on special teams making significant contributions. Jaguars rookie kicker Cam Little, a sixth-round pick from Arkansas, has had one of the most accurate rookie seasons ever, going 24-for-26 on field goals for a 92.3 percent success rate. The only rookie ever with a higher success rate and 20-plus attempts is the Chargers’ Cameron Dicker, who went 21-for-22 (95.5 percent) in 2022.

Along the same lines, Bengals rookie punter Ryan Rehkow, not only undrafted out of BYU but signed after the Chiefs cut him, is averaging 49.1 yards on his punts this year — third-best ever for a rookie with 50-plus attempts. The NFL rookie record is 53.1 yards, set in 2022 by the Titans’ Ryan Stonehouse, on his way to leading the league for a third straight season.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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