If an NFL player doesn’t show something — a flash really — by Year 2, there’s a problem, and we can, in almost every case, accept said player will not become a star at the professional level. Patience wears thin by then because, nowadays, stars typically emerge in their second season, if they didn’t already do so in Year 1. That’s just seemingly how it goes.
These are the second-year pros primed to break out in 2025. I didn’t include those who I deemed to have already emerged as stars as rookies. And this list features deeper selections, not just Year 2 pros who were really good as rookies but didn’t see major playing time. For most picks, I’m trusting my evaluation process/system for when all of these players were draft prospects.
A year ago, Marvin Mims, Jack Campbell, Quentin Johnston, Dontayvion Wicks and Tyjae Spears were my selections for this piece — so I essentially hit on three of five picks.
You could feel it every other possession or so with Penix — his talent was undeniably, and noticeably more impressive than Kirk Cousins. The rawness to his game was palpable too. His final contest of the 2024 season painted the clearest picture.
The rookie completed just 55% of his passes but did so at an 8.2 yards per attempt average for 312 yards with a totally ridiculous seven Big-Time Throws to zero Turnover-Worthy Plays.
Now with an entire offseason as the written-in-Sharpie starter in Atlanta, Penix will have had ample time to gel with Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Kyle Pitts and Co. With a live arm, naturally aggressive nature, and some mobility, the sky is the limit for the second-year lefty.
Pinpointing quantitative indicators of future success for offensive linemen is a real challenge. This selection is almost purely on Fashanu’s merits as a prospect at Penn State, his youthfulness (he’s only 22), and the athleticism and power he demonstrated as a rookie on a rollercoaster ride of a Jets team in 2024.
Fashanu is a reasonably long but chiseled dynamic mover — he was ready to make the leap to the NFL after his spectacularly clean sophomore season with the Nittany Lions in 2022, yet decided to stay an hone his craft in the Big Ten for another season. With the Jets moving off their veteran experiment at the left and right tackle spots, and with a mobile-based quarterback in Justin Fields as the penciled-in starter, Fashanu is in prime position to emerge as a budding star at a premium position in his second season with Gang Green.
Odunze’s strengths remained his strengths as a rookie — imagine that. He hauled in a seismic 73% of his contested-catch opportunities after dazzling in that rebounding element at Washington in 2022 and 2023. Like Caleb Williams, his first year in the NFL got a worse reputation than his actual play or performance.
Did you know Odunze only had 134 fewer receiving yards than the ultra-hyped, can-do-no-wrong rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2024? Yeah, that’s it –134 fewer yards. Sure, you can suggest with Colston Loveland, Luther Burden III and, of course, D.J. Moore and Cole Kmet, there simply won’t be enough targets for Odunze to emerge in Year 2.
Fair argument. I do believe Odunze will be productive enough early to take targets away from his fellow receiver teammates. He has a soccer net sized catch radius and is a smooth athlete for his size. Odunze is going to rock the back-shoulder game with Williams in 2025.
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Murphy has a 10-sack season in his skill set. He’s lightning-quick off the snap, anchors against the run like a nose tackle — dropping to one knee to fend off blockers became his trademark capability during the pre-draft process in 2024. The former first-round pick didn’t exactly pop in Year 1 of Mike Macdonald’s system. That’s fine. Not every quality pass rusher in the NFL spent time in the Defensive Rookie of the Year race in their inaugural season as a professional.
Despite what probably felt like a disappointing rookie year for a first-round pick, Murphy did register a pressure rate of 8.6%. Hardly terrible. In fact, close to that magical 10% pressure-rate threshold on the interior. Now, with presumably more power to his game, Murphy will take a big leap forward within Macdonald’s system in 2025. That’s all he had to do, build strength.
The Dolphins have more receivers than Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, believe it or not. A diminutive but thick fifth-round pick from 2025 will become a household name for Miami fans this upcoming season.
Washington stands just under 5-foot-9 but weighed 191 pounds at the combine last year. It was there he ran 4.47 and had a springy 42.5-inch vertical. He can serve as the proverbial extension of the run game for Mike McDaniel’s intricate passing attack led by Tua Tagovailoa who led the NFL in completion percentage in 2024.
The rugged, YAC-specialist at the University of Virginia garnered 20 of his 36 targets as a rookie in the final four games of the regular season, and turned those into 16 catches for 169 yards. He has the post-catch talent to be highlighted in the Dolphins offense this upcoming season.
Kris Abrams-Draine who? Abrams-Draine, the team’s fifth-round selection in 2024, whom I had a first-round grade on before last year’s draft. Yep. You’ve read that correctly.
He landed with a Denver team already and justifiably enthralled by slot corner Ja’Quan McMillian. Beyond him, the club just couldn’t quit former third-round pick Riley Moss on the boundary despite dreadful play once he returned from injury. Draft status absolutely matters in the NFL. Abrams-Draine did get minuscule opportunity and seized it. On a mere 10.6% of Denver’s defensive snaps in 2024, that didn’t start until Week 13, the former Missouri star made nine tackles, snagged one interception, and knocked away two others.
If Abrams-Draine is given a fair shake to earn a spot as much more of a full-time player, he will prove to be a gem of a Day 3 find for the Broncos.
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Author: Chris Trapasso
June 24, 2025 | 3:45 pm
