272 games have been played, and that means the 2024 regular season is officially closed. And while there is no shortage of important and interesting stories to spend time talking about — the NFL Playoffs, the coaching carousel, the resurgence of the running back, Woody Johnson having to deny that his teenage sons are running the New York Jets — one angle that is being underreported in my opinion is a rookie class that has the looks of being one of the best that has entered the league in a long time.

To my point, in this exercise of ranking the top Rookie of the Year candidates, rather than stopping at your standard top five, I instead had to extend the list to eight, and it doesn't even include the likes of Marvin Harrison Jr. (885 receiving yards, 8 touchdowns), Tyrone Tracy Jr. (1,123 total yards, 6 total touchdowns), Xavier Worthy (742 total yards, 9 total touchdowns), or Drake Maye (2,276 passing yards, 17 total touchdowns).

Anyway, enough messing around… let's get to the list, and let's start with my pick (by the slimmest of margins) for Rookie of the Year.

1. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders 

2024 Stats: 331-480, 3,568 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 148 rush attempts, 891 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns

The #2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft gets the nod as the top rookie of the 2024 season. Daniels didn't cruise to this distinction like it looked he was going to when the month of September ended. Not only did Washington regress toward the mean throughout the season, but as mentioned above, a number of Daniels' counterparts put together spectacular rookie campaigns as well. But in the end, no rookie was better, or had a bigger impact on winning this season, than Jayden Daniels.

2. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos 

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) looks to pass in the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Empower Field at Mile High.
© Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

2024 Stats: 376-567, 3,775 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 92 rush attempts, 430 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns, 1 receiving touchdown

While many anticipated that the Rookie of the Year race was going to come down to a pair of quarterbacks — Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels — it was instead Bo Nix who pushed Daniels the most, capping off his rookie season with a shutout win over the 2nd-string Kansas City Chiefs to clinch Denver's first postseason berth in nearly a decade. Nix's maturity showed throughout the year, as did Sean Payton's ability to get the best out of his quarterback.

3. Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders 

2024 Stats: 112 receptions, 1,194 receiving yards, 5 receiving touchdowns

Brock Bowers didn't just put together the greatest season ever by a rookie tight end — while breaking Mike Ditka's six-decade old receiving yardage record and setting the NFL rookie record for receptions — he had one of the most prolific seasons by a tight end of any experience. The Raiders have plenty of problems with the construction of their roster, but Bowers isn't one of them. By next year, if he isn't already, it may be time to crown the former Georgia Bulldogs star the best tight end in the entire league.

4. Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars 

2024 Stats: 87 receptions, 1,282 receiving yards, 10 receiving touchdowns

5. Malik Nabers, New York Giants 

2024 Stats: 109 receptions, 1,204 receiving yards, 7 receiving touchdowns

New York Giants fans will squabble over the fact that Brian Thomas Jr. gets the nod over Malik Nabers here — unless they're too busy flying banners of MetLife Stadium pressuring John Mara to fix the team — especially considering Nabers missed two games and Thomas played all 17, but by an equally slim margin as I placed Jayden Daniels ahead of Bo Nix, the eye test tells me that Thomas was the better receiver in 2024.

In fact, the eye test told me that Thomas was one of the best receivers in the entire league, a surprising development considering he was the 4th receiver off the board back in April. But when you finish in the top six in the league in both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, as Thomas did, the numbers clearly back up what the eye test showed.

6. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears 

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) passes against the Minnesota Vikings linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (43) in the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium.
© Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

2024 Stats: 351-562, 3,541 passing yards, 20 passing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 81 rush attempts, 489 rushing yards

Yes, the Bears won only five games, and yes, I am unapologetically a Bears fan who sometimes has a hard time removing personal bias, but if you're putting the blame on Caleb Williams for Chicago's disappointing season, it just means you have your own biases, or that you haven't been paying attention.

Despite playing behind an injured (and mostly awful) offensive line and being saddled with a play-caller who got fired halfway through the season, Caleb Williams still managed to have a rookie season that was on par statistically with that of past Rookie of the Year winners such as Kyler Murray (3,722 yards, 20 touchdowns), Dak Prescott (3,667 yards, 23 touchdowns), Robert Griffin III (3,200 yards, 20 touchdowns) and Matt Ryan (3,440 yards, 16 touchdowns).

7. Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

2024 Stats: 207 rush attempts, 1,122 rushing yards, 8 rushing touchdowns, 47 receptions, 392 receiving yards

Although ‘Bucky Irving' sounds more like a character that Chuck Norris would've played in a B-level 80's action movie than an NFL running back, the Buccaneers 4th round pick didn't waste time roundhouse kicking his competition, climbing up the depth chart, and becoming the lead back in Tampa Bay by season's end. Irving finished with the 10th-most rushing yards in the NFL despite being just 20th in total carries.

8. Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers 

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey (15) makes a catch to score a touchdown against the New England Patriots during the second half at Gillette Stadium.
© Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

2024 Stats: 82 receptions, 1,149 receiving yards, 7 receiving touchdowns

The Chargers made a big bet by passing on both Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze to instead select offensive tackle Joe Alt with the 5th overall pick in the NFL Draft, but it looks like it's paying off with the emergence of Ladd McConkey, who like his former Georgia Bulldogs teammate Brock Bowers, had no problem making the jump from the SEC to the NFL. Without much competition, McConkey slotted into the #1 receiver role in Los Angeles, and to Jim Harbaugh's delight, he looks the part.