No rookie in the 2026 class has played an NFL snap, so nothing here forecasts production. This page measures the one thing already settled in August: the size of the opening each rookie walked into. We count the snaps their team lost at their position, subtract the snaps it signed back, and compare that order to the draft order that ranked them.
Team by team: NFL team reports.
Which 2026 NFL rookies will make an immediate impact?
Nobody can answer that from performance, because the class has no performance yet. Our archive of NFL snap counts ends on 8 February 2026, the last game of the 2025 season. What can be answered is narrower and more useful than a projection: how much playing time is genuinely unclaimed at each rookie's position.
For every team and position family we totalled the 2025 snaps, found which of those snaps belonged to players no longer on the roster as of 2026-08-05, then subtracted the 2025 snaps carried in by veterans the team added at the same position. What is left is the net opening. Where a team drafted more than one rookie into the same room, the opening is divided between them.
255 rookies were drafted and are on a roster in our snapshot. 251 of them are measured here. The 4 left out are kickers, punters and long snappers, who have no offensive or defensive snap counts to vacate. Every other drafted rookie is measured and none are dropped.
| Drafted | Player | Position | Team | Snaps lost | Snaps signed back | Rookies in room | Net opening each |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 120 | Dani Dennis-Sutton | DE/OLB | Packers | 2,196 | 0 | 1 | 2,196 |
| No. 70 | Romello Height | DE/OLB | 49ers | 2,197 | 234 | 1 | 1,963 |
| No. 27 | Chris Johnson | Secondary | Dolphins | 3,967 | 217 | 2 | 1,875 |
| No. 158 | Michael Taaffe | Secondary | Dolphins | 3,967 | 217 | 2 | 1,875 |
| No. 100 | Jalen Huskey | Secondary | Jaguars | 1,841 | 4 | 1 | 1,837 |
| No. 25 | Dillon Thieneman | Secondary | Bears | 4,733 | 1,166 | 2 | 1,784 |
| No. 124 | Malik Muhammad | Secondary | Bears | 4,733 | 1,166 | 2 | 1,784 |
| No. 40 | R Mason Thomas | DE/OLB | Chiefs | 1,400 | 0 | 1 | 1,400 |
| No. 18 | Caleb Banks | DE/OLB | Vikings | 1,374 | 0 | 1 | 1,374 |
| No. 250 | Rayshaun Benny | DE/OLB | Ravens | 1,560 | 285 | 1 | 1,275 |
Largest net openings among the 251 measured rookies. Snaps are offensive plus defensive, 2025-08-01 to 2026-02-08.
The measurement says how much room exists, not who fills it. A returning backup already on the roster is a real competitor for those snaps and is not ranked here.
Which 2026 rookies are underrated relative to their draft slot?
Ranking every rookie twice, once by draft number and once by net opening, produces a gap. A large positive gap means a rookie was drafted late into a room with a lot of unclaimed playing time. It is a statement about opportunity and draft slot only. It is not a claim about how good anyone is.
| Drafted | Player | Position | Team | Snaps lost | Snaps signed back | Rookies in room | Net opening each | Gap vs draft rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 250 | Rayshaun Benny | DE/OLB | Ravens | 1,560 | 285 | 1 | 1,275 | +235 |
| No. 238 | Max Llewellyn | DE/OLB | Dolphins | 1,301 | 440 | 1 | 861 | +210 |
| No. 240 | Parker Hughes | Off-ball LB | Jaguars | 761 | 0 | 1 | 761 | +203 |
| No. 255 | Michael Dansby | Secondary | Seahawks | 2,327 | 373 | 4 | 488 | +193 |
| No. 208 | Anterio Thompson | DT/NT | Falcons | 1,551 | 549 | 1 | 1,002 | +191 |
| No. 209 | Matt Gulbin | Guard/Centre | Commanders | 954 | 0 | 1 | 954 | +190 |
| No. 244 | Cole Wisniewski | Secondary | Eagles | 1,953 | 1,446 | 1 | 507 | +188 |
| No. 252 | Keyshawn James-Newby | Off-ball LB | Eagles | 462 | 0 | 1 | 462 | +181 |
| No. 253 | Evan Beerntsen | Guard/Centre | Ravens | 2,021 | 1,165 | 2 | 428 | +181 |
| No. 215 | Harold Perkins | Off-ball LB | Falcons | 1,397 | 4 | 2 | 696 | +178 |
Sorted by the gap, not by the opening, which is why the net column moves around. Every rookie here was drafted in round six or seven.
Which first-round rookies have no clear path to snaps?
The same arithmetic in reverse. 70 of the 251 measured rookies have a net opening of zero, meaning their team either lost nothing at their position or replaced more than it lost. When it happens to a rookie drafted in round one, the gap is large.
| Drafted | Player | Position | Team | Snaps lost | Snaps signed back | Rookies in room | Net opening each | Gap vs draft rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 | Carnell Tate | WR | Titans | 945 | 973 | 1 | 0 | -178 |
| No. 11 | Caleb Downs | Secondary | Cowboys | 2,074 | 2,401 | 2 | 0 | -171 |
| No. 15 | Rueben Bain | DE/OLB | Buccaneers | 1,269 | 2,162 | 1 | 0 | -167 |
| No. 19 | Monroe Freeling | Tackle | Panthers | 783 | 1,763 | 1 | 0 | -163 |
| No. 22 | Akheem Mesidor | Off-ball LB | Chargers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -160 |
| No. 13 | Ty Simpson | QB | Rams | 18 | 0 | 1 | 18 | -159 |
| No. 23 | Malachi Lawrence | DE/OLB | Cowboys | 618 | 2,128 | 2 | 0 | -159 |
| No. 24 | K.C. Concepcion | WR | Browns | 1 | 185 | 2 | 0 | -158 |
| No. 26 | Keylan Rutledge | Guard/Centre | Texans | 644 | 1,534 | 2 | 0 | -156 |
| No. 35 | T.J. Parker | Off-ball LB | Bills | 16 | 226 | 2 | 0 | -147 |
Sorted by the gap. A zero net opening means veteran additions matched or exceeded the snaps that left.
Carnell Tate is the clearest case. The Titans lost 945 snaps at WR and signed back 973, so the room is fuller than it was, and he was drafted at No. 4.
Where the numbers and the reporting agree
This is our own archive, computed without reference to anyone's reporting, so the places it lands on the same players as national coverage are worth stating, and so are the places it does not.
- Sonny Styles, Commanders, drafted No. 7. Our count shows 1,132 off-ball linebacker snaps gone and nothing signed back, the cleanest vacancy of anyone drafted in the top ten. CBS Sports reports he steps into the role Bobby Wagner left. His opportunity rank and his draft rank differ by six places, the closest match in the top ten.
- Jeremiyah Love, Cardinals, drafted No. 3. Our count shows 603 running back snaps vacated but 328 signed back. Sports Illustrated reports Arizona added Tyler Allgeier and that he has taken the majority of first-team repetitions. The subtraction found the signing without being told about it.
- Dillon Thieneman, Bears, drafted No. 25. One of the largest secondary openings in the league on our numbers, and reporting describes him as an immediate starter.
- Malik Muhammad, Bears, drafted No. 124. The same Chicago vacancy, reached from the fourth round. Sports Illustrated lists him among overlooked rookies, in competition with Tyrique Stevenson.
What this measurement cannot see
Two named cases show the limits better than any caveat we could write.
- Monroe Freeling, Panthers, drafted No. 19 scores a net opening of zero here, because Carolina signed back more tackle snaps than it lost. Bleacher Report notes that Ikem Ekwonu ruptured a patellar tendon in January and will not start the season. A player who is injured is still on the roster, so our count treats his snaps as filled. This measurement has no injury input at all.
- Fernando Mendoza, Raiders, drafted No. 1 shows 942 quarterback snaps vacated against 543 signed back, a net opening of 399. Sports Illustrated reports Las Vegas intends to start Kirk Cousins. A depth chart decision is not a roster fact and does not appear in our data.
How this was measured
- Source. Our own archive. Rosters come from nflverse, season 2026, a single snapshot dated 2026-08-05 covering 2,924 players across 32 teams. Snaps are offensive plus defensive snap counts, 2025-08-01 to 2026-02-08, which is the 2025 regular season and playoffs.
- Who counts as a rookie. Players with a 2026 rookie year and a draft number: 255 of 677 total rookies. The 422 undrafted rookies are excluded because draft slot is the comparison axis and they do not have one.
- Net opening. Snaps at the position that left the roster, minus the 2025 snaps of veterans the team added at that position, floored at zero, then divided by the number of drafted rookies the team put in that room.
- Positions. Ten families. The source labels the secondary inconsistently, mixing specific and generic tags for the same jobs, so all defensive backs are measured as one group. The secondary is therefore coarser here than the other units. Tackle is kept separate from guard and centre.
- Ties. Standard competition ranking. Rookies with equal openings share a rank rather than being separated by draft order, which would otherwise flatter whoever was drafted first.
- College totals. Where quoted, they come from our college football archive for 2025-08-01 to 2026-01-20 and matched 68 of 79 skill-position rookies by name (86.1%). That archive holds passing, rushing and receiving only, so no defensive or blocking production exists for any player in it.
- What this is not. Not a projection, not an evaluation of any player, and not connected to any betting market. It has no input for injuries, holdouts, scheme, coaching preference, or any transaction after the roster snapshot date.
Next steps
Frequently asked questions
Which 2026 NFL rookie has the biggest opportunity?
By net opening, Dani Dennis-Sutton of the Packers, with 2,196 snaps unclaimed at his position after subtracting what the team signed back. That is a measurement of available playing time, not a forecast that he takes it.
Does a big opening mean the rookie will start?
No. The count says how many snaps left the roster and were not replaced from outside it. A backup already on the roster can absorb them, and often does. The measurement ranks rooms, not players.
Why are undrafted rookies not included?
The whole comparison is opportunity against draft slot. The 422 undrafted rookies in our roster snapshot have no draft number, so there is nothing to compare their opening against.
Does this account for free agency?
Yes, and it is the reason the numbers differ from a simple count of departures. Every veteran a team added at a position is credited with the snaps he played in 2025 and subtracted from that position's opening. Several rookies drafted in round one fall to a zero opening purely because of it.
Does this account for injuries?
No. An injured player is still on the roster, so his snaps are counted as filled. Carolina's tackle situation is the clearest example on this page.
Related: NFL win totals and futures explained · NFL team reports
Every figure on this page is a historical measurement of what already happened, produced by a committed, re-runnable script over our own odds archive. Past frequencies are not forecasts and are not betting advice: Nebula Insights publishes no picks, no selections and no recommended wagers. You must be of legal gambling age in your jurisdiction.