- The Cardinals‘ young secondary showed out: Kitan Crawford, Will Johnson and Denzel Burke were all strong in the team's loss to the Titans.
- Emeka Egbuka continues tearing up defenses: The Buccaneers stud tallied a career-high 165 yards in the team's victory.
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Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
Week 5 is in the books, and this week saw no shortage of rookie standouts for the PFF Rookie Team of the Week. A reminder that in order to qualify for this list, a player must have played at least 10 snaps.
Quarterback: Cameron Ward, Tennessee Titans – 68.0
Cam Ward followed up his worst performance as a pro (41.5 PFF grade last week against the Texans) with arguably his best, leading the Titans to their first win of the season and the first of what Tennessee hopes is many in Ward’s young career. Ward completed 21-of-40 passes for a career-high 265 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. The interception was the infamous play where the intercepting defender fumbled the ball and Tennessee recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. Since the pass was tipped first, Ward actually didn’t record any turnover-worthy plays against 3 Big Time Throws.
Running Back: Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns – 77.3
Judkins has been consistently steady for the Browns to open his career, being reliable as both a runner and a pass-catcher. His Week 5 performance overseas against the Vikings was his strongest, recording a 73.7 PFF receiving grade and a 75.7 PFF rushing grade. Judkins was the workhorse for the Browns’ rushing attack, carrying the ball 26 times for 176 yards and forcing three missed tackles while adding an 18-yard reception to his total. His pass protection is certainly work-in-progress, though, as he carried a 26.5 grade on six pass-blocking snaps.
Wide Receiver: Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 88.9
If you polled many pundits through the first five games of the season, many would have Emeka Egbuka as the early favorite for Offensive Rookie of the year. That continued in Week 5, as he was a major factor in the Buccaneers’ shootout win over the Seahawks. The rookie first-rounder out of Ohio State caught all eight of his targets for a career-high 165 yards — his second-straight 100-yard game — and a touchdown, already the fifth in his young career.
Wide Receiver: Tez Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 82.2
Egbuka wasn’t the only receiver the Buccaneers selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, as they also took Oregon product Tez Johnson in the seventh round. While he’s played sparingly to open his career, Johnson saw an uptick in playing time this week and made the most of it. The rookie caught all four of his targets for 59 yards, two of which resulted in first downs.
Wide Receiver: Tory Horton, Seattle Seahawks – 78.0
The Buccaneers-Seahawks game saw lots of production out of rookies, and the Seahawks seem to have their own star in the making in Tory Horton. Horton caught four of his five targets for 51 yards and a touchdown while also playing a big role in the run game, as he recorded an 80.3 run-blocking grade.
Tight End: Jackson Hawes, Buffalo Bills – 82.6
Jackson Hawes has been an interesting case this season. He’s the highest-graded tight end in the NFL through five weeks with a 90.7 overall grade, yet you wouldn’t know it from checking the box score. Hawes has just four catches for 54 yards all season, and none came in Buffalo’s Sunday night loss to the Patriots. However, his blocking has been so good that he’s become a valuable member of this offense. Hawes generated a 73.9 pass-blocking grade and was even better as a run blocker, garnering an 80.3 grade.
Offensive Tackle: Will Campbell, New England Patriots – 70.4
The former fourth overall pick out of LSU made his third PFF Rookie Team of the Week in five weeks. His pass blocking was a big reason the Patriots pulled off the upset in Buffalo: Campbell allowed just three pressures on 40 pass-blocking snaps for a 77.0 PFF pass-blocking grade. Indeed, Campbell hasn’t allowed a sack since Week 1.
Offensive Tackle: Armand Membou, New York Jets – 63.8
The Jets had a rough showing in their loss to the Cowboys, but one of the bright spots was the rookie out of Missouri, Armand Membou. While he did permit five pressures, they ended up not being of consequence, as he registered a 69.9 PFF pass-blocking grade. He was also stellar blocking for outside zone runs, posting an 82.8 grade on those plays.
Interior Offensive Line: Tate Ratledge, Detroit Lions – 62.4
Ratledge had an up-and-down showing in the Lions’ win over the Bengals. He wasn’t great in pass protection. While he only allowed three pressures, one was converted into a sack and another into a quarterback hit, which ended in a 49.5 PFF pass-blocking grade. He was better blocking for the run, though, as he put up a 63.3 grade — including a 69.0 mark on inside zone runs.
Interior Offensive Line: Jalen Rivers, Cincinnati Bengals – 56.0
Jalen Rivers was given the start over Dalton Risner against the Lions this week with mixed results. A former fifth-round pick out of Miami (FL), Rivers often rotated between playing tackle and guard while in college, but he settled in at right guard for the Bengals this week. His 45.1 PFF pass-blocking grade left something to be desired, as he allowed four pressures — one of which was a quarterback hit. Like Ratledge, though, he was better at blocking for the run, registering a 60.2 grade in that field. Rivers was particularly good on man/duo runs with a 68.1 grade.
Interior Offensive Line: Jared Wilson, New England Patriots – 51.1
After playing center in college, Jared Wilson quickly won the starting left guard job for the Patriots and made former first-rounder Cole Strange expendable. Wilson has had an inconsistent start lining up next to fellow rookie Campbell, but pass-blocking has been where Wilson is at his best — and that was no different against the Bills. On 40 pass-blocking snaps, Wilson allowed just one pressure, though it did result in a quarterback hit.
EDGE: Nic Scourton, Carolina Panthers – 89.6
The former second-rounder out of Texas A&M played a big role in Carolina’s come-from-behind win over the Dolphins. Scourton was all over the field, grading out well as a pass rusher at 67.7 mark, a run defender at 75.5 and in coverage at 90.0. He did allow a catch into his coverage, but it was on a screen pass that he quickly swarmed for a minimal gain.
EDGE: Elijah Ponder, New England Patriots – 75.0
An undrafted rookie out of Cal Poly, Ponder only played 13 snaps on Sunday Night Football against the Bills — but made the most of them, particularly as a pass rusher. Ponder recorded his first NFL pressure and posted a 25% pass-rush win rate after hardly playing during the first four games of the season.
Defensive Interior: Alfred Collins, San Francisco 49ers – 85.1
Alfred Collins had been struggling prior to the 49ers’ Thursday Night Football win over the Rams, but in that game, he was arguably the biggest difference-maker. Nowhere was that more apparent than his run defense. Collins recorded a 92.1 grade against the run that included a clutch forced fumble with the Rams attempting to take the lead with just over 1 minute left in the fourth quarter.
Defensive Interior: Adin Huntington, Cleveland Browns – 69.5
Huntington is the only undrafted rookie to make this list multiple times, and he received his third entry in five games — making him a highlight on what has been a strong Browns defense. While this week’s showing wasn’t as strong as his other two appearances on his list (both featured grades over 85.0), Huntington’s impact was still felt against the Vikings. He posted a 61.6 PFF pass-rush grade on a 10% pass-rush win rate while also recording a 62.7 PFF run-defense grade, with a third of those snaps being positively graded.
Linebacker: Jihaad Campbell, Philadelphia Eagles – 75.6
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Jihaad Campbell is among the top rookie linebackers once again. A Defensive Rookie of the Year favorite, Campbell is the only rookie to make this list every single week, and he did so this time with another strong outing against the Broncos. Most weeks, it has been Campbell’s strengths against the pass that have earned him a spot on this list — but this week, it was in run defense. The first-rounder posted a career-high 80.6 PFF run-defense grade that included two stops, one of which being a tackle for loss.
Linebacker: Barrett Carter, Cincinnati Bengals – 69.0
The duo of Campbell and Carson Schwesinger topping the linebacker rankings has finally been undone, as Barrett Carter took top spot this week (for what it’s worth, Schwesinger’s 63.7 grade finished third). The former fourth-rounder out of Clemson experienced a boost in playing time against the Lions and was particularly stellar against the run, compiling a 74.2 grade on 24 such snaps that included a stop.
Cornerback: Will Johnson, Arizona Cardinals – 83.6
After a dominant debut, Will Johnson had been quiet these last few weeks, missing two games due to a groin injury. He returned with great success in the Cardinals’ loss to the Titans, notching an 82.9 PFF coverage grade on 38 such snaps. Johnson allowed just two catches on four targets for eight yards into his coverage while also forcing an incompletion and tallying a stop in the process.
Cornerback: Denzel Burke, Arizona Cardinals – 79.2
While Burke barely played the 10 snaps required to make this list, he made the most of them, putting up a career-high 78.8 PFF coverage grade. The former fifth-rounder out of Ohio State only surrendered one reception for three yards, being targeted just twice.
Cornerback: Jahdae Barron, Denver Broncos – 73.8
Like Burke, Barron hardly played enough snaps to qualify for the list, but was productive when he was on the field. All 10 of his snaps were in coverage, and he earned a 73.0 grade in that field — yielding just one catch on three targets for no yards. The Texas product also added a forced incompletion while contributing on two stops.
Safety: Kitan Crawford, Arizona Cardinals – 91.4
As the third Cardinals rookie secondary member to make this list, all 16 of Crawford’s snaps against the Titans were in coverage — yet he performed admirably with an 89.9 coverage grade. A former seventh-rounder out of Nevada, Crawford allowed just one reception for three yards while forcing another incompletion and adding a stop.
Safety: Nick Emmanwori, Seattle Seahawks – 81.4
Emmanwori was one of the biggest stories of the NFL Combine, posting one of the highest Relative Athletic Scores scores in the event’s history. This enticed Seattle to take the former South Carolina product early in the second round. Week 5 was the first time Emmanwori had really seen the field, as he played just four career defensive snaps prior to this week — all of which came in Week 1 due to a high ankle sprain. Emmanwori was strong across the board against the Buccaneers, putting up a 72.3 PFF run-defense grade, 65.8 as a pass rusher and 78.3 in coverage.
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