NFL Rookie Watch: Week 2 slew of injuries rattle the depth charts

Which NFL rookies will rise to the challenge on their respective teams with injuries mounting?

The 2020 NFL season has already presented an assortment of challenges surrounding COVID-19 and players’ decisions to opt-out for the year.

Rosters have changed drastically and more than ever before, NFL rookies are being forced into the public spotlight and have to endure a trial by fire. Now coming off of one of the most injury-laden weeks in recent memory, NFL rosters are going to have to look to their rookie stars to sustain their season aspirations.

As mentioned, big names such as Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey will now be missing either a large part of the rest of the season or the entirety of 2020. Injuries not only impact the sole position group but send shockwaves through a coaching staff conventional gameplan and will force various players to fill the missing production and impact.

McCaffrey and Barkley were both essential to their offenses in 2019 with 91.5% & 88.7% opportunity share respectively according to playerprofiler.com.

This 2020 NFL rookie class was one of the most impressive in recent years between the top-end talent as well as the depth throughout. The wide receiver class, highlighted by Alabama products Henry Ruggs III & Jerry Jeudy as well as prototype Sooner CeeDee Lamb, has so far lived up to the hype with additional studs like Jalen Reagor & Chase Claypool to round out the highlights of the position group.

This depth was seen coming into the 2020 NFL draft but it has more than lived up to the incredibly high standards set through only two weeks.