2023 NFL Draft Picks Primed to Explode During Sophomore Campaigns

Some NFL rookies take the league by storm. Others from the same class build like a cell over a period of time before unleashing their full fury.

Last season, the Houston Texans' C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr., Los Angeles Rams' Puka Nacua and Kobie Turner and Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Carter came in and made huge impacts for their respective squads.

They're the exception, not the rule, though. Most young players need time to blossom, if they ever do.

A year of experience, a growing understanding and comfort level with schemes, being around established professionals and a full NFL offseason for the first time can drastically change an individual's career for the better.

Don't forget, both Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson captured MVP honors in their second seasons.

Not everyone will emerge, though, hence why drafting is so difficult. However, the following eight players are different. Each should thrive during their sophomore seasons based on previous indicators and upcoming opportunities.

The thunderhead is on the horizon and it's about to let loose.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson looked like something special at the onset of the 2023 season. Too bad he played in only four games due to injuries.

Ultimately, a shoulder issue that required surgery led to last year's No. 4 overall draft pick missing most of his rookie campaign.

In Shane Steichen's first season, his squad overachieved by winning nine games and nearly claiming the AFC South. He proved legitimate serving in a dual capacity as head coach and offensive play-caller.

The Colts roster is solid all around and capable of competing every week. In fact, all 22 of the team's projected starters return this year. A healthy and committed Jonathan Taylor and the second-round selection of wide receiver Adonai Mitchell will certainly help.

Richardson is the key, though. His growth will be critical in whether Indianapolis can overtake the rival Houston Texans.

What's special about the 21-year-old is his elite combination of size, athleticism and raw arm talent. He was considered a project coming into the professional ranks due to starting only one season at the collegiate level and a low completion percentage.

Even in a limited sample size in the pros, though, Richardson showed he can work from the pocket and be comfortable ripping throws.

Furthermore, the injury may have somewhat been beneficial because it gave the Florida product time to watch and learn.

"It's big," Steichen said of his quarterback in April. "It's not new for him. He's heard the terminology. Going through those meetings right now, going through it, quizzing and he's all over it. We've got a good foundation going into this offseason and going into the season. So, it's been good."

As long as Richardson learns to protect himself and not take the big hits he did a season ago, he has the talent to be truly special, particularly with Steichen scheming everything around the quarterback's skill set.

"He's everything you want in a quarterback," Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson told reporters. "Seeing him work around the building and working in silence and then going out there and being a leader. He's been very on the details and he's looking good.''

Running back Bijan Robinson was special as a rookie, and he should be even more special during his second season with the Atlanta Falcons.

The 22-year-old finished 10th in the NFL last season with 1,463 yards from scrimmage. The Falcons drafted him with last year's No. 8 overall pick for a reason, even when 99 percent of running backs are devalued.

However, the entire Falcons offense was previously hampered by poor quarterback play. This should no longer be the case with the additions of veteran Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. (no matter how someone feels about those investments and why they were made).

The offense should open up no matter who is behind center, particularly Cousins considering how well he can orchestrate a system. Furthermore, the 35-year-old has no problem simply turning around and handing the ball to his running back, as evidenced by four Pro Bowl seasons from Dalvin Cook while the two shared a backfield in Minnesota.

Also, Robinson can now be more of a weapon as a receiver. Yes, he led all rookie running backs with 58 receptions, but his overall utilization can be expanded to its fullest and executed more efficiently.

Even with all of the talent among the Falcons' skill positions, Robinson could well be their offensive focal point and challenge to lead the league in yards from scrimmage this fall.

The Texas product is capable of becoming a Christian McCaffrey-caliber weapon. The Falcons now have all of the pieces in place to make that projection a reality.

Quentin Johnston's career currently resides at the intersection of promise and opportunity.

The Los Angeles Chargers selected the wide receiver with the 21st overall pick in last year's draft. He graded as WR1 in numerous instances and fell one pick behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but the upside found within his game was obvious.

Considering those expectations, it's hard to find a more disappointing rookie effort last year. Johnston contributed 38 receptions for 431 yards and two touchdowns.

Granted, Keenan Allen received the lion's share of targets, and deservedly so, but he is no longer with the team after being traded to the Chicago Bears. The organization also released Mike Williams.

The runway for Johnston to become a true top target as the Chargers' X-receiver has been cleared.

Los Angeles even used the No. 5 overall draft pick on Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt, thus passing on top targets Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze. General manager Joe Horitz did understand his offensive did lack weapons, though, hence the selections of Ladd McConkey, Brenden Rice and Cornelius Johnson.

Aside from McConkey, who will likely operate from the slot or as the Y-receiver, Johnston doesn't have a ton of competition to become a featured target. With quarterback Justin Herbert still pulling the trigger, expectations have escalated for the second-year wide receiver.

"I didn't really get a chance to show who I really was and what type of player I am, but I still got the world of confidence in myself even if nobody doesn't," Johnston said, per ESPN's Kris Rhim. "And so, you know, going into this next season, I can't wait. Like I said, I feel like I'm due for a breakout, so I'm very excited for that."

The Buffalo Bills agreed to trade away 107 catches and 1,183 receiving yards when they dealt Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans.

Without him, Buffalo doesn't have a premier target on the outside. Instead, quarterback Josh Allen should turn to second-year tight end Dalton Kincaid.

The Bills turned the 24-year-old into TE1 during the previous year's class when they selected him with the 25th overall pick. He came on strong during their final four games, with 19 receptions for 275 yards, as Buffalo captured another AFC East title and made it to the divisional round of the playoffs.

Technically, Kincaid is already the Bills' leading receiver since Gabe Davis left in free agency to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars. As such, the tight end's 673 yards topped the returning targets on the roster.

Buffalo did sign Curtis Samuel as a free agent and drafted Keon Coleman at the top of the second round. They will fill out the team's wide receivers, but Kincaid remains the biggest weapon on the roster.

Quarterback Josh Allen immediately saw the potential in tight end.

"The kid is very smart," he told reporters in September. "He doesn't play like a rookie. He's instinctive, he understands our offense very well. His body control is fantastic. … We're not gonna be afraid to play him right away."

The Bills did and benefited as the season progressed. Now with a season under Kincaid's belt and the top two targets gone from the lineup, Buffalo can emulate its nemesis, the Kansas City Chiefs, by making a tight end the offense's No. 1 receiving threat.

The Cleveland Browns found something special in last year's NFL draft with the fourth-round selection of Dawand Jones.

The 22-year-old emerged as, arguably, the best rookie offensive lineman until a knee injury in Week 14 cut his season short. Coincidentally, the 111th overall draft pick found his way into the starting lineup because of a season-ending knee injury to right tackle Jack Conklin in the season-opener.

Jones never looked overwhelmed or out of place., though During what was becoming a dominant stretch of play prior to the game in which he suffered the injury, the rookie allowed only one sack, according to Pro Football Focus.

Fairly or not, the Ohio State product slipped in the draft over concerns about motivation, as seems to be the case with many of the bigger linemen. But the Browns deferred to the planet theory and benefited from a right tackle with his own orbit.

"With Dawand Jones starting games in the NFL and being productive, Cleveland must be doing something right," an AFC scout told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

Conklin is expected back this season, so Jones doesn't have a clear pathway to a starting spot. With the rookie's standout play a season ago and the eventual financial implications of eventually releasing Conklin ($11.7 million off the books in 2025 with his release), the Browns should go younger on the strong side.

Bill Callahan may not be back as the Browns' offensive line coach, which is a shame because he's one of the game's best at developing talent. Still, Jones showed more than enough in his first season to indicate he will be a quality starting offensive tackle for a long time.

Karl Brooks went from a sixth-round pick unsure if he'd even make the Green Bay Packers' active roster at the start of the 2023 campaign to a critical component to the defensive line rotation as the season progressed.

The 24-year-old essentially played out of position while attending Bowling Green. The 300-plus-pound defensive prospect mainly lined up as an edge defender. Still, he thrived with 17.5 sacks over his final two collegiate campaigns.

His athletic profile wasn't exciting, but Brooks knows how to be disruptive.

"To me, pressures are more important," he told Zone Coverage's Felipe Reis. "I'm a guy who would prefer having five pressures than one sack in a game. I'd take pressures because it means I'm getting to the quarterback's face, I'm being disruptive, and I can force him to make a bad throw, and we have amazing corners on the back end that can capitalize on that."

Over the final nine games of the season, Brooks was, arguably, the NFL's best rookie interior defender, even with the Los Angeles Rams' Kobie Turner and Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Carter playing well.

In Week 12, he was the NFL's highest-graded defensive tackle, according to Pro Football Focus. He became the Packers' highest-graded defender over the final three weeks of the season.

Brooks may not crack Green Bay's starting lineup during his second season, but he shouldn't be fourth in snaps played among its interior defenders, either. He can be a difference-maker based on how he often he plays in opposing backfields.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have first- and third-round picks invested in their projected starting edge-defenders. One is nearing bust status, while the other appears to be an emerging star.

As a rookie, YaYa Diaby's 7.5 sacks nearly equaled Joe Tryon-Shoyinka's eight through his first two campaigns.

Diaby entered the league as an elite athlete, with a 9.86 relative athletic score, per Pro Football Network's Kent Lee Platte. But he only had one season of top production while playing for the Louisville Cardinals, so the Buccaneers didn't know exactly what they were getting at first.

"The physical tools were there when he walked in—he's truly a physical specimen," Buccaneers defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers said, per Brianna Dix of the team's official site. "But when you watch his improvement from day to day as he picked up the technique and started learning our system—our system is not an easy system for a young player to come into because we do a lot.

"We're not a line up in 3-4 or 4-3 [system]. That isn't the way we do it—there's a lot of moving parts there. We ask those guys to do a lot. He's a rusher, he's a dropper, he's a 3-technique, he can be out there at nine-technique, he can be in man-to-man on the tight end. We have whole lot of moving parts there. So, to see where he's able to grasp the system and still be a productive player—this kid has a bright, bright future ahead of him."

With Shaq Barrett gone, Diaby can now move into a full-time starting role and continue his impressive development.

Christian Gonzalez looked like a potential superstar-in-the-making for the New England Patriots through the first three games of his rookie campaign. Then, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Oregon product has the size (6'1", 205 lbs), athleticism and physicality to thrive in today's game.

The injury was extensive, though. Gonzalez separated his shoulder and suffered a torn labrum. As a result, he's still working on getting back to full health.

"I'm focused on getting better and what I gotta do," he told reporters when asked if he'd be a full participant for the Patriots' organized team activities. "And rehabbing and practicing. That's kinda out of my control."

Gonzalez had three defended passes and an interception in his first three contests. Last year's 17th overall pick should come back as the Patriots' CB1 to match up against multiple tough assignments in the AFC East, starting with the Miami Dolphins' talented targets.

"Still, extremely confident in what I can do," the sophomore defensive back said.

New England spent most of the offseason concentrating on its offense, because it had to. With a more balanced approach thanks to better talent on that side of the ball, Gonzalez's presence in the lineup as a true cover corner can create more of an impact and find himself on the same level as classmate Devon Witherspoon.