National Football League

Raiders TE Brock Bowers, Giants WR Malik Nabers battle for rookie receptions record

Updated Dec. 24, 2024 10:59 a.m. ET

By breaking their 10-game losing streak on Sunday, the Raiders knocked themselves down from No. 1 to No. 6 in the current draft order. But no matter where they wind up, they'll be hard-pressed to get as much from their next first-round pick as they've gotten from tight end Brock Bowers, the 13th overall pick this year.

Washington's Jayden Daniels has all but locked up NFL Rookie of the Year honors, but from a historical perspective, he can't make the same claim Bowers can: the best rookie season ever at his position.

On Sunday, Bowers became just the fourth player ever — at any position — to reach 100 receptions as a rookie. And with two games left to play, he's only four behind the NFL rookie record of 105 catches, set by Rams receiver Puka Nacua last season. With 1,067 receiving yards, Bowers needs just 10 more to catch Hall of Famer Mike Ditka's rookie tight end record of 1,076, a mark that has stood since 1961.

It's also entirely possible that Bowers could have that rookie receptions record for only a few minutes. Just as he's four catches behind Nacua's record, Giants rookie receiver Malik Nabers is only four catches behind Bowers. Both rookies have put up their numbers despite catching passes from three different quarterbacks, so their second-year production could increase just from likely upgrades at QB.

Nabers is closing in on another prolific rookie record: Nacua's catch mark was set on 160 targets, but Nabers is already at 154, putting him on pace to break the rookie record of 167, set by New England's Terry Glenn in 1996. Both Bowers and Nabers (1,088) are on course to finish in the top 10 all time for receiving yards by a rookie.

Rookie QBs continue prolific pace

Remember back in Week 6 when this year's rookie quarterbacks combined to throw 12 touchdown passes, the most in any week in NFL history? They almost pulled it off again in Week 16, when Jayden Daniels had five touchdowns and three other rookies had two each for 11 total.

Daniels' five touchdown passes matches the NFL rookie record. He's the seventh player to do so, and five of the others are from the past 15 years: C.J. Stroud in 2023, Daniel Jones in 2019, Deshaun Watson in 2017, Jameis Winston in 2015 and Matthew Stafford in 2009. The other? It goes all the way back to 1937, when the Bears' Ray Buivid had five against the Chicago Cardinals, adding a touchdown reception as well. Buivid would finish his career with just 11 touchdown passes, as he retired after two seasons to join the Navy and fight in World War II.

Another McCaffrey making a name for himself

It's been a quiet rookie year for Commanders rookie receiver Luke McCaffrey, a third-round pick from Rice who is the brother of 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and the son of longtime Broncos receiver Ed McCaffrey.

Luke's receiving numbers have been modest — 18 catches for 168 yards and no touchdowns — but he has taken on a new role in the past two weeks. As Washington's kickoff returner, he played a key role in the Commanders' upset of the Eagles on Sunday. McCaffrey had six returns for 184 yards — the fourth-highest single-game total for any rookie in the past decade. His returns included a 47-yarder to the Eagles' 43 and three other returns to start drives at the Washington 35-yard line or better.

The 184 yards is the fifth-highest game total for any NFL player this season, and a promising number in just his second game handling returns. McCaffrey, a quarterback for his first three college seasons at Nebraska and Rice, had never returned kickoffs even in college, with only two punt returns for 35 yards on his college résumé.

Titans rookie steps up out of nowhere

Tennessee rookie linebacker Cedric Gray, limited by a shoulder injury for much of the year, had just three total tackles entering Sunday's game against the Colts. The fourth-round pick from North Carolina has primarily been a special-teams player, but when starter Kenneth Murray suffered a wrist injury on Sunday, Gray stepped in and made the most of it.

The Colts won the game, but Gray finished with a team-high 11 tackles on defense, along with a team-best four on special teams, giving him 15 total. His 11 on defense came on just 35 snaps. Another rookie, seventh-rounder James Williams from Miami, has 14 tackles in the past two weeks since also getting pressed into a larger role.

One last rookie showdown

Sunday night gives us one last big rookie quarterback showdown, as new Falcons starter Michael Penix Jr. goes to Washington to face Daniels in a battle of rookies trying to get their teams into the playoffs.

Daniels has already been a part of two thrilling games against other rookie QBs. His 52-yard Hail Mary to Noah Brown as time expired gave the Commanders an 18-15 win over the Bears and Caleb Williams in Week 10. Then in Week 15, Daniels & Co. escaped with a 20-19 victory over the Saints when Spencer Rattler's two-point conversion try failed on the game's final play.

Can Penix pull off the upset? His only interception in his first NFL start wasn't his fault, bobbled by tight end Kyle Pitts, and he finished 18-for-27 for 202 yards. He's just the third rookie in league history to throw for that many yards and that high a completion percentage in his first NFL start. One of the others is the quarterback he replaced, Kirk Cousins, who did so with Washington in 2012, as did his teammate Robert Griffin III the same season.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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