Bijan Robinson leads the Top 25 NFL players age 25 and under, edging Puka Nacua for the No. 1 spot in a ranking built around players who have already appeared in the NFL.
The age cutoff applies to players who will be 25 or younger when the 2026 regular season begins on Sept. 9. First-year players were not included, keeping the focus on players with NFL work already on record.
Super Bowl LX also showed why the league’s young talent matters. The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots both reached the game with youth as part of their roster foundation.
Colston Loveland finished his rookie season with the Bears on a sharp rise. His 58 receptions were the most by a Bears rookie tight end, and 47 came over his final 10 regular-season games.
Over that final stretch, Loveland’s pace projected to about 80 catches, 1,015 receiving yards and double-digit touchdowns across a full season. He added 12 catches for 193 yards in two postseason games.
Joe Alt, the No. 5 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, has quickly become one of the NFL’s top offensive tackles. The Notre Dame product earned his first Pro Bowl selection despite an ankle injury that cut short his second season, and he has played both tackle spots at a high level.
The Chargers were 5-1 and averaged 25.3 points with Alt in 2025. Without him, they went 6-6 and averaged 18.3 points.
The Colts made a major investment in Sauce Gardner, sending two first-round picks and Adonai Mitchell to the Jets. Gardner already has two first-team All-Pro selections and remains one of the league’s leading cornerbacks.
Cooper DeJean has become a central part of Philadelphia’s secondary. After winning the Super Bowl as a rookie, he followed with a first-team All-Pro season in 2025, when he did not allow a touchdown from the slot and recorded two interceptions, 93 total tackles and four tackles for loss.
De'Von Achane stayed with the Dolphins through a roster reset and is positioned as the center of Miami’s offense in 2026. He ran for 1,350 yards, the most by a Dolphins player since Ricky Williams in 2003, and his 5.62 yards per carry ranks second in NFL history among running backs with at least 500 rushing attempts.
Trent McDuffie barely fits the age requirement because he turns 26 on Sept. 13, but his résumé belongs in the group. After the Rams acquired him from the Chiefs, he signed a $124m extension, and since entering the NFL in 2022 he has produced 31 quarterback pressures and eight forced fumbles.
Drake London signed a $141m extension with Atlanta after becoming one of the league’s most productive young receivers. Since 2024, London is one of five players with at least 2,000 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns, despite Atlanta’s instability at quarterback.
George Pickens raised his profile after joining the Cowboys. In Dallas, he set career highs and finished with 1,429 receiving yards in 2025, while his 52 deep-ball receptions of 20-plus air yards are the most by any player since he entered the NFL in 2022.
Jalen Carter remains one of the Eagles’ highest-upside defensive players. He was a second-team All-Pro in 2024 and made the Pro Bowl in both 2024 and 2025, though his 2025 season included three sacks in 11 games.
Derek Stingley is listed at No. 16 and remains one of the faces of Houston’s defense. The LSU product has been a first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection in each of the last two seasons, allowing completion rates of 42.7% in 2024 and 45.9% in 2025, with quarterbacks posting a 42.9 passer rating when targeting him for his career.
Quinyon Mitchell gives Philadelphia another young cornerstone in the secondary alongside DeJean. The Eagles allowed a league-low 56.8% completion rate and 14 passing touchdowns in 2025, and Mitchell earned first-team All-Pro recognition that season.