Predicting NFL’s Best Sophomore Seasons for 2017 | Bleacher Report – Bleacher Report

0 of 6

NFL careers are painfully short, especially at certain positions. Teams need high-end production from their top draft picks, and they need it now.

Patience is at a premium. So while a steady progression is nice, the preferred result in a high pick's second season is playing at a Pro Bowl level.

The second-year leap is critical for the player and the employment of coaches and front-office personnel who brought him aboard.

Young players are both the future and the present, and they're leaned on heavily. Sometimes a torch is being passed, as is the case with the Los Angeles Chargers between tight ends Antonio Gates and Hunter Henry. Other times, they're being relied on to step up after a great rookie season and fill a void, which is what the New Orleans Saints are asking of wide receiver Michael Thomas.

Let's take a look at some of the sophomores most likely to soar in 2017.

1 of 6

The San Francisco 49ers have used a first-round pick on a defensive lineman in three consecutive drafts, which is a little curious considering two of those three picks were on the roster in 2016 (defensive ends Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner), and the 49ers still gave up 165.9 rushing yards per game.

The 2017 draft additions of defensive tackle Solomon Thomas and linebacker Reuben Foster should greatly improve that feeble run defense. And Buckner will likely leap forward as one of the league's best young 3-4 defensive ends.

It feels like Buckner's solid rookie season was a little overlooked. That tends to happen when you play on a team that won only two games and fired its head coach at the end of the year.

But Buckner was indeed one of the few bright spots among the 49ers' 2016 rubble. The seventh-overall pick came into the league out of Oregon known for his impressive burst and athleticism at his size (6'7" and 300 lbs). He quickly put those tools to work and became a consistently disruptive pass rusher.

Buckner finished his rookie season with six sacks, and that only tells a partial story. The best pass-rushers create chaos even when they don't reach the quarterback. Buckner did that by generating 48 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, which ranked fourth at his position.

His ceiling was always high, and in 2017 Buckner should be even more effective now that opposing offensive lines have to worry about Thomas as well.

2 of 6

Chicago Bears outside linebacker Leonard Floyd was the shining young star in 2016 on a football team that otherwise resembled a raging tire fire.

But he didn't get a full season to show the height of his talent.

Floyd missed four games due to injury. That's a quarter of his rookie season gone. But that didn't stop Floyd from making life generally unpleasant for anyone trying to block him when he was healthy.

Floyd needed only 12 games to record seven sacks. Around midseason, he was especially sizzling. One three-game stretch saw the 24-year-old log 4.5 sacks.

It was all more than enough to make you wonder how high his production would have ballooned during an injury-free season. That curiosity grows when you rewind Floyd's film and see him consistently penetrating deep into the backfield while generating 35 pressures, per PFF.

An eruption should be coming in 2017.

3 of 6

At a glance, Hunter Henry's rookie season was just solid. But with proper context is applied, his numbers start to shine.

The Los Angeles Chargers tight end narrowly missed being a first-round pick in 2016, falling to No. 35. It was assumed his speed up the seam would fit well with quarterback Philip Rivers' deep arm. But it was also assumed that a lid would be put on Henry's rookie-season contributions due to the presence of legendary veteran tight end Antonio Gates.

And in theory, that should have been true, as Henry was only a part-time player. But his lack of playing time didn't matter at all.

Henry finished his first NFL season with 478 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, doing it all on only 36 receptions. That's an average of 13.3 yards per catch, which placed him tied for fourth among tight ends. It's also an average of a touchdown catch once every 4.5 receptions, which shows Henry's reliability in the red zone.

He put together that season while being on the field for only58.2percentof the Chargers' offensive snaps in 2016. The soon-to-be 37-year-old Gates is still around, but Henry's role should grow along with his production.

4 of 6

It can be argued New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas shouldn't be on this list because he already broke out in 2016. But making that argument means he's not capable of surpassing his rookie output.

And that's simply not true, given his talent and increased role in a loaded Saints offense.

Thomas finished his first year with 1,137 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on 92 receptions. He was among the top 10 in all three of those receiving categories, and did it while also recording two games with 130-plus yards.

Now he can ascend to another tier in a Saints offense needing to replace the targets that went away when wide receiver Brandin Cooks was traded to the New England Patriots.

Over the past five years, quarterback Drew Brees has attempted 650-plus passes four times. In 2016, he let it fly a career-high 673 times, and 121 of those throws were directed at Cooks.

Many more of those targets will now come Thomas' way, putting him in a prime position to explode in only his second season.

5 of 6

Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey received Defensive Rookie of the Year votes in 2016. And in 2017, he might rise another rung and be considered for the Defensive Player of the Year.

Ramsey needed a bit of time early in 2016 to ease in and find his role. But once he did, the standout from Florida State sealed off half the field.

Ramsey allowed only 52.9 percent of the balls thrown into his coverage to be completed, per PFF, which ranked sixth among all cornerbacks. He also gave up a passer rating of just 76.6. Both of those rookie results become are impressive considering Ramsey was the third most targeted cornerback, with 102 balls thrown his direction.

He did all that at the young age of 22, which means Ramsey isn't even close to his peak.

6 of 6

Sterling Shepard's second-year rise may be somewhat limited by the presence of Brandon Marshall in the New York Giants' wide-receiver room. The Giants also used a first-round pick on tight end Evan Engram in the 2017 draft, which gives quarterback Eli Manning plenty of targets to spread around.

But Shepard should still take a leap because of his ability to thrive in a specific role.

The 24-year-old was used primarily as a slot receiver in 2016, seeing 86.1 percent of his targets from there. Shepard'sabruptness as a route-runner immediately translated to the NFL level when hecaught eight passes for 117 yards in only his second NFL game.

That ignited a season when Shepard recorded 636 receiving yards from the slot, which ranked a solid seventh, per PFF. Even better, his eight touchdown catches ranked first among slot receivers.

Shepard will draw many looks as a chain-moving slot option who gains separation with ease. And when he does, a quick jump in production will follow.

Continued here:
Predicting NFL's Best Sophomore Seasons for 2017 | Bleacher Report - Bleacher Report