NFL Rookie of the Year Race After Week 7: Arvell Reese Leads a Defense-Heavy Field
Our Rookie Impact Score top 5 after Week 7 is all defense. Arvell Reese leads, Day 2 and Day 3 picks crash the race, and Carnell Tate carries the offense.
Seven weeks into the season, the 2026 rookie class has a clear personality: it tackles. When we sort every first-year player by our Rookie Impact Score, which blends production with snap share, the top eight names all play defense. The first offensive player doesn't show up until No. 12. If you're handicapping the rookie awards right now, the defensive race is crowded and loud, and the offensive one is wide open.
This is our own scoring, not a betting line or a voter poll. But it's built from real box scores and snap counts through Week 7, and it tells you who's actually on the field and producing.
The Rookie Impact top 5
| Rank | Player | Pos | Team | Pick | Impact | Season so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arvell Reese | LB | NYG | 5 | 96.4 | 55 tkl, 1.5 sk, 5 TFL, 1 INT, 4 PD |
| 2 | Jacob Rodriguez | LB | MIA | 43 | 95.8 | 60 tkl, 3 TFL, 1 INT, 1 PD |
| 3 | Michael Taaffe | DB | MIA | 158 | 94.6 | 33 tkl, 2 INT, 2 PD, 1 FF |
| 4 | Sonny Styles | LB | WAS | 7 | 93.9 | 44 tkl, 1 sk, 3 TFL, 1 INT, 4 PD, 1 FF |
| 5 | Anthony Hill Jr. | LB | TEN | 60 | 93.8 | 68 tkl, 1 TFL, 3 PD, 1 FF |
Look at how tight that is. Only 4.8 points separate No. 1 from No. 8, so one big week from anybody in this group can reshuffle the order.
Arvell Reese: the frontrunner
Reese has the profile award voters tend to love: a top-five pick who has been every bit of it. He has played 99.3% of the Giants' defensive snaps across 7 games and stuffed the stat sheet in every column, with 55 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, an interception and 4 passes defensed. He's also No. 2 on the live 2026 NFL redraft, three spots higher than where he actually went in April.
The Miami pair nobody saw coming
The most interesting part of this race is that two Dolphins sit at No. 2 and No. 3, and neither was a first-round pick.
Jacob Rodriguez went 43rd overall and leads this group with 60 tackles in just 6 games, on 99.7% of the snaps. He also has 3 tackles for loss and an interception. On the redraft board he has jumped 32 spots, from pick 43 to slot 11.
Michael Taaffe is the true longshot. Miami took him 158th, deep on Day 3. In 6 games he has 33 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 passes defensed and a forced fumble while playing 93.3% of the snaps. That's good for a 94.6 Impact Score and a 134-spot leap on the redraft board, from 158 all the way to slot 24.
The rest of the defensive pack
Sonny Styles (WAS, pick 7) is Reese's old Ohio State teammate and his closest first-round competition. He has 44 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble in 6 games.
Anthony Hill Jr. (TEN, pick 60) has literally never come off the field: 100% of the snaps across 7 games. His 68 tackles are the most of anyone in the top 25.
Dillon Thieneman (CHI, pick 25) sits just a tenth of a point behind Hill at 93.7, with 46 tackles, 1.5 sacks, an interception and 5 passes defensed, also on 100% of the snaps.
David Bailey (NYJ, pick 2) is the wild card. He's No. 7 by Impact Score because he's played a smaller share of the snaps (81%), but nobody in the class matches his splash plays: 5.5 sacks, 7 tackles for loss and 3 forced fumbles. That's why he still holds the No. 1 slot on the redraft board, where draft pedigree counts too. If the voters want sacks, Bailey is their guy.
The offensive race is wide open
On offense, nobody has run away with it. The top skill-position players by Impact Score:
| Player | Pos | Team | Pick | Impact | Season so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denzel Boston | WR | CLE | 39 | 88.6 | 20 rec, 372 yds, 3 TD |
| Carnell Tate | WR | TEN | 4 | 85.3 | 34 rec, 413 yds, 1 TD |
Denzel Boston grades out highest thanks to efficiency and touchdowns: 372 yards on just 20 catches, with 3 scores and a 91.2% snap share. Carnell Tate has the volume, leading this pair with 34 catches and 413 yards, and he's the only skill player in the redraft top 10, holding at No. 4.
Keep an eye on KC Concepcion (CLE, pick 24). He had the best rookie receiving game of Week 7, catching 8 of 10 targets for 129 yards against Tennessee, and he's now at 30 catches for 315 yards on the season.
The running back picture is quieter. Jeremiyah Love (ARI, pick 3) has 67 carries for 245 yards and a touchdown, plus a receiving score, but he's played only 34.5% of the snaps in 5 games. That has dropped him to No. 20 on the redraft board.
What to watch in Week 8
The defensive race comes down to whether Reese keeps stacking complete stat lines, or whether Bailey's sack pace or Rodriguez's tackle volume pulls one of them ahead. On offense, one more big game from Tate, Boston or Concepcion could make one of them the clear favorite.
The order changes every day as new stats and snap counts come in. Follow it on the live 2026 NFL redraft and the NFL rookie rankings.
The 2026 NFL redraft re-sorts every morning with the latest games.