And Slater's work in Week 1 against Washington edge rusher Chase Young was just a football appetizer for what he has done in the early going. Slater is one of two rookie tackles to see at least 80 pass block plays so far and not allow a sack ( Penei Sewell). And other than quarterback, no position might face a more difficult introduction to the league than a rookie left tackle.
Folks might ask why there wasn't a skill player at the top, but it's about degree of difficulty as well. 13 slot has been a quality draft spot for tackles over the past two years - Tristan Wirfs was selected there in the 2020 draft - and Slater has been entrusted to protect the blindside of the Chargers' most valuable investment: QB Justin Herbert. Stats: 3 starts, 87.8% pass block win rate Let's dive into the first edition of the 2021 rookie rankings, starting with a player who has jumped right in on the blindside for one of the NFL's top young passers. Finally, we looked to ESPN Stats & Information's Seth Walder to name an under-the-radar rookie to keep an eye on and ESPN Chalk's Doug Kezirian to provide the best value bets for Rookie of the Year. We also include who just missed the list and a few other names to keep handy in the coming weeks. To build the list, we polled some personnel executives around the league and worked our way through the game tape. And in our first rookie rankings of the season, just one quarterback made the cut for the top 10, and just four top-10 picks from April's draft are represented. The five first-round QBs have combined for a 1-9 record as starters with 10 passing TDs and 18 interceptions. We're three weeks into the 2021 NFL season, and the growing struggles for the league's rookie quarterbacks have certainly headlined the play of this year's draft class overall in the early stages - and impacted how a list of the best first-year performers looks to this point.
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