Top NFL rookie matchups to watch in Week 9

Week 8's rookie matchups certainly didn't disappoint and naturally, we are on to Week 9, which has some more great matchups.  So, without further ado, let's talk about the rookies to keep an eye on, this week. Please remember that not all matchups will be where players are lined up across from each other, even […]

Evan Winter NFL Managing Editor
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Week 8's rookie matchups certainly didn't disappoint and naturally, we are on to Week 9, which has some more great matchups. 

So, without further ado, let's talk about the rookies to keep an eye on, this week.

Please remember that not all matchups will be where players are lined up across from each other, even though this week does consist of a lot of those events.

G Peter Skoronski vs. DL Keeanu Benton 

This will be a fun one. And instead of me diving into the subject, I'll let our Tennessee Titans reporter, Sam Phalen, and Pittsburgh Steelers reporter, Rob Gregson, fill you in on what's to come between these two.

After a strong start to his rookie campaign was put on hold by an emergency appendectomy, Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Peter Skoronski has been steadily improving in the weeks since. Skoronski is one of 22 offensive linemen around the NFL this season to play at least 200 offensive snaps without a single penalty.

On 20 plays running behind the left guard this season, the Titans are averaging 7.05 yards per carry. While a contingent of fans in Tennessee have been advocating for Skoronski to play left tackle, the Titans don’t seem inclined to rock the boat. The former Northwestern Wildcat has a promising future ahead of him playing tackle, but for now, his consistency at guard is essential to the Titans’ style of play. – Sam Phalen, A to Z Sports Nashville

Steelers rookie Keeanu Benton hasn’t played a ton of snaps, but he’s been dominant in limited action. 

His 78.8 PFF grade actually matches his film, with Benton being disruptive as both a pass rusher and run defender.

Facing off against one of the best pass protecting rookies on Thursday night, it will be interesting to see if Skoronski’s technique can slow down Benton’s traits. – Rob Gregson, A to Z Sports Pittsburgh


WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba vs. WR Zay Flowers

Flowers has been as-advertised all season long. He's currently the leading WR for the Baltimore Ravens and he has the second-most receptions (44), he averages the sixth-most receiving yards per game (57.6), and he's tied for fourth with 19 first down receptions among all rookie wideouts. His 72.1% catch rate is third-best among all rookie wideouts with at least 30 targets and his 54.1% success rate is sixth-best among the same qualifier.

Flowers has been great both as an underneath target and a deep target. 215 of his 461 total receiving yards have come via deep passes. He averages around 10.4 yards per catch, but he averages 17.67 yards per route run on passes consisting of 20+ air yards, per Pro Football Focus. That ranks ninth out of 34 qualifying receivers – not just rookies, either. All receivers.

JSN hasn't been as steady throughout the year, but he's coming off back-to-back games with touchdown catches, including the game-winner against the Cleveland Browns in Week 8. With the Ravens zeroing in on Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf, it makes all the sense in the world for the former Buckeye to keep progressing in Week 9.

Expect to see some fireworks out of both these guys on Sunday.


QB Will Levis vs. CB Joey Porter Jr.

Both players have gotten off to incredible starts as rookies, even if Levis has only played one game. Still, he made the absolute most of it, becoming just the third player in NFL history to throw for four touchdowns in their debut (former Titans QB Marcus Mariota is also one of those three). Porter Jr., on the other hand, has an interception on the year and has routinely locked down opposing targets. So far, through seven games, he's allowed just three catches for 32-yards on 14 targets. That includes the last two games, where he's played at least 78% of defensive snaps, as well.

Per Pro Football Focus, Porter Jr. plays the second-most man coverage (45.5%) among cornerbacks with at least 143 coverage snaps, which is a list of 91 qualifying players. So, it'll be interesting to see how often he's lined up against DeAndre Hopkins, who has done pretty well when facing man coverage. PFF has Hopkins with a mark of 3.02 yards per route run on an average depth of target of 13.1 yards. The former number ranks seventh out of 38 qualifying receivers and the ADOT is tied for 10th-best.

That should help Levis out when throwing Porter Jr.'s way. But as with all things NFL, we won't officially know until we see it play out.

Either way, both players should be able to make some plays against each other on Thursday night.


RT Dawand Jones vs. RT Paris Johnson Jr.*

This one has an asterisk because it's currently unknown if Jones plays this week. But, for the sake of this post and just to let people know about Jones and Johnson, we'll discuss real quick.

Both players will be responsible for holding off good pass rushes. We obviously know what Myles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns pass rush is capable of. There will be plenty of moments where Johnson Jr. is going to have to hold his own against one of the top Defensive Player of the Year candidates.

The Cardinals have a decent pass rush of their own. They currently rank eighth in the league with 24.0 sacks on the year and they have six players with at least 2.0 sacks. If Jones plays, he better be ready for multiple guys coming from all directions. If not, it could be a long day for both him and whomever is playing QB for the Browns. 

A big key with Johnson is his penalty issues. He already has eight on the year, which easily leads all rookie offensive linemen (second-place Darnell Wright has just four). And, it's tied for second-place among all offensive linemen, regardless of draft year.


There are more matchups to keep an eye on like Devon Witherspoon vs. Zay Flowers, Puka Nacua vs. Jayden Reed, and even Mazi Smith vs. Jalen Carter. But I didn't want to double-dip on Flowers and I used Reed in last week's matchups. Either way, there's plenty to keep tabs on and all of them will certainly have an effect on the outcome of each respective game.