Some rookies take little time to adjust to the NFL, such as last season's AP Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year, Tetairoa McMillan and Carson Schwesinger.
They were among several rookies that made major impacts in 2025, including Seattle's versatile defender Nick Emmanwori, who helped elevate a defense that led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title, top-10 pick tackles Armand Membou and Kelvin Banks, and pass catchers Tyler Warren and Emeka Ebuka.
But failing to become a star in year one doesn't mean a draft pick was wasted.
Here's a look at some players who showed promise as rookies in 2025 who now have a chance to break out and become stars in their second seasons in the NFL:
Nolen never really got started as a rookie, missing the start of the season with a calf injury and then getting shut down early with a knee injury. Nolen had flashes in his limited time in six games that showed why the Cardinals drafted him 16th overall. He had two sacks and 15 pressures in just 99 pass rush opportunities, according to Pro Football Focus, and also returned a fumble for a TD. If he can have close to that kind of production in more extensive time, he could quickly become one of the top pass rushing defensive tackles in the game.
Hampton rushed for 545 yards in nine games behind an injury-riddled offensive line after being drafted 22nd overall. With tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater expected back from injuries and Hampton healthy after dealing with ankle injuries, he is position for a big season in new coordinator Mike McDaniel's offense. McDaniel has a history of creating big plays for speedy players such as Hampton, who had 15 carries for at least 15 yards in limited action last season.
Coach Ben Johnson said early in the offseason that he was “ buying Luther Burden stock.” There's a good reason to do so. The second-round pick put up solid numbers as a rookie with 47 catches for 652 yards and two TDs in the regular season. But he had some big performances late in the season that showed he has the potential to do even more, highlighted by his eight catches for 138 yards and a TD in a Week 17 game against San Francisco. Burden averaged 2.69 yards per route run during the regular season, according to Pro Football Focus, ranking third in the league among wide receivers.
After trading away Micah Parsons before the start of last season, the Cowboys were lacking on the defensive line. That put added pressure on Ezeiruaku to perform at a high level immediately as a second-round pick. He was strong against the run but had only two sacks and 36 pressures as a rookie, according to PFF. With better talent around him, with Quinnen Williams there all season on the inside and Rashan Gary and rookie Malachi Lawrence helping on the outside, Ezeiruaku is in position to be an even more effective pass rusher in year two.
The 49ers used their first picks last season on defense with much of the focus on big bodies on the defensive line. But the smallest player showed some of the most promise, with 5-foot-9 cornerback Upton Stout flashing as a third rounder. He excelled in the slot last season and could be in position to make even splashier plays with a year of experience under his belt after having four tackles for loss, two QB hits, five passes defensed, a forced fumble and a sack last season.
The Chiefs traded Trent McDuffie and lost Jaylen Watson in free agency in the offseason and are planning to go young at cornerback with No. 6 pick Mansoor Delane and Williams, a third-rounder last season, as the potential starters. Williams played just less than half of the defensive snaps as a rookie but had a strong finish to the season in coverage in a sign of potential bigger things to come this season.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Nohl Williams arrives at NFL football training camp Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in St. Joseph, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Los Angeles Chargers running back Omarion Hampton looks on during practice at the NFL football team's training camp Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Walter Nolen III (97) talks with Cardinals defensive tackle PJ Mustipher during NFL football training camp, Sunday, July 26, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
CAIRO (AP) — A British maritime monitoring agency said a cargo ship reported being hit by a projectile overnight off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States and Iran made opposing claims about whether they were holding talks.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said the two sides are resuming talks to wind down the war. But Iran insisted it only was talking with Oman and the discussion focused on the Strait of Hormuz.
Here is a look at the most important developments in the Middle East on Tuesday.
The cargo ship reported being “hit by an unknown projectile” at 2 a.m. local time while it was 37 kilometers (23 miles) northeast of Al Khasab in Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said.
The UKMTO did not provide further information on the ship, including what flag the vessel was sailing under or whether it was carrying cargo.
The ship suffered damage, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey, which did not elaborate.
The town of Al Khasab sits on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula that juts into the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passed before the war.
The strait has been effectively shut by Iran’s attacks on shipping since the start of the war in February, while the U.S. also has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the waterway.
Trump said Monday that talks with Iran had resumed, a day after saying he called of massive strikes he had threatened to unleash on the country. Trump said he pulled back at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking,” Trump maintained.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Monday that no negotiations were being held with the U.S., adding that Tehran’s talks were only with Oman and focused on establishing a route for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump voiced frustration with Iran, suggesting Tehran had asked for the talks, which are critical to ending the monthslong conflict and reviving stalled cargo traffic through the strait.
“Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!” the U.S. president vented on Truth Social, his social media platform.
“They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman’,” he wrote.
Gaza residents held a mass funeral Tuesday for 112 Palestinians whose bodies were recovered after nearly three years under the rubble in Gaza City. They were among more than 300 people killed on Nov. 22, 2023, when Israeli warplanes flattened a residential block in the city’s Sabra neighborhood.
First responders recovered the bodies over the weekend after digging through the rubble for 136 hours, according to the Civil Defense, a rescue agency operated under Gaza’s Hamas-run Interior Ministry.
The bodies included 40 children, 30 women and seven people with disabilities, the Civil Defense said in a statement, adding that another 157 people remained missing under the rubble.
Hundreds of people gathered for the funeral, where the bodies wrapped in Palestinian flags were laid in rows near the flattened buildings before being carried on stretchers through a narrow street for burial in a nearby cemetery.
The Gaza war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has since killed 73,375 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants but they are considered generally reliable by the United Nations and other international organizations.
Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece.
Pedestrians cross a street in front of a billboard depicting a fallen Statue of Liberty and crowds carrying Iranian and Shiite flags at Revolution Square in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A girl swings along the shore as cargo ships and other commercial vessels appear anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 27, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)
Women walk past a banner showing portraits of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, center, and the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the U.S. and Israel strike on Feb. 28, under a bridge in northern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting about military families, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - Children wade in the water with cargo ships at anchor in the background and a fisherman nearby, in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP,File)
