Stock Up, Stock Down for Big-Name NFL Rookies Post-OTAs

The NFL's offseason workout program came to an end Thursday, which means the next time rookies around the league take the field with their new teams will be when training camps open in July. And while some big-name rookies will carry positive momentum into the summer, having performed well during organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamps, others will need to make up some ground after struggling in their first full-team practices.

While OTA sessions might not matter much in the grand scheme of things, every opportunity to improve and impress is valuable for a first-year player. This holds especially true for players who were first-round picks or were otherwise drafted or signed with the expectation that they will be significant contributors in their inaugural seasons.

Reports from those practices have been mostly encouraging for Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, who were the 2015 NFL draft's top two picks and are on track to be starting quarterbacks in Week 1. There are some other rookies, however, who are not living up to expectations quite yet.

Some struggles early in the process are to be expected for every NFL newcomer. The leap to the professional ranks is a daunting one, even for players who were stars on major college football teams. Rookies who are behind the count in June could easily be ready to shine by the time their teams play their first games in September.

Nonetheless, it's evident that some of the league's big-name rookies have done more than others to stand out in the eyes of coaches, teammates and beat writers, as all 32 NFL teams come away from the spring with a clearer picture of how their lineups might look this fall.

Stock Up: Jameis Winston, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Even though Jameis Winston took many of his repetitions with the second-team offense this spring, alternating first-team work with incumbent quarterback Mike Glennon, the No. 1 overall pick still appears to be well on his way to being the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' starting signal-caller when the season begins.

Prior to the start of this week's three-day mandatory minicamp, ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas listed Winston among the Buccaneers players whose stock has been rising this offseason:

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Winston has made huge strides since he was drafted. He has picked up the playbook well and is comfortable making calls at the line of scrimmage. He has started to build chemistry with wide receivers Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans. Winston still needs to working on not forcing throws into heavy coverage, but the Bucs are very happy with how he has progressed so far.

"

Winston continued to split work with Glennon this week, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. That shouldn't be taken as an indicator that Winston is struggling, however; according to Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith, it's all part of the plan.

"I have a plan and a part of that plan is for Jameis to get a certain amount of reps with certain guys," Smith said, according to Stroud. "He's gone with the ones. He's gone with the twos. At the same time, it's not just about Jameis. We need to get our backup quarterback ready, too."

Winston, for his part, told Stroud he is not frustrated by the current arrangement and he understands he needs to earn the starting job.

"In this world you've got to earn everything you can get and I'm so blessed to play this great game of football and be out here with these guys,” Winston said, per Stroud.

If Winston has not officially earned the job by the Buccaneers' first preseason game, it would be a huge surprise. According to CBS Sports' Pete Prisco, who also attended Buccaneers minicamp this week, Winston is already showing he is "way ahead of most rookies." He wrote:

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Watching Winston throw Tuesday, it's clear the kid has a great understanding of the offense already, but more than that he will continue to play with a gunslinger mentality.

Winston threw a horrible pick in the goal-line work Tuesday, trying to squeeze a pass into a spot it had no business going. But he bounced back on the next two plays to throw two touchdown passes, raising his hands in triumph after the second one.

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Stock Up: Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans

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While Tampa Bay is attempting to be coy about who its starting quarterback will be, the Tennessee Titans have been clear about their intentions from the time they drafted Marcus Mariota. Despite the moderate success had by 2014 sixth-round pick Zach Mettenberger in his rookie season, Mariota is already ahead of him on the depth chart and will be the Titans starter for 2015.

According to ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky, the No. 2 overall pick received "unsurprisingly solid reviews for his work" at the conclusion of offseason workouts.

"I think he progressed every day," head coach Ken Whisenhunt said Thursday, per Kuharsky. "It's a credit to him and the way he works and Coach [Mark] Helfrich at Oregon really did a nice job in preparing him."

Whisenhunt is not the only Titans coach who has publicly praised Mariota this spring. Shawn Jefferson, who coaches the wide receivers, described Mariota as "deadly accurate" earlier this month.

"No. 1, it's his accuracy," Jefferson told Kuharsky. "No. 2, he's come in and grasped the offense. And No. 3 is the way the guys respond to him, the way he's able to go in that huddle and take control."

As Kuharsky noted separately, it is "not incumbent on them [Titans coaches]" to say anything negative about Mariota. "There is zero to be gained for the team by anything even slightly critical going public," Kuharsky wrote.

That said, even beat writers' accounts of Mariota's performance thus far have been positive.

"The second overall pick has looked comfortable in practices so far," Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean wrote prior to the team's minicamp. "Other than one subpar day last week, he's been mostly sharp."

An oft-repeated narrative of the predraft season was that Mariota would be a project because he was coming out of a spread offense. It's likely he will still have some of the expected struggles when the actual games begin, but so far, he appears to be moving forward faster than many projected.

Stock Up: Amari Cooper, WR, Oakland Raiders

Aside from the aforementioned quarterbacks, there might not be any rookie set to play a bigger role in 2015 than Amari Cooper. On an Oakland Raiders roster that does not include a single player who accumulated 700 or more receiving yards in the NFL last season, Cooper is expected to immediately become the team's No. 1 wideout.

Going off reports that have emerged from Alameda this month, the No. 4 overall pick looks ready to take on that burden.

A team source told ESPN's Adam Caplan earlier this month that Cooper has been the "real deal" in offseason workouts.

"Almost no mental errors," the source told Caplan of Cooper. "Runs great routes, consistent route-runner."

In a response to that tweet, Yahoo Sports' Eric Edholm said the "agent of another rookie WR told [Edholm] his client was 'in awe' of Cooper's skills at rookie minicamp."

These positive reports should come as no surprise. The winner of the Fred Biletnikoff Award as college football’s best wide receiver last season, Cooper was arguably the safest pick in the entire 2015 draft. He is both physically gifted and technically polished.

One potential surprise development could make Cooper even more valuable than expected: In addition to his work at wide receiver, he practiced as a kickoff and punt returner this spring, according to ESPN.com's Bill Williamson.

As Williamson noted: "It would take a lot of guts for the Raiders to risk injury once the regular season starts by putting the dynamic receiver on returns."

Still, the idea that Cooper is standing out as a receiver while also picking up special teams work is just one more reason to believe he is a prime candidate to be Offensive Rookie of the Year this upcoming season.

Stock Down: Brandon Scherff, RT, Washington Redskins

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Like Amari Cooper, many viewed Brandon Scherff as one of the safest, most NFL-ready players in the 2015 NFL draft when the Washington Redskins selected him with the No. 5 overall pick. So far, however, Scherff's practice performance has not met the same glowing praise Cooper has received.

Adjusting to a new position after playing his entire collegiate career on the left side of the offensive line, the Iowa product has hit some speed bumps in his transition, according to Redskins coach Jay Gruden.

"You know, we saw him at the rookie camp and were excited to see him play for the first time," Gruden said earlier this week, according to Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com. "We moved him over to right tackle and he had some struggles."

Although it is commonplace for teams to draft collegiate left tackles and make them right tackles, the transition is more challenging than it is often made out to be. It requires a lineman to become accustomed to using his hands and feet the opposite way from which he is used to, which isn't simple for a player making the transition for the first time.

It is likely that Scherff, the reigning Outland Trophy winner, will become more comfortable as he continues to practice in his new position. Although most draft analysts projected him to be a better fit at guard, his combination of athleticism, strength, technical skill and experience should enable him to play offensive tackle effectively against NFL defenses.

While Gruden expressed some concern over Scherff's progress, he also praised the rookie's work ethic.

"The good thing about Brandon is he's strong, he has great feet and he really cares about the success of a football play," Gruden said, according to Tandler. "With all that in mind, size, strength, takes coaching well, has a great coach working with him. I think he's going to be fine."

In time, Scherff should be a big upgrade for the Redskins offensive line, which badly needed one coming into this year's draft. Given his early struggles, however, it also shouldn't come as a surprise if it takes him some time to find stability in his rookie season.

Stock Down: Kevin White, WR, Chicago Bears

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

The Chicago Bears drafted Kevin White to be Brandon Marshall's replacement in their wide receiver corps, and in time he should be. Possessing a terrific combination of size, speed and ball skills, White has the traits of a prototypical star wide receiver.

That said, it appears as though White is going to have to work his way up the depth chart in training camp if he is even going to be a starter in his rookie season. According to Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune, White is not currently among the Bears' top three wide receivers—at least not in the words of their signal-caller.

"After Tuesday's practice, quarterback Jay Cutler indicated White is competing to be the fourth receiver behind Alshon Jeffery, Eddie Royal and Marquess Wilson," Campbell wrote.

Per Campbell, White was held out of this week's Bears minicamp with an undisclosed injury. That could be a reason for him being lower on the depth chart at this point, and there's plenty of time for him to make up ground. According to ESPN.com's Jeff Dickerson, Bears coach John Fox expects White to be back on the field for the start of training camp.

With that being said, White's competition to start opposite Jeffery should not be written off as illegitimate.

Royal, signed to a three-year, $15 million contract this offseason, is a skilled veteran wideout who caught 62 passes for 778 yards and seven touchdowns for the San Diego Chargers in 2014. Wilson has only caught 19 passes for 153 yards and one touchdown in his first two NFL seasons, but he is a tall, physically gifted pass-catcher who has enough talent for a breakout year.

Considering he was the No. 7 overall pick in this year's draft, White should have every opportunity to seize a starting job away from them. He has the most long-term upside of any wide receiver on the Bears roster, and it's only a matter of time before he becomes a starring weapon in the team's offense.

Even so, the onus is on White to prove this summer, when he gets healthy, that he deserves a spot in the starting lineup.

Stock Up: Vic Beasley, EDGE, Atlanta Falcons

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Despite being held out of some non-contact drills at OTAs because of a shoulder strain, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, No. 8 overall pick Vic Beasley has already made a big impression on the practice field for the Atlanta Falcons.

Richard Smith, who joined the Falcons as defensive coordinator this offseason after four years coaching linebackers for the Denver Broncos, compared Beasley to his former star pupil and three-time Pro Bowl selection Von Miller earlier this month, according to ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure:

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I hate to relate him to somebody else ... he's got great speed and quickness, very similar to Von Miller. I'm not saying he's a Von Miller. You've got to go out and earn those things. But I think if you talk to Vic, he would tell you that [Miller] is one of the players that he's watched over the years. But he does have that elite quickness, very similar to what Von Miller had when he came out.

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Defensive line coach Bryan Cox told McClure that he has been impressed with the "first-step quickness and the closing speed" Beasley has shown, but like Smith, Cox hedged his praise by acknowledging the real work for the rookie edge defender has not yet begun.

"For sure, he's stronger in the pass rush then he is in the run game," Cox said. "But this is gym class. We'll see when we put the pads on how it goes. I'm not real fired up or real eager to say how well a guy is doing in shorts. To me, this is not real football. We'll cross that bridge when we get to training camp."

The coaches are correct to be cautious about how much they praise a player before the games actually begin. Still, it's apparent Beasley is capturing positive attention for the promising traits he has been able to show thus far.

Beasley is expected to play the "Leo" position in Atlanta's 4-3 under defense; in more traditional terms, the Clemson product will be playing a role that is essentially a hybrid between a 4-3 defensive end and a 3-4 outside linebacker.

Beyond the technicalities, this much is clear: The Falcons expect Beasley to make an immediate impact on their pass rush in 2015.

Stock Down: DeVante Parker, WR, Miami Dolphins

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

Early on in OTAs, Miami Dolphins rookie wide receiver DeVante Parker was widely praised for how he was performing. After one practice in early May, Omar Kelly and Chris Perkins of the Sun-Sentinel noted the No. 14 overall pick from Louisville was "catching everything thrown his way."

Parker's spring workout season came to an early end, however, when he underwent surgery on his left foot—the same foot he broke prior to his senior season at Louisville—as reported by Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.

Dolphins executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum told NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah earlier this month that Parker "should be ready to go for opening day." The bad news, though, is that Parker is likely to miss time in training camp and the preseason with a recovery timetable of eight to 12 weeks, according to Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post.

The surgery won't necessarily keep Parker from coming back and having a productive rookie season. After all, Odell Beckham Jr. went on to have one of the best rookie seasons for a wide receiver in NFL history last year after missing the entire preseason and four regular-season games.

It does, however, rob Parker of valuable time to become acclimated with Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill and to improve the intricacies of his game. Tannehill himself told ESPN Radio's Dan Le Batard (h/t Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald) that although Parker had been impressive in OTAs, he was still working on "cleaning up his route running" before the surgery.

Without that opportunity, Parker will likely begin the season as a backup behind projected starters Kenny Stills and Greg Jennings. ESPN.com's James Walker recently wrote:

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Miami's three-way race for two starting jobs at receiver was very close. Parker began the spring on the second team behind veteran receivers Greg Jennings and Kenny Stills. Even if Parker was healthy throughout the summer, there was no guarantee the rookie would supplant either veteran in time for the regular season.

Friday's surgery essentially takes Parker out of the mix as a Week 1 starter. That is the short-term view. But the Dolphins are hoping long term this surgery will put their first-round pick on a path to have a long and successful career.

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Stock Up: Nelson Agholor, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

The No. 20 overall selection of USC wide receiver Nelson Agholor might not have been the flashy, high-risk move some expected from the Philadelphia Eagles in this year's draft, but if he continues to perform as he reportedly has this offseason, he could quickly become one of the biggest names of the 2015 rookie class.

According to Sheil Kapadia of PhillyMag.com, "Agholor was as advertised this spring—a shifty athlete with good hands who plays hard." Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer seconded that praise, stating that the wideout "hasn't disappointed thus far."

Bleacher Report's Mike Tanier, who attended Eagles minicamp earlier this week, used vowels to describe the positive impression Agholor made in practice. "Nelson Agholor is gonna be goooooooood," Tanier tweeted.

Furthermore, Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com tweeted earlier this week that Agholor has "easily" been the Eagles' best rookie in training camp. That shouldn't come as a surprise—after all, Agholor was their only first-round pick—but it nonetheless speaks to the fact that Agholor is seemingly impressing just about every media member who has been in Philadelphia recently.

According to Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com, Agholor has legitimized comparisons to Jeremy Maclin, who led the Eagles in receiving last season but bolted for the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency.

They're similarly built, have the same kind of explosion and specialize in mastering the entire route tree. One difference I've seen is Agholor appears to have make-you-miss ability after the catch. He's slippery in the open field and has fantastic change of direction. Maclin's punt return skills from college didn't translate to the NFL, but I'd be surprised if Agholor's didn't carry over.

Agholor still has to earn his way into the starting lineup. According to Mosher, Riley Cooper and Josh Huff worked as the first-team outside wide receivers in minicamp, with Jordan Matthews working out of the slot.

All indications would seem to be that Agholor can seize one of those spots sooner than later. Huff, a third-round pick in the 2014 draft, has similar playmaking potential to Agholor but only caught eight passes for 98 yards as a rookie. Cooper caught 55 passes for 577 yards last season, but he lacks the big-play upside both Agholor and Huff have.

Dan Hope is an NFL/NFL draft Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow @Dan_Hope