NFL Trade Rumors
The top picks grab the headlines, but every year, a number of Day 3 selections make key impacts for their teams well. Some become role players as rookies, while others develop into starters over the course of their rookie contracts.
For this article, I picked out eight Day 3 players who can make a difference for their new teams. These aren’t all the Day 3 picks I liked, or all the Day 3 players who could star. I tried to highlight a mix of players who will be a factor right away and a few who might have to wait due to the depth ahead of them, but should eventually make their teams very happy.
A dynamic back out of Tennessee, Sampson wasn’t the first back the Browns took. After drafting Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins at the top of the second round, they came back and nabbed Sampson in the fourth, overhauling their backfield with those two deft moves. Each back provides a different — and complementary — skillset. Judkins is your more traditional bell-cow runner, while Sampson is a speed demon with receiving skills.
It’s great for the Browns that Sampson was available for them in the fourth, but it’s a little surprising he hadn’t been taken yet. I had similar grades on both players pre-draft, and Sampson was a consensus top-five back among media evaluators. There’s a chance he’s simply the better player between the two backs Cleveland drafted, and his workload could adjust accordingly.
A deep threat speedster wide receiver from Utah State, Royals fell a bit and went after some less talented players at his own position. Despite his bread-and-butter being downfield targets, he proved at the Senior Bowl he can run a more complex route tree and win in a variety of ways. He’s a complete receiver who can take the top off a defense — a valuable commodity at any level.
Royals probably enters the season as the fifth receiver on the Chiefs’ depth chart, behind Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Short of injury, his role in 2025 may be limited. But long-term, he might be the successor to Brown as the vertical threat on the outside. I love Royals’ tape and he’s the perfect complement to Rice and Worthy to round out that receiver room.
I was shocked Ayomanor lasted until the end of the fourth round. The Stanford receiver is one of the most talented in this class and possesses a skillset coveted by the NFL: the ability to win down the field, on the outside, as a true X-receiver. He needs to get stronger at the catch point, but he runs a full route tree and can shoulder a large target share as someone the offense runs through.
Despite where he was taken, Ayomanor might start as a rookie. Outside of Calvin Ridley and Tyler Lockett, this Titans’ receiving...
