Tyler Allgeier, RB, Atlanta Falcons: If you believe Tyler Allgeier himself, everything is just peachy in his relationship with the Atlanta Falcons as his third professional season comes to an end. To hear him talk, you would never sense frustration over the fact that after rushing for over 1,000 yards in just seven starts as a rookie, he has found himself stuck as RB2 behind Bijan Robinson ever since. He seems perfectly content playing second-fiddle to Robinson, and he's made the best of the situation—he rushed for 644 yards this season on 4.7 yards per carry despite never getting the usage he deserved. While Allgeier may not mind sharing the backfield with Robinson, I, for one, would love to see him land in a situation where he can get RB1 touches.
Zayne Anderson, S, Green Bay Packers: Zayne Anderson continues (somehow) to positively thrive in Green Bay. Though still the butt of plenty of fans' create-a-player jokes, he has quietly developed into a reliable bench presence for the Packers. After spending most of the early season in a familiar special teams role, Anderson rose up the depth chart to be a backup safety by season's end. The best performance of his NFL career thus far came in Green Bay's Christmas Eve shellacking of the Saints, in which he had three tackles, two passes defended, and his first career regular season interception. Despite how precarious his pro career has been at times, Anderson has steadily begun to cement himself as a valued contributor for the Packers. He has built an NFL career pretty much from sheer willpower. On March 6, the Packers functionally made Anderson a restricted free agent, making it likely that he will return to Green Bay on a new contract next season.
Chris Brooks, RB, Green Bay Packers: Chris Brooks continues to be a pleasant surprise at the NFL level—despite a somewhat rough senior season at BYU, he has tenaciously stuck in the NFL and spent most of the 2024 season on Green Bay's active roster. He appeared in fifteen regular season games for the Packers (as well as their playoff loss to the Eagles), averaging an impressive 5.1 yards per carry, and he scored his first career regular season touchdown in the same Christmas Eve game where Zayne Anderson had his first interception. He put out enough good tape this season that I would not be shocked if a team decides to give him a larger role in 2025.
Brady Christensen, OL, Carolina Panthers: Brady Christensen's career is at a bit of a crossroads after a season where, despite consistently being one of the higher-graded offensive linemen on the Panthers' roster, he struggled to get playing time behind what appeared to be, at least on paper, inferior players. It's not clear why Christensen's coaches are mismanaging him so badly, but his struggle to get deserved minutes is probably a symptom of the larger, serious issues plaguing the Panthers franchise. He's an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and it would not be at all surprising to see him aggressively look for other landing spots.
Michael Davis, CB, Washington Commanders: Of all the players on this list, Davis may, unfortunately, have been the worst underperformer this season. Widely expected to be a starter given his significant starting experience compared to the rest of Washington's young, depth-poor cornerbacks room, Davis saw the field less and less as the season went on and was barely playing, with his snaps largely confined to special teams, by season's end. It seems worryingly like his NFL career may be on its last legs. I hope he can turn it around.
Blake Freeland, OL, Indianapolis Colts: Freeland didn't play a ton for Indianapolis this season, but he's firmly established himself as their backup left tackle. At this point, it's just a matter of development. The Colts clearly believe in his athleticism; he just needs to get more experience under his belt.
Jaren Hall, QB, Seattle Seahawks: Waived by Minnesota during final roster cutdowns prior to the start of the 2024 season, Jaren Hall was immediately picked up by the Seahawks. He spent much of the season on Seattle's practice squad, but was activated a couple of times and permanently activated in mid-December as the Seahawks' third-string QB—a positive sign for his career going forward.
Kaleb Hayes, CB, Green Bay Packers: Kaleb Hayes was most recently under contract back in August; he spent the 2024 offseason with the Giants and Broncos, but did not survive Denver's final roster cutdown. On January 14, the Packers signed him to a Reserve/Future contract, adding him to their training camp roster. Hayes made a name for himself with his blazing speed at the combine back in 2023, but has yet to appear on a regular season NFL roster.
Taysom Hill, Everything, New Orleans Saints: Under normal circumstances, I'd be very excited about where Taysom Hill's career might be headed. Finally freed from the shackles of Dennis Allen's incompetent head coaching tenure in New Orleans, Taysom might have been primed to soar under new head coach (and fellow Latter-day Saint) Kellen Moore. Despite the suboptimal circumstances, Taysom had a very solid season in 2024, highlighted by a spectacular week 11 performance against the Browns that earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Unfortunately, after a late-season ACL tear, his career is now very much up in the air. He's 34 and has an eye-watering injury history going back to his freshman season at BYU (though to be fair, this is his first really significant injury at the pro level). In addition, his sizeable contract doesn't help the Saints' nightmarish salary cap situation. It's beginning to look increasingly likely that the Saints will attempt to move on from their beloved Swiss Army Knife. Where Taysom might land and what his career might look like from here are anyone's guess.
Dax Milne, WR, Carolina Panthers: After spending his first three seasons as a consistent special teams presence in Washington, Milne was cut by the Commanders and then the Raiders within a couple of months leading into the 2024 season. It looked like his NFL career might be winding down until the Panthers threw him a lifeline, adding him to their practice squad in October and then signing him to a Reserve/Future contract on January 6. He has an uphill battle to stay in the league at this point—he's not getting any younger—but for now, he still has a shot.
Puka Nacua, WR, Los Angeles Rams: Man, it must be good to be Puka Nacua right now. He's hobnobbing with LeBron James and Luka Doncic and basking in the glow that comes with being a human highlight reel in one of pro sports' biggest media markets. Beginning the 2024 season ranked #33 in the NFL Top 100 after a dazzling rookie campaign, Nacua was even better as a sophomore, finishing as PFF's highest-graded receiver in the NFL. Rather unjustifiably and confusingly, he missed out on both the Pro Bowl and an All-Pro selection despite earning both as a rookie, but the numbers don't lie—he's one of the best receivers in the NFL, a genuine superstar who has transformed his team's offense despite sharing targets with former MVP Cooper Kupp. And with Kupp looking more and more likely to be traded this offseason, Puka will have the opportunity to get the lion's share of touches for the Rams next season as his meteoric rise continues.
Ryan Rehkow, P, Cincinnati Bengals: As BYU fans hoped, Ryan Rehkow's booming leg and pinpoint accuracy translated extremely well to the NFL. In his own way, he had one of the best debut seasons ever by a BYU product—though, as a punter, he rarely got the recognition he deserved. The rookie Rehkow had a truly spectacular start to his career, setting the NFL single-game record for gross punting average (minimum 4 punts) at 64.5 yards per punt—in the first game of his career! He finished the season holding Cincinnati franchise records for single-season average gross and net punting yards (49.1 and 42.9 yards per punt, respectively), and he inked a two-year deal to remain with the Bengals on February 18. His future looks extremely bright.
Kedon Slovis, QB, Houston Texans: Slovis spent his rookie season on the Texans' practice squad, and they apparently saw enough from him to keep him around, signing him to a Reserve/Future contract on January 21. If he can continue to put good work on tape, it's certainly possible that he could get an active roster opportunity somewhere this coming season.
Kingsley Suamataia, OL, Kansas City Chiefs: Kingsley had one of the more frankly underwhelming seasons on this list. Initially slated to start for the Chiefs as a rookie, he wound up playing very little over the course of the season and struggling when he did get into games. Life's tough as a rookie lineman, but Kingsley has one of the best coaches ever as a mentor, and I have high hopes for his career going forward.
Khyiris Tonga, DT, Arizona Cardinals: Tonga missed some time with injuries in 2024, but still managed to play in 13 games and seemed to improve as the schedule went on. He's a big, mean, nasty freak of nature who I still think has the potential for a long NFL career if he can stay healthy and keep developing.
Max Tooley, LB, Minnesota Vikings: Tooley spent the 2024 offseason and the early weeks of his rookie season on the Texans' practice squad with Kedon Slovis, before being waived by Hoston and almost immediately signed by Minnesota in September. He's been on the Vikings' practice squad ever since, and signed a Reserve/Future contract with them on January 16. He has work to do, but of all the Reserve/Future guys on this list, I think he has possibly the best shot at making an active roster thanks to his athleticism and motor.
Kyle Van Noy, LB, Baltimore Ravens: Somehow, Kyle Van Noy played his best season at the NFL level in year 11 of his career! He recorded a career-high 12.5 sacks for the Ravens (earning himself a nice $250k bonus in the process), and was selected to the Pro Bowl as he cemented himself as a key piece for one of the NFL's best defenses. He hasn't lost a step at all in his "old age"—if anything, he seems to be improving with every offseason. He now heads into year two of his contract with Baltimore looking to maintain the remarkable momentum he's built since signing with the Ravens during the 2023 season.
Fred Warner, LB, San Francisco 49ers: Another year, another spectacular performance by Fred Warner. There are few who would dispute Warner's place atop the NFL's linebacker hierarchy at this point—he's the best in the league, and everyone knows it. In 2024, he earned First Team All-Pro honors for the third consecutive season and fourth overall in his career. He also became the first 49er in history to record 10+ career sacks and 10+ career interceptions. Though a Super Bowl ring would certainly cement his resume for Canton, he's making a strong case for a Hall of Fame induction even without one. It's getting to the point where he and fellow 49er Steve Young are very nearly 1A and 1B on the list of all-time greatest NFL players ever to come out of BYU, though I'd still give Young the edge for now.
Zach Wilson, QB, Denver Broncos: Since escaping the Jets' sinking ship of a franchise, Wilson has been in a bit of a career holding pattern. Though he was on the Broncos' active roster throughout 2024, he didn't take a single snap in a regular season game. It will be interesting to see if there's a team out there willing to take a flyer on the former 2nd overall pick. I still think Wilson has all the talent needed to be a good NFL quarterback if given the right opportunity.
Jamaal Williams and Sione Takitaki were cut by the Saints and Patriots, respectively, following the 2024 season. Williams had a relatively quiet 2024 campaign in a backup role for the Saints, while Takitaki missed most of the season with injuries. However, both of them have decent odds of finding landing spots in free agency during the offseason, and I will update their information if they do.