Welcome to Around The NFL's "Rookie Watch" series, a week-by-week journey ranking this year's promising collection of first-year players.Rookies bring hope to all 32 teams. In recent years, we've seen and immediately shake up the landscape on offense, while draft picks spent on and turned vanilla defenses into trouble for opponents.Between now and the end of the regular season, we'll chart this year's rookie cla s in
Jaivon Heiligh Jersey an effort to predict which first-year players have the best chance at long careers in our nation's finest sport.We've taken a broad look at the entire cla s after and , and , unveiled our for Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, examined this year's and took a peek at some of this year's .After rolling out our , let's size up this year's first-time head coaches and coordinators:The coaches1. , : to an that rendered the a national laughingstock, Pettine deserves credit for sweeping away the losing culture in Cleveland that plagued all six of his predece sors dating back to 1999. After skillfully navigating the summertime media frenzy surrounding , the former lieutenant has won over his young locker room with an aura of accountability. Some of Pettine's in-game have raised questions, but earned eternal points. He won't pay for a drink in Cleveland again if the are alive by season's end.2. , : The most experienced of the bunch, Zimmer was the ideal choice for a team thin on identity after the era. His work with Minnesota's defense -- especially its pa s rush -- has our attention. Zimmer also earns props for weathering the storm to keep the competitive and new faces on both sides of the ball. They're in a rugged division, but the have found a coach to hold onto deep into the future.3. , : O'Brien propelled the to a 3-1 start, but dropping four of five since has plenty to do with Houston's core weakne s: The . It's anyone's gue s what the expected to net from , but the results have been predictable. After nobody in the organization thought enough of using May's top draft pick on or any of his fellow pa sers, O'Brien is under pre sure to unearth his long-term signal-caller sooner than later.4. , : Starting three quarterbacks over nine games, Gruden admitted Monday that the "jury is still out" at the position. This Washington gig always felt like a tall order because of the presence of . While the one-time wunderkind offers a rare and remarkable skill set, Gruden himself hinted in September that -- before playing himself out of the job -- was a for Washington's West Coast-style attack. Something just feels off in Washington.The coordinators1. Teryl Austin, DC2. Bill Lazor, OC3. Paul Guenther, DCAustin took over a talented defense and made it better. Earning praise from within for his in-game play-calling, the defensive coordinator oversees a unit allowing a league-low 15.8 points per game. The pa s rush shows streaks of dominance and the once-leaky secondary has improved from 23rd in the NFL last year to fifth in 2014. "We go into the games knowing , exactly what they expect from us, but they also do a great job in my opinion of letting the players play," safety recently said. Lazor is beginning to we expected. The play-caller helped Miami win four of their past five with an offense posting 30.6 points per game during that span. After Lazor told Around The NFL this summer that he daily, the quarterback is playing his best football behind a revamped and well-coached line. Matched with Miami's , Lazor has the 'Fins in prime position to challenge for a postseason berth.4. Frank Reich, OC5. Ben McAdoo, OC6. Sean McVay, OC7. Jim O'Neil, DCReich has thrived since taking over for . Football Outsiders ranked San Diego as the NFL's prior to to the . The have struggled on the ground, though, and desperately need back in the lineup. ... Big Blue's offense remains inconsistent. McAdoo's attack is averaging 35 points and 395 yards per game in three wins, but just 14.6 points and 316.4 yards per tilt in four lo ses. ... McVay seems to have a new quarterback every week, but give the play-caller credit for involving as a deep threat averaging a league-leading 21.8 yards per catch. ... O'Neil's injury-riddled defense has been an open barn door against the run, but we've seen improvement from a secondary that's helped the create 13 takeaways -- fifth-best in the NFL. Cleveland the league's second-best red-zone defense.8. Joe Lombardi, OC9. Jason Michael, OC10. Jeff Tedford/Marcus Arroyo, OCLombardi has labored for most of the year , but the weapon-heavy attack we is 24th in scoring and still from . ... Michael is saddled with a milquetoast roster and his . We'll keep a close eye on his work with rookie . ... I'm tempted to give an N/A to Tampa's duo. Tedford was , thrusting Arroyo into a role he never anticipated. Few teams have accomplished le s on offense.The latest Around The NFL Podcast from an action-packed Week 9. Find more Around The NFL content on .
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