Oct
The NFL’s class of 2008 has made its presence felt through the first quarter of the season. Week 5 proved to be no different as many rookies found their way into the endzones and impacted fantasy games everywhere during a time when depth was huge due to bye weeks and injuries.
For the third straight week, Houston’s Steve Slaton looked great. It certainly doesn’t seem like he’s only started three games as a pro. And in Dallas, Felix Jones taught the Cowboys a valuable lesson by following up his zero-touch effort in Week 4 with an impressive showing of 96 yards on nine carries including a 33-yard touchdown scamper.
And as two of this year’s top rookies enjoyed a week off from the chaos and pressure of the NFL season, two more rookies found their way onto our list for the first time.
Top 20 rookies:
| Rk | Player, Team | Pos | Notes [Previous Rank] |
| 1. | Steve Slaton, HOU | RB | 4 scores in only 3 starts; looks explosive [7] |
| 2. | Matt Forte, CHI | RB | Consistent back; finds endzone regularly [1] |
| 3. | Chris Johnson, TEN | RB | Threat to run or catch; will keep scoring [2] |
| 4. | Tim Hightower, ARI | RB | TD vulture cashing in; leads rookies in TDs [9] |
| 5. | Felix Jones, DAL | RB | Effective when he gets ball; scored again Week 5 [8] |
| 6. | Jonathan Stewart, CAR | RB | Look out for DeAngelo Williams stealing carries [4] |
| 7. | Darren McFadden, OAK | RB | Bye should help turf toe situation [5] |
| 8. | Eddie Royal, DEN | WR | Bad Week 5 was capped by ankle injury [6] |
| 9. | DeSean Jackson, PHI | WR | Punt return TD saved 1-catch, 8-yard effort [3] |
| 10. | Matt Ryan, ATL | QB | Engineered upset of Pack; threw for 2 scores [11] |
| 11. | Dustin Keller, NYJ | TE | Coming off bye with Favre and company [13] |
| 12. | John Carlson, SEA | TE | Has to catch a TD eventually, right? [10] |
| 13. | Kevin Smith, DET | RB | Found endzone off the bench for Lions [14] |
| 14. | Joe Flacco, BAL | QB | Another tight loss to TEN; weak stats, though [12] |
| 15. | Jamaal Charles, KC | RB | LJ looked awful again; more touches for Charles [20] |
| 16. | James Hardy, BUF | WR | Will keep improving; may be without QB Edwards [17] |
| 17. | Jordy Nelson, GB | WR | Takes a backseat to Jennings and Driver [16] |
| 18. | Dan Carpenter, MIA | K | Is 3-for-4 in field goals so far [19] |
| 19. | Harry Douglas, ATL | WR | Will improve as Ryan matures; watch the reverse [NR] |
| 20. | Donnie Avery, STL | WR | Rams search for someone to emerge as scorer< [NR]/td> |