1. RB Jahmyr Gibbs
Gibbs enters the NFL with the instant expectations inherent with being the 12th overall pick in the draft. There are some big predictions out there for him as a rookie, including NFL.com's Adam Schein's bold prediction he'll lead all running backs in touchdowns this season. Yes, all running backs--not just rookies.
Some of the hype is even coming internally now.
Check out the names general manager Brad Holmes invoked when recently talking about Gibbs as a "special weapon" for the Lions' offense on "The Season with Peter Schrager".
"When I first got with the Rams in 2003, Marshall Faulk was still there, and I was a huge Marshall Faulk guy -- just kind of seeing what he does in both phases," "And just from a scouting standpoint, when Christian McCaffrey came out, he was the last guy that I was like, 'Holy cow, this guy can run routes like a slot receiver but also run it.' So, you start getting reminders of those players. I'm not sitting here saying Jahmyr Gibbs is those players, but (he's) just a special weapon like that. We have a lot of excitement and optimism."""Brad Holmes
Holmes didn't quite go all the way to saying Gibbs will be as good as a Hall of Famer who may have been slightly ahead of his time (Faulk) and the best all-around running back in the league right now (McCaffrey). But even mentioning those names as "reminders" when seeing what Gibbs did as a runner and receiver in college sets him up to potentially disappoint as a rookie.
This is not to say Gibbs won't end up having a fine debut season. But the expectations and hype are creeping into overdrive.