The rookies have arrived! During the 2017 NFL Draft late last month, the NFL welcomed its next class of performers. Seemingly every prospect in the class had spent several months being assessed and evaluated in every way possible – by football card collectors.

The results of that scrutiny dominate the rookie rankings on the just-released NFLPA Panini Trading Card Index for the first quarter of 2017. Top-rated skill position draft picks headline the initial list with Leonard Fournette (LSU), Deshaun Watson (Clemson), Mitch Trubisky (North Carolina), Christian McCaffrey (Stanford) and Dalvin Cook (Florida State) comprising the top five. The first rookie rankings of 2017 (complete list below) are based on the fervent trading activity surrounding Panini America’s two collegiate football products: 2017 Elite Draft Picks Football and 2017 Contenders Draft Picks Football.

https://blog.paniniamerica.net/2017/...7/#more-184966