Projecting a rookie’s impact in the NFL is much like guessing production numbers for an incoming true freshman in the SEC — it’s an entirely different ballgame.

There’s a few players however, based primarily on where they landed as immediate fits, with a great chance to have a major impact in 2015. Three struggling franchises and the defending Super Bowl champs posted great drafts as a whole, due in large part to these four prospects from the SEC:

  • Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama (4th overall, Oakland Raiders)
  • Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Mizzou (40th overall, Tennessee Titans)
  • A.J. Cann, OL, South Carolina (67th overall, Jacksonville Jaguars)
  • Trey Flowers, DE, Arkansas (101st overall, New England Patriots)

I picked Cooper to win the SEC’s top rookie honor last week and wrote: For his sake, I hope Cooper can avoid Oakland at all costs.

This was assuming the Jacksonville Jaguars would pass on Cooper at No. 3 in favor of defense and he’d fall to a franchise with a habit of taking wide receivers early. It happened, but there’s a silver lining — if Derek Carr continues to develop, the Crimson Tide’s Biletnikoff winner has landed in an ideal situation with little to no pressure on the outside.

He becomes the Raiders’ immediate first option through the air and has 1,000-yard potential as a first-year player considering Bill Musgrave will center the offense around getting him touches. Oakland shared the wealth last season in the passing game as three receivers managed at least 98 total targets.

Expect the differential to be plus-25 or so in Cooper’s favor this fall as the team’s new franchise player on offense following Darren McFadden’s exit to Dallas.

Out of the four players above that I’ve mentioned, Cooper and Cann will start in Week 1. Jacksonville securing South Carolina’s best player in the third round is one of this draft’s best value picks.

The 6-foot-3, 315-pound guard had a sparkling career with the Gamecocks and now will be counted on to become a lead blocker for Alabama’s T.J. Yeldon who the Jaguars grabbed in Round 2. Cann’s a road-grader in every sense of the term and had some of his best career games against the SEC’s most fierce defensive lines, notably Georgia and Florida last season.

Some draft experts see Green-Beckham as a project-type receiver who still needs polishing before he becomes a factor.

I disagree. The kid’s NFL-ready with a tremendous frame (6-foot-5, 240 pounds) and leaping ability. Green-Beckham’s off-the-field issues caused him to slide into the second round, but he’s a Top 10 talent joining an offense in dire need of an outside weapon.

Marcus Mariota and DGB on the same offense? Count me in for watching the Titans on Sunday Ticket. DGB joins several former SEC standouts in Nashville including Dexter McCluster, Zach Mettenberger and Justin Hunter.

Arguably the NFL’s best judge of talent based on draft picks over the last decade, New England’s pick of Flowers in the fourth round has Bill Belichick written all over it. The future Hall of Fame coach rotates his defensive linemen often and Flowers provides immediate depth in that regard, a player capable of producing as a rookie.

Skilled in all facets as a Razorback, Flowers is best-suited for run support at the next level and may not be quick enough to be an every-down edge rusher.