The common saying in the NFL is that it takes five years to judge a draft class. And while that can be true in some cases, more often than not, you’ll know in three. The perfect example is the 2023 draft class for the Cowboys as they’ve already traded Mazi Smith and Luke Schoonmaker is only being used in a reserve role.
However, it usually doesn’t take very long to know when you’ve hit on a class. Micah Parsons was an All-Pro player as a rookie. CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs (2020) both produced early during their rookie season.